Benjamin Smith

So that suggested the demand was increasing at a pace that perhaps we should bring back the 380 into the mix.

But of course, when I look at United, Delta, Air France, Ben Smith, whoever was running British Airways at the time, there was no appetite for it.

So we were, as usual, the voice in the wilderness.

I think there are a number of believers in Airbus.

the end.

We know that Ben Smith and Air France made their best efforts, not least with a very warm personal letter of encouragement from him, and indeed, not surprisingly, disappointment expressed by Air France-KLM in not getting there.

If we look at the consolidation stakes in Europe, Air France-KLM was the first big merger in Europe, cross-border, when Air France and KLM came together.

They haven't perhaps had the financial means to really go much further.

Putting in the final offer this week was accompanied by quite a lot of, uh, detail around how they see TAP fitting into the Air France-KLM business, as you say, supported by Delta and the SkyTeam joint venture.

I think that's a strong point which emphasizes the value not only on the South Atlantic, but also on the North Atlantic, as well as emphasizing jobs in Portugal, decisions made in Portugal, the long-term value of partnering up with Air France-KLM for Portugal, and I think there was a nice signed letter from Ben Smith laying out all these points that was shared publicly.

Lufthansa Group have been a bit quieter with their resubmission of the final bid, so, uh, not too much new information from Lufthansa Group, I would say.

But, uh, yeah, let's see where the Portuguese government takes this now.

Yeah, I think actually, uh, if you look at, uh, what Ben Smith has been able to do in the Air France-KLM group, um, you know, I think it's fair to say in many respects he's transformed that group.

And as you said, that letter that was shared publicly, for me, uh, maybe I'm trying to be too much of a, a national identity psychologist, but, you know, I would've said that, uh, the Latin temperament to human relations are particularly important, personal views, and he's talked about...

He, he's made it very personal.