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Latest News
 
Airline news from Europe
Private equity investor TPG, which was part of the
failed Macquarie Bank consortium’s bid to acquire Qantas,
has teamed up with British Airways (BA) in a possible bid
for Spanish carrier Iberia.
TPG is currently considering the opportunities provided for
European carriers by the new “open skies” agreement between
the US and the European Union. It is understood that the bid
could be in the region of €3.4bn. BA has for some time held
a 10 per cent stake in Iberia and its intention is to
protect this current investment rather than increase it and
also to avoid being left behind in Europe’s airline
consolidation.
Speaking of which, Air France-KLM has announced a 32.5% rise
in operating profit for the year 2006/07. The prime driver
was passenger traffic numbers which rose 5.4% on a capacity
increase of 4.4%, raising network seat factor to an
impressive 81.4%. Expect further improvement from a plan to
reduce costs by €1.4bn over the next three years, the
announcement of which boosted the group’s share price.
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