Branson viewing to buy Gatwick Airport
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Branson viewing to buy Gatwick Airport
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I dont think there is a chance in this world they would let that happen, in this case BAA. Even though they are under preasure to let go of Gatwick, it has a lot to do with competition. I remember in 2000 when Stelios wanted to buy Luton airport and he was offering an insane amount of money, they still said no.
svoa
svoa
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SVoa
It may well soon be the case that what BAA want to do and what they legally must do become two different matters. While they may not want to sell Gatwick or Stansted, if the Competition Commission makes its judgement that they have to sell two of their 3 London airports, lets face it neither is liklely to be Heathrow!
This time it would not be a case of people offering BAA money on a speculative sale, it'll be to the highest bidder because they have to sell!
BBC NEWS | Business | BAA 'should sell three airports'
It may well soon be the case that what BAA want to do and what they legally must do become two different matters. While they may not want to sell Gatwick or Stansted, if the Competition Commission makes its judgement that they have to sell two of their 3 London airports, lets face it neither is liklely to be Heathrow!
This time it would not be a case of people offering BAA money on a speculative sale, it'll be to the highest bidder because they have to sell!
BBC NEWS | Business | BAA 'should sell three airports'
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tubby, if you look at VT and their failures, it was Virgin XC that was more of a wash-out than Virgin WC. And, it is not only Virgin at fault, but also Railtrack (now Network Rail), and Stagecoach, Virgin's partner in VT.
The Pendolino services, together with the Mallard services from GNER, put some of the joy back into taking the train, whereas FGW and their new layout still gets a bollocking for being crap. Without Virgin's high-profile campaigns to embarrass the government and its lapdog (Network Rail), the whole West Coast upgrade would have been shelved when Railtrack went bye-bye.
But that's another story altogether. I hope Virgin buys Gatwick, and turns the airport into a place that people will love to fly into.
S.
The Pendolino services, together with the Mallard services from GNER, put some of the joy back into taking the train, whereas FGW and their new layout still gets a bollocking for being crap. Without Virgin's high-profile campaigns to embarrass the government and its lapdog (Network Rail), the whole West Coast upgrade would have been shelved when Railtrack went bye-bye.
But that's another story altogether. I hope Virgin buys Gatwick, and turns the airport into a place that people will love to fly into.
S.
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I would rather like Uncle Richard to by 'Our Little Airport in The Country' having been based there since 1964, I think it would be rather fun.
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If Mr B buys EGKK then I expect to see lots of half naked girls and champagne at the start - and then - nothing.......... 
PS Don't let RB near anything mechanical [ switches or levers!]
PS Don't let RB near anything mechanical [ switches or levers!]
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I have no complaints about half naked girls and champagne - its more than BAA came up with when they got their command. Provided Mr B does nothing, he will be doing far better than BAA who provided a constant drain, and when everything was drained they worked on the blood from a stone concept.
Bring on the girls!!!
RIX
Bring on the girls!!!
RIX
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Branson looks out for the customer, and to be honest thats what an airport needs! At the majority are a customers worst nightmare...surley they dont have to be, and if anyone can to it I put my money on Branson!
Paxing All Over The World
It is always fascinating to see the RB mud slingers hit the forum as rapidly as the anti-MoLers. The improvements in UK based scheduled air travel in the UK in the past 21+ years owe a VERY considerable amount to RB. Around the world, he has set up LCCs and created jobs in the airline world. His high standards drove BA to improve their oferring.
VAFFPAX gives a good summary of the problems that he dealt with of taking on decades of neglect in the UK railways. That covered equipment, infrastructure and staff - all had been broken down by successive UK govts and he set about improving it.
I am sure that he is not unequivocally a good man but, he has consistently won in court against his detractors and yet ... here comes the mud once again.
VAFFPAX gives a good summary of the problems that he dealt with of taking on decades of neglect in the UK railways. That covered equipment, infrastructure and staff - all had been broken down by successive UK govts and he set about improving it.
I am sure that he is not unequivocally a good man but, he has consistently won in court against his detractors and yet ... here comes the mud once again.
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For all you Branson bashers out there....Virgin would buy it as part of a consortium, fear not....
