Virgin Atlantic : VS : VIR

SOUTH NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Atlantic Airways, one of the world's leading long-haul airlines, has responded to the European Commission's Statement of Objections about British Airways and American Airlines' plans to effectively merge. Virgin Atlantic has previously told regulators in Europe and the U.S. that BA/AA would be a monster monopoly and should not be allowed to go ahead.
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In its submission, Virgin Atlantic goes further and says:
"The proposed BA/AA and Iberia alliance would have appreciable and lasting negative effects for both long-term competition and consumers.
"It would allow a combined BA/AA/Iberia to dominate on routes between London Heathrow and the U.S. and, compounded by the considerable barriers to entry, to use their combined market power to weaken competitors' offerings, thereby further strengthening and entrenching their own dominance to the detriment of consumers."
Last week, Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of BA, told analysts "I think it's well recognized that Heathrow is full and the opportunity to acquire additional slots, while not impossible, is difficult."
Virgin Atlantic agrees with Walsh that Heathrow is full, and even being forced to give up a large number of slots would not be an appropriate remedy in return for allowing the proposals to proceed. Only a decision by EU and U.S. regulators to turn down the proposals, because they are anti-competitive, would be an acceptable outcome for consumers.
Commenting on take-off and landing slots, Virgin Atlantic says in its submission:
"We urge the European Commission to recognize that even extensive slot remedies on their own would not make this a suitable case for an individual exemption (from Article 81(3) covering EU Competition rules).
"Slot remedies alone could not reinstate an effective level of competition nor address the substantial negative effects which would arise from the proposed alliance."
Last week, the head of American Airlines, Gerard Arpey, criticized a potential joint venture between Japan Airlines and Delta and admitted that high market shares and large slot holdings by airlines would pose a major threat to competition.
Yet, the Delta-JAL joint venture would result in a total capacity share on U.S.-Narita routes of 54%, significantly smaller than the 64% share that BA/AA would hold on U.S.-Heathrow routes.
The BA/AA/IB alliance would result in overlaps on six Heathrow-U.S. routes, where their combined capacity share ranges between a remarkable 47% to an astounding 100%.
Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic, added:
"We call on regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to listen carefully to what Messrs Walsh and Arpey now have to say about the constraints at London Heathrow and acceptable market shares for alliances, which contrasts sharply with the positions they have taken in trying to drive through their proposed alliance."

When it comes to competition in the skies, there is no fiercer contest than who has the best seat.
With only two main aircraft manufacturers in the world, airlines have to find other ways to differentiate themselves and claiming the longest, widest or most luxurious seat is a key battleground.
Virgin Atlantic, the pioneer of several improvements in seat design over the past 25 years, yesterday won the latest round in its fight to protect the exclusivity of its Upper Class seat.
Virgin spent £50 million designing its Upper Class product, which was introduced in 2003 and has been copied by rivals. Upper Class is Virgin’s equivalent of business and first class on other carriers.
The unusual Herringbone design was sold to other airlines by Contour, the Welsh seat manufacturer that built Virgin’s Upper Class product.
Virgin claimed that it owned the patent on the seat design and took Contour to court to stop it making any more copies. Virgin’s argument was initially rejected, but the Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the patent application. An injunction is likely to be filed against Contour to prevent it making any more of the seats.
Virgin is taking legal action against Delta, Air Canada and Jet Airways, which all bought the Herringbone seats from Contour. Cathay Pacific is facing legal action after buying similar seats from another manufacturer.
If Virgin’s legal action is successful, these airlines could be forced to strip their planes of the seats, which would be incredibly expensive as it can take months to refit a single plane.
It is thought that Virgin will press for an out of court settlement and lawyers said that Sir Richard Branson’s airline could be paid tens of millions of dollars in compensation.
Paul Charles, a spokesman for Virgin, said: “It has always been, and will remain, a key strategic objective of Virgin Atlantic to protect its intellectual property rights from misuse.”
The Herringbone design allows Virgin to fit a large number of seats into its Upper Class cabin because little space is wasted. The reclined seat folds down to create a fully flat bed.
Competition for premium passengers has intensified since the start of the recession as many companies have cut their travel budgets while holidaymakers are trading down.

