BMI
Join Date: Dec 2007
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According to the avblty, the A330 is still optg LHR-CAI and LHR-TLV with the TLV dropping to 12 flts per week
Cannot see them dropping the svc to an A320 as it would be commercial suicide after building up such a good reputation with the biz and prem on the A330s
Cannot see them dropping the svc to an A320 as it would be commercial suicide after building up such a good reputation with the biz and prem on the A330s
Join Date: Jul 2004
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EC-ILS think you will find CAI/TLV still on A330 - probably dropping chefs as dont have many to crew the flights as most of the ex MAN chefs have left now.
Probably wont be more than six months before they are ditched on the RUH aswell - if bmi as we know it is still around in six months
Probably wont be more than six months before they are ditched on the RUH aswell - if bmi as we know it is still around in six months
Join Date: Jul 2006
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SAS Sells Remaining Stake in BMI to Lufthansa - DealBook Blog - NYTimes.com
SAS Sells Remaining Stake in BMI to Lufthansa
October 1, 2009, 7:10 am
SAS, the Swedish airline, said Thursday that it had sold its 20 percent stake in British Midland, or BMI, to Lufthansa and an affiliate for 38 million pounds ($61 million) up front, while additional payments may follow.
The German airline can now decide alone what it will do with the struggling British carrier, while SAS said it wanted to concentrate on what it considers its home markets in the Nordic region.
“These are the markets we know best, and where we have the best position,” Vice President Sture Stølen of SAS said in an interview.
“It doesn’t make sense for us to hold minority stakes in airlines all over Europe,” he said, adding that “we have stakes in Spanair and Air Baltic, and we plan to exit those, too.”
Lufthansa’s affiliate will pay 19 million pounds for shares that SAS holds in BMI, the second-largest carrier at Heathrow after British Airways, and the German airline will pay an additional 19 million pounds for other rights held by SAS.
The Swedish airline could also receive more over the next two years, depending on BMI’s profitability.
SAS first bought into BMI in 1989, and will continue to collaborate with it through the Star Alliance, a group of international airlines.
LHBD Holding, a British company one-third owned by Lufthansa, has held 80 percent of BMI shares since the start of July, and will receive the remaining 20 percent once the transaction is completed. The deal will be wrapped up November 1, Lufthansa said.
Mr. Stølen said the move “gives Lufthansa much more freedom to do whatever they want to do.”
Aage Duenhaupt, a Lufthansa spokesman based in London, said the company was still defining its strategy.
“We’re working to stabilize BMI and put it back in the black,” he said. “The options go from a total integration to a total sale.”
Buying all of BMI allows Lufthansa to decide whether to sell it, without having to negotiate at length with other shareholders.
“We have to make a decision fast,” Mr. Duenhaupt said, adding that “It’s a crisis situation in the industry.”
Mr. Duenhaupt would not comment on which company BMI might be sold to, but British Airways has expressed interest in its smaller rival in recent days.
The global recession has hit the airline industry hard, and SAS is no exception. In August, it reported a loss of $150 million for the first half of the year, and is continuing to reduce capacity and cut jobs. Before taxes and one-off restructuring costs, the loss amounts to $122 million.
Mr. Stølen said that out of the 21 aircraft the company planned to take offline, 14 were already gone, another four or five would be pulled out this month, and the rest in early 2010. Of the 3,000 layoffs initially planned, 1,227 have been carried out so far.
SAS shares rose as high as 5.10 Swedish kronor in morning trading in Stockholm, before falling back to 4.96 kronor, just 0.20 percent above where they opened.
Lufthansa shares were down 0.99 percent to 11.99 euros in midday trading.
So where the hell does this leave us then
SAS Sells Remaining Stake in BMI to Lufthansa
October 1, 2009, 7:10 am
SAS, the Swedish airline, said Thursday that it had sold its 20 percent stake in British Midland, or BMI, to Lufthansa and an affiliate for 38 million pounds ($61 million) up front, while additional payments may follow.
The German airline can now decide alone what it will do with the struggling British carrier, while SAS said it wanted to concentrate on what it considers its home markets in the Nordic region.
“These are the markets we know best, and where we have the best position,” Vice President Sture Stølen of SAS said in an interview.
“It doesn’t make sense for us to hold minority stakes in airlines all over Europe,” he said, adding that “we have stakes in Spanair and Air Baltic, and we plan to exit those, too.”
Lufthansa’s affiliate will pay 19 million pounds for shares that SAS holds in BMI, the second-largest carrier at Heathrow after British Airways, and the German airline will pay an additional 19 million pounds for other rights held by SAS.
The Swedish airline could also receive more over the next two years, depending on BMI’s profitability.
SAS first bought into BMI in 1989, and will continue to collaborate with it through the Star Alliance, a group of international airlines.
LHBD Holding, a British company one-third owned by Lufthansa, has held 80 percent of BMI shares since the start of July, and will receive the remaining 20 percent once the transaction is completed. The deal will be wrapped up November 1, Lufthansa said.
Mr. Stølen said the move “gives Lufthansa much more freedom to do whatever they want to do.”
Aage Duenhaupt, a Lufthansa spokesman based in London, said the company was still defining its strategy.
