Renault chairman: ‘Real desire’ to make faltering Nissan alliance work January 16, 2020 Renault’s chairman has dismissed claims that the 20-year partnership between the French manufacturer and Nissan might be breaking down. Jean-Dominique Senard said today that there was a “real desire” at the alliance to make a success of it. This comes despite more than a year of turmoil caused by the arrest of its architect Carlos [...]
European Investment Bank backs Uber rival Bolt with €50m January 16, 2020 The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to provide Bolt with €50m (£43m) financing to the help ride-hailing app develop its technologies. The financing, supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), is to boost Bolt’s product development in areas where technology can improve the safety, reliability and sustainability of its services. Read more: Bolt [...]
Hyundai and Kia inject €100m in London electric vehicle scaleup January 16, 2020 Car making giants Hyundai and Kia will today reveal a €100m (£85.6m) in London-headquartered electric vehicle firm Arrival. The move will mark the beginning of a strategic partnership between the trio which will see Hyundai and Kia use the scaleup’s technology to develop mobility solutions and electrify their vehicles. Arrival, which has more than 800 [...]
DEBATE: Was the government right to bail out Flybe? January 16, 2020 Was the government right to bail out Flybe? Rob Burgess, editor of the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website headforpoints.com, says YES. Sitting in London, it is easy to think that Flybe should be allowed to fail. Sit in the departure hall at Exeter Airport, or Southampton, or one of the other regional hubs where Flybe [...]
Londoners have more two-hour commutes than anywhere in Europe January 15, 2020 Londoners have more two-hour commutes on average than anywhere else in Europe, according to a new survey. A study from Israeli app Moovit found that five per cent of all London and South East commutes are two hours or longer. Read more: TfL renames Piccadilly Tube station to celebrate new Star Trek film This was [...]
Revealed: Why the government bailed out Flybe, but not Thomas Cook January 15, 2020 At first glance, some might find it hard to understand why the government decided to save Flybe – a small, regional airline – but not holiday giant Thomas Cook. After all, when the latter went bust in September more than 150,000 Brits were left stranded abroad, prompting a mammoth repatriation effort by the Civil Aviation [...]
Carlos Ghosn claims French ambassador warned him in advance of ‘Nissan plot’ January 15, 2020 Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has claimed the French ambassador warned him just before his November 2018 arrest that his own company was plotting against him. “Frankly, I was shocked by the arrest and the first thing I asked is make sure Nissan knows so they can send me a lawyer,” Ghosn told Reuters in [...]
British Airways owner files complaint over Flybe bailout January 15, 2020 The bailout of regional airline Flybe from near-collapse was today the subject of an official complaint to the European Commission by the owner of British Airways, International Airlines Group. Flybe was kept aloft on Tuesday after the government provided support, thought to involve the deferral of a tax bill worth more than £100m. But IAG said [...]
Northern Line misery as severe Tube delays and Bank branch issues hit commuters January 15, 2020 Northern Line commuters face a miserable journey to work today after a faulty train left the line running with severe Tube delays southbound and a limited Bank branch service. Southbound passengers changed at Camden Town this morning for Bank services before Transport for London (TfL) told them no Bank trains were running after the earlier [...]
Flybe saved from brink of collapse by government deal January 14, 2020 Flybe has staved off collapse after shareholders and the government struck a controversial deal that will review the regional airline’s air passenger duty contributions. Major shareholders, including Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Group, pledged to inject “additional funding” to keep the airline running. They said this would come “alongside government initiatives”. The deal came a day [...]