Airbus, filiale du groupe européen de défense et d'aéronautique EADS, a annoncé lundi que la compagnie aérienne Virgin Atlantic avait confirmé une commande de dix appareils A330.
Dans un communiqué, l'avionneur précise que quatre de ces 10 A330 seront exploités dans le cadre d'un contrat de leasing signé auprès d'AerCap.
"Cette transaction, qui fait suite à une première annonce faite en juin, a été officiellement conclue le 30 décembre 2009", souligne Airbus.
Des sources industrielles ont indiqué qu'Airbus était sur le point d'enregistrer en 2009 un record de livraisons avec 498 appareils. Et selon plusieurs articles de presse, l'année 2009 se solderait par 311 nouvelles commandes, un chiffre légèrement supérieur à son objectif de 300.

Virgin Atlantic, which firmed up its order for six Airbus A330-300 jets on Dec. 30, has canceled the last six A340-600s it had on order.
The updated [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Airbus released Tuesday shows a net 2009 deficit of seven A340-600 orders, while Virgin Atlantic's A340-600 total shows only the 14 jets Airbus has already delivered to the carrier, down from 20 previously, Air Transport Intelligence News [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Tuesday.
Virgin deferred delivery of the other six three years ago, ATI noted, adding that Etihad Airways decided last year not to replace the A340-600 written off in a pre-delivery testing accident.
Airbus now shows just one order for any A340 model in 2009 (an A340-500 for a private customer) and eight cancellations, bringing a net total of minus seven orders.

Jeannot a écrit:Elmer avait vu juste. La commande des 6 A330s pour Virgin est en fait une conversion des l'ancienne commande des 7 A340-600 qui étaient toujours en attente de livraison.

elmer a écrit:

Jeannot a écrit:Elmer avait vu juste. La commande des 6 A330s pour Virgin est en fait une conversion des l'ancienne commande des 7 A340-600 qui étaient toujours en attente de livraison.

En fait, c'est 6 A340-600 qui restaient à livrer à Virgin. Le 7ème annulation concerne l'appareil accidenté d'Etihad et apparaissait dans le tableau d'Airbus depuis juin.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]' latest order and delivery figures show that [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] has cancelled six of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft it had on order.
Virgin Atlantic firmed its previously-disclosed order for six [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-300s on 30 December.
But the airframer's monthly update, released during a briefing in Seville yesterday, shows that Virgin Atlantic's total [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-600 order has, at the same time, been cut from 20 to 14.

All 14 of the remaining aircraft have already been delivered. Virgin deferred delivery of the other six three years ago.

It ordered the A330-300s, which will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700s, to secure interim lift before arrival of its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 787s.
Cancellation of the Virgin A340-600s follows [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]' decision this year not to replace one of the same type written off in a pre-delivery testing accident at Toulouse.
Airbus' sole order for the A340 this year - a single -500 for a private customer - was countered by an identical reduction in the number of -500s bound for Kingfisher Airlines.
It leaves Airbus with a net deficit for 2009 of seven aircraft across the entire A340 range

SIR Richard Branson's airline, Virgin Atlantic, is to start flights to Ghana in West Africa. Virgin is expected to begin a three-services-a-week operation between Heathrow Airport and the capital, Accra, on 24 May. The carrier will be using a 240-seat Airbus A340 aircraft on the route.

Price-fixing charges against four current and former British Airways executives have been dropped after the case against them collapsed.


A spokeswoman for the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which brought about the charges, confirms that the case has collapsed and says a statement is forthcoming. She declines to provide further details.

