News in brief from Continental, Star Alliance and Cathay Pacific
Continental sets date to join Star
Continental Airlines will join the Star Alliance on October 27, it announced yesterday (August 17).
Its last flight with its current alliance, SkyTeam will be on October 24.
It will be the 22nd member of what is the world's largest airline alliance.
Continental has already been granted anti-trust immunity with other Star airlines on transatlantic routes.
It said in a statement that its switch from SkyTeam to Star was strategic.
Continental has also been in merger talks with Star member United Airlines.
www.continental.com
Cathay shares suspended
Shares in Cathay Pacific were suspended on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday (August 17) after reports that a major shareholder Citic Pacific was selling its stake to another Cathay shareholder Air China.
Reuters said that shares in CITIC and Air China were also suspended before the market opened yesterday.
CITIC, which lost $1.9bn in foreign exchange contracts last year, has a 17.59% stake in the Hong Kong carrier.
Air China and the China National Aviation Company hold a combined stake of 14.49% in Cathay.
The major shareholder in the airline is Swire Pacific with a 39.97% stake.
www.cathaypacific.com