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mathers, the 3 X 321 orders you mention for bmi are not happening. DLH took them.
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STN Ramp Rat I'm not sure whether you are correct? From the acas website; Quote: TUPE applies when..... where a company, or part of it, is bought or acquired by another (if the second company buys or acquires the assets and then runs the business rather than acquiring the shares only)...... It would seem that if the business (aircraft, slots etc) are transferred to IAG then TUPE applies. However, if BMI continues to operate as it's own brand then it becomes more complicated. |
Diamond Club Miles
Probably a minor detail in the scheme of things since regulatory approval not yet in place but, question re Diamond Club miles. I have significant miles built up, have been saving them up. Does anyone know if they will be transferred to LH under Star for use on Star partners or will the accounts be brought into BAs own scheme? (which changed name recently)
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Cyrano, I agree a disposal of baby could still be under negotiation but I can't understand why WW would specifically mention baby in an interview if he didn't have a strategy for it going forward.
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If IAG does aquire BMi then its first job is to stop the losses being incurred before any integration into BA mainline.
The big question is what manpower would BA need (if any) to integrate, as well as expand its own bussiness ? One thing is for sure ,there'll be no rush to sign up the BMI managment team. |
Codeshare question
How much notice does BD have to give to the various airlines it codeshares with? Does it matter whether the airline is Star or non Star?
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Despite what Pup has said, I believe that Inky is correct in suggesting that Regional would technically be in the same position as WW, were it's much more advanced disposal to fall through. Much of this is academic, as I believe the sale process is ongoing and should be completed soon. However, in the unlikely event that the Regional deal falls through, IAG would have the option to buy as there are no other serious buyers in the market for bmiR. I could be wrong, I have been before and probably will be again, but I dont think I am too far off the mark. WW is slightly more complicated to divorce as they are much more integrated into the BMI Group, and as far as I am aware never had a separate shareholding structure as distinct as Regional's, although I do stand to be corrected by those who would know better. |
BBC News - Lufthansa to sell BMI to British Airways owner IAG
Lufthansa has said it is selling British Midland (BMI) to International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways and Iberia. No details have yet been given of how much will be paid for the loss-making carrier. The airlines said they hoped to sign a purchase agreement "in the coming weeks" and complete the deal before April 2012. But Virgin Atlantic told the BBC that it could still buy the airline. The sale still has to be cleared by regulators. BMI, which is based in Castle Donington in Leicestershire, operates flights to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The key issue for regulators will be the extra take-off and landing slots at Heathrow Airport that BMI owns. The acquisition would mean that IAG would have more than half of the landing slots at the UK's busiest airport. Bidding war? But Virgin Atlantic, which has also made a bid for BMI, said the deal was not yet done. "We have put in a bid so it is by no means a one-horse race," Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway told Radio 5 live. "It is not a binding agreement and both companies are still talking to Lufthansa." In a statement, the airline said that "British Airways' hold over Heathrow is already too dominant" and IAG's purchase of BMI would be "disastrous for consumer choice and competition". Geoff van Klaveren from Deutsche Bank said the deal would make a big difference for IAG. "It boosts their slots at Heathrow to 54% share from 45%. Given that no new runways are likely to be built in the South East of England in next 10 years, this is a crucial strategic move," he said. Lufthansa bought the 50% of BMI owned by its then chairman Sir Michael Bishop in 2008, taking its holding to 80%. It decided to sell it as the carrier's losses widened. It reported a loss of 154m euros ($213m; £133m) for the first nine months of this year, hit by rising fuel costs and social unrest in some of its destinations in North Africa and the Middle East. BMI also has a no-frills subsidiary called BMIBaby and the Aberdeen-based BMI Regional. BMI announced on 28 October that it was in advanced talks to sell BMI Regional to a UK-based investor group that would continue to run it as an independent airline. |
BMI scrappage scheme
Breaking up BMI for scrap is a logical move for Lufthansa, given that it hasn't been able to establish an identity or direction for the carrier since acquiring it.
Selling Regional to FlyBe or Loganair is a no-brainer, it's a Scottish based carrier and its EDI ops base and slots, and Embraer fleet dovetail well with either of these operators. BMIBaby may well be fought over - Jet2 has expansion plans, but Stelios's new baby Fastjet could be hungrier for the planes, even 15-18 year old crappy 737s, since they come with an ideal package of slots at EasyJet airports like PRG, NCE, FCO, VCE, MLA, BCN, AGP, ALC, PMI, FAO, EDI and GLA. Whilst many (including me) think BMI mainline would have been a natural merger with Virgin, Virgin's business model is based on long-haul and apart from a couple of A330s and a lot of slots, would have difficulty merging BMI's fleet and crews into its own operation - it tried European flying twice before and didn't like it, the profit's in the higher fare structures and lower slot demand of aircraft kept in the air for longer. So it's BA or bust. The advantages for BA/IAG are a couple of A330s for Iberia, and two dozen low-mileage A319/320/321s to replace the clapped out 737-400 fleet, some of which are over 20 years old (Willie Walsh, I should give Stelios a ring if I were you, they'll match his ex-Baby ones) The advantages for Lufthansa are saddling its main competitor with a £125 million a year loss-making enterprise, and 3600 unwanted staff. |
The loss of slots to IAG won't really worry LH - the current network connecting LHR to the 3 major hubs and secondary European destinations is adequate to service a mature market and the grand plans of the late 90s of using LHR as an aircraft carrier to attack BA's North Atlantic business class market dominance (the raison d'etre for the put/call deal between Weber and SMB) have long been archived.
