All Strategy articles – Page 1021

  • News

    Virgin truce puts Irish operation on hold

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Simon Montlake ATI LONDON Virgin boss Richard Branson has brokered a truce between disgruntled pilots and managers at Virgin Express, the Brussels-based low-cost carrier. But the agreement, signed by Branson and staff representatives, has only put off the day of reckoning for Virgin Express Ireland, the new subsidiary at ...

  • News

    Playing it safe at KAL

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Nicholas Ionides SEOUL A big management shake-up at Korean Air has produced a new president and chief executive, Shim Yi-taek. His main task is to improve KAL's safety. Each day at noon, thousands of Korean Air (KAL) employees working at the carrier's Kimpo Airport headquarters building in Seoul make ...

  • News

    SAA will keep Qualiflyer options open

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Roger Makings JOHANNESBURG Although South African Airways (SAA) has chosen Swissair as its strategic equity partner, the airline says it is in no rush to join the European Qualiflyer alliance or any other grouping. SAA chief executive Coleman Andrews says the airline will keep its options open for as long ...

  • News

    Speedwing tackles Olympic problems

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Tom Gill/Lois Jones LONDON Next month Speedwing will reveal a rescue plan for Olympic Airways, as the initial phase of the 30-month management contract it won in June. Olympic remains tightlipped about its future and Speedwing says it is too early to say what changes will have to be ...

  • News

    Qualiflying seamless service

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    With its new joint sales initiatives, the Qualiflyer grouping could be stealing a march in the alliance stakes. The promise of seamless customer service from the global alliances may seem a little distant, but progress appears to be under way. At the forefront has been a series of announcements from ...

  • News

    IT Trends Survey

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Kevin O'Toole GENEVA Joint industry research conducted by Airline Business and SITA attempts to establish how far the airline industry is keeping pace with the new wave of information technology and the dawn of the Internet age. Is the airline industry keeping step with information technology? Less than a decade ...

  • News

    MD-10 speeds up as passenger version is studied

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Boeing is talking to potential customers about developing a passenger version of the MD-10, as it considers accelerating the cargo-led programme by up to three months. US express carrier FedEx is so far the only customer for the MD-10 conversion of the DC-10, with orders and options for 120. ...

  • News

    Pan Pacific plans for Let L-420 flights to small US communities

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Pan Pacific Airways' plans to serve small communities in the north-western USA are back on track after the company agreed to acquire Czech-built Let L-420s. An aircraft arrived in mid-July to enable training to begin. Burlington, Washington-based Pan Pacific hopes to begin operations by year-end. Chairman and ...

  • News

    50 years ago...

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    As Airbus fine tunes its A3XX design, the world celebrates a half century of jet travel On Wednesday 27 July, 1949, the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland (DH) 106 Comet, made its first flight from Hatfield airfield, just north of London. That historic half an hour trip marked ...

  • News

    DHL poised to take British Airways 757s

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways is in final negotiations with express package specialist DHL for the sale of almost half of the UK airline's Boeing 757s, with a deal expected to be concluded in the coming months. The transaction, valued at around $500 million (including conversions), would give Boeing a launch ...

  • News

    Airbus plans to thwart Boeing's SIA deal

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Airbus Industrie has drawn up a confidential business plan aimed at frustrating Boeing's efforts to remarket 17 A340-300s it is to acquire from Singapore Airlines (SIA)as part of a recent 777 deal. The consortium declines to comment on the plan, but a source familiar with its contents says: ...

  • News

    BA CityFlyer takeover approved

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Chris Jasper/LONDONBritish Airways has won UK Government approval for a £75 million ($117 million) takeover of its franchise carrier CityFlyer Express. The planned purchase had been referred to trade secretary Stephen Byers amid claims that it was anti-competitive in terms of its likely impact on control of slots at London ...

  • News

    Marketplace

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Gandalf Airlines, based in Bergamo, Italy, has taken an ATR 42 on wet lease from Gill Airways for operation on services from Bergamo to Munich and Zurich. The deal was arranged by Cabot Aviation. China Airlines has signed a wet lease with Atlas Air for two 747-400 freighters. Singapore Airlines ...

  • News

    SIA plans spending spree on shares

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Singapore Airlines (SIA) is planning to spend up to S$1 billion ($586 million) on a share buy-back that may signal a departure from the carrier's strategy of directing its capital reserves towards airline purchases. Cash-rich SIA has in the past year pursued stakes in China Airlines, South African Airways, Thai ...

  • News

    Taking on the dollar

    1999-07-21T12:43:00Z

    Jack Sellsby/LONDON When the euro was introduced at the start of this year, it became a huge source of new currency financing almost overnight, although the airlines were not the quickest of the corporates to take advantage. But like any other industry on the lookout for fresh, plentiful finance ...

  • News

    A340 beats 777 at China Airlines

    1999-07-21T00:00:00Z

    China Airlines (CAL) has selected the Airbus Industrie A340-300 over the Boeing 777-200 for its long haul requirement as part of a larger refleeting plan totalling 24 aircraft. It includes orders for additional Boeing 747-400 freighters and 737-800s. The Taiwanese flag carrier, after a prolonged evaluation, is planning to ...

  • News

    777 operators object to GE as sole supplier

    1999-07-21T00:00:00Z

    A growing number of Boeing 777 operators are signalling displeasure over the selection of General Electric as the sole source powerplant supplier for the 777X, as potential launch customers receive offers of the ultra-long-range derivative. United Airlines has made its disapproval known by unveiling an order for more Pratt ...

  • News

    China Southern begins merger talks with Air China

    1999-07-21T00:00:00Z

    Chris Jasper/SHANGHAI China Southern Airlines has confirmed that it has held talks with flag carrier Air China over a possible merger that would bring together two of the country's three biggest airlines. China Southern says that its parent, Southern Airlines Group, has held preliminary talks with Air China which ...

  • News

    Star Alliance pursues French and German rail options

    1999-07-21T00:00:00Z

    Julian Moxon/PARIS French railway company SNCF is considering a move that could see it become the first "non-airline" member of the Star Alliance - although it has not yet dismissed alternative options which could see it do a "train/plane" deal with a single airline, or open its route network ...

  • News

    Gemini set to double cargo capacity

    1999-07-21T00:00:00Z

    Gemini Air Cargo plans to double the number of freighters it operates by the end of 2000 from nine aircraft. The increase is the result of major US investor The Caryle Group acquiring a majority stake in the carrier. "Caryle will be an excellent financial partner in the next ...