BA's current director of sales and marketing, Andrew Crawley, former head of UK and Ireland sales Alan Burnett, former commercial director Martin George and former head of corporate communications Iain Burns were all charged with cartel offences related to the price-fixing of fuel surcharges with Virgin Atlantic Airways on long-haul passenger flights between July 2004 and April 2006. Virgin Atlantic was granted immunity and escaped being penalised after it relayed details of the exchanges to the OFT. It is reported that the case collapsed due to lack of evidence.

Richard Latham, QC, prosecuting for the Office of Fair Trading, told the judge and jury at Southwark Crown Court in London he will offer ''no evidence''.

BA's one-time commercial director Martin George, sales and marketing director Andrew Crawley, former head of communications Iain Burns, and Alan Burnett, who led sales in the UK and Ireland, all denied a cartel offence under the Enterprise Act 2002.


Mr Latham told the jury the issue of disclosure, and in particular obtaining material from Virgin Atlantic and its legal advisers, was "contentious".

"What became apparent last Wednesday was that there remained some relevant material in the hands of Virgin Atlantic which was, as yet, undisclosed to the defence," Mr Latham said.
He said those documents would have had an "appreciable impact" on the evidence of key prosecution witness Paul Moore, Virgin's director of corporate affairs who was controversially granted immunity by the OfT in return for giving evidence against BA.
In particular, one email dated March 21 2005 showed that Virgin increased its fuel surcharge to £6 instead of £5 before speaking to BA, suggesting no price-fixing took place on that occasion.

Mr Latham said 70,000 emails were found last week which had not been disclosed, some 12,000 of which were sent or received by Mr Moore, "the central plank of the prosecution case".
The court was told the missing emails were in corrupted files which had been dismissed as irrelevant during the initial investigation.

But last week it emerged the corrupted files could be repaired and contained the "large quantity" of emails.
Mr Latham told the jury of eight men and four women the judge ruled last week that all the documents, even those not deemed relevant, needed to be disclosed by today.

"We needed to satisfy a negative," Mr Latham said.
He said prosecutors realised this was not "logistically possible" in the timeframe given by the judge "when the full scale of the necessary exercise became apparent".

Mr Latham went on: "We have been driven to accept that it would be wholly unsatisfactory to call Mr Moore today or in the immediate future."

OfT director John Fingleton and OfT's director of cartels, Ali Nikpay, "must shoulder the personal responsibility for this fiasco", Ben Emmerson QC, defending BA's former head of communications, Iain Burns, said.

The part of the OfT responsible was "not fit for purpose", he added.

The OfT and prosecutors were "guilty of incompetence on a monumental scale", he said.

"The amount of public money that must have been wasted within the OfT itself, and the amount of money that's going to have to be spent on the costs of the defence, with the fact that they have, for a period of time, ruined the lives of these four men by mounting and then insisting on a ludicrous prosecution which was doomed to fail from the start."

Prosecutor Mr Latham was "indeed the sultan of spin", Mr Emmerson said.

He said Mr Latham "might be misrepresenting" today's conclusion as "no more than a tactical retreat" in order not to rule out the possibility of further action in the United States.

But Mr Emmerson said it was "disgraceful" to suggest this was a "technical acquittal".
"It's a shabby way to carry on," he said.
"This is a comprehensive defeat."

In response, Mr Latham said: "The platform for gratuitous abuse which has just been used is wholly unacceptable.
"Now it will be necessary for the Office to respond."

Prosecutors will respond tomorrow morning, when the court will also hear any applications for costs.
Outside court, Mr George, BA's former commercial director, said: "I'm delighted to leave court with my reputation unsullied.
"It's something that has been with us for four years.
"I have maintained my innocence since day one and I'm delighted that that's been confirmed today.
"Now, frankly, I want to get on with the rest of my life."

Asked about the OfT, he said he had no comment.

Sales and marketing director Mr Crawley said he was "relieved" and wanted to get "back to work".

DayAfter a écrit:La dénonciation est-elle acceptable...?

