18 August 2008

No more BAAABI - now it's No Slot Back Willie

Just when I was getting very happy with the BAAABI acronym for the OneWorld super alliance, i find I have to include Finnair (AY) and Royal Jordanian (RJ).

dang it...

I was so close to such anagrams as I BRA AJAR, or I GRAB A BRA. So I will have to go back to the drawing board and hope that QF and CX dont join as well....

Which leaves me to the point about Mr Walsh and his resounding - "what me give back slots at LHR - are you nuts" attitude.

BA has not yet put a value on its slots at LHR. While BMI values its slots @ GBP770 Million which given the number of slots that means GBP 10 million per slot pair. Given the number of slots and the current market value of each slot pair - shall we say $75 million - then BA is surely not going to be letting any go any time soon.

So Willie is not going to let the slots go. Which means that my argument for dominant position holds and even with the best intentions - the shares that the alliance holds at LHR is still pretty dominant. Anyway you cut it its darn close to 50%.

I think Mr Ridgeway has a point.

Cheers

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