Archive

from Global Investing:

Turkey: ceasefire with PKK may bring economic gains

Turkey's ceasefire last month with the Kurdish militant group PKK could boost its trade partnerships multilaterally, as increasing prospects for stability in the region bring economic opportunities in the Middle East and Africa.

The halt in the decades-long armed campaign came on March 21 after the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Abdullah Ocalan, sent a letter with the announcement from the island prison cell where he has been held since 1999 when he was arrested for treason.

Although the main pro-Kurdish party has recently poured doubt on the veracity of Ocalan's statement, the prospect of greater stability in the troubled border region with Iraq could pave the way for greater trade security and pay dividends for investors.

Now that the Turkish economy is pacing along, perhaps not with so much gusto as  a few years ago, but with a young and increasingly tech-savvy population and inflation levels at relatively low levels, peace progressions with the PKK could also help the country's prospects.

from Stories I’d like to see:

Congress’s friendly skies, and battle of the dumb lawyers

1.   Air Congress:

As a snowstorm threatened Washington, D.C., last Wednesday night, there were TV news reports showing members of the House hustling down the Capitol steps so they could get to the airport to catch flights home. This reminded me of something I’ve been curious about for a while.

Several years ago, when I was doing reporting for a book on the aftermath of 9/11 about how the airlines lobbied Congress to block airport security initiatives that they thought would be too onerous, I was told that each airline has a travel agency-like staff in Washington that is an adjunct of its lobbying office. Its sole purpose, one airline lobbyist told me, is to assist members of the House and Senate with their weekly trips home and back. These staffers get the call if a legislator has to change flights because of a last-minute vote.

from India Insight:

Fare wars over India: You win, airlines lose

(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of Reuters)

Indians like it cheap -- be it a car, a phone call or airfare. If that plane ticket is about 25 percent cheaper than a train ticket, you can imagine the rush to buy.

Airlines in India are doing just that. Jet Airways, until recently the biggest Indian carrier, offered 2 million tickets at nearly half price in a “goodwill gesture”. Its website crashed soon after, just as SpiceJet’s did when it offered a million tickets for just 2,013 rupees  last month. That led many to believe the offer was a hoax.

from Stories I’d like to see:

Electoral legal minefields, baseball contracts, and airline woes

1. The Election Day legal battlefield:

We need all kinds of coverage of the legal Armageddon that we may face on Election Day and the morning after.

Assuming the election stays close, there could be multiple swing states in play, with voter identification and provisional balloting rules so much in flux that the multi-court, multi-issue legal war we suffered through in Florida in 2000 will look simple by comparison.

from India Insight:

To pity or not to pity Vijay Mallya

Picture this – You run an airline that never made a profit, you need to pay off $1.4 billion debt from who-knows-where and airports, taxmen and oil companies are pursuing you to get their money back.

You still believe you can turn the airline around. You still believe you will find a white knight who will buy into your carrier and help it back on its feet. You are giving your best to convince investors that your brand-value is still strong, you can still attract passengers – all you need is some hard cash immediately.

from Breakingviews:

Investors may be happy to ride on renovated JAL

By Wayne Arnold

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Japan Airlines’ plans to raise roughly $8.5 billion in an IPO may seem a heavy lift amid weak global markets and a perennially limping aviation industry. But big funds will likely clamor for seats on a flight fueled by a mix of government largesse and one of Japan’s most promising turnaround stories.

from Breakingviews:

World’s new air giant taking off at turbulent time

By Raul Gallegos
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Get ready for the world’s largest airline to take off this week. But don’t look north or east - the globe’s most valuable carrier is set to be South American. Chile’s LAN Airlines is on track to finally consummate its marriage to Brazilian rival TAM this Friday, almost two years after announcing the tie-up. But the promise of greater regional integration has fueled big expectations that economic headwinds will make difficult to meet.

from India Insight:

Selling stake in alcohol business – Mallya’s last roll of dice?

It's always spectacular when things go horribly wrong for the rich and famous.

When Vijay Mallya -- the king of good times -- launched a high-profile airline in 2005, his primary motive was to use the platform to promote his best-selling Kingfisher beer.

from The Great Debate:

A simple plan to relieve airport congestion

D.J. Gribbin, a former general counsel for the United States Department of Transportation, contributed to this column.

The bankruptcy filing by American Airlines a few months ago signals that the U.S. aviation industry is once again primed for dramatic change.  American Airlines is the last of the major U.S. carriers to seek bankruptcy protection, as most of the other big carriers have completed restructurings or mergers that have reduced the number of full-service carriers from seven in 2005 to just four today.

from Breakingviews:

Why 100 pct FDI could save India’s Kingfisher

By Jeff Glekin

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The Kingfisher saga has dragged on for too long. Mounting debts and deteriorating service levels are bringing the Indian airline, majority owned by Vijay Mallya, the flamboyant liquor baron, to the brink. New investors are in short supply. A proposal to allow foreigners to buy up to 49 percent of the company does not go far enough. If the government is serious about saving the airline, why not go the whole hog and allow 100 percent?