Les corbeaux ne font pas florès partout.

"Sultan of spin" : jolie trouvaille ! [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]
(Est-ce que Mark Knopfler sera content ?)

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] could face losing its immunity from penalties for alleged price-fixing activity after the UK Office of Fair Trading was forced to withdraw criminal proceedings against four former and current [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] executives due to the late emergence of previously-undisclosed electronic evidence.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London today acquitted BA's current director of sales and marketing, Andrew Crawley, former head of UK and Ireland sales Alan Burnett, former commercial director Martin George and former head of corporate communications Iain Burns of cartel charges related to the price-fixing of fuel surcharges with Virgin Atlantic on long-haul passenger flights between July 2004 and April 2006.

Virgin Atlantic was granted immunity from penalties after it relayed details of the exchanges to the OFT. But the OFT says that last week it discovered "a substantial volume of electronic material, which neither the OFT nor the defence had previously been able to review" and, as a result of the late discovery, it accepts that "to continue with the trial in light of this unforeseen development would be potentially unfair to the defendants".

The previously-undisclosed material includes emails sent or received by Virgin Atlantic's former director of corporate affairs, Paul Moore. The OFT says it will now "be reviewing the role played by Virgin Atlantic and its advisers in light of the airline's obligations to provide the OFT with continuous and complete co-operation", adding that "this may have potential consequences for Virgin's immunity from penalties".

The OFT stresses that today's decision relates only to criminal proceedings against the four BA executives, and that it has "no reason to believe that the issues that have now arisen in those proceedings will have any impact on the OFT's civil case (save possibly as regards Virgin Atlantic's immunity), as this concerns the conduct of the companies involved rather than the alleged dishonesty of individuals".

Branson: Virgin Atlantic might be forced to consolidate

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Airways president Sir Richard Branson reluctantly accepts that his airline may be forced to seek out partnerships to compete with the likes of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and American Airlines.
"Ultimately we may have to [consolidate]," said Branson during Virgin Atlantic's inaugural flight between London Heathrow and the Ghanaian capital Accra.
"If the playing field is so tipped against us that it is almost impossible to be an independent airline, we may come to a position where we have to consolidate. But this is not something we want."
Speaking to ATI sister publication Airline Business, Branson said it was too early to say with whom Virgin might team up.
Branson has vocally campaigned against the proposed British Airways-American Airlines transatlantic venture, as he believes this will reduce competition.
He highlights the BA cabin crew strike and says: "If BA and American Airlines were one airline and they went on strike together, that would leave Virgin, United and one or two airlines to look after all the passengers. The damage to the economy would be massive."
Branson nevertheless still sees potential in a tie-up with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-owned BMI, although Lufthansa is committed to retaining BMI at least while it restructures the loss-making UK airline.
"There is a lot of logic in the two of us tying up," says Branson. "I don't think BMI has a future as a standalone airline so I think, at some stage, something will happen there. I think the two of us will be stronger together, rather than separate."
One of Virgin's motivators for courting BMI is the airline's slot pool at London Heathrow. This need has recently been intensified, as the new UK Government has blocked a third Heathrow runway.
Virgin is using all its Heathrow slots and cannot obtain fresh ones. Branson says that, to begin a new route, Virgin has to close another. Its new Accra route came at the expense of its Mauritius service.
"This is holding Britain back," says Branson. "I think that [the Government is] mistaken, but I don't think they are going to change their mind, so we will just live with it. We have made our views known, so there's not a lot of good in banging on about it now."
Virgin is using leisure routes instead for expansion. Around 70% of Virgin's operations are from Heathrow and 30% are leisure services from Gatwick.
But chief financial and commercial officer Julie Southern says this will become more even as a result of constraints at Heathrow. She adds that this mixed passenger base will also reduce Virgin's dependence on any particular passenger type.

