Eduan
6th Sep 2010, 16:02
From this morning's Telegraph:
"Willie Walsh is thinking Big. BA's Irish born chief executive has drawn up a shortlist of 12 airlines he would like to buy once the merger with Iberia has been completed... There may be a dose of wishful thinking about such ambitious plans, but Mr Walsh has been hard at work attempting to chart the future for International Airlines Group (IAG) – the BA and Iberia holding company – as well as coping with BA's little local difficulties back home. The list has emerged in the last few months as a result of a series of detailed conversations with Antonio Vazquez – his opposite number at Iberia – to ensure IAG is at the forefront of the next round of consolidation in an industry heading for another shake-up. Mr Walsh would not comment on the identity of the 12 – and stressed that no approaches have yet been made. But they are understood to include Qantas, South African Airways and Finnair and at least one low cost operator, believed to be AirAsia. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in Mumbai, Mr Walsh said conversations about targets have been ongoing for "months", with a view to ensuring that IAG's eventual structure does not preclude the takeover of other airlines."
BA's Walsh draws up shopping list of 12 airlines - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/7983177/BAs-Walsh-draws-up-shopping-list-of-12-airlines.html)
"Willie Walsh is thinking Big. BA's Irish born chief executive has drawn up a shortlist of 12 airlines he would like to buy once the merger with Iberia has been completed... There may be a dose of wishful thinking about such ambitious plans, but Mr Walsh has been hard at work attempting to chart the future for International Airlines Group (IAG) – the BA and Iberia holding company – as well as coping with BA's little local difficulties back home. The list has emerged in the last few months as a result of a series of detailed conversations with Antonio Vazquez – his opposite number at Iberia – to ensure IAG is at the forefront of the next round of consolidation in an industry heading for another shake-up. Mr Walsh would not comment on the identity of the 12 – and stressed that no approaches have yet been made. But they are understood to include Qantas, South African Airways and Finnair and at least one low cost operator, believed to be AirAsia. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in Mumbai, Mr Walsh said conversations about targets have been ongoing for "months", with a view to ensuring that IAG's eventual structure does not preclude the takeover of other airlines."
BA's Walsh draws up shopping list of 12 airlines - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/7983177/BAs-Walsh-draws-up-shopping-list-of-12-airlines.html)