Virgin leads airline plot to buy Gatwick - Times Online
Virgin leads airline plot to buy Gatwick - Times Online
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VAFFPAX gives a good summary of the problems that he dealt with of taking on decades of neglect in the UK railways. That covered equipment, infrastructure and staff - all had been broken down by successive UK govts and he set about improving it.
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The route upgrade came from the government, correct. Because Railtrack, as much as it was a publicly listed company, still owned the track after privatisation. Which has nothing to do with Virgin Trains. VT leased track time, nothing more, nothing less. The significant difference though was that Railtrack and the government led VT to believe that the WC upgrade would be on time and on target and would allow VT, its prime customer on the route (through the WC and XC franchises), to run not only high-speed services, but tilting services as well.
Branson put a lot of his reputation on the line, purchased a bunch of new train stock (via a leasing company, granted, but still those Pendolinos were built to VT's specs), but was unable to run that stock when it was supposed to go into service because the WC upgrade failed to be delivered on time.
The XC (diesel) services were supposed to improve service between Penzance and Edinburgh, running at higher speed, more efficiency, more punctuality, and they believed the crap that they got fed by RT and the government. And, no-one told Bombardier (Alstom) about the winter storms that lash the railway line between Penzance and Exeter, which caused sea water to short out the under-carriage engines, which was a very embarrassing episode for the XC service until VT found the cause, had modifications made (which still didn't have the efficiency they were supposed to have) and then brought in the old class diesels to pull the XC services for some of the way to at least have the service run. Other companies would've simply thrown their hands in the air and blamed everyone but themselves. VT openly said that it was their fault and tried to make amends.
Now that the WC upgrade is partially in place (after RT went bust, NR cut some of the project out and left it for when they had the money), VT Pendolinos are actually on time and run very well. Where RT tried to do upgrades in the 6 hours between midnight and 6am for the first services of the day, NR decided to cut that cost and do it during the day. That of course did inconvenience the passengers, but for a significantly shorter time than the constant nightly overruns.
I am not a VT apologist by any means. I used to hate having to use a VT service between Leamington Spa and elsewhere (only two train companies served L/Spa in the early years of the millennium - VT and Chiltern), but these days, in Oxford, I'm happy to use VT because they generally run on time (within 5 minutes, not the 20+ minute delay in the old days). Sadly the Pendolino does not serve us, but the Pendolino services I DO use (generally Carlisle - Birmingham) are very pleasant.
S.
Branson put a lot of his reputation on the line, purchased a bunch of new train stock (via a leasing company, granted, but still those Pendolinos were built to VT's specs), but was unable to run that stock when it was supposed to go into service because the WC upgrade failed to be delivered on time.
The XC (diesel) services were supposed to improve service between Penzance and Edinburgh, running at higher speed, more efficiency, more punctuality, and they believed the crap that they got fed by RT and the government. And, no-one told Bombardier (Alstom) about the winter storms that lash the railway line between Penzance and Exeter, which caused sea water to short out the under-carriage engines, which was a very embarrassing episode for the XC service until VT found the cause, had modifications made (which still didn't have the efficiency they were supposed to have) and then brought in the old class diesels to pull the XC services for some of the way to at least have the service run. Other companies would've simply thrown their hands in the air and blamed everyone but themselves. VT openly said that it was their fault and tried to make amends.
Now that the WC upgrade is partially in place (after RT went bust, NR cut some of the project out and left it for when they had the money), VT Pendolinos are actually on time and run very well. Where RT tried to do upgrades in the 6 hours between midnight and 6am for the first services of the day, NR decided to cut that cost and do it during the day. That of course did inconvenience the passengers, but for a significantly shorter time than the constant nightly overruns.
I am not a VT apologist by any means. I used to hate having to use a VT service between Leamington Spa and elsewhere (only two train companies served L/Spa in the early years of the millennium - VT and Chiltern), but these days, in Oxford, I'm happy to use VT because they generally run on time (within 5 minutes, not the 20+ minute delay in the old days). Sadly the Pendolino does not serve us, but the Pendolino services I DO use (generally Carlisle - Birmingham) are very pleasant.
S.