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Non-Tech : Virgin Express (VIRGY) Richard Branson's European Airline -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (57)	11/9/2001 2:04:20 AM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 62

Competition zooms in on Brussels airport capacity November 08, 2001 06:50:00 AM ET BRUSSELS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Rival airlines are rushing to fill the void left by fallen Belgian national airline Sabena [SAB.UL] at the country's main airport. A Belgian judge declared debt-laden Sabena bankrupt on Wednesday, putting $2 billion of annual revenues up for grabs. U.S. Delta Air Lines (DAL) announced it would reinstate a service between New York and Brussels's Zaventem National airport in mid-December. Delta suspended flights to Brussels following the attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, but said in a statement on Thursday it would restart the service earlier than planned following the failure of Sabena. A spokesman for Brussels-based discount airline Virgin Express (VIRGY) said it had more than doubled its turnover in the past few days. Virgin Express also said two days ago it would start flying new routes this month and would add 15 more destinations from Brussels in the coming months. Virgin, which does not rule out investing in a government-orchestrated plan to found a new private airline from the rump of Sabena, had a code-sharing agreement with the flag carrier on three of its routes and has managed to secure part of Sabena's slots to London. Shares in Virgin Express jumped 11 percent to 6.44 euros in Brussels on Thursday. Virgin Express notched up revenues of 700,000 euros on Wednesday compared to a normal daily turnover of 300,000 euros. Dutch carrier KLM , whose stock also rose sharply when Sabena went bust, said on Wednesday it had already picked up extra business ahead of the airline collapse. Its shares were up more than eight percent on Thursday. German peer Lufthansa said it had significantly increased flight capacity between Germany and Belgium. The Belgian government said on Wednesday it had brought together enough private funding to set up a new airline from the wreckage of Sabena. But questions emerged on whether the European Commission would approve the transfer of a government bridging loan from Sabena to its regional subsidiary Delta Air Transport (DAT), which would form the core of the proposed new airline. Belgian Public Enterprises Minister Rik Daems said he hoped the new airline would be flying in the next few days in Europe, Africa and two U.S. cities. Daems told VTM television late on Wednesday there was no time to lose to restart operations to prevent competitors from stepping in. "If we don't act quickly, an ever larger market share will be taken over by other companies," Daems said. © 2001 Reuters news.moneycentral.msn.com