International travel is finally starting to recover from the Covid-19 slump. As of August, demand for cross-border flights was still down about 69% relative to 2019 levels, according to the International Air Transport Association. But that marked a notable improvement from the prior month — the sixth straight, in fact. That’s despite a wave of Covid-19 linked to the Delta ...
Read More »Johnson’s housing issues not over yet
For a week that ended with a crowd-pleasing speech from the Conservative Party leader but little new policy substance, there was one notable exception. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government seems to have done a U-turn on its controversial “once in a generation†reforms to Britain’s house-building plan announced in August 2020. Whatever comes from the policy rethink will have ...
Read More »A shade of Evergrande in UK’s energy crisis
Barely a week goes by without a UK electricity and gas supplier being toppled by soaring commodity prices. Millions of British customers face an unsettling wait to learn if their power provider will survive, who’ll take over their contract, and whether their energy bills will increase. Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem — the Office of Gas and Electricity Management — has ...
Read More »Will the US Supreme Court bail out Trump?
Will the Supreme Court save the Republican Party from Donald Trump? Congress is finally starting to pick up the pace of its investigations into the events of January 6, and more broadly into the efforts by then-president Trump to subvert the 2020 election. A Senate committee has reported in detail on Trump’s efforts to improperly influence the Justice Department, and ...
Read More »Tata wins control of Air India again with $2.4 billion offer
Bloomberg Tata Sons Pvt was selected as the winning bidder for India’s flag carrier, ending decades of attempts to privatise a money-losing and debt-laden airline, and potentially ending years of taxpayer-bailouts that’s kept the company alive. Tata Sons, which originally launched Air India Ltd with a namesake branding in 1932, bid 180 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) as an enterprise value ...
Read More »Aeromexico sees Chapter 11 exit with $1.7b proposal
Bloomberg Grupo Aeromexico SAB sees emerging from Chapter 11 by the end of this year with an exit plan worth about $1.7 billion. The airline, which filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic brought travel to a halt, filed a motion to extend the period to issue a complete plan to December 9. The step was ...
Read More »Hungary ups ante in Budapest Airport tussle with higher bid
Bloomberg The owners of Budapest Airport are considering entering into formal negotiations to sell the hub to the Hungarian state after receiving a revised offer, according to people familiar with the matter. A government-led consortium put forward a new proposal to purchase a majority stake in the airport, the person said. The offer, received at the end of September, is ...
Read More »UK drops probe into British Airways, Ryanair Covid refunds
Bloomberg The UK ended a probe into British Airways (BA) and Ryanair Holdings Plc over their refusal to reimburse customers who were barred from flying because of ever-changing pandemic travel rules. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided to close the investigation because the law isn’t clear enough about a right to a refund “in these unusual circumstances,†according to ...
Read More »Activist Jana calls for Macy’s to spin off e-commerce unit
Bloomberg Activist investor Jana Partners believes Macy’s Inc could boost its valuation by spinning off its e-commerce business. Jana said in an investor presentation that the retail chain could follow the lead of Saks Fifth Avenue, whose owner spun out its e-commerce business. At a similar valuation, Macy’s online business could be worth about $14 billion, Jana said. Macy’s as ...
Read More »Virgin Atlantic starts chairman search
Bloomberg Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd is searching for a candidate to take over as chairman in the event plans for an initial public offering go ahead, a person with knowledge of the situation said. A London listing would compel current Chairman Peter Norris to stand down since he occupies the same post at Virgin Group, owned by the carrier’s founder ...
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