Virgin Atlantic celebrating 10 years of flying to Las Vegas in burlesque style

Burlesque star Dita Von Teese helped Sir Richard Branson celebrate Virgin Atlantic's 10th anniversary of flying to Las Vegas.
Dita has been immortalised as a one-off Las Vegas-inspired flying lady on the nose of a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400.
Dita and Sir Richard posed for pictures at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] yesterday.

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The chief executive of Malaysia's AirAsia is considering a possible takeover bid for British airline Virgin Atlantic, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Tony Fernandes, who runs Asia's largest budget carrier by fleet size, has renewed his interest in the UK airline after previously considering and deciding against a bid, the newspaper said in an unsourced report.
Any deal could be worth up to GBP£1 billion (USD$1.54 billion), it said.
British billionaire Richard Branson has a 51 percent stake in the airline he founded in 1984. Singapore Airlines paid GBP£600 million for a 49 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic in 2000.
The UK airline said earlier this month it had received several "lines of enquiry" about tie-ups with rivals after it hired Deutsche Bank to assess the aviation market.
It said the bank's review was expected to last for several months and did not name those interested in a possible tie-up.
Increased competition from low-cost airlines, weak demand and high fuel prices have combined to squeeze many carriers in recent years.
The low-margin industry has gone through a period of rapid consolidation and analysts believe larger carriers such as Virgin Atlantic need partners to stay ahead of the competition.

(Reuters)

Hertre a écrit:Virgin ne peut plus rester seul, surtout depuis BA / IB ( mais avant c'était déjà une nécessité de trouver DES alliances.

Hertre a écrit:Tony Fernandes sait toujours où placer ses billes, dans une industrie qui n'est pas un secteur à forte rentabilité. Et il sait aussi quand les retirer.

La présence de SIA ne permet pas es partenariats avec n'importe qui...

Hertre a écrit:Voilà une affaire suivie depuis un moment, n'est-ce pas ?

The chief executive of Malaysia's AirAsia has denied considering a possible takeover bid for Virgin Atlantic, a Malaysian newspaper reported on Monday.

Tony Fernandes, responding to an unsourced Sunday Times report that he had renewed an interest in the UK airline, told the Star newspaper that there had been no such discussions.
"There are no discussions taking place," he said.

La réponse est claire, .... et prompte !

The Sunday Times had reported that Fernandes, who runs Asia's largest budget carrier by fleet size, had previously considered and decided against a bid which could be worth up to GBP£1 billion.
The airline said earlier this month it had received several "lines of enquiry" about tie-ups with rivals after it hired Deutsche Bank to assess the aviation market.

It said the bank's review was expected to last for several months and did not name those interested in a possible tie-up.
Increased competition from low-cost airlines, weak demand and high fuel prices have combined to squeeze many carriers in recent years.
The low-margin industry has gone through a period of rapid consolidation and analysts believe larger carriers such as Virgin Atlantic need partners to stay ahead of the competition.

(Reuters)

Oui ! C'est l'évidence ! Pas la peine d'essayer d'en faire un paquet cadeau !

Singapore Air may sell Virgin holding

SINGAPORE Airlines' new chief executive may shed the group's 49 per cent stake in Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic.
Goh Choon Phong, who takes over as chief executive today, may get offers for the last major remains of Singapore Airlines' global expansion strategy as he confronts rising competition in Asia. Virgin said in December it had received tie-up inquiries, and Singapore Airlines' outgoing CEO, Chew Choon Seng, called the investment ''underperforming'' two years ago and has said the airline would consider a sale.
In Asia, Mr Goh faces low-fare competition on long-haul routes from Jetstar and AirAsia X, as well as renewed efforts by Cathay Pacific and Korean Air Lines to lure away lucrative business-class travellers. And Middle Eastern carriers Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways have ordered close to 300 planes since 2007 as they build hubs linking Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.Advertisement: Story continues below
Delta Air Lines and Middle Eastern airlines are among the carriers exploring a Virgin tie-up, Sky News reported in December, without saying where it got the information. Singapore Airlines' stake complicates a deal as local ownership rules limit non-European investors to minority stakes.
''Either Singapore Air sells or Branson loses effective control by selling part of his stake,'' said Andrew Miller, chief executive of CAPA Consulting, which advises airlines.
Singapore Airlines was ''very supportive of our business strategy, including the review by Deutsche Bank'', Greg Dawson, a Virgin spokesman, said.
Mr Chew, who spent almost four decades at Singapore Airlines, sold a leasing arm and spun off a ground-handling unit while CEO to focus on the carrier's flying business. He will take over as chairman of Singapore Exchange Ltd today.
Mr Chew's predecessor, Cheong Choong Kong, bought stakes in Virgin and Air New Zealand to expand overseas. The value of the Air NZ investment was written down in 2001, and the remaining holding sold three years later.
Competition is intensifying in the premium market, which accounts for 40 per cent of Singapore Airlines' sales. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific is working on a $HK1 billion ($A126 million) business-class upgrade to lure executive travellers.
Korean Air, which aims to get 50 per cent of passenger sales from premium classes by 2019, will receive its first five Airbus SAS A380s next year. And Emirates is building a fleet of 90 A380s.

KUNDT a écrit:Sir R. Branson a demandé à la Deutsche Bank des "conseils" sur la valeur, la revente de sa compagnie Virgin Atlantic, tout comme les alliances et entrées possibles dans le capital de VIR.

Au moins une Cie du Golfe se montre intéressée : Etihad

Source Mary-Anne Baldwin, UBM.

LONDRES, 23 jan 2011 (AFP)La compagnie aérienne Etihad Airways, propriété du gouvernement de l'émirat pétrolier d'Abou Dhabi, a fait part de son intérêt pour Virgin Atlantic, la compagnie aérienne détenue en majorité par le milliardaire Richard Branson, rélève dimanche le dominical Sunday Times.

© 2011 AFP

pascal83 a écrit:
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Publié le 28 juin 2010 à 08h00 par François Duclos dans [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] -

La compagnie aérienne Vietnam Airlines, qui est intéressée par l’achat de quatre Airbus A380, devrait attendre la finalisation de la prochaine version de l’avion géant, l’A380-800, avant de passer commande.

La compagnie aérienne Vietnam Airlines, qui est intéressée par l’achat de quatre Airbus A380, devrait attendre la finalisation de la prochaine version de l’avion géant, l’A380-800, avant de passer commande.

Airbus doit en effet commencer dans quelques mois la production de la version « augmentée » de son A380, dont le premier exemplaire devrait être livré à British Airways en 2013.

Cette nouvelle version, A380-800, verra son poids au décollage augmenter de quatre tonnes à 573 tonnes et son rayon d’action gagner 190 kilomètres à 15 360. Surtout, ces changements lui permettront d’emporter une tonne et demie de cargaison supplémentaire. Une évolution qui aurait été réclamée au constructeur européen par des clients qui considéraient le Boeing 747-8I.

L’évolution de l’A380 passe par un renforcement des structures du fuselage et par des ailes ayant une plus grande souplesse pour améliorer leur aérodynamisme. Ces changements ne pourront être faits a posteriori, les appareils déjà livrés ou en construction ne pourront donc pas en bénéficier. En revanche les réacteurs restent les Rolls Royce Trent 900, qui ne nécessiteront pas d’augmentation de la poussée.

Vietnam Airlines a annoncé qu’elle attendra d’avoir tous les détails techniques de l’A380-800 avant de décider de passer commande ferme des quatre appareils. Airbus aurait déjà promis à la compagnie vietnamienne une livraison de l’A380-800 en 2014 ou 2015, à condition bien sûr qu’elle ne tarde pas trop à signer le contrat. Outre British Airways, Singapore Airlines a également commandé dix exemplaires de la nouvelle version.