OneWorld or MM ?
Aug 17, 2003, 10:54 am
#2
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: KUO
Programs: BA Gold, HH Diamond
Posts: 447
Aug 18, 2003, 6:33 am
#3
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: May 1999
Posts: 46,817
Airline Swiss Board To Meet Monday On Lufthansa Vs Oneworld
Swiss International Air Lines' board will meet Monday to dicuss whether it will merge its operations with Deutsche Lufthansa AG (G.LHA), join the Oneworld alliance or fly on its own, board member Walter Bosch told Swiss Radio DRS.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum83/HTML/001743.html
Swiss International Air Lines' board will meet Monday to dicuss whether it will merge its operations with Deutsche Lufthansa AG (G.LHA), join the Oneworld alliance or fly on its own, board member Walter Bosch told Swiss Radio DRS.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum83/HTML/001743.html
Aug 19, 2003, 2:36 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Belgium
Programs: QR platinum
Posts: 645
BA and Lufthansa make offers for Swiss
8/18/03 7:51:00 AM
ZURICH (Reuters) - Germany's Lufthansa is eyeing a full takeover of struggling
Swiss International Air Lines, while rival British Airways is offering to take a
major stake, a Swiss newspaper says.
The report in the SonntagsZeitung signals that two of Europe's top airlines have
begun whipping up their efforts to get in with loss-making Swiss to kickstart
what many analysts see as the inevitable consolidation of the European industry.
Swiss Chairman Pieter Bouw added fuel to the flames by telling a Dutch
newspaper this weekend that membership of an alliance, seen as essential for
Swiss' survival, could only work optimally in the case of a complete merger.
Quoting an internal source, the SonntagsZeitung said Swiss management had
been to Frankfurt in recent days to discuss a firmed-up offer from Lufthansa to
take over the airline in full.
A spokesman for Lufthansa, which is a key member of the Star Alliance, said:
"We have no comment on such speculation."
British Airways was unavailable to comment.
The SonntagsZeitung quoted spokesman Michael Blunt for oneworld, the rival
alliance led by BA, as saying that Swiss had received a written invitation to join
the alliance.
The paper said that at the same time, BA had offered to participate in the Swiss
carrier which has said it needs 500 million Swiss francs to keep flying into 2004.
A spokeswoman for Swiss said that she would not comment on current talks
with either airline. "We are working on various scenarios and will comment once
there is a result," she said.
She declined to give a timeframe, but Swiss director Walter Bosch told Swiss
radio on Saturday that while it was unlikely the board would decide on strategic
options already at Monday's meeting, it should have made up its mind by
month-end.
Joining an alliance will be key to generating additional ticket sales -- analysts
estimate this brings an extra 100-300 million Swiss francs -- and could help
convince potential backers other than Lufthansa or BA to pump in fresh cash.
Swiss public and private investors who helped launch Swiss with a 2.7 billion-franc
capital injection in April 2002 have already said that they had no interest in spending
more money on the carrier whose earnings have suffered from slumping demand.
Before any financing will be agreed or alliance deals signed, analysts say Swiss
must show progress on capacity reduction and cost-cutting measures.
Swiss is trimming its network, laying off staff and grounding aircraft not only to
boost efficiency and adjust costs to fallen revenues, but also to become an
attractive alliance partner with an acceptable, unthreatening, market position.
In the interview with De Telegraaf, Bouw also launched a new initiative to build on
Swiss' reputation as a premium airline.
He said Swiss would service intercontinental destinations with jets specifically
remodelled for business passengers, typically an airline's most lucrative customers.
In Europe, Swiss would seek to compete head-on with no-frills rivals such as Ryanair
and EasyJet by offering low budget fares in the economy class.
Meanwhile, plans for a deal with Lufthansa appeared to be taking into consideration
Swiss sensivities about the successor airline to collapsed Swiss national icon Swissair.
Swiss paper Tages-Anzeiger said on Saturday that Swiss would keep its brand,
perserving the tell-tale red tail with white Swiss cross on its aircraft, retain its role
as a premium carrier and be an independent unit within the Lufthansa group.
Source: reuters.co.uk
http://www.bbltamex.com/
8/18/03 7:51:00 AM
ZURICH (Reuters) - Germany's Lufthansa is eyeing a full takeover of struggling
Swiss International Air Lines, while rival British Airways is offering to take a
major stake, a Swiss newspaper says.
The report in the SonntagsZeitung signals that two of Europe's top airlines have
begun whipping up their efforts to get in with loss-making Swiss to kickstart
what many analysts see as the inevitable consolidation of the European industry.
Swiss Chairman Pieter Bouw added fuel to the flames by telling a Dutch
newspaper this weekend that membership of an alliance, seen as essential for
Swiss' survival, could only work optimally in the case of a complete merger.
Quoting an internal source, the SonntagsZeitung said Swiss management had
been to Frankfurt in recent days to discuss a firmed-up offer from Lufthansa to
take over the airline in full.
A spokesman for Lufthansa, which is a key member of the Star Alliance, said:
"We have no comment on such speculation."
British Airways was unavailable to comment.
The SonntagsZeitung quoted spokesman Michael Blunt for oneworld, the rival
alliance led by BA, as saying that Swiss had received a written invitation to join
the alliance.
The paper said that at the same time, BA had offered to participate in the Swiss
carrier which has said it needs 500 million Swiss francs to keep flying into 2004.
A spokeswoman for Swiss said that she would not comment on current talks
with either airline. "We are working on various scenarios and will comment once
there is a result," she said.
She declined to give a timeframe, but Swiss director Walter Bosch told Swiss
radio on Saturday that while it was unlikely the board would decide on strategic
options already at Monday's meeting, it should have made up its mind by
month-end.
Joining an alliance will be key to generating additional ticket sales -- analysts
estimate this brings an extra 100-300 million Swiss francs -- and could help
convince potential backers other than Lufthansa or BA to pump in fresh cash.
Swiss public and private investors who helped launch Swiss with a 2.7 billion-franc
capital injection in April 2002 have already said that they had no interest in spending
more money on the carrier whose earnings have suffered from slumping demand.
Before any financing will be agreed or alliance deals signed, analysts say Swiss
must show progress on capacity reduction and cost-cutting measures.
Swiss is trimming its network, laying off staff and grounding aircraft not only to
boost efficiency and adjust costs to fallen revenues, but also to become an
attractive alliance partner with an acceptable, unthreatening, market position.
In the interview with De Telegraaf, Bouw also launched a new initiative to build on
Swiss' reputation as a premium airline.
He said Swiss would service intercontinental destinations with jets specifically
remodelled for business passengers, typically an airline's most lucrative customers.
In Europe, Swiss would seek to compete head-on with no-frills rivals such as Ryanair
and EasyJet by offering low budget fares in the economy class.
Meanwhile, plans for a deal with Lufthansa appeared to be taking into consideration
Swiss sensivities about the successor airline to collapsed Swiss national icon Swissair.
Swiss paper Tages-Anzeiger said on Saturday that Swiss would keep its brand,
perserving the tell-tale red tail with white Swiss cross on its aircraft, retain its role
as a premium carrier and be an independent unit within the Lufthansa group.
Source: reuters.co.uk
http://www.bbltamex.com/
Aug 26, 2003, 3:53 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2001
Location: YVR
Posts: 3,918
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/030826/airlines_swiss_1.html
SWISS declined a newspaper report that it is finalizing a deal with BA to join oneWorld.
SWISS declined a newspaper report that it is finalizing a deal with BA to join oneWorld.