Norwegian to fly between UK, Ireland and U.S. NE Coast cities. from Summer 2017.
Apr 12, 2018, 8:45 am
#241
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The timing's also interesting, just ahead of the extraordinary general meeting. https://www.norwegian.com/globalasse...of-the-egm.pdf
Apr 12, 2018, 5:00 pm
#242
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No you're right, I just picked the news up now post midnight, now I'm back from rehearsal. Amazing, I can hardly believe it. BA progressively eliminate the competition with a zeal that is unmatched elsewhere. The only cherry on the cake they've not managed to bite off is Virgin Atlantic, which still surprises me. I'd have thought they'd have found a way to wipe them out of existence by now.
Apr 12, 2018, 5:33 pm
#243
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No you're right, I just picked the news up now post midnight, now I'm back from rehearsal. Amazing, I can hardly believe it. BA progressively eliminate the competition with a zeal that is unmatched elsewhere. The only cherry on the cake they've not managed to bite off is Virgin Atlantic, which still surprises me. I'd have thought they'd have found a way to wipe them out of existence by now.
Apr 12, 2018, 5:37 pm
#244
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Well that is what I thought and that means I was right to advise friends to be careful and use a credit card for any bookings, never mind any extra fees. And so IAG is not BA? What does the clown in the street know about that? But I take your point, and maybe the acquisition can save jobs and keep some of that route network alive. It would also give IAG a finger in the Scandinavian market, maybe not a bad thing given the endless years of SAS dominance.
Apr 12, 2018, 8:06 pm
#245
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Well that is what I thought and that means I was right to advise friends to be careful and use a credit card for any bookings, never mind any extra fees. And so IAG is not BA? What does the clown in the street know about that? But I take your point, and maybe the acquisition can save jobs and keep some of that route network alive. It would also give IAG a finger in the Scandinavian market, maybe not a bad thing given the endless years of SAS dominance.
Apr 13, 2018, 12:22 am
#246
Join Date: Jan 2010
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Credit cards have legal protection known as Section 75 (of the Consumer Credit Act) where I am, debit (and charge?) cards have protection but it's voluntary from the card companies so not as robust.
Apr 13, 2018, 4:56 am
#247
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Most folks ascribe nefarious reasons to IAG for having an interest in Norwegian, and I suspect they're right. I don't know exactly what game they're playing, however (but then I'm no expert on European bankruptcy laws and such). Buying a competitor to shut them down isn't that unusual. Heck, I even thought Southwest bought AirTran largely to eliminate a competitor. But this usually happens when the competitor is solvent. When they're bleeding money, you usually just wait for them to fail. So it's certainly interesting.
Why buys airline tickets with cash? You definitely need to buy tickets on struggling airlines with a credit card, but I don't know the financial protections available in Europe for such purchases. And if you're taking summer of 2019, there's a long time to go before your friend should be shopping for an airline ticket!
Why buys airline tickets with cash? You definitely need to buy tickets on struggling airlines with a credit card, but I don't know the financial protections available in Europe for such purchases. And if you're taking summer of 2019, there's a long time to go before your friend should be shopping for an airline ticket!
With respect to your first paragraph, I’ve never understood how BA has been allowed to wipe so many competing airlines out of existence. Their current state of service is exactly what I predicted some years ago and I suspect Lufthansa will become the same now that airberlin has disappeared (but that is another story).
Last edited by Concerto; Apr 13, 2018 at 5:40 am Reason: incomplete post because friend joined me for coffee
Apr 13, 2018, 8:42 am
#248
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I see you're a wiseguy. But Norwegian is a public company with actual financial reports. After seeing the past couple quarters, I'm pretty sure the rah-rah crowd has now gone quiet and everybody (but you) agrees with me that they're "bleeding money." Heck, they're having a special meeting of shareholders today to try to deal with it!
The idea that BA would be interested in Norwegian because they are a "successful company" is simply hilarious. That said, they are not as well managed as the major USA airlines, so I don't have complete confidence in whatever strategy they're pursuing.
The idea that BA would be interested in Norwegian because they are a "successful company" is simply hilarious. That said, they are not as well managed as the major USA airlines, so I don't have complete confidence in whatever strategy they're pursuing.
Apr 13, 2018, 8:59 am
#249
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Apr 13, 2018, 1:43 pm
#250
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I’m with you all the way. However, Switzerland and Germany are not at all credit card oriented like the USA and people often pay by direct bank debit (myself included). Here the mentality is to book as far in advance as possible, a mentally engendered by the rise of easyJet (whose advertising always screamed that the earlier you book, the cheaper a deal you will get).
As far as cash goes, I find it weird. In Iceland, cash is almost useless. In Japan, a country where you'd THINK cash might be useless, lots of folks don't take credit cards. I know in Germany and Switzerland, I always have enough cash in my pocket to pay for dinner in case I need to. In the USA, I can often go a month without needing any cash, except a stash of singles for our silly tipping culture (parking lot attendants, bartenders, etc).
Apr 13, 2018, 1:51 pm
#251
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Not a bit surprising. Even the Dublin routes on the majors struggle in the wintertime -- there's always cheap leisure fares for winter travel on those routes (for good reason -- going to Ireland in winter for sightseeing seems foolish to me). The idea that Cork flights would work in winter seems about zero to me.
Apr 14, 2018, 1:48 am
#252
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Most folks ascribe nefarious reasons to IAG for having an interest in Norwegian, and I suspect they're right. I don't know exactly what game they're playing, however (but then I'm no expert on European bankruptcy laws and such). Buying a competitor to shut them down isn't that unusual. Heck, I even thought Southwest bought AirTran largely to eliminate a competitor. But this usually happens when the competitor is solvent. When they're bleeding money, you usually just wait for them to fail. So it's certainly interesting.
So waiting for an airline to go bust and hoping you’ll pick up want you want in the fire sale doesn’t always work.
Apr 14, 2018, 1:56 am
#253
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BA’s CEO (ex-Vueling) is out of touch but Alex Cruz isn’t making the bid for Norwegian. Again, BA is now just a subsidiary of IAG. A major one, the major one. But a subsidiary nonetheless.
Apr 14, 2018, 4:30 pm
#254
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Ok, I recognize your clarification with that. It’s just that not only will the man in the street have never heard of IAG, even the relatively experienced flyer, compared with us lot, will have never heard of IAG. The standout brand, of course, is BA, no matter how much the great masters and leaders have tried to destroy BA.
Apr 14, 2018, 6:16 pm
#255
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IAG is incredibly well managed. Their 2017 operating profit margin was the best for a mainline carrier in Europe and on a par with Delta. Willie Walsh is a very smart guy, and an airline guy through and through (he started as a pilot at Aer Lingus).
BA’s CEO (ex-Vueling) is out of touch but Alex Cruz isn’t making the bid for Norwegian. Again, BA is now just a subsidiary of IAG. A major one, the major one. But a subsidiary nonetheless.