The European Commission Clears CO-UA Merger
The European Commission is surprisingly going full-speed in the summer season, approving one major deal after another and giving its nod on anti-trust issues. Continental – United announced their intention to merge a couple of months ago and dedicated a website to inform shareholders and the media on the perceived value (http://bit.ly/cYgUjw).
Now, the EU Commission has cleared the proposed merger, claiming that the combined airline will not create an anti-competitive environment. The DOJ is on the case and finally, if the shareholders are happy, the new airline (which will bear the name United and have the Continental logo) will control about 7% of the world’s seat capacity, serve north of 140 million passengers from/to 370 destinations in 59 countries. http://bit.ly/bssTrV
In a separate announcement, the CO-UA team published the new org chart at the top. CEO will be CO’s current Chief Executive Mr. Smisek, Mr. Rowe from Continental will be CFO, and Mr. McDonald from United will become the COO. Take a look here for the full list: http://bit.ly/9Qp7yy
One more CO-related piece: Continental is testing a self-boarding procedure at Houston International – the logic follows the NYC subway (or any other subway for that matter) – you scan your own boarding pass and board the plane (instead of an airline rep doing it for you). Of course, there will be a staff member to ensure the process runs smoothly. That will definitely speed up the boarding process, but it will go through security evaluation before it is universally applied for all CO flights. http://bit.ly/bdl7DR
Industry Notables
A short follow-up on yesterday’s story on Air Berlin and OneWorld – yesterday, Air Berlin formally accepted the invitation to join OneWorld. Expected date: as early as 2012. http://bit.ly/cIUSRh
Ryanair’s CEO Mr. O’Leary hints at a trans-Atlantic venture in 2015, sells 5 m of his shares for EURO 20 million. http://bit.ly/cF4Q8q
Air France/KLM Group posts $953 million net profit, a results driven by the gain of ~$1.4 Billion from selling the 23.1% stake at Amadeus (gone public in Spain on April 29th). http://bit.ly/aon2FZ
Embraer signs a major deal with FlyBe worth $5 Billion – 35 Embraer 175s sold directly at the Farnborough International Airshow, 65 options and about 40 purchase rights. http://bit.ly/cA0CYX
Vueling quadruples profit YoY, takes pride in $17.5 million for Q2 2010. The gains come after the merger with Clickair and the consolidation of the BCN hub (now already geared to handle connects between two VY flights). http://bit.ly/dcxWaA
Have a Laugh
Take a look at some of the ugliest airports in the world (courtesy of Mr. Terziev). http://bit.ly/9D1cGR
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