Virgin, EasyJet, and AirAsia alliance?

[fyrefli]

Well, that's the Grauniad's headline, anyway! ;)

"Virgin and EasyJet are to team up with an Asian airline to create the world's first budget global network.

Richard Branson's Virgin and and EasyJet's Stelios Haji-Ioannou will join forces with AirAsia to form a Malaysia-based alliance, the south-east Asian country's Star newspaper says.

It quoted unidentified industry sources as saying that the new joint venture would first fly between Kuala Lumpur and Manchester, and Amritsar in India."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6315181,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704

(Wouldn't be surprised if this moves at some point)

[monkeyboy]

Last week's Business section of the Telegraph mentioned that easyJet were looking at forming an alliance with Hong Kong's newly-formed Oasis airline.

They've got plans, by the looks of it.

[CCLN]

It would appear that we are on the heels of a Low Cost Longhaul era.

Although traditional carriers still give traditional service, they are being forced to adopt the LoCo strategy just to compete.

Interesting...I suppose

[moist]

ZOOM Airlines, are a TransAtlantic LoCo already 4 years in existence.
Good service, low prices and nice aircraft! :D

[Mr Moustache]

Flyglobespan have been in the low cost longhaul business since the Spring of 2006. Initially with GLA to Sandford, Florida, currently also MAN to Cape Town and services to Canada starting up. Plans for New York and Boston.

[despegue]

FlyGlobespan is to be considered the first "Low-Cost Carrier" to start a Longhaul network to several continents. Although its product on intercontinental flights is unique for a LCC, with an economy, Premium eco and Business Class.
2007 will mark the real start of Intercontinental expansion of LCC carriers, and GSM will certainly be one of the big players I think.

[haughtney1]

2007 will mark the real start of Intercontinental expansion of LCC carriers, and GSM will certainly be one of the big players I think

Thats all well and good, but they will need to improve their employment package to attract the flightdeck crew, so they can achieve the expansion:ok:

[kick the tires]

haughtney1

I think anyone would struggle to find a better overall package than that which we already have at EZY!

[haughtney1]

You are taking the proverbial I presume..........a quick look around at ppjn, says otherwise:=

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Just a question here. The linked article suggests that the new joint venture airline could eventually serve Luton because Virgin Trains operates a link to London from there.

Now I thought that Virgin had the West Coast Mainline franchise through Watford etc., not the Midland Mainline route via Luton. Is Virgin running one of the local concessions on this line in succession to Thameslink?

In short, is my admitedly limited knowledge of London issues completely out of date, or does Virgin Trains NOT operate the link between Luton Airport and Central London?

[EI-BUD]

All very exciting guys/girls! Nice to see the low costers such as easyjet looking further than point to point!

Apart from all that , i reckon, purely speculation of course, that Virgin will buy bmi mainline and easyjet will but bmibaby. I have had a feeling for a long time that easyjet will buy out bmibaby, and to be honest if these two companies are talking, ie Richard Branson and Andrew Webster or stelios, it has to have come up in conversation as Richard Branson said to one of the papers recently (again!) that the time is right for Virgin and bmi to tie the knot as it were....

Feedback what does anyone else think???

See link below re easyjet and Hong Kongs Oasis
http://www.uk-airport-news.info/gatwick-airport-news-281206.htm

[orangetree]

yes Easyjet could do with another bunch of wrecked 73's. It took us long enough to get rid of the last ones :ugh:

[EI-BUD]

Interesting remarks about GSM flying low cost long haul. Will be interesting to see how they fair.

Jetstar is one to watch, they have a very good strategy and plan for the next few years. When they get the new 787s they plan serving a range of destinations not currently served direct. They can use info from parent Qantas to find out exactly where the demand is , ie analysing the connections on tickets!

Alan Joyce of Jetstar was interviewed by Australian Avaition magazine and he said the first must was Manchester upon receipt of the 787s. Jetstar offer a two class product, star service in usual low cost style. Buy a low price ticket and pay for all onboard services. and a higher class called Star class. I can see Jetstar becoming a big player in no time at all once these 787s arrive. They are looking for a base in Asia. Jetstar Asia has already but the Qantas wholly owned subsidiary Jetstar Australia is planning one of its own. Probably wont be one of the usual airports such as BKK or SIN

[TechProblem]

Would be good for easyjet to buy bmibaby in Manchester as they are now all out of t3 and have alot of space to play with, also an expanstion request has been put in by the airport to extend t3.

I also know that alot of people use the bmi transfer service between places like EDI and GLA through man to get the VS to MCO, so again another good reason to buy up bmi.

On the Flyglobespan front, they also have 2 787's on order for November 2010, there 3 class service is doing very well out of Manchester to YYZ and CPT, with Calgary and Vancouver being added for the summer, also the YYZ is supposed to be daily during the summer.

[TRon]

I dont think it is any secret they ballsed up by not moving into EGCC earlier, and let Jet2 in there.

Would be interesting though, as MCT is right between EMA and LPL !

I wonder if it would be a completely seprate company with an alliance, as easyJet will struggle to meet this years recruitment requirements let alone half leaving for Long Haul!

[unablereqnavperf]

I think this is a case of "The cheques in the post" or" I promise i won't c** in your mouth" you only believe it when your but is straped to the seat and you have banked the pay check! To many issues will need to be resolved RB is always starting these merger/take over/alliance rumors,ask any ex VEX or VEI pilot if I had a pound for every RB rumor I'd be on a beach retired by now!

[Getoutofmygalley]

easyJet have today denied this rumour. From the companies intranet site....

NO easyJet AND VIRGIN ALLIANCE

You may have seen some press reports over the last couple of days that link easyJet to an alliance with Virgin Atlantic and Air Asia, a low-cost airline based in Kuala Lumpar. You may be interested to know that there is no truth in any of these rumours and it seems as if somebody spoke to the press about an idea before speaking to us about it.

