Air Transportation

Air France isn’t Alitalia’s knight in shining armour

8 Apr 2004

Hopes that the Italian carrier will keep afloat thanks to its alliance with Air France look too optimistic. Without serious reform, Alitalia s chances for survival seem slim.

Low-cost airline wars open up an eastern front

29 Mar 2004

Both flag carriers and nofrills airlines are staking out positions in the eastern European air market. The race is on to clinch the firstmover advantage, especially in Poland.

Alitalia dices with danger

4 Mar 2004

With its reformminded chief executive gone, Alitalia s muchneeded restructuring is once again on the back burner. But without reform, its chances of survival look slim.

Airlines bullish on 2004

25 Feb 2004

Profits are bouncing back nicely at most European network airlines. But a rising tide shouldn't lift all boats equally. BA and Iberia look to be the best bets.

Italy in denial over Alitalia

23 Feb 2004

The Italian government is trying to get chief executive Francesco Mengozzi to tone down his radical restructuring plan ahead of elections. But without serious cost cuts, the government s aim to sell down its 62% stake for a halfdecent price looks doomed.

Ryanair gets off easy from EU ruling

3 Feb 2004

Or at least that s how it appears, judging by the euphoric market reaction. But watch out the ruling is ambiguous and even Ryanair is confused about the ruling's impact on its finances.

Ryanair starts to lose it

2 Feb 2004

The nofrills airline topped off a disastrous week by threatening to sue its rivals and fighting a case against a disabled man. This smacks of an airline in desperation. Ryanair ought to cool it.

Ryanair dives on profit warning

28 Jan 2004

Rock bottom fares are starting to make a dent on the nofrill carrier s profits. An adverse ruling from Brussels on subsidies won t help. That will bring Ryanair back down to earth. But its business model is still robust.

KLM shaping up for Air France deal

22 Jan 2004

The Dutch carrier turned out a surprise thirdquarter profit by cutting costs and plans to break even this year. KLM may have surprised the market with its vigour, but it can probably be explained in the context of the merger.

Airline investors get greedy

8 Jan 2004

Investors and travellers are shrugging aside security concerns and pouring into airlines. For BA at least, it all comes down to whether December's pickup in longhaul business traffic is here to stay. It may still be a bumpy ride.

Low-cost airline wars gather pace

6 Jan 2004

Not even Ryanair's extraordinary ploy to pay passengers to fly is deterring new budget airlines from popping up all over Europe. There is still plenty of room to grow, and new nofrills players are unlikely to cause too much trouble for either Ryanair or Easyjet.

UK sky marshal policy in a muddle

5 Jan 2004

The UK government still faces big questions about its sky marshal policy, namely how it will work and who will foot the bill. The answers are unlikely to please the likes of British Airways. No wonder the airline is speeding up its cost cutting.

Armed guards set to patrol UK aircraft

29 Dec 2003

The UK government s decision may be a sensible security step, but it's hard to see how it will make people more comfortable about flying. The move makes a recovery in the longhaul market for the likes of British Airways even more elusive.

BAA will struggle to fund London runways

16 Dec 2003

The government is trying to please everyone by proposing to build two runways first at Stansted and later at Heathrow. But it s hard to see how the airport operator will find the cash to pay for one, let alone two.

British Airways rains on own parade

9 Dec 2003

Oddly, the airline is talking about insolvency just as its shares are shooting back into the FTSE 100 index. One explanation is Rod Eddington wants to puncture the euphoria. After all, he faces weeks of difficult negotiations with the unions.

Business travellers slow to upgrade

3 Dec 2003

Both British Airways and KLM said longhaul business traffic was up in November. The snag is that prices haven't recovered. That means premium traffic may not quite be the shot in the arm airlines were hoping for.

Boeing drops CEO Condit

1 Dec 2003

The airplane group's recent Pentagon procurement scandals may be the trigger for Phil Condit's departure. But the bigger problem has been Boeing's management during the airline industry downturn it has let Airbus get the better of it.

Easyjet recovers altitude

18 Nov 2003

The nofrills airline had a hard time in the first half of the year with the war in Iraq and swallowing its acquisition of Go. But the worst is now over. Easyjet bounced back in the second half and should have an easier time of it next year.

Lufthansa should consider a spin-off

12 Nov 2003

Selling the noncore businesses at the bottom of the market wouldn t be a good idea, but spinning them off to shareholders might be. The German carrier thought diversifying away from its passenger business would make the group less cyclical. That hasn t really happened.

BA still faces headwinds

10 Nov 2003

The UK carrier says revenue decline may have finally bottomed out, and sees signs of life in the US. The snag is that volumes haven't picked up yet. But investors appear to have already priced in a recovery in the stock.