http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20714197

The way Prince Philip was looking at one of those bars makes me wonder if they’ll be one less sitting in the vault tonight? :p

I can’t imagine BA or other competitors at LHR will be glad to see Delta get more LHR access to high value business customers

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a AA/BA, DL/VS arms race between LHR and the East Coast of America… As a customer this can only be a good thing 😀

And it looks like AA might take the first shot – their new 777-300ER coming to LHR in Feb 2013 looks plush!
http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2012/12/12/american-airlines-is-first-in-usa-to-get-new-boeing-777/1764461/
Followed by the improved BA A380 product, due to start operations to America in the summer of 2013.

I wonder what the other two will do as a response to the upgrades to capacity and service from AA/BA?

Doesn’t this also often happen when British people go to live abroad ?
I suppose it’s natural to stay around people you know, especially if you are
not bilingual.

A few years ago we had a very nice Nigerian family move in next to us.
We couldn’t ask for nicer neighbours. It does feel strange though, when we
get invited in to one of their gatherings and we are the only white people there.

I too have foreign neighbours. There are a very nice Chinese couple and an equally pleasant Indian family living just a few houses down from me.

The problem, however (as has been stated), are the ghetto areas – in London there isn’t just China Town any more, but seemingly Pakistan Town, India Town, Korea Town, Poland Town – you name it.

I don’t think language barriers are the issue? I thought all immigrants now had to have fluent English in order to be granted a visa under the new point based system?

Quite delicious they were, too, but if that is the difference in fuselage width between the B777 and A350, I wouldn’t have thought it that significant.

Indeed, especially considering most of the 10 inches will be lost in the aisles and fuselage – rather than the seat width itself.

Just to throw a curve ball on the topic. Everyone (me included) has been scrutinising the immigration figures.

(I don’t necessarily see anything wrong with hard working immigrants) but what about those who have acquired a criminal record during their time in the UK – should they not be deported? ‘Our house, our rules’.

I wonder if UKIP will capitalize on the latest census results? :diablo:

but the sheer scale of it is overwhelming in this case, and has caused resentment in many areas, where immigrants have formed communities that do little to interact with the existing population. This could have easily been avoided by a little control.

I think you’re are right when you say the minority communities keeping themselves to themselves creates resentment.

The problem is lack of understanding of culture, on both the indigenous’ and immigrant’s behalf.

If the immigrants were more open and ‘friendly’ and the indigenous listened more and were less indifferent. Maybe the friction would not arise?

One rumor that was doing the rounds earlier last week was that once DL had purchased the 49% stake in VS from SQ, it might prompt AF-KL to try to buy an additional stake in VS from SRB so that eventually AF-KL-DL own a controlling stake in them, but as far as I am aware, any ideas of SRB giving up on his 51% has been ruled out for the time being, but a lot can happen in a short period of time, and I guess it depends on whether or not the global economy begins to pick up again…

I could be wrong, but don’t foreign ownership laws prevent foreign investors from owning more than 49%? I don’t know whether that law is still in place for EU investors?

EDIT: On second thought, I don’t think there are foreign ownership laws in the UK (TATA buying Jaguar/Land Rover is an example).

I don’t quite see why DL wants a stake in VS. There’s nothing stopping DL and VS code-sharing and aligning departure/arrival times. I wouldn’t have thought they’d have needed a stake to accomplish this, it’s in both companies interests.
I also think Delta has paid too much. The stock market values IAG at roughly £3.7 Billion, Delta’s values VS at £450 million.
So, according to Delta, VS is worth 12% of that of BA+IB – yet VS only have 7% of the number of LHR slots BA have (once you add IB at MAD into the mix, VS own about 4% of the premium slots IAG own). IAG also aren’t making huge net loses.

Of course, the slots VS own are used for more lucrative long haul traffic – but I still think they paid too much in comparison.