We have always shied-away from any kind of alliance or formal cooperation with other airlines. Our mantra has always been that complexity adds cost and these proposals often look attractive at the start but usually end up with discussions about through-ticketing, transfer passengers, revenue sharing, schedule alignment and the like - which we just don't do.

Given that it is the season of Santa Claus and make believe, our involvement in this story is best confined to the dustbin of airline rumours.

[email protected]

[G-CPTN]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-13559957,00.html
Rumours are continuing to fly about an apparent link-up with Virgin, easyJet and a Far East carrier over offering cheaper flights from the UK to the Far East.
Malaysian carrier FlyasianXpress is a domestic Malaysian carrier controlled by the major owners of low-cost carrier AirAsia.
It could enter into a tie-up with Britain's easyJet and the Virgin group, one report said.
Reports in Malaysian newspapers say that AirAsia, EasyJet and the Virgin group are in talks to form a global no-frills alliance that would offer cheap flights within Asia as well between Europe and Australia via Kuala Lumpur.
Speculation over the tie-up drove shares of AirAsia up as much as 9.3% early on - AirAsia says it is to make a major announcement on a new service on Friday.
The alliance, targeted for a July launch to take advantage of the summer holiday season, would also count cargo-carrying operations as a major source of revenue, said one insider.
"It's expected to be part and parcel of the business," said the source, who did not want to be identified.
The alliance is expected to initially need two aircraft - a toss up between Airbus' A330 or Boeing Co's 777 - and will probably stay a one-make outfit, the source added.
"We're aiming for a soft launch in July - the height of summer."
FAX has been subcontracted by AirAsia to fly domestic rural routes to the eastern Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, taken over from state carrier Malaysia Airlines.

[11K-AVML]

Apart from all that , i reckon, purely speculation of course, that Virgin will buy bmi mainline and easyjet will but bmibaby. I have had a feeling for a long time that easyjet will buy out bmibaby, and to be honest if these two companies are talking, ie Richard Branson and Andrew Webster or stelios, it has to have come up in conversation as Richard Branson said to one of the papers recently (again!) that the time is right for Virgin and bmi to tie the knot as it were....

Feedback what does anyone else think???It would be hard to make an aggresive takeover bid for bmibaby because it doesn't have any shareholders.
This is of course the same for bmi mainline
It's therefore up the owner to agree and SMB has stated on numerous occasions that bmi is not for sale.

Richard Branson is always spouting this kinda of takeover sh** regarding bmi, often by starting rumours. RB would be bad news in my opinion and I like to think SMB recognises that. To the same extent, I would like to think SMB see's RB for who he actually is and thinks that RB is not worthy of taking control of his company.

[unablereqnavperf]

Hear hear,

[Count von Altibar]

It begs the question then which carrier is performing the best today and in recent times? The answer of course is Virgin Atlantic. Sadly, bmi is putting up a poor fight at the moment and the future looks uncertain. Lets face it, SMB is going to sell the company in the near future but to who is anybody's guess and we all know that Sir Dickie wants it badly as he recurrently repeats this in the press and on the radio recently.

[EI-BUD]

I also read on the easyjet intranet that the whole issue of Virgin, Air Asia and some sort of deal or co operation is a rumour only and they emphasised that this is not their policy, such a deal they said would incur cost and they will be sticking to the usual low cost model as it were.

It is interesting as Air Asia have announced that this Friday 05th January they have a huge announcement to make ????
http://www.uk-airport-news.info/stansted-airport-news-020107.htm

See the above link.. Sounds interesting !

[PAXboy]

EI-BUD... purely speculation of course, that Virgin will buy bmi mainlineIn a word - No!
As mentioned by another, BMI is not for sale. Over the years Sir MB has made it clear (in almost as many words) that it will be sold over his dead body. In my view, that is a mistake as the airline will continue to stay in the middle ground but it will be sold only after he loses majority control.

11K-AVML... bid for bmibaby because it doesn't have any shareholders. This is of course the same for bmi mainlineIn a word - No!
Whilst I am not sure if Baby is 100% subsidiary of BD, there ARE several shareholders for BD mainline of whom Sir MB is the largest. Their website does not give the full listing but this is an extract:
Scandinavian Airlines increases its share in British Midland to 35% in 1992, later increasing this to a 40% stake. In 1999 Lufthansa acquires a 20% stake in British Midland from the 40% owned by Scandinavian Airlines.
So it looks like SK = 20, LH = 20, SMB = 60 but there may be other minority shareholders.

[airhumberside]

bmi ownership

50% plus one share - Sir Michael Bishop
30% minus one share - Lufthansa
20% - SAS

[11K-AVML]

bmi ownership

50% plus one share - Sir Michael Bishop
30% minus one share - Lufthansa
20% - SAS
Sorry, that is what I should have said as I do know better.:hmm:
What I really should have said is that British Midland is not a plc.

It is worth bearing in mind that SMB also has the option to sell his stake to Lufthansa for a fixed price under the terms of contract that were originally agreed, so he's not in a position to worry about bmi's value in terms of an exit strategy as much as one might expect (until that agreement expires).

Of course I'm sure he has other concerns, but I do like to think that SMB sees BMI as his company rather than just a business which he owns, however romantic an idea that may sound.

[FFHKG]

Tony Fernandez in TV interview this morning has dismissed speculation that he has been talking to Virgin and Eazyjet with regard to his proposed long-haul loco operation. However, did say that he was always interested in talking to Virgin Blue. Australia and Europe are seen as the primary destinaion for the new airline, which will operate independently of the existing Air Asia operation.

[IJUSTWORKHERE]

From the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6233295.stm

IJWH