Air France insists budget airline must be low cost

Air France has said it will go ahead with plans to develop its low cost airline within France despite objections from striking pilots.

Conditions at the budget operator are the main sticking point between management and Air France pilots.

Talks on Thursday failed to find a resolution to the 12 day old strike.

Air France said demands that pilots at the new operation receive the same pay and conditions as at Air France were incompatible with the low-cost model.

The pilots are demanding that the same contract be offered to all pilots across Air-France KLM's subsidiaries.

No single contract

Air France originally hoped to develop its low cost operation, Transavia, via regional hubs around Europe. But

Edo Govt Presents N156.6bn 2015 Budget to Assembly

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has presented the 2015 budget to the state House of Assembly for approval.

Presenting the budget estimate of N156.551 billion christened: “Budget of Developmental Consolidation” which according to him “is aimed at taking the state to the next level” Oshiomhole disclosed that the estimate comprises of N87.56 billion as capital expenditure representing 55.77 per cent of the total budget, while the proposed recurrent expenditure is N68.99 billion which represents 44.23 per cent of the total budget.

He also said the budget wasdesigned towards the completion of all ongoing projects, injection of new investments in key priority sectors of the administration which he listed as road construction and rehabilitation, education, health, water, rural electrification and environmental protection including drainage, erosion control and beautification.

Continuing, the governor said

Nigeria fiscal risks increase as oil nears break-even price

Nigeria’s fiscal risks have become elevated as the retreat of oil prices is bringing them closer to the break-even point at which the Federal and State government budgets become untenable.

“Nigeria’s low levels of accumulated oil windfall savings imply that its oil-price vulnerability kicks in at a much higher threshold than the official oil price benchmark suggests,” said Standard Chartered analysts led by Samir Gadio, head of the bank’s Africa Strategy and FICC Research, in a recent report.

The 2014 Nigerian budget is based on a benchmark oil price of $77.5/ barrel; however any price cushion is eroded from the unrealistic production assumption of 2.3 million barrels per day, as output has been running close to the 1.9m bpd mark.

Nigeria’s benchmark Bonny light crude oil traded at $97.9 per barrel on September 12, down 14 percent from $111.9 per barrel in May, according to data from the Central Bank (CBN).

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC),