Aer Lingus

Etihad Airways gets springboard into Northern Europe with 2.9% stake in Aer Lingus

The United Kingdom is emerging as an end-game country for the Middle East triumvirate: Emirates has firmly planted itself across the country, Qatar Airways is cosying up to British Airways and Etihad Airways’ 2.9% stake in Aer Lingus has the potential to give it a springboard into the UK, codesharing on Aer Lingus’ wide Ireland-UK network.

The purchase is a minor investment at Aer Lingus’ present share price of under EUR1, but it represents an opening gambit for a further stake, as well as to develop a partnership and codeshare arrangements. Etihad has developed large virtual networks and has bought into carriers, but the Aer Lingus deal could come to make the UK/Ireland the highest strategic saturation point for the Middle East network carriers. In that view, Etihad’s stake was as much strategic as it was defensive. For Aer Lingus there is also a possibly warm feeling, as British Airways recharges its Ireland services, post-bmi acquisition.

Aer Lingus, pursuing sixth freedom strategy, seeks trans-Atlantic joint venture

Aer Lingus is finding success in its current hybrid model of connecting long-haul North American traffic to European points via its hubs in Shannon and Dublin, replicating a strategy from unaligned carrier Icelandair. Both are understood to have 80% of long-haul traffic travel beyond their respective home country, but Aer Lingus will break with Icelandair's mold by joining a trans-Atlantic joint venture by 2013 in order to boost traffic and profitability. If successful, this is the first time an unaligned carrier will join one of the joint ventures that are spearheaded by global alliances and dominate North Atlantic traffic.

The carrier not a newcomer to alliance dealings, having previously dabbled with them. Aer Lingus pulled out of the oneworld alliance in 2006 and established a limited joint venture with United Airlines for the Irish carrier's Madrid-Washington Dulles route. Most recently the carrier ended negotiations with the three global alliances, saying instead a joint-venture gives it revenue boosts but also freedom to make further partnerships. The new strategy comes as the Irish government and Ryanair look to sell their stakes.

Aer Lingus reports strong second quarter, but not enough to offset first quarter losses

Aer Lingus reported encouraging earnings in the second quarter (three months to 30-Jun-2011) and sees a favourable outlook for the remainder of the year. The strong 2Q2011 result, however, was not enough to offset losses in the first quarter, which left Aer Lingus in the red at the operating and net levels at the half-year point.

European airlines post healthy traffic gains in Jul-2010. Will the summer be strong enough?

European airlines have been quite liberal with their capacity in 2011, even in the face of economic uncertainty and high fuel prices. The trend continued this summer and carriers have, on the whole, enjoyed strong traffic and load factor gains. But will it convert into profitability?

Ryanair profits edge up but miss expectations on fuel blowout

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, posted results that missed expectations in its fiscal first quarter as higher fuel costs weighed on the net result.

UK/Irish carriers report mostly strong growth in Jun-2011

Ryanair, easyJet and IAG reported strong traffic growth in Jun-2011, though Aer Lingus continue to struggle. Aer Lingus reported monthly passenger traffic fell 1.7% to 925,000 in Jun-2011. The airline said the figures reflected ongoing uncertainty caused by the threat of industrial action by pilots.