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seo · Dołączył: 22 Gru 2005 Posty: 149 Przeczytał: 0 tematów

Flybe agrees to acquire BA Connect

FLYBE TO BECOME LARGEST REGIONAL AIRLINE IN EUROPE

Flybe announces that it has reached agreement in principle with British Airways whereby it will acquire British Airways’ BA Connect regional airline business, subject to a number of conditions precedent including the completion of due diligence.

The proposed acquisition will create an enlarged business with over £600m in revenues and carrying nearly 10 million passengers. The business will be operated in line with the successful Flybe business model concentrating on short haul domestic and European major city markets.

BA will ensure that the new business has sufficient funding in order to achieve its growth targets and the transition out of the current BA Connect fleet. In return it will acquire a 15% stake in the new business.

The acquisition (which does not include BA Connect’s London City or Manchester / JFK routes) will significantly increase Flybe’s route network both in the UK and continental Europe making Flybe Europe’s largest regional airline.

The new larger Flybe will have the following dimensions:

* 159 Routes, including 35 new routes
* 10 Million Passengers
* £600m in revenues
* Europes largest regional airline
* Operating from 23 UK and 36 European airports
* 70 aircraft by the end of 2007

Whilst reinforcing Flybe’s domestic UK presence, the acquisition will also result in an increase in the proportion of Flybe’s business passengers with new routes to key European commercial centres including Paris, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Milan.

Flybe plans to accelerate its current fleet renewal programme and will phase out all of the existing BA Connect fleet as soon as possible. The current Flybe £1.2bn investment programme in Bombardier Q400 and Embraer 195 aircraft will be complete by 2009. At that time Flybe will have a fleet of 82 aircraft, which will be one of the youngest and most environmentally sensitive fleets in the world. In line with its environment policy Flybe will by then have reduced fuel consumption by over 50% per seat.

The acquisition comes as Flybe announces its strongest ever summer trading period, resulting in an operating profit of £20.5 million* for the six months to 30th September 2006, which compares to an operating profit of £12.4 million* in the same period on 2005.

This summer’s result follows a solid performance in the financial year 2005/2006 when the business delivered operating profits, before exceptionals, of £4.8 million whilst pursuing a focused strategy of major route expansion to position the business for long term profit growth. The decision was also taken to write down the asset value of its BAE 146 Aircraft which will be retired over the next 12 months by taking a £6.4 million exceptional charge.

With its strategic platform in place, and the business delivering the promised strong trading results, Flybe is well positioned to take the next step in its evolution, by purchasing BA Connect.

The Board of Flybe has taken the decision that, in the event of the successful acquisition of BA Connect, any change to the current ownership structure should be deferred, to allow for the management team time to focus fully on the integration of the enlarged business.

Commenting on the proposed acquisition, Jim French, Chairman and Chief Executive of Flybe, stated:
“Through this acquisition we are seeking to build a bigger, stronger and even more defensible Flybe.

The Flybe business model concentrates on domestic and European city markets and has been incredibly successful over the last 4 years. This acquisition will allow us to bring our growth plans forward by two years.

The new enlarged Flybe should provide strong employment prospects for operational staff in BA Connect. Once the acquisition is completed Flybe will seek to replace BA Connects existing fleet with the fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly Bombardier Q400 and Embraer 195.

Flybe is proudly headquartered in, and serves the UK regions. We believe this announcement today means that the UK regions will now have their own strong and well financed airline, designed to support the needs of the buoyant regions of the UK, in line with the Government White Paper of 2003.

This acquisition will make Flybe the largest regional airline in Europe and one of the largest in the UK by any measurement. Across Europe more consumers will benefit from Flybe’s efficient and friendly service at a price, which provides outstanding value.”

Old

No to BA Connect zbyt długo nie istniało. A przy powoływaniu wspominano, że błędem byłą sprzedaż Go Easy Jetowi. Chyba że i w UK ludzie z firm państwowych nie są w stanie rozkręcić prywatnego biznesu.

Danny

BA oficjalnie zostaje London Airways. Czyzby sie na LO wzorowali? Shocked

Czterosilnik

Danny