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Aviation History
1987
1987 - 2262.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Dutch Government bails out Fokker AMSTERDAM Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker has been rescued from its financial instability by its Government and creditor banks, with the former ready to take up to a 49 per cent stake in the company. Through the Dutch Minis try of Economic affairs Fokker has arranged a pack age of measures to "improve the company's solvency and profitability in the long term". Fokker is to "broaden the company's base by initiating a partnership with another company" as part of the rescue agreement, says the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The recent announcement of Fokker's Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MBB of West Germany is seen by industry observers as the source of a possible part nership in the near future, but Fokker says that the plans are not yet detailed and will not add any more. New appointments are also to be made to strengthen Fokker's management. Fokker plans to cut its costs by at least 10 per cent, or by about Dfl200 million ($100 million), but will not say until the end of the year how this will be done. It says it will try and avoid direct staff layoffs. Fokker's banks are to increase its loans by Dfl225 million, with an additional Dfl90 million for 1988 and 1989. The Government is to add Dfl212 million in credit to Fokker for the F.100 and F.50 development prog rammes. "To strengthen the company's equity and capital accounts, the existing devel opment funding of Dfl433 million will be listed in the balance sheet and be converted," the Government says. This will also be done with the Dfl212 development credit, but the Government says it will not take more than 49 per cent of the share capital of Fokker. Fokker has begun deliveries of the Fokker 50, but first deliveries of the Fokker 100 Increased development costs, delays in deliveries, and the value of the Dollar have hit Fokker. The first Fokker 100s are still not due to be delivered until at least the end of the year are not expected until the turn of the year. The launch of the two programmes was made at a time when the value of the Dollar was much higher, and its value now has hit sale prices of the aircraft. Devel opment costs for the aircraft have also been rising, and delays in the programmes have also not helped the manufacturer. Two more join Galileo AMSTERDAM Aer Lingus and TAP Air Portugal have joined the Gali leo computer reservations system (CRS) partnership, bringing its membership up to nine European airlines. Galileo, which was launched in July, is being developed in Amsterdam in competition with the rival Amadeus system, launched in June by Lufthansa, Air France, SAS, and Sabena. Both systems expect to go "on line" in 1989, but face competition from the Ameri can Airlines Sabre CRS, which is already operational in the United States and is trying to expand into Europe. Galileo's founders include British Airways and British Caledonian, which own the Travicom system currently used by 97 per cent of British CRS-operating travel agents. Sabre claims that Travicom favours the two British carri ers' flights Flight, October 10, page 6), and has filed against the BA/BCal merger with the UK Mergers and Monopolies Commission. Sabre, along with other American-developed CRSs, is forbidden under US law from favouring one airline's flights above another's on its infor mation displays, and must give travel agents a "neutral" selection of flights on any chosen route. If current plans go ahead, Galileo will be linked to Sabre's rival United Airlines Apollo system, which is second only to Sabre in capacity. Lufthansa wins refugee ruling FRANKFURT ~ Lufthansa has won its legal battle with the West German Government over fines imposed on the airline after a group of passengers tried to enter the country illegally in a bid for political asylum. The Government ordered Lufthansa to pay fines of DM2,000 ($1,105) per person after the group of ten refugees destroyed their passports in flight while en route to West Germany. The airline refused to pay, and now a Frankfurt court has ruled that the airline cannot be held responsible for the failure of its passengers to arrive at immigration points with valid travel documents. It is unclear whether the court's ruling will create a precedent in West Germany, but a Lufthansa spokesman tells Flight: "We are of the opinion that an airline cannot deal with this. It is for govern ments to make sure that passengers' travel visas are valid. How can airline staff tell if visas are invalid or have been falsified? "What can we do if passengers destroy their pass ports on a flight? Of course we will co-operate in checking passports, but there are cases which we just can't do anything about." A similar argument is raging in Britain at the moment between airline representatives and the Brit ish Home Office, which is imposing fines of £1,000 on airlines for every passenger "improperly presented" to immigration (Flight, October 24, page 8). FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 7 November 1987
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