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SAS tries to sell its bmi stake

By IAG | March 30th, 2007 | Posted in air france, bmi, british airways, iberia, klm, lufthansa, sas | No Comments

bmi stock is a hot commodity right now. The airline's slots at Heathrow have shot up in value. Scandinavian Airlines has been touting its 20% stake in bmi this week, trying to find a buyer among other airlines or private equity. An obvious buyer is Lufthansa, the other major stakeholder than Sir Michael Bishop, the CEO.

There is a lot of jockeying going on right now among Europe's airlines. Reports are that Lufthansa is sniffing around Alitalia. Texas Pacific is also looking there, as well as at Iberia. The three main players (and alliances) likely to be left standing after an consolidation will include British Airways (a stakeholder in Iberia already), Air France/KLM and Lufthansa. The question will be which of the others will be aligned with which of these three.

SAS' stake in bmi is a great first card to play. SAS is in the Star Alliance, making it a friend of Lufthansa. So a deal between them on bmi is likely. It could be that SAS goes public on its bmi stake sale to make sure it gets the highest price – friendship only goes so far, after all.

SAS tries to sell its bmi stake

By IAG | March 30th, 2007 | Posted in air france, bmi, british airways, iberia, klm, lufthansa, sas | No Comments

bmi stock is a hot commodity right now. The airline's slots at Heathrow have shot up in value. Scandinavian Airlines has been touting its 20% stake in bmi this week, trying to find a buyer among other airlines or private equity. An obvious buyer is Lufthansa, the other major stakeholder than Sir Michael Bishop, the CEO.

There is a lot of jockeying going on right now among Europe's airlines. Reports are that Lufthansa is sniffing around Alitalia. Texas Pacific is also looking there, as well as at Iberia. The three main players (and alliances) likely to be left standing after an consolidation will include British Airways (a stakeholder in Iberia already), Air France/KLM and Lufthansa. The question will be which of the others will be aligned with which of these three.

SAS' stake in bmi is a great first card to play. SAS is in the Star Alliance, making it a friend of Lufthansa. So a deal between them on bmi is likely. It could be that SAS goes public on its bmi stake sale to make sure it gets the highest price – friendship only goes so far, after all.

Scandinavian Airlines’ passengers to check in using mobile phones

By IAG | March 20th, 2007 | Posted in airport, sas, technology | No Comments

Airlines continue their quest to automate steps and reduce their cost of business. Automation not only cuts costs, it can also provide an airline with better opportunities to avoid customer irritation. Here is a clever example of how automation can improve the process of getting from the airport to the plane in a much more efficient manner. Imagine what saving customers 5 minutes amounts to per year. Now figure out the savings to the airline of the same amount of time. It adds up fast.

From June 2007, SAS customers will have access to a check-in notification service via e-mail and text message. 22 hours before a flight is due to depart, passengers will automatically be notified via text or e-mail that they can check-in for their flight. Passengers will be able to register for this check-in notification service at booking tickets. Check-in via mobile phone with just one click with an itinerary sent to them via text. Passengers opting to receive check in notification via email will no longer need to login or input their booking details but will be able to access the seat plan for their flight with a single click. SAS customers are also given access to flight details by using the SAS mobile portal and able to check flight times, destination weather forecasts and download city guides on SAS’ destinations worldwide. SAS investing in technology which will enable customers to receive a digital boarding pass direct to their mobile phones, allowing them to use their phones to “swipe” through the airport.

Now this is great thinking. Can this work in the US? After all, we have to deal with TSA.

Scandinavian Airlines’ passengers to check in using mobile phones

By IAG | March 20th, 2007 | Posted in airport, sas, technology | No Comments

Airlines continue their quest to automate steps and reduce their cost of business. Automation not only cuts costs, it can also provide an airline with better opportunities to avoid customer irritation. Here is a clever example of how automation can improve the process of getting from the airport to the plane in a much more efficient manner. Imagine what saving customers 5 minutes amounts to per year. Now figure out the savings to the airline of the same amount of time. It adds up fast.

From June 2007, SAS customers will have access to a check-in notification service via e-mail and text message. 22 hours before a flight is due to depart, passengers will automatically be notified via text or e-mail that they can check-in for their flight. Passengers will be able to register for this check-in notification service at booking tickets. Check-in via mobile phone with just one click with an itinerary sent to them via text. Passengers opting to receive check in notification via email will no longer need to login or input their booking details but will be able to access the seat plan for their flight with a single click. SAS customers are also given access to flight details by using the SAS mobile portal and able to check flight times, destination weather forecasts and download city guides on SAS’ destinations worldwide. SAS investing in technology which will enable customers to receive a digital boarding pass direct to their mobile phones, allowing them to use their phones to “swipe” through the airport.

Now this is great thinking. Can this work in the US? After all, we have to deal with TSA.