World Briefing | Africa: Chad: A Moat Around The Capital The government is digging a 10-foot-deep trench around the capital, Ndjamena, to prevent a repeat of an attack last month, when rebels in pickup trucks rolled in and fought two days of heavy battles.... Read Full Article V.C. Nation: Subprime Fallout Could Help Venture Capitalists Could the subprime problems that have fouled the public market be a mixed blessing for Silicon Valley’s high-technology investors?... Read Full Article Barclays Forced To Arrange £1.6bn BoE Emergency Loan Barclays has emerged as the financial institution that borrowed £1.6 billion from the Bank of England’s credit facility — the second time this month that the high street bank has ha... Read Full Article Shoppers Queue For Kate’s New Line Hundreds of shoppers queue for a sneak peek at supermodel Kate Moss’s new collection for British fashion retailer, Topshop.... Read Full Article Policy Will Let More Chinese Invest In Hong Kong Market By making it easier for Chinese investment to leave the mainland, the government hopes to offset some of the money pouring into the mainland through corporate investments.... Read Full Article |
Budget NewsComputacenter screens for weaker periodFresh evidence emerged yesterday that the credit crisis is hitting companies’ technology budgets and jobs as a leading IT services firm said it was bracing itself for far tougher times.Read Full Article Construction industry feeling the squeezeA squeeze on government spending is starting to hit the real economy, with the construction industry feeling the first chill from tightened state budgets.Read Full Article British Airways counts cost of T5 fiasco as passenger numbers fallThe chaotic opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 last month led to British Airways’ worst April since the start of the Iraq war. Yesterday the airline said that passenger numbers had fallen by 7.9 per cent, or 221,000 people, to 2.5 million after the problematic opening of the £4.3 billion terminal. The British flag carrier was forced to cancel more than 430 flights and lost about 20,000 pieces of luggage as it moved into its new home at T5. The negative publicity and cancelled flights are thought to have contributed substantially to the fall in passenger numbers during the month. This particularly affected BA’s UK and European operations, which were the first to move into T5. Short-haul passenger numbers fell 8.5 per cent last month and BA’s aircraft were operating at only 70 per cent of capacity. Worldwide, the carrier’s aircraft were 71.6 per cent full during the month, the lowest April load factor since the Iraq war began in March 2003. Load factors are seasonal and typically in April traffic rises before the summer. The decline in passenger numbers last month was worst in the economy cabins, with an8.8 per cent fall compared with last year. Premium passenger numbers rebounded by 3.4 per cent after a 5 per cent fall in the previous month. Of particular concern to BA will be the sudden drop in transatlantic travel, which is where the carrier makes the bulk of its money. Passenger numbers to and from the Americas fell 7.9 per cent and the load factor fell to 72.2 per cent, from 78.5 per cent in the same month last year. Nick van den Brul, aviation analyst for Exane BNP Paribas, said: “T5 has clearly been a big problem and it will have an impact on profits. April is usually a good month, when things start to pick up after the winter, but this has not happened.” Analysts are concerned that BA’s passenger numbers are falling just as costs rise and the economy slows. Oil prices have hit record levels and this has caused a number of airlines to go into bankruptcy. BA put up its fuel surcharge last week to cover these increased costs, but it risks losing passengers, particularly as the economies of Britain and the United States slow. Doug McVitie, managing director of Arran Aerospace, an aviation consult-ancy, said: “The combination of higher fares, higher costs and falling passenger numbers is very bad news and the more bad news there is, the more people will be put off the airline.” BA’s share price fell 9¾p to 239p yesterday and is trading at less than half the level of a year ago. The company said: “Market conditions are broadly unchanged with long-haul, nonpremium traffic showing significant weakness. In April some impact was felt, particularly on transfer traffic, from the move to T5 and the operational problems in the early part of the month.” Ryanair, the low-cost carrier, has also suffered from weaker demand as a result of tighter household budgets. Its traffic figures for April show that it is not increasing passenger numbers by enough to cope with the capacity it is adding. Passenger numbers rose by 15 per cent to 4.7 million, compared with the same month last year, but load factors dropped to 79 per cent from 83 per cent. Further indications of weakness in the airline sector is expected today when easyJet, another budget airline, reports its first-half figures. Analysts expect a loss of about £50 million compared with a £17 million loss in the same half last year.Read Full Article Eos bankruptcy filing signals end to cheap executive travelEos, the premium airline that flew between London and New York, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last night, a move that appeared to signal the end of cut-price executive-only flights across the Atlantic. The American carrier’s flights were suspended last night, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at Stan-sted and John F Kennedy airports. The grounding of Eos follows the collapse of Maxjet last December and the announcement that Silverjet, which operates from Luton, is seeking a bailout from new investors. L’Avion, which flies from Paris to New York, is also thought to be struggling. Last night it emerged that mainstream carrier Continental Airlines had withdrawn from merger talks with United Airlines amid concerns about United’s financial health