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Originally Posted by Tiger_lily
(Post 17049192)
... despite not taking Land Rover as part of the deal
Originally Posted by sigma421
(Post 17051716)
A Virgin Atlantic tie-up would possibly provide the 'brand recognition' required to make a decent run of this however.
That is my fantasy solution: a merger with VS with Diamond Club remaining unchanged apart from the ability to redeem cash+miles on VS from the normal rewards chart. Somehow I doubt it though!
Originally Posted by mad_rich
(Post 17051697)
But KL has this market sewn up. 15 regional airports. At least 3 rotations per day, 4 or 5 in most cases. One can whinge about Skyteam all day long, but you can't say they don't offer blanket coverage of the regions.
Going East, EK flies from 6 airports, CO has 6 to the West. I'd love to see more BD/ *A flights from the regions to FRA/ZRH, but they can't compete with KL on frequency or coverage, and their not big enough to (re)start long haul from the regions. |
Originally Posted by mad_rich
(Post 17051697)
But KL has this market sewn up. 15 regional airports. At least 3 rotations per day, 4 or 5 in most cases. One can whinge about Skyteam all day long, but you can't say they don't offer blanket coverage of the regions.
Going East, EK flies from 6 airports, CO has 6 to the West. I'd love to see more BD/ *A flights from the regions to FRA/ZRH, but they can't compete with KL on frequency or coverage, and their not big enough to (re)start long haul from the regions. These flights are very busy any time I've seen one boarding from EDI and the times I've been on them it's been full of people connecting onwards. Does XXX-FRA from MAN/BHX/BRS etc have a flight early enough in the morning to make a same day transfer as there is not any more from EDI which I can't really fathom out TBH? I'm not wanting to overnight anywhere whilst make a connection so realistically you either need to fly via LHR from EDI. I'm sure one of those 145's could do a EDI-FRA-EDI sector early in the morning at silly revenue fares and still be packed out. |
Oh go on. As I've got 5 minutes, I'll put my tuppenyworth in.
LH is more interested in fixing OS than BD for a number of reasons: 1) OS is the dominant flag carrier airline in a reasonably economically stable and prosperous country. It loses money because it was appallingly ineptly run, and cross subsidised by all sorts of fandangos through the ÖIAG. It should be easier to fix and make profitable. 2) Britain is a tough, competitive market, and BA/Easyjet/Ryanair are tough, competitive airlines. Easyjet has absolutely gutted the market for short-/mid-haul air travel - even BA loses money on that. 3) BD's biggest asset on paper is its LHR slots. Those slots only acquire their value through periodic trading, which demonstrates what the market is prepared to pay to enter London. If LH "sell" slots (as opposed to intra-company lending), and the price they get is low, it torpedoes the balance sheet. They're better off waiting for the demand/economy to turn up again. On the subject of regional hubbing. KL only have it "sewn up" because BA "left" off out of the regions as quick as they could. Easyjet make a killing regionally (BRS is their second biggest base after LTN), and Flybe seem to do quite well too. IMHO, a competitively priced hubbing service into FRA or ZRH would not necessarily spark a horrendous price-war (wouldn't mind if it did...), but would probably take some business from KL/AF, some from Easy, and some from people just driving to bigger airports. Airports like BRS, NCL, SOU, LBA should be sustainable on 8x daily (3-AMS, 3-FRA, 2-CDG etc) using ERJs and 319's. (It is a weakness that BD don't have any 100 seat aircraft, admittedly). So, my prescription would be: * Hold tight, minimise cash drains, wait for an upturn and make a decision on breakup, disposal or development then * The Mad/Bad/Dangerous Places strategy wasn't bad. They need to adapt it to find places that aren't actually at war. I wonder if TIP will be back on 29-OCT? * Hubbing could be viable. It'll be tricky on the current fleet, but there's no reason why it isn't sustainably profitable. Hopefully EMA-FRA is a test that goes well. BD does have potential. It needs to be more prominently marketed at some stage, and that might mean a name change, but Britain is a market that has plenty of value in it for the right proposition at the right price. |
Originally Posted by BristolTraveller
(Post 17052907)
Airports like BRS, NCL, SOU, LBA should be sustainable on 8x daily (3-AMS, 3-FRA, 2-CDG etc) using ERJs and 319's. (It is a weakness that BD don't have any 100 seat aircraft, admittedly).
Once upon a time BMR were looking at starting SOU - MAN flights but got cold feed as soon as Flybe came along. Flybe use DHC-800's on the 3x daily SOU-AMS route which I guess means they keep the fuel costs low and have a strong brand presence in the area. I'm not sure how Eastern survive over let alone how bmi would manage it to get a foot hold. What I don't understand are people's decision making. Some locals to Southampton that I know are happy to use Flybe to get to Amsterdam and back despite the alternatives from Gatwick and Heathrow, however, when it comes to flying to Berlin (where there's no route from SOU), they go for Easjet from Gatwick over bmi from Heathrow {the latter being the more accessible airport}! That's despite having used bmi previously and raved about how much better they are over Easyjet. Mind you, they did have a perception that costs would be higher on bmi (which I reeducated them about :)).
Originally Posted by BristolTraveller
(Post 17052907)
The Mad/Bad/Dangerous Places strategy wasn't bad. They need to adapt it to find places that aren't actually at war. I wonder if TIP will be back on 29-OCT?
