1010101

He could have kept his mouth shut. A lot of people rely on Flybe's network and they are of minimal competition to BA. He had no need to say anything but he can't resist the sort of predatory tactics that have seen many airlines in Europe fail and the rest race to the bottom.

krispy84

He spoke out about an issue he felt might be a threat to IAG’s profitability. Whether one likes it or not, that’s his job. People being reliant on FlyBe isn’t his concern, and there is obviously some competition or he wouldn’t have said anything.

Predatory tactics? Race to the bottom? That’s called the market. You can take the customer to the wine cellar but can’t make them drink the Lafite. I remember over 20 years ago my parents paying £600+ for SOU - GLA, but at least we got a cooked breakfast with metal cutlery right?

tigertanaka

Looks like Air Italy might be the next one for the airline graveyard.

Transport Minister Paola De Micheli asked for an urgent meeting with Air Italy inviting the company to suspend any decision regarding the possible liquidation of the company until the meeting with the relevant ministries. "The decision to liquidate a company of this size is not acceptable without first informing the Government and without seriously considering any alternatives, therefore - declares the minister - I expect Air Italy to suspend the resolution until the meeting that we can already schedule starting from the next few hours ".

Air Italy: De Micheli, società sospenda ogni decisione - Economia - ANSA (in Italian)

Apparently in 2018, the company lost €164m on revenues of €284m!

Globaliser

Thanks - that doesn't sound good.

For those who may not be aware, Air Italy was formerly known as Meridiana, and remains a current BAEC partner.

flatlander

Another quality investment decision by Qatar Airways.

It was the minority stakes in loss-making airlines (especially SABENA) that sank Swissair...

Prospero

Now reported on Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...bled-air-italy

"Air Italy investors Qatar Airways and the Aga Khan decided to put the struggling carrier into liquidation, citing “persistent and structural conditions” in the market.

Shareholders of the two-year-old airline acted unanimously and the Italian carrier will guarantee flights scheduled through Feb. 25 by other operators, Air Italy said Tuesday in a statement. Qatar Airways said separately it was prepared “to do its part to support the turnaround and the growth of the airline,” but that would have been possible only with the commitment of all shareholders. Air Italy had losses of about 200 million euros ($218 million) in 2019 and 160 million euros in 2018, and canceled flights to New York and Lagos on Monday, Italian daily Il Messaggero reported Tuesday."

1010101

Swissair wasn't backed by an oil rich government. QR is going nowhere.

Air Italy is not a particularly surprising one. They never had an identity. They did some short haul, some long haul, some premium routes, some tourist routes, all with minimal connectivity and presence.

Concerto

I think the Meridiana name and brand was better, Air Italy just makes you think of the joke that Italy is. Remember Parmalat? The only airline that seems to make money there is Air Dolomiti, and that's run by the Germans, of course.

The short haul route network is daft, just a few domestic routes no-one would use. Once I had an Avios ticket for Moscow-Milan, and they pulled the route. It's just a shame to see the old legacies like that disappear one after another.

cornishsimon

Further speculation behind a paywall article in the daily telegraph today that the government could well be about to not back BE.

Seems that resignation / reshuffle in the cabinet might not be a good thing for the rescue package at BE

cs

KARFA

What happened with Virgin/Stobart/Cyrus? Have they written BE off as a lost cause? I don't see them trying to solve this?

LimitingFactor

I couldn’t read that article but it was notable that the new chancellor appears against reform to domestic APD which Flybe said it needed to survive.

PeteM01

New Chancellor Rishi Sunak could abandon a controversial overhaul of air passenger duty agreed as part of a rescue deal for Flybe - hurling the regional airline's long-term future into jeopardy.

Mr Sunak is against a cut to the tax, industry sources said. His predecessor Sajid Javid had backed a reduction in a bid to keep Flybe afloat.

One source said: “The change of Chancellor will make it significantly less likely to happen.

“The message was: ‘Don’t bank on it happening.’”

Flybe has complained for years that air passenger duty (APD) of up to £26 per flight disproportionately affects its finances, making its low-cost, short trips between UK cities less attractive than alternatives such as taking the train.

Slashing the levy was a key part of a rescue deal agreed with ministers last month when the airline came close to appointing administrators after running low on cash.

The carrier's backers - who include billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson - are thought to have warned that a tax cut is essential for its survival.

Talks are continuing over a taxpayer-funded £100m bridging loan to fix a hole in Flybe’s finances, which could go ahead even if APD is not reduced.

cornishsimon

well I don’t see srb putting his hand in his pocket to fund the airline.


yep. That’s the gist of it.

I assume that the deferred backdated payment can’t be demanded as that was agreed by the previous occupant of the seat.

However I don’t see the suggested reform of domestic apd coming off.

This leaves BE in a pickle as they have stated they can’t survive without this and I can’t in all honesty see a bright future.

which begs the question what the heck are the consortium doing here, was this really just an attempt to get VIrgins hands on LHR slots via the back door ?

can we see a fire sale type situation coming up where the valuable slots are transferred to virgin ?


cs

LimitingFactor

We have already learnt that Virgin and the others placed a mortgage charge on the planes which didn’t already have one in return for the cash they put in. Could they have secured their money on the slots as well? If so, then it will be an easy task for Virgin to get them!

Prospero

Does FlyBe own any valuable slots?