The "Richard Burton" Business Model
Sir Richard Burton was a 19th Century British explorer who produced English translations of Asian myths & legends, such as "The Thousand & One Nights". Most of his literary works were almost entirely dependent on the business of slipping in & out of places where he wasn't necessarily welcome or even legally permitted to visit. That adventurous approach increased the attraction of his publications tenfold. But the idea of flouting the law is no longer considered sexy; the only time people invite sympathy for trying to slip across borders is if they faced dire trouble in their own countries; other than that, it is completely unacceptable.
During the last week, there have been discrete whispers about certain unidentified foreign airlines having repeatedly played fast & loose with the rules that require foreigners to actually be carrying visas when they arrive in Pakistan; turns out that Dean Jones wasn't the only gentleman who left his papers behind & was still welcomed aboard a plane flying to the Land Of The Five Rivers. This trend has become unsettling enough that the Pakistani authorities were compelled to levy a modest fine upon said airlines & remind them not to be naughty again.
That is all well & good, but what most financial analysts would like to know is the names of the recalcitrant firms, so as to make a more accurate assessment of their future financial prospects. Sadly, that list has yet to be released to the public. Under the circumstances, the only thing that can be done is compensate for the absence of vital information by perusing the headlines on the foreign airlines that operate regularly in Pakistan. Given below is a list of the top 5 foreign airlines that are making the rounds in the financial papers these days.
British Airways & The Pedophile Pilot
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier as well as the largest airline in the UK, based on fleet size. When measured by passengers carried, it is second-largest in the country, behind easyJet. The airline is headquartered in Waterside near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. BA is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific & Qantas. British Airways merged with Iberia on 21 January 2011, formally creating the International Airlines Group (IAG), the world's third-largest airline group in terms of annual revenue & the second-largest in Europe. IAG is listed on the London Stock Exchange & in the FTSE 100 Index.
British Airways recently agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to East African children who were sexually abused by its pilot, Simon Wood, 54, from Potters Bar in Hertfordshire. Wood got hit by a train & died in August 2013, 11 days before he was due to appear in a UK court charged with abuse in Africa & the UK. BA denies liability but agreed to compensate the abuse victims.
Cathay Pacific & The Oil Plunge
Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office & main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Dragonair, is also headquartered in Hong Kong. In 2010, Cathay Pacific & Dragonair carried nearly 27 million passengers & over 1.8 million tons of cargo & mail. The airline was founded on September 24, 1946 by Australian Sydney H. de Kantzow & American Roy C. Farrell, with each man putting up HK$1 to register the airline. As of October 2009, its major shareholders are Swire Pacific & Air China. It is reciprocally one of the major shareholders of Air China.
According to the latest news, the airline hedged its fuel requirements at prices higher than those prevailing in the spot market, causing it to report losses from the contracts, much along the lines of what happened in 2008 & 2009 when the sudden plunge in oil prices resulted in several loss-making fuel contracts for Cathay Pacific & Singapore Airlines, among others.
Saudi Arabian Airlines & The Mid-Flight Pilot Death
Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) is headquartered in King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah & is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia. The airline is the third largest in the Middle East in terms of revenue, behind Emirates & Qatar Airways. Saudia is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization. The airline joined the SkyTeam airline alliance on 29 May 2012.
On March 3, 2016, a Saudi passenger aircraft pilot, Captain Walid bin Mohammad Al Mohammad died minutes before landing a plane in the Gulf Kingdom forcing his co-pilot to take over. Captain Walid was trying to land at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh when he suffered a massive heart attack. Realising that something was wrong, his co-pilot, Rami bin Ghazi took over & successfully managed to land. He radioed for medical assistance but it was too late because Captain Walid had apparently died instantaneously.
Swissair & The Cancellation Of Balkan Flights
For many years, Swissair was the national airline of Switzerland. Successor airline Swiss International Air Lines was founded on April 1, 2002 on the base of former Crossair. Today, The SAirGroup company still exists & is in the process of being liquidated. Swiss International Air Lines was taken over by the German airline Lufthansa in 2005.
Thai Airways & The Resumption Of Russian Flights
Thai Airways is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. The airline has its corporate headquarters in Bangkok, & operates primarily out of Suvarnabhumi Airport. It is a founding member of the Star Alliance. The airline is the largest shareholder of the low-cost carrier Nok Air with a 39% stake, & it launched a regional carrier under the name Thai Smile in the middle of 2012 using new Airbus A320 aircraft.
Encouraged by good results in the final quarter of 2015, Thai Airways has decided to resume flights to Russia. The Moscow-Bangkok service will be restarted in October 2016. The airline had discontinued its Moscow service in March 2015 as Russian tourist numbers to Thailand fell on account of a depreciated ruble.
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