I Hope (xl Airways)

[Traf]

As a follow up to the XL liquidation:

Italian National Airline Alitalia will be the next to go out of business. The Italian government has been propping them up for a while now, but they've got to the point where they'll run out of fuel before Monday and that'll be the end of them, according to Sky news.

[Sweep]

As a follow up to the XL liquidation:

Italian National Airline Alitalia will be the next to go out of business. The Italian government has been propping them up for a while now, but they've got to the point where they'll run out of fuel before Monday and that'll be the end of them, according to Sky news.

that'll be a bummer if it happens mid air

[Smiley]

What the Saturday papers said

 

Several smaller travel agents that are liable for getting as many as 25,000 stranded XL passengers home are also expected to go out of business as a result of the travel group?s failure. BA boss Willie Walsh predicted a further 30 airlines would go bust before the end of this year. Repatriating 85,000 people stranded by XL?s collapse could mean a ?20m bill for taxpayers as the CAA?s air travel trust fund is already in the red by ?21m.

 

Icelandic bank Straumur poured ?11m into XL in the weeks before its collapse and is now owed ?36m (Guardian).

 

Final demands from Barclays Bank signalled the end for XL as it pulled the plug on access to credit. Shares at TUI rose 7.3% and Thomas Cook was up 6.7% after the failure of XL, as a tighter demand/supply environment should prove beneficial for bigger operators ? the loss of the third biggest player means an estimated 7% share of the UK tour operator market has gone (Financial Times).

 

The Mail?s City Editor draws parallels between the demise of XL and that of Court Line in 1974 ? soaring oil prices, banks unwilling to extend credit, and inadequate protection arrangements. The Mail also focuses on XL?s chief executive Phil Wyatt, saying he was known as ?Public Enemy Number One? by rivals, from his days at Goldcrest Aviation.

 

The Telegraph said the Icelandic owner of West Ham and his billionaire son face a ?165m loss as they have personally taken on the debt owed by XL to prevent the failed group triggering wider collapses in the Icelandic economy. The now-defunct company?s logo will be removed from the team shirts in a week?s time (Independent).

 

Other carriers are likely to fail however - as many as 80 out of the 120 airlines operating out of the UK have fallen behind in payments of departure tax receipts to the Government (Times).

 

Lufthansa is in talks with SAS about a takeover, although there could be political obstacles to a deal because the governments of Sweden, Norway and Denmark have stakes in the Scandinavian airline (Financial Times).

 

It is also hoping to form an alliance with bmi and Virgin Atlantic to take on the proposed ?powerhouse combination? of BA and American Airlines (Times). SAS already owns 20% of bmi.

 

Silvio Berlusconi?s rescue plan for Alitalia was on the brink of collapse after the consortium he put together to save the airline?s ?Italian-ness? walked out of talks with unions (Guardian). The nine ?squabbling? unions are furious that the planned bailout is likely to mean 4,000 job losses and pay cuts (Telegraph).

[Traf]

From the Times today:

 

It also emerged that the former auditor of XL, which was Britain?s third-largest tour operator before it went into administration on Friday, gave warning of ?financial irregularities? almost two years ago. In a letter filed at Companies House and dated October 16, 2006, KPMG said that it had resigned as XL?s auditor and went on: ?We are no longer able to conclude that the financial statements give a true and fair view of the profit of the company and its subsidiaries.?

[MickyD]

Question:

 

Why isn't the Govt. coming in with a rescue package similar to the one they managed for Northern Rock?

[Traf]

Question:

 

Why isn't the Govt. coming in with a rescue package similar to the one they managed for Northern Rock?

 

Because:

1. Not as many people are affected.

2. Northern Rock is seen as a more viable long-term business proposition

3. The collapse of a bank has far more wide-reaching implications on the whole economy.

 

Traf's Business Report: DONE!

[Smiley]

Because:

1. Not as many people are affected.

2. Northern Rock is seen as a more viable long-term business proposition

3. The collapse of a bank has far more wide-reaching implications on the whole economy.

 

Traf's Business Report: DONE!

 

Probably no-one in a high enough govn position was affected by XL.

[Traf]

Northern Rock's decline coincided with Allardyce's arrival on Tyneside, didn't it?

 

Conspiracy theory in the making.

[Sweep]

Northern Rock's decline coincided with Allardyce's arrival on Tyneside, didn't it?

 

Conspiracy theory in the making.

yes, and now he is unemployed, he's been spending a lot of time flying to his home in Spain..................