I suspect these remain fairly healthy on the Oil-based destinations like GYD , but the leisure oriented markets (like CAI, AMM, DAM) they started to get into are probably what's suffering the most. I agree that this area is the right place to be developing in for the long-term given it's huge growth potential, it's just the temporary cash-flow problem caused by recent events in this region that's threatening things. Something I wonder is how much effort bmi put into taking cargo. I get the impression (no knowledge on this though) they do very little. Surely with low load factors cargo would have helped to up the revenue. |
Originally Posted by LiviLion
(Post 17052618)
Does XXX-FRA from MAN/BHX/BRS etc have a flight early enough in the morning to make a same day transfer as there is not any more from EDI which I can't really fathom out TBH?
BTW over 60% of LH pax ex-MAN connect in one of the German hubs. |
Originally Posted by NewbieRunner
(Post 17053157)
BTW over 60% of LH pax ex-MAN connect in one of the German hubs. |
Originally Posted by LiviLion
(Post 17053375)
LH = Lufthansa or Longhaul in this context?
If LH=longhaul 60+% is definitely too high. |
BMI Baby
I wonder where BMIBaby fits in with LH thinking - if I remember BMIBaby is a subsidiary of BMI
It is a fleet of very tired 737 but do serve some useful business hubs opportunity for some new Bombardier C Series aircraft rebrand the fleet for business market. Well established in BHX and EMA |
I suspect it fits in LH's thinking in the same way GermanWings fits...in order to keep some competition up with the LCCs.
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Originally Posted by sugababe
(Post 17051631)
[...] If they were that determined they would have taken things in their own hands over in FRA instead of leaving it all up to the guys in the hall! Much of LH interest was to see how they can develop the LH group from bmi's assets, and you can't blame them really when they actually own bmi.[...]
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Originally Posted by LiviLion
(Post 17052618)
Applies to AF as well as KL, maybe it's a Skyteam thing or maybe it's just they want to maximise traffic to their respective hubs AMS and CDG.
Now we are being upgraded from a CRJ to an Avro on the NCL-CDG run. Airports like BRS, NCL, SOU, LBA should be sustainable on 8x daily (3-AMS, 3-FRA, 2-CDG etc) using ERJs and 319's. - *operated by BD of all people |
Originally Posted by LiviLion
(Post 17052618)
Applies to AF as well as KL, maybe it's a Skyteam thing or maybe it's just they want to maximise traffic to their respective hubs AMS and CDG.
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OK guys seems this is 100% official now.
Bloomberg are reporting comments made by Lauer in Vienna today. By Zoe Schneeweiss Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG board member Stefan Lauer said the airline has mandated a bank to "support in the search for a partner" for unprofitable U.K. unit BMI. "We made the very conscious decision to leave this open for the time being, as we have several parallel options," Lauer, who runs the Cologne-based airline’s brands outside Germany, told reporters in Vienna today. "A sale is one option, a partial sale is a second option and entering into a partnership is a third." Lufthansa took control of BMI in 2009 when then-owner Michael Bishop exercised a put option as airline values fell during the global slump. The German carrier then bought a stake held by SAS AB, taking the cost to about 350 million pounds ($565 million), including stock bought in 1999, and offered BMI for sale before opting to retain the business while cutting costs in a bid to make it sustainable or attractive to buyers. There is no deadline for a decision on BMI’s future, Lauer said, adding that Lufthansa wasn’t excluding anyone interested in BMI from potential talks. BMI differs from other airlines in the group in that it’s using a hub at London Heathrow airport where the carrier "isn’t just number two, but also with a substantial gap" to the largest airline, British Airways. Lufthansa Group is the biggest carrier at its hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna, which makes a "huge strategic difference," Lauer said. |
WPS on sale of bmi
Oh dear
Many of you will be aware of press reports mentioning that Lufthansa is considering a possible sale of bmi. You will also recall that during our previous meetings regarding the Lufthansa half year results, I spoke about the financial situation of our company. I emphasised that decisive actions are needed to address the financial challenges of our company. The reasons behind these considerations and the current financial situation are due to the following factors: The Middle East and Africa are important markets for bmi and we have been affected more than others by the political unrest in these regions Increased fuel prices The economic situation in the UK These have all affected our business and therefore for reasons such as this Lufthansa and the bmi management team have to look at various options in order to best face these developments. These options include the implementation of a more focused bmi business plan. As I have previously mentioned, we have now taken a fresh look at our business, including questioning how we do our business, in order to find better, more efficient and cost effective solutions to deliver a great service to our customers. The focused business plan details areas such as the markets we serve and sales and marketing initiatives. We have also detailed fundamental changes to internal processes, systems and the way we work. We want to reshape bmi so that it will be in a stronger position to deliver improved results. One of the options being considered by our shareholder is a partial or total sale of bmi. This could be a prolonged process as it will include approaching different parties, due diligence exercises and regulatory requirements. At this stage it is important to say that all the different options need to be explored and assessed and that no decision has been taken. It is therefore our utmost responsibility to deliver improved results for bmi and because of this we will start to prepare the bmi focused business plan. We have the opportunity to strengthen bmi and demonstrate the value of our business to our shareholder. Going forward we need to maintain the high level of service our customers have come to expect from bmi. We will continue to develop our route network, plus we will invest in key investment projects such as reconfiguring our aircraft and our IT infrastructure. I can assure you that the management team and I are fully committed to navigating bmi through this challenging time. I will shortly be arranging staff meetings and I look forward to meeting with you. I count on your continued support. Best regards, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer |
Originally Posted by hugolover
(Post 17057078)
OK guys seems this is 100% official now.
Bloomberg are reporting comments made by Lauer in Vienna today. Regards, |
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