Airline Mergers…

Got to love your edit reason Phil, ‘grammer’? Don’t you mean ‘grammar?’ 😉 LOL, just joking mate! :D.

If olny I cuold splel 😉

Got to love your edit reason Phil, ‘grammer’? Don’t you mean ‘grammar?’ 😉 LOL, just joking mate! :D.

Is an interesting discussion, particularly regarding low cost carriers. People worry about Jet2, but you have to remember they are owned by the Dart group, who have been around for a very long time, and they are very experienced. They are also very shrewd, owning the aircraft they operate, which they have got dirt cheap. The amount of marketing they do is incredible as well, if anyone is going to succeed in the north of England, it will be Jet2. They are now a household name in Yorkshire especially.

I agree, however GO was taken over by easyJet and its (GO) parent was a rich airline indeed 🙂

By the time EZY took-over GO, GO had been sold out to a private equity company, and hadn’t been part of BA for a while.

Would any of you see VS merge with any other airline, be it a major carrier or a low-cost carrier?
And, while Ryannair and Easyjet are the largest and dominant low-cost carriers in Europe, which smaller airline would you see them swallowing to increase their network coverage and to gain access to more gates throughout Europe?

VS is 49% owned by SQ, so I’m sure they would have some say so. I’m still hoping that VS eventually ends up in Star, regardless of what the route is.

Would any of you see VS merge with any other airline, be it a major carrier or a low-cost carrier?
And, while Ryannair and Easyjet are the largest and dominant low-cost carriers in Europe, which smaller airline would you see them swallowing to increase their network coverage and to gain access to more gates throughout Europe?

Yes, flyglobespan.com is a strange one alright, more like a mini Air Berlin because of its mix of scheduled and charter routes. I’d like to see their balance sheet also. I wreckon easyJet could really hit them if they wanted to but don’t seem to be very interested in regional UK markets anymore probably to concentrate on mainland Europe.

Another similar operation is Transavia but again has wealthy parents and is very well run and profitable (I think). Whatever the result, the curent market is dangerous for small low cost carriers especially with fuel prices but good for the consumer of course (until they get stranded when xyz air.com goes bankrupt). Interesting times ahead for sure but I’m just glad I work for one of the more survivable carriers. 🙂

However HLX+Thomsonfly(TUI), and Germanwings have rich parents so should be okay

I agree, however GO was taken over by easyJet and its (GO) parent was a rich airline indeed 🙂 Although I don’t think to see Germanwings, HLX & Thomsonfly disappear in the near future. What do you think of flyglobespan.com? Do it have really a change to fight against Ryanair and easyJet?

I agree, amongst the low fare (not low cost-most make no money) there will have to be co-operation at the very least or else it’s going to be good night to a few of them.

Air Berlin will be raising extra funds shortly to plug that leak they have in their accounts. They will have to become fully transperant in their dealings from now on because of the stock market floatation which will mean hard times ahead for them.

However HLX+Thomsonfly(TUI), and Germanwings have rich parents so should be okay for the moment but for the medium term I worry about Jet2, bmibaby and the rest of the niche players who don’t have access to cash should they need it.

I don’t see EasyJet and Ryanair stepping in for anymore takeovers anytime in the near future.

Great discussion here. But what I am missing is talk about the low cost carriers. How many of them will survive? I guess there will be consolidation as well. What do you think? In my view easyJet and Ryanair will survive and they will be the big low cost airlines in Europe. Is there a market for a 3rd? Air Berlin? Hapag-Lloyd Express? Jet2?

Cathay Pacific based in Zurich?!?

You must mean LX 😉

Indeed I do. 😮

Completely off topic, but what ever happened to Royal Jordanian joining oneworld? I visited their site the other day and they weren’t listed as an official member of the alliance.

Once the EU/US Open Skies deal goes through, & Bermuda II is scrapped, expect to see BA & AA getting granted Anti Trust Immunity for closer co-operation and code-sharing across the Atlantic.

I really can’t see that working. They might hold each others hands a little tighter in the years to come, but merge? Personally I think that is unfeasable basically because the resulting one airline would be spread over two continents. This would simply not be economicaly viable. Different taxing laws and working laws… the whole Dollar vs Pound Sterling thing etc.

One of the basis would need to go, heathrow or most of the American network. That’d kill the merged airline stone dead.

Again, in my opinion. If anyone has an effective argument for why it would work… I’m all ears and would love to see it 🙂

I like when airlines get taken over/merged, yet both entities keep their brands. For instance, LH took over CX and yet CX are still based in ZRH and retain their colours. In the long run, I think this will be good for that airline, seeing as their previous brand, SwissAir, went by the wayside, as well. I’m hoping LH buys Olympic and retains that brand and base, as well. Very wishful thinking on my part, however.

Cathay Pacific based in Zurich?!?

You must mean LX 😉

I like when airlines get taken over/merged, yet both entities keep their brands. For instance, LH took over CX and yet CX are still based in ZRH and retain their colours. In the long run, I think this will be good for that airline, seeing as their previous brand, SwissAir, went by the wayside, as well. I’m hoping LH buys Olympic and retains that brand and base, as well. Very wishful thinking on my part, however.

Do some of you believe that BA will someday join forces with another airline? Or maybe Singapore Airlines?

I believe that airlines, like any other business, merge and consolidate as and when the time is right or economic conditions necessitate it. If you look at the US and Canadian markets from 1980 to the start of this decade there has been huge consolidation. Europe, AsiaPac and other markets are a bit behind due to the effects of government regulation, but even in the UK BA was quite aggressive during the 1980/1990s, with takeovers of BCal, Dan-Air, Manx, CFE, TAT etc.

In Europe and AsiaPac, it seems like the general trend has been that airlines will acquire shareholdings in other major carriers with good brand names rather than merging with them or taking them over. (For example, SQ owns 49% of VS, KLM and AF keep the same brand names, and BA owns shares in IB and previously owned shares in QF.) This is different from North America where airlines seem to take each other over or merge completely. If the airline is smaller, then it tends to get taken over entirely.

Once the EU/US Open Skies deal goes through, & Bermuda II is scrapped, expect to see BA & AA getting granted Anti Trust Immunity for closer co-operation and code-sharing across the Atlantic.

Lufthansa purchased Swiss – so it wasn’t a merger. Some have suggested a bmi-Virgin Atlantic merger, but I’m not convinced.

Another one for the list is SN Brussels-Virgin Express