easyJet-to-Virgin Partnership?
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Joined: Jun 2009
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From: England
easyJet-to-Virgin Partnership?
With Stelios making waves in the City, threatening to withdraw the use of the branding 'easyJet' to the airline, it is hardly surprising to read in Flight International that Virgin and the easyJet Board have had discussions regarding some sort of partnership.
If Virgin are looking for a 'feeder' and easyJet are facing a possible rebranding exercise.....what could be better? Faced with the prospect of losing an extremely identifiable brand, easyJet could do worse.
Stelios must have thought he had the Board over a barrel before this interesting turn of events!
Any thoughts?
If Virgin are looking for a 'feeder' and easyJet are facing a possible rebranding exercise.....what could be better? Faced with the prospect of losing an extremely identifiable brand, easyJet could do worse.
Stelios must have thought he had the Board over a barrel before this interesting turn of events!
Any thoughts?
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 582
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From: Alps
Well that could be the answer to a big problem for VS getting a feeder Airline to get a hub system going out of London...which I think is key to VS future plans.
Would be interesting to see how they would both sort out logistics betw.een LHR and LGW though.
Good luck to both parties.
Would be interesting to see how they would both sort out logistics betw.een LHR and LGW though.
Good luck to both parties.
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 149
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From: Florianopolis
Sounds crazy!, who knows, maybe if Willie moves to Barajas, there might be slots left in LHR, then Branson pays out Stelios, who buys 190 ac and builds a new LCC, meanwhile O Leary takes over Wizz Air and Air Asia...
Joined: Feb 2010
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From: Glasgow
the same article also discusses the option of BMI as a partner. I wonder if this is going to be the future of aviation... airlines having to merge in order to survive and remain competitive. We have BA and Iberia, United and Continental and maybe next Virgin and BMI/Easyjet. How would the likes of ryanair (or BMI if they are not involved in a merger) be able to compete without eventually having to look at merging or taking over another airline?
Joined: Jun 2008
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From: Balpamyass Palace
Stop dreaming ladies! This will never ever happen. If Easyjet has to merge with something, it will be with Wizzair or Vueling or Transavia or even Ryanair. The phylosophy of creating a hub with a long haul airline feeded by regional and medium haul airlines is very expensive and this has nothing to do with a low cost model.
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 516
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From: uk
Ladies and Gents,
Dream on. VS are in a position of serious weakness. They have LHR slots, sure. BUT!!! They never make any consistent profits, they have failed to reach any sort of critical mass and that is everything in airline flying these days (BA/IB/AA or NW/DL or CO/UA if anyone needed persuading of the realities).
VS would love a merger with someone, because let's face it, there's no future as a long haul airline with 35 airplanes and they don't have the cash or profits on existing routes to expand hugely again.
There is quite possibly a second credit crunch coming. The difference with this one will be that the Governments have no money left to help....... hence credit will be extremely limited and financing anything, yet alone airline expansion will be very, very difficult.
I see VS having to surrender control to Lufthansa, and I believe the VS brand (as we know it today) may disappear in the next 10 years.
However, a tie up with eJ would be utterly unworkable without either eJ moving ops to LHR (never happen), or VS moving to, or expanding massively in LGW (see above for reasons why that won't happen).
I give this a 9.5 out of 10 for a bad merger if it happens....
Dream on. VS are in a position of serious weakness. They have LHR slots, sure. BUT!!! They never make any consistent profits, they have failed to reach any sort of critical mass and that is everything in airline flying these days (BA/IB/AA or NW/DL or CO/UA if anyone needed persuading of the realities).
VS would love a merger with someone, because let's face it, there's no future as a long haul airline with 35 airplanes and they don't have the cash or profits on existing routes to expand hugely again.
There is quite possibly a second credit crunch coming. The difference with this one will be that the Governments have no money left to help....... hence credit will be extremely limited and financing anything, yet alone airline expansion will be very, very difficult.
I see VS having to surrender control to Lufthansa, and I believe the VS brand (as we know it today) may disappear in the next 10 years.
However, a tie up with eJ would be utterly unworkable without either eJ moving ops to LHR (never happen), or VS moving to, or expanding massively in LGW (see above for reasons why that won't happen).
I give this a 9.5 out of 10 for a bad merger if it happens....
