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Travel Hot News.com
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press agencies
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| FLash | India Airlines to buy 43 new Airbus aircraft for US$2 billion
State-run Indian Airlines plans to buy 43 new passenger aircraft costing nearly $2 billion US from Airbus SAS to replace its aging fleet, a Finance Ministry official said on Tuesday. The Public Investment Board, comprising top bureaucrats of the finance, expenditure and civil aviation ministries, approved the deal on Wednesday, Expenditure Secretary D. Swarup said. It must now be approved by the cabinet, Swarup said. It wasn't clear when a final decision would be made. Indian Airlines flies on domestic routes and to neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. This will be the airline's first fleet acquisition in 15 years. Airbus Industrie was the lowest bidder. |
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Clive Beddoe, President and CEO
of WestJet | WESTJET CEO ACCUSES AIR CANADA OF HITTING LOW IN ESPIONAGE LAWSUIT
CP
The chief executive of Calgary-based WestJet Airlines has accused rival Air Canada of striking a "low blow" by naming him in a corporate espionage case. "It's a pretty low blow to try to personalize this. Mr. Milton's lowered the bar, I suppose," Clive Beddoe said, referring to Air Canada CEO Robert Milton. It was Beddoe's first public reaction to Air Canada's filing of court documents last week that accused Beddoe of knowing that WestJet was involved in corporate espionage against its bigger rival.
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| Jana Partners LLC Requests Transat A.T. Inc. Undertake a Dutch Auction Tender Offer |
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On November 10th, the following letter was sent by Jana Partners LLC
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Jean-Marc Eustache,
President and CEO
of Transat A.T. | to Transat A.T. Inc. Dear Mr. Eustache: As you are aware, JANA Partners LLC ("JANA") owns 2,660,000 shares of Transat A.T. Inc. ("Transat" or the "Company") representing approximately 8% of the outstanding stock. We would like to be supportive of management as we believe that you have done an admirable job in restructuring the business; however, we are obliged to publicly articulate our divergent views regarding the Company's capitalization plans and management's perception of shareholder sentiment.
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| News From the Cayman Islands |
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While the Sister Islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman have been welcoming tourists since mid-September, the Hon. McKeeva Bush, Leader of Government Business and Minister of Tourism, has announced that travel restrictions to Grand Cayman will be lifted effective 20th November 2004. Prior to making this decision representatives of the Ministry of Tourism met with various public sector agencies e.g. the Immigration Department, Civil Aviation Authority and Cayman Airways as well a number of private sector entities in Grand Cayman, including the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, the larger hotel properties, retailers, transportation providers and watersports operators.
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| Barbados Tourism Authority names Stuart Layne President and Chief Executive Officer |
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| Stuart Layne | The Barbados Tourism Authority has announced the appointment of Mr. Stuart Layne to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). His responsibilities include defining the Authority's long term goals, and strategic priorities, and advising the Board of Directors on all tourism matters. "I am very excited to serve Barbados in this capacity. I will use my experience from the Ministry of Tourism as well as The Ministry of Finance to bring a new thrust to our initiatives. I believe in the simultaneous growth in Tourism and the product, and I will be focusing on this, as well as maintaining the excellent private sector collaborative efforts that have guided the organization in the recent past," said Layne.
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| Luxury hotels look to target China in push for Asian expansion |
| AP |
The elevator shafts at the Regent are still empty. The concrete floors of the half-built hotel are bare. Windows haven't been installed. But general manager Martyn Standen looks at the building and sees a strong contender in Shanghai's competitive market for luxury hotels. Premium hotels are opening all over Shanghai, Beijing and other Chinese cities as Regent, Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt, Sheraton and other companies pour billions of dollars into expansion. Others are opening motels to serve a market that didn't exist five years ago – Chinese travellers with their own cars.
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| FLash | Deadline nears for Delta pilots' vote that could determine bankruptcy filing
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. slipped again, as investors awaited the outcome of a labour vote that could determine whether the airline ends up in bankruptcy court. Wall Street also reacted to an announcement that Delta would issue as many as 75 million new shares of common stock, mostly to pay employees as part of a new incentive program. The issue would dilute the value of the roughly 125 million shares currently outstanding. Delta shares were down 17 cents to close at $6.08 US Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares, which dipped as low as $2.75 in Sept., have traded around $6 since late Oct., when the company reached a tentative deal with its pilot union after 15 months of negotiation. |
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| FLash | Alitalia posts operating
loss for its 3rd quarter
Struggling Italian airline Alitalia SpA reported a narrower operating loss for its 3rd quarter, noting that the improvement came despite higher fuel costs. Alitalia, which has submitted a restructuring plan to the European Commission, had an operating loss of 13.6 million euros ($17.7 million US) for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, compared with an operating loss of 21.86 million euros in 2003's 3rd quarter. The airline did not report a net income figure in its 3rd quarter earnings statement, which was approved at a board meeting. Alitalia reported 1.12 billion euros ($1.44 billion US) in revenue for the third quarter, compared to 1.16 billion euros for the same period in 2003. This year's 3rd-quarter loss before extraordinary items and taxes was reported at 28.75 million euros ($37 million), compared with a loss of 47.36 million euros last year in that quarter. |
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| FLash | Germany's Lufthansa posts
Q3 profit of US$155M
German airline Lufthansa posted a profit of 125 million euros ($155 million US) in the third quarter, more than making up losses from a year ago thanks to stronger demand for air travel, the company said Thursday. The result compared with a loss of 17 million euros in the July-September quarter last year. Air traffic revenue increased by 10 per cent to 3.44 billion euros ($4.27 billion). Overall sales at Lufthansa, which also has maintenance, tourism and catering businesses, rose five per cent to 4.47 billion euros ($5.55 billion). The airline also credited its hedging strategy for defending it against higher oil prices, saying it had saved the company some 159 million euros ($197 million) in the first nine months of the year. Over that period, the company said, its fuel bill rose 30 per cent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion) – although 15 per cent of the increase came from flying more to meet increased demand. CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said the positive result still wasn't enough, and that the company needed to grow earnings more and cut costs in talks with its workers. |
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