easyJet exec predicts more airline bankruptcies
03.06.08
High fuel prices will trigger a rash of airline bankruptcies, leaving only five major carriers in Europe, the head of easyJet's German arm said in an interview published yesterday. John Kohlsaat told Berlin's daily Der Tagesspiegel: ‘‘ Several airlines in Europe will go out of business. Theoretically, 50 are endangered.’
Mr Kohlsaat said several airlines had been hit hard by rising fuel costs and were sliding into the red -- a development that in the end would leave only British Airways, Air France/KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair, ‘and us’. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has made similar predictions recently, although he excluded easyJet from his list.
easyJet would weather the storm due to its relatively low operating costs and modern, fuel-efficient fleet, Mr Kohlsaat said, adding ‘a new Airbus consumes 20 percent less fuel than an old Boeing 737.'
He said easyJet, currently the fourth-biggest airline in Europe, had no plans to revise its aircraft orders despite the high cost of fuel. ‘We have ordered 119 and have options for another 88. We will double in size in the next five years.’
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