BREAKING: Air France-KLM could acquire Wizz Air

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sn26567
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BREAKING: Air France-KLM could acquire Wizz Air

Post by sn26567 »

Dutch press reports that Air France-KLM is in advanced talks to acquire Hungarian LCC Wizz Air in an effort to build pan-European LCC.

The possible acquisition of Wizz Air will provide Air France-KLM's low-cost subsidiary Transavia with a much broader European footprint.

More to follow.
André
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Inquirer
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Re: BREAKING: Air France-KLM could acquire Wizz Air

Post by Inquirer »

IAG has clearly shown the way with vueling which is highly successful to the point it scares others so much they are forced to turn upside down their entire business model even,whereas Lufthansa has recently been said to consider creating their own pan-European LCC to copy IAG, so this rumour about AirFrance acquiring Wizzair fits well into this new phase of integration in which the big 3 multinational airline groups of Europe each have a transnational brand in their portfolio which allows them to set up bases in all those countries without legacy market much more easily then they can do only now.

I think if this goes ahead, we might see some other industry changing mergers/takeovers happen, like for instance a Lufthansa/Easyjet merger just to give an idea of the scale which you have to think on then, after which the whole European market will be turned upside down forever and the simple stand alone regional low cost may be on their way out in favour of the hybrid model in which a single group offers everything from regional low cost to global longhaul.

FWIW- wizzair was supposed to launch an IPO, but called off the plans a few weeks ago, citing rather dubious reasons; this rumour could explain their u-turn better.

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earthman
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Re: BREAKING: Air France-KLM could acquire Wizz Air

Post by earthman »

What is going to happen with Ryanair then?

rhigginson
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Re: BREAKING: Air France-KLM could acquire Wizz Air

Post by rhigginson »

I personally fail to see why AF-KLM would want to buy Wizz Air. They specialise in completely different markets, use different airports and have entirely different business models. Some savings could be made at a few airports by using joint facilities but it seems that the business models are quite different. Wizz Air is predominantly East-West flights and Transavia North-South. Perhaps some innovative type of code-sharing could come about, a little like EasyJet has done with Transaero or Flybe has done. That could turn Eindhoven into a hub for flights from Eastern Europe via Eindhoven to holiday destinations but that doesn't seem that useful.

I think there would be better targets for Eastern Europe acqusitions for Western European carriers. Blue Air would be high on my list by someone like EasyJet. I could also see Norwegian wanting to acquire something and wonder how long WOW air will continue in its current form. EasyJet and Icelandair I imagine are pushing it.

Jet2 or Monarch Airlines could be interesting for Transavia...


airazurxtror
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Re: BREAKING: Air France-KLM could acquire Wizz Air

Post by airazurxtror »

A pity. WizzAir was a nice company. Now to about be contaminated by Air France and its unions ...
IF IT AIN'T BOEING, I'M NOT GOING.


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sn26567
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Re: BREAKING: Air France-KLM could acquire Wizz Air

Post by sn26567 »

I am not sure that a denial should be taken as a firm refusal. There could still be talks behind closed doors. Let's wait and see...
André
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