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Air France to increase presence in Asia; Finnair not planning Bangalore or Chennai services soon

Analysis

European airline shares fell with wider markets on Wednesday (15-Sep-2010) following disappointing US data on industrial output and Japan commencing an intervention to weaken the yen. An increase in oil prices (+1.0%), to USD76.02, also weakened the airline share market.

In key markets, UK's FTSE (-0.2%), Germany's DAX (-0.2%) and France's CAC (-0.5%) all fell for the day.

Air France to increase presence in Asia

Air France-KLM (-0.8%) slipped. Air France stated during trading that with China Airlines joining SkyTeam Alliance, it would increase its presence in the Asian market. Air France and KLM serve seven destinations from Paris and/or Amsterdam with 84 weekly services increasing to 109 weekly services including those operated on a codeshare basis with China Eastern and China Southern. Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are served by both airlines, Guangzhou by Air France only and Chengdu, Taipei, Hangzhou by KLM.

Finnair not planning Bangalore or Chennai services in short term

Finnair (-1.6%) was also down for the session. CEO Mika Vehvilainen stated the carrier has no immediate plans to start operations to Bangalore or Chennai, however flying to the destinations is part of its expansion plans. No plans were announced to resume services to Mumbai in the near-term. Under the present bilateral air services agreement between India and Finland, Finnair can operate daily services to three Indian cities. The carrier will commence daily Helsinki-New Delhi from Jan-2011, up from the six flights a week it currently operates.

See related CAPA Profile: Route Changes

Cimber Sterling gains despite losses

Cimber Sterling (+2.3%) was the day's biggest gainer, after reporting narrower net and operating losses for the three months ended 31-Jul-2010. The LCC reported a net loss of EUR1.4 million, compared with a loss of EUR1.6 million in the previous corresponding period, while operating losses amounted to EUR1.3 million, compared with a loss of EUR3.4 million in the previous corresponding period.

See related CAPA Profile: Financial Results

Jet2.com to open Glasgow base

Dart Group (+2.8%) was also up after its LCC, Jet2.com, announced plans to establish its eighth base at Glasgow Airport, bringing substantial investment to the region including 150 new jobs and nine destinations.

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Elsewhere, Ryanair (-5.5%) slumped, followed by TNT (-4.0%) and SAS (-3.4%). Aeroflot (+1.2%) meanwhile continued to rise, with Aer Lingus (+0.8%) also ending trading higher.

Europe selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 15-Sep-2010

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