Etihad joins with the French railway SNCF

Etihad Airways has ome together with the French National Railway, SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français), to provide passengers with connectivity beyond Paris.


The commercial agreement — Etihad's 32nd codeshare deal, which came into effect yesterday — between the two parties would allow Etihad passengers to book flights beyond Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG), by connecting onward on SNCF's 2,000 km of high-speed TGV rail routes, and vice-versa, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier said yesterday in a statement.

It added that the seamless air-rail connections comprise 20 cities in France, among them Bordeaux, Le Mans, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rennes and Strasbourg.

Portugal's credit rating downgraded to junk status

In early May, I spoke about the Portugal bailout from the EU and IMF.

The credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Portugal's debt to junk status.

Moody's slashed Portugal's debt four notches to Ba2, saying that the country was likely to need a second bail-out before it could raise money in the capital markets.

Based on the conditions imposed on Greece, it was likely that "private sector participation would be required as a precondition" to a second cash injection, said Moody's.

Sale of npower 'threat to energy industry investment'

Gas and electricity giant Npower could be sold for up to £5bn after its German parent company RWE put its future under review.

RWE has hired investment bankers at Goldman Sachs to consider Npower’s future, according to reports, and the options on the table include putting the company up for auction.

Tim Yeo, the MP and chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, said the potential sale is "worrying". 

Greek rescue package will mean a default, warns S&P

Standard & Poor's has warned that current proposals for restructuring Greece's debt would effectively constitute a default.

French banks, which hold some of the biggest exposures to Greek government debt, want to allow the country to extend the maturity of its bonds, which S&P said could be defined as a "selective default".  

The euro fell against the dollar, losing around half a cent to $1.4513, after S&P released its analysis.