LH gets some cash back and is rid of a long-term drain on its balance sheet. Case closed. Breaking up BMI for scrap is a logical move for Lufthansa, given that it hasn't been able to establish an identity or direction for the carrier since acquiring it. |
Is there a name to go with the Private investor group, buying BMI Regional.
Or a named individual? Anyone in the know, know how the sale is progressing? Have BALPA ok'd it? Any timeframe on a completion date? Cheers, Rougueg |
The investor names are currently commercially sensitive so will not be released before completion of the deal.
Due diligence is continuing and should be completed before the end of November. As there is no change to any aircrew positions BALPA have no need to give their blessing to a commercial deal that will secure people's jobs. This deal should provide much less uncertainty than the IAG deal for mainline. Completion date is a moveable feast.... |
Completion before end NOV sounds v. positive.
Cheers |
No More bmi TXL
Seems like LH is taking over LHR-TXL from bmi. Guessing this will be until BER opens when LH will operate also.
LH3127 LHR0905 | TXL1155 D LH3129 LHR1410 | TXL1700 x1357 LH3129 LHR1415 | TXL1705 1357 LH3131 LHR1925 | TXL2215 D LH3126 TXL0720 | LHR0825 D LH3128 TXL1235 | LHR1335 D LH3130 TXL1745 | LHR1845 D Funnily though the above schedule is available on the bmi website, but the LH website still shows the bmi operated flights! |
Heard from a trusted source that Donington Hall went on the market today. Is the IAG deal moving that fast??
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Suppose the sale of bmi to IAG fell through - what would you anticipate Lufthansa doing next ? In any case to sell a large site like Donington Hall will take time - taking vacant possession of the site need not be at the same time that a contract for sale is agreed. Bit different from flogging a flat at the High Street estate agent ! :-)
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Suppose the sale of bmi to IAG fell through - what would you anticipate Lufthansa doing next ? |
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Hi SSK
Interesting information re the conversation preserving BHD LHR or the route to NI. It is surprising that no reference is made to the fact that there is a very reliable and good service from Aer Lingus who have won a good share of the market. It is conceiveable that Aer Lingus would make additional slots available should bmi/iag decide to withdraw next year. Yes if bmi disappeared from BHD and BA didnt assume the route the BFS LHR link would not offer the capacity that is currently required. Belfast is well served from London area and it always will be as one of the major domestic routes, though in terms of ring fencing slots, it hasnt happened for LHR flights before and I cant see it happening now, egs JER, GLA, IOM, so of which have completely disappeared. Furthermore, if Belfast London LHR was designated a PSO , the question is then what about all the other routes like JER, GLA, IOM, PLH, MME, LBA etc. what can be said for them examples, some have been cut some have been curtailed, eg GLA... Aviation in EU is deregulated, airlines make commmerical decisions, as they should be allowed to. I also believe that Belfast does not have as strong a case as say GLA or EDI for ring fencing slots as BFS being on a different Island will mean that air transport is more necessary and hence a stronger business case than say MAN or GLA who could have the alternative of a rail service (potentially). |
The Lords discuss Belfast /Heathrow
Aer Lingus also op into LHR from BFS.
If BA are successful in taking over BMI and decide not to op to Belfast in their own right , I could see them working with EI , maybe leasing them a few slots so they can enhance their current service to 6 or 7 a day though whether this would be from BHD or BFS , I don-t know. BA did loose a lot of money previously on BFS/LHR but they were burdened with the cost of a crew base and self handling stations.Without these costs and with lower crew costs of mixed fleet cabin crew and without the competition they previously had from BMI they may find it worthwhile to op in their own right. They do get a lot of connecting traffic from N.I. even without their own service to the province and this would increase if they operated themselves. So far as Scotland is concerned ,there is much less threat. Edi has almost always been BA's most (sometimes only ) profitable domestic route and in fact sometimes ranked among the best on shorthaul network .There are many other shorthaul routes that would go before EDI if slots were needed. GLA hasn-t been as strong but the economics will have changed with BMI withdrawing from the route and this is reflected in BA's recent frequency increase and the use of larger a.c including 767. BA have announced further freq increases recently on MAN/EDI/GLA altho thid may be partly political to help its case to takeover BMI. |
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