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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2495.PDF
BUSINESS REDUNDANCIES CargoLifter faces bleak future as it fires staff and stops balloon work German cargo airship builder CargoLifter, after two months' insolvency, has laid off the bulk of its workforce and is warning "it is not clear now whether the com pany will be able to continue". Around 200 employees were made redundant last week, leaving just 30 staff. Work has halted on its only remaining active programme, the CL 75 lifting balloon, after development of the CL160 stopped in May to save money (Flight International, 11-17 June). CargoLifter has failed to persuade either the Brandenburger state gov ernment or the federal authorities to provide the €20 million ($19.6 million) it needs to keep afloat until its first CL 75 delivery, originally set for December. CargoLifter is talking to other possible investors, but admits that "there are initial talks only". The company signed a deal with Boeing to develop stratospheric radar-carrying surveillance airships, but the US giant has dismissed the possibility of taking over Cargo Lifter. The company's activities are effectively halted and, unless new funds can be found, it will proba bly be wound up. FINES Italian airlines pay penalty for illegal surcharges The Italian competition authority has fined an Alitalia-led cartel of national airlines for simultaneously implementing similar fuel sur charges on fares in August 2000, describing it as illegal collusion. The authority fined Alitalia - the "promoter and co-ordinator of the agreement" - €1.6 million ($1.5 million). Air Europe, Air One, Alpi Eagles, Meridiana and Volare were fined a total of €254,000. In June 2000 the airlines simul taneously applied the same sur charge of L10,000 (S5.60) on all domestic flights to compensate for a rise in fuel prices. When, in August 2000, Alitalia increased the surcharge to L24,000, Air Europe, Air One, Alpi Eagles and Volare Airlines followed suit. The authority says the offence was "one of the most serious forms of competition restriction". • DHL's chief executive Joe O'Gorman died on 10 August from a heart attack, aged 59. Vicki Bretthauer, senior vice- president (VP) operations, has taken over as acting chief execu tive. • SAS has named two new executives. Gunilla Berg becomes chief financial officer and John Dueholm takes over as executive VP airline support and related businesses. • Aad Veenman has resigned as chair man of Stork after "a difference of opinion" with the supervisory board. Sjoerd Vol lebregt will take his place on 1 September. • Erki Urva, VP commercial of Estonian Air, will take over as president and chairman from Jorn Eriksen on 1 September. Eriksen is returning to Maersk Air Group, where he was senior VP of Maersk Air before joining Estonian in 2000. Leela Lilleorg, director passenger sales, will suc ceed Urva. • Chief executive at Airways Corporation of New Zealand, Craig Sinclair, is to join Air New Zealand as the airline group's chief information officer AIRPORTS Auction London slots, says think-tank New carriers would welcome move for more transparency, but any plan for change is likely to meet opposition vx-mm mM • ^ tminsii AIRWAYS zi "% ,.'•*** f^Mfll '•"•^ |i[[tHf * • ---BMIMS Auctioning slots at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports may not be popular with established carriers A UK think-tank close to the gov ernment has recommended auc tioning all slots at London Heathrow and London Gatwick air ports. The recommendation fol lows the recent approval by the European Parliament of a European Commission (EC) proposal to reform allocation of airport slots. The Institute for Public Policy Research will issue a report in the fourth quarter calling for auctions to encourage airlines to fly to less-used airports. The slots at Heathrow alone could be worth £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) a year, believes the report's author, Simon Bishop. . Auctions of existing or new land ing rights have been recommended as a way of reducing congestion and increasing competition. The effect of additional charges could reduce traffic growth in south-east England and remove the need for more air port construction, Bishop says. The UK has already backed the EC proposal to reform slot alloca tion, which is awaiting approval from European transport ministers. The EC's intention is to establish "neutral, transparent and non discriminatory rules" for the alloca tion of slots. The commission avoids the issue of slot trading and refers to slots as "a right of usage" rather than of ownership. Any plan for change is likely to meet strong opposition, warns ana lyst Andrew Lobbenberg of JP Morgan. Risking the loss of assets worth billions, with the conse quent disruption of schedules, would add another burden to air lines already struggling to stay afloat. "[Auctions] will be fervently opposed by the carriers," he says, adding: "I suspect it is unlikely to attract support in Europe." Airport landing slots are an asset, the EC believes, but their trade between airlines generally operates in a legal grey area. Technically slots cannot be resold, but airlines have paid millions to acquire space at Heathrow from other carriers. However, the present situation is not a transparent market. For this reason, Lobbenberg believes "full transparency would not be opposed by airlines", allowing overt trading in slots, but auctioning every Heathrow or Gatwick slot every five years would be "politically unten able" for the foreseeable future. New carriers, "continually com plaining about slot hoarding" according to Bishop, would wel come any move to increase slot availability. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 20-26 AUGUST 2002 19
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