in the face of high oil prices. Continental is now focused on a possible alliance with British Airways and American Airlines. All four of the pure business class airlines were launched over the past couple of years to take advantage of a boom in business-class travel between Europe and the United States. They hoped to take on the established transatlantic carriers such as British Airways and Virgin by offering services tailored to business-class travellers. However, sustained high oil prices have pushed up operating costs while the worsening economic environment has reduced demand for premium air travel and the new carriers struggled to compete with better-capitalised rivals. Eos occupied the top end of this niche market and flew only 48 passengers on its Boeing 757s, styling itself a budget-first class service. Silverjet, the last of the British all-business-class carriers, flies 100 passengers on its larger 767 aircraft and charges from £999 for a business-class return – about a third of a typical BA business-class fare. None of the three premium-only carriers that operated from Britain has ever made a profit. In regulatory filings in America, Eos said that it had lost $37 million ($£18.6 million) in the first nine months of last year on revenue of $53 million. Silverjet was losing about $£1 million a month and its share price has fallen from a peak of £2.09 last March to 14p. A spokesman for Silverjet said: “We are a different model to Eos and we remain very confident of continuing to fly.” Eos, which was founded by David Spurlock, a former British Airways executive, was the first of the low-cost business operators to launch, starting flights in October 2005, and it raised $212 million from private equity groups and individual investors. Eos had begun to edge its way into the City$’s favours and is thought to have been included on the preferred airline lists of a number of big institutions. However, it still needed additional financing and approached its original investors seeking more money this month. When that move failed, Eos approached rival airlines, including BA and Virgin, to propose a takeover. It found no interest. Jack Williams, the chief executive of Eos, said: “There are times when even though you execute your business plan, external forces prevent you from controlling your own destiny.” Rising oil prices are causing havoc in the airline industry and Eos is the seventh carrier in two weeks to seek bankruptcy protection or go bust.Read Full Article 3 Candidates With 3 Plans, but One DeficitThe fiscal plans of both parties? candidates could significantly swell the budget deficit and increase the national debt by trillions, experts say.Read Full Article External News for: budgetState's Credit Rating Could Be Lowered, Investors Service Says - New York TimesNew York Daily NewsState's Credit Rating Could Be Lowered, Investors Service SaysNew York TimesMr. Paterson has urged reductions to schools and health care, which have long been third rails of state budget politics. “This is a lot more serious than ...Paterson vows to take action to close budget deficitNewsday (subscription)Paterson threatens big budget cuts7Online.comState budget still a bust in AlbanyNew York Daily NewsBloomberg -WTEN -New York Postall 518 news articles »State's Credit Rating Could Be Lowered, Investors Service Says - New York TimesNew York Daily NewsState's Credit Rating Could Be Lowered, Investors Service SaysNew York TimesMr. Paterson has urged reductions to schools and health care, which have long been third rails of state budget politics. “This is a lot more serious than ...Paterson vows to take action to close budget deficitNewsday (subscription)Paterson threatens big budget cuts7Online.comState budget still a bust in AlbanyNew York Daily NewsBloomberg -WTEN -New York Postall 518 news articles »Strickland slams Schaffer's budget comments - The Newark AdvocateStrickland slams Schaffer's budget commentsThe Newark AdvocateNEWARK — Nearly two months after Ohio officials learned of an $851 million budget deficit, ...Ohio moderates' budget fix meets immovable forcesThe Associated PressSchaffer criticizes Dems for unwillingness to work out budget compromiseLancaster Eagle GazetteOhio Senate Republicans propose new budget fix; Democrats quickly reject itPlain DealerCleveland News - Fox 8 -Columbus Dispatch -Toledo Bladeall 300 news articles »State's Credit Rating Could Be Lowered, Investors Service Says - New York TimesNew York Daily NewsState's Credit Rating Could Be Lowered, Investors Service SaysNew York TimesMr. Paterson has urged reductions to schools and health care, which have long been third rails of state budget politics. “This is a lot more serious than ...Paterson vows to take action to close budget deficitNewsday (subscription)Paterson threatens big budget cuts7Online.comState budget still a bust in AlbanyNew York Daily NewsBloomberg -WTEN -New York Postall 518 news articles »Strickland slams Schaffer's budget comments - The Newark AdvocateStrickland slams Schaffer's budget commentsThe Newark AdvocateNEWARK — Nearly two months after Ohio officials learned of an $851 million budget deficit, ...Ohio moderates' budget fix meets immovable forcesThe Associated PressSchaffer criticizes Dems for unwillingness to work out budget compromiseLancaster Eagle GazetteOhio Senate Republicans propose new budget fix; Democrats quickly reject itPlain DealerCleveland News - Fox 8 -Columbus Dispatch -Toledo Bladeall 300 news articles »A Closer Look at State's Budget Fix - WOWTA Closer Look at State's Budget FixWOWTState senators were given a huge challenge cut $335 million dollars from the budget. Governor Dave Heineman says they did it and without raising our taxes. ...Nebraska governor signs budget-cutting packageThe Associated PressLawmakers Approve Bill To Close $335M Budget GapKETV.comBudget cuts OK'd, but is it over?Omaha World-HeraldKPTM-TV -NTV -Action 3 Newsall 89 news articles » |
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