“We’re working to stabilize BMI and put it back in the black,” he said. “The options go from a total integration to a total sale.”
Buying all of BMI allows Lufthansa to decide whether to sell it, without having to negotiate at length with other shareholders.
“We have to make a decision fast,” Mr. Duenhaupt said, adding that “It’s a crisis situation in the industry.”
Mr. Duenhaupt would not comment on which company BMI might be sold to, but British Airways has expressed interest in its smaller rival in recent days.
The global recession has hit the airline industry hard, and SAS is no exception. In August, it reported a loss of $150 million for the first half of the year, and is continuing to reduce capacity and cut jobs. Before taxes and one-off restructuring costs, the loss amounts to $122 million.
Mr. Stølen said that out of the 21 aircraft the company planned to take offline, 14 were already gone, another four or five would be pulled out this month, and the rest in early 2010. Of the 3,000 layoffs initially planned, 1,227 have been carried out so far.
SAS shares rose as high as 5.10 Swedish kronor in morning trading in Stockholm, before falling back to 4.96 kronor, just 0.20 percent above where they opened.
Lufthansa shares were down 0.99 percent to 11.99 euros in midday trading.
So where the hell does this leave us then
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To be honest, they're hardly going to buy 20% to then sell 100% of bmi are they?....
They realise this is a snip to get full control (which incidently may well confer full TUPE rights on bmi employees) and to allow unfettered restructuring.
Should they choose to sell in the future remains to be seen, but I can't see that happening soon.
They realise this is a snip to get full control (which incidently may well confer full TUPE rights on bmi employees) and to allow unfettered restructuring.
Should they choose to sell in the future remains to be seen, but I can't see that happening soon.
Join Date: Oct 2002
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“We’re working to stabilize BMI and put it back in the black,” he said. “The options go from a total integration to a total sale.”
“We have to make a decision fast,” Mr. Duenhaupt said, adding that “It’s a crisis situation in the industry.”
A first hint that all is not well with Lufthansa ?
“We have to make a decision fast,” Mr. Duenhaupt said, adding that “It’s a crisis situation in the industry.”
A first hint that all is not well with Lufthansa ?
To be honest, they're hardly going to buy 20% to then sell 100% of bmi are they?....
By owning 100% of bmi, bmi becomes rather more attractive to any company which wishes to bid for bmi either in whole or in part - the obligation for any bidder to co-operate with SAS no longer exists.
This does not mean that Lufty will sell bmi - just that they are removing one significant constraint from decisions they will make with regards to bmi's future. Of course, the offers Lufty may get from BA / Virgin / Flybe / others may well mean that Lufty decide to keep bmi
A first hint that all is not well with Lufthansa ?
All is not well with most network carriers, if you've been reading the papers over the last year. That said, LH is in better shape than most, but if they can't integrate bmi in a meaningful way in the Aviation Group, they'll flick it off as soon as they can.
Owning 100% of the airline is the first step in that direction
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Maybe the offer to sell, was the most accurate way to determime the value of the 20% SAS share? This would explain why Virgin have been so uncharacteristically quiet of late, they realise Lufty are not serious about a sale, and are just time wasting while they activate their plan.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
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Essential reading for BMI watchers
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: A posh villa in Rome
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And Sir Michael bows out:
Big shot of the week: will Bishop be parachuted into ITV?
Big shot of the week: will Bishop be parachuted into ITV? - Times Online
and
and the best comment for last!
Big shot of the week: will Bishop be parachuted into ITV?
Big shot of the week: will Bishop be parachuted into ITV? - Times Online
In the summer he became a free agent, having offloaded his majority stake in bmi to Lufthansa, the German carrier, in a deal that the Germans will have regretted.
His friend believes that there are parallels between running an airline and ITV, where his first job, if he is appointed, will be to sort out the log- jam in appointing a chief executive and do something about the parlous state of its finances. He would have to mediate between independently minded creative types and the Government. “The airline industry is pretty tough, too. You’ve got virtuoso airline pilots with no loyalty to the company and a Government which is always changing tack on the regulation of airlines.
He’s a very wily fox and also a long-time player.”
I Have Control
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He's certainly old......the words"avaricious", "ambitious", "self-obsessed" and "ruthless" also spring to mind, along with the odd label not considered PC, more-related to PG!
Wouldn't be surprised if he joined the BBC....."...suits him sir..."
Wouldn't be surprised if he joined the BBC....."...suits him sir..."
Uncle Pete
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The bottom line is that SMB and his merry men kept me in work from September 1970 through to February 2002. The pay was always there and on time, through thick and thin.
This was no mean feat givin the hike in oil prices, a couple of wars in the MIddle East oil states.
Many have fallen by the wayside in this period so have a thought for what he achieved for many of us.
Still blowing the kids' inheritance!
MP
This was no mean feat givin the hike in oil prices, a couple of wars in the MIddle East oil states.
Many have fallen by the wayside in this period so have a thought for what he achieved for many of us.
Still blowing the kids' inheritance!
MP
@ Flitefone
Now wouldn't James Hogan just relish returning to EMA as Lord of the Manor...
Etihad Airways is part of the Abu Dhabi Government’s ambitious push into the global aviation market and a bid by this well capitalised airline is not beyond the realms of possibility.