Adrian Hargrave, CEO of SEEEN, explains how the new funds will accelerate customer growth Watch the video here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
This transaction could possibly be replicated by another entity (Not government).
https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/air-malta-received-58m-for-its-airport-slots.673780
I think that €58m sale was for 58 weekly slots at LHR? TC have (weekly) 400 slots at Frankfurt, more than 230 at Dusseldorf and 160 at Munich and more than 350 at Manchester and 200-plus at Gatwick.
So we could be in for few pennies, just from the Air Line sales.
I would caution using these numbers for German slots as it is questionable whether slots can be grandfathered.
I am using an assumption that the airline does not get sold and they try to securitise the value of (UK) slots. Also note LHR are most valuable slots in Europe.
jj, why would it be questionable they can be grandfathered? While debate on the topic has been ongoing continuously for over a decade there's to my knowledge nothing special in Germany at the moment that would affect it.
Ambly,
If you read the reports from the EU competition authority re: Air Berlin slots it appears to be an opaque area. Any discussion with management of other airline companies point to the same thing. (Slots, in Germany, are suppose to go back into the pool). I have read several notes from the EU on this - simple google of Lufthansa or easyjet with Air Berlin will come up with some links - and it isn't straightforward. As you point out there is debate on the topic.
With that debate ongoing, unlikely to get banks to lend against the German slots is what I am saying.
jj, what makes you believe they are supposed to go back into the pool as the result of the Air Berlin break up? When Air Berlin was broken up EasyJet bought a part including slots and so did Lufthansa. The discussion was mainly related to anti-competitive behaviour. Lufthansa offered to give up some of the slots as part of their bid in order to avoid further EU investigation into their dominant position. At no point during the Air Berlin break up did anyone suggest slots were to go into the pool as a rule.
To quote from M.8633 (EC case on Lufthansa merger with LGW, the Air Berlin sub they bought):
(37) Under the Slot Regulation, the general principle regarding slot allocation is that an air carrier having operated its particular slots for at least 80 % during the summer or winter scheduling period is entitled to the same slots in the equivalent scheduling period of the following year (the "grandfather rights"). Consequently, slots which are not sufficiently used by air carriers are reallocated (the "use it or lose it" rule).
Note that Air Berlin ceased their flights and hence at some point you can start to question the results of the grandfather rule as the 80% usage may not be there for all recent seasons. But that's a debate that has no relevance for Thomas Cook as they will not cease their usage.
So rules are not a blocker but potentially Lufthansa will do a gesture again. Though as noted in the EC case giving up slots isn't necessarily solving a lot cause Lufthansa would be among the first to receive slots from the pool anyway. Also as all airlines point out that further consolidation will happen there's little option except for being more lenient when it comes to certain dominant positions as it will become more common rather than less common.
So not really sure which articles you read but they were misleading and no idea who you talked to in airline management but their knowledge on slot rules seemed to be fairly limited.