Switzerland's top airline, after being one of the hunters during the 1990s, succumbed to upheaval in the European air travel market last week to become the prey of German carrier Lufthansa
Published:
28 March 2005 y., Monday
Switzerland's top airline, after being one of the hunters during the 1990s, succumbed to upheaval in the European air travel market last week to become the prey of German carrier Lufthansa.
Switzerland's top airline, after being one of the hunters during the 1990s, succumbed to upheaval in the European air travel market last week to become the prey of German carrier Lufthansa.
That followed the collapse of merger talks with Dutch airline KLM -- now owned by Air France -- with Scandinavian SAS and Austrian Airlines in 1993, and an aggressive alliance strategy that tied in with the now ailing US Delta Airlines.
Before its expansion, Swissair was valued at about 4.3 billion Swiss francs (three billion dollars then).
"The mistake was for Swiss to go for this policy of taking minority shareholdings in AOM and in Sabena, where it didn't have control over the operations or cashflow," said Nick van den Brul, an analyst at BNP Paribas.
Switzerland's airline was partly hampered by being outside the European Union and not being allowed by EU rules to take a controlling stake in its prey at the time.
Swissair expansion was also largely funded by debt, helping to drive the group into bankruptcy in October 2001.
It was reincarnated under the name Swiss and took over Swissair's knowhow, visual identity, staff, infrastructure, flight slots and airliners with the help of about three billion Swiss francs in public and private investment.
But the new offspring was immediately battered by low-cost carriers driving down fares in Europe, a slump in air travel and rising fuel prices. Swiss cut its fleet and staff by one-third last year.
Šaltinis:
nst.com.my
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The European Commission has approved under EC Treaty state aid rules a Latvian support scheme to stabilise financial markets by providing guarantees to eligible banks to ensure their access to financing.
more »
Gathering in Beijing, China's political elite gather to celebrate three decades of China's economic reform and market liberalisation.
more »
After two days of intense negotiations, European leaders reached agreement on how to achieve the EU’s ambitious climate change goals and endorsed a €200bn plan to revive the flagging EU economy.
more »
Detroit won't get its bailout, as the U.S. Senate blocked the measure to rescue America's big three car makers.
more »
The world is facing “an acute food crisis”. That was the verdict of a report adopted by MEPs in the Agriculture Committee on 8 December.
more »
The European Commission has agreed a Communication that aims to improve the functioning of the food supply chain in order to lower prices for consumers.
more »
The World Bank's 2009 Global Economic Prospects report is projecting world growth will shrink to 0.9 percent next year.
more »
Prospects for a federal aid package to help the US auto industry advanced on Monday.
more »
A new report from Aite Group LLC explores possible regulatory and legislative responses to the current financial crisis, with particular attention paid to three key topics: consumer lending, risk management and deposit relationships.
more »
A new report from Mercator Advisory Group's Retail Banking Practice focuses on the ATM and the multifaceted role it plays in the retail banking market.
more »