Latest news with #Amsterdam
Forbes
an hour ago
- Business
- Forbes
Indian Billionaire Rahul Bhatia's IndiGo Steps Up Fleet Expansion Amid Travel Boom
IndiGo—India's biggest airline by revenue controlled by billionaire Rahul Bhatia—is stepping up fleet expansion plans to meet the booming travel demand in domestic and international destinations. To support expansion plans, the budget carrier has exercised an option to buy an additional 30 A350 planes from Airbus, boosting its fleet of widebody aircraft to be deployed in international routes, Bloomberg reported over the weekend. That's on top of the 30 A350 planes it ordered last year and the six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners set for delivery next year. The company aims to expand its fleet by 50% to more than 600 aircraft by 2030, IndiGo said a statement released late last week. 'We are focused on our holistic growth to be able to offer affordable, convenient, on-time travel experience to our customers on a growing domestic and international route network,' Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo said in the statement. IndiGo plans to start services on 10 new international routes this year, expanding its network to over 50 destinations. It will start direct flights to Manchester and Amsterdam from Mumbai, next month. IndiGo also plans to add flights to Athens as well as Southeast Asian destinations such as Siem Reap, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi, along with central Asian cities Almaty and Tashkent. To support its fleet expansion, IndiGo has signed an agreement with Bangalore International Airport to build a 12.5-hectare maintenance and repair facility. This will add to its existing facilities in Delhi and Bengaluru. 'A dedicated MRO facility will give a significant advantage in terms of aircraft availability, greater cost efficiencies and quicker turnaround benefitting the airline,' IndiGo said. With an estimated real-time net worth of $8.5 billion, Bhatia is among the wealthiest in India. He cofounded the airline with fellow billionaire Rakesh Gangwal in 2006. Following a public falling out with Bhatia, Gangwal resigned from the company's board in 2022, vowing to sell off his IndiGo shares. Last month, Gangwal reportedly sold 115.6 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) of his shares in IndiGo.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Northern Trust Appointed Custodian for Dutch Pension Fund BPF Beton
Appointment Underscores Commitment to Supporting Dutch Pension Funds Migrating to New Pension System AMSTERDAM, June 02, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) announced today that it has been appointed by Dutch pension fund BPF Beton to provide global custody, regulatory reporting, valuation and accounting, and performance analytics. BPF Beton is the industry pension fund for people working in the concrete products industry in the Netherlands with approximately EUR 1.2 billion (approximately US$1.2 billion) in assets as at 31 December 2024. Herman Prummel, country head, Netherlands, Northern Trust, said: "We are pleased to be supporting BPF Beton. Northern Trust has been servicing Dutch pension clients for four decades and is a long-term strategic partner to the pensions industry. With our deep local market expertise, global scale, data and technology platform, Northern Trust is committed to the Dutch pensions industry and its evolving needs. This mandate showcases our regional commitment and expertise in ensuring a seamless, efficient transition to the new reporting standards. We look forward to working with BPF Beton and continuing to serve the needs of the Dutch pension fund industry." The pension system in the Netherlands is migrating to a defined contribution system, known as the Future of Pensions Act or 'Wet Toekomst Pensioenen'. BPF Beton sought an asset servicing partner that could help them through the changes brought on by the new legislation. Govert van der Peijl, president and chairman of BPF Beton, said: "This transition is complex and large scale. We sought a strategic service provider who understands the requirements under the new legislation and who can support us navigate this new landscape. Northern Trust impressed us with their rapid response to the new legislation and their dedication to the Dutch pension fund industry. We are pleased to collaborate with Northern Trust and look forward to their support as our scheme embarks on the next chapter of its journey to deliver the best possible outcomes for our members." About BPF Beton BPF Beton is the sectoral pension scheme for employees active in the manufacturing industry for concrete products. Based in Amsterdam, they represent over 25,000 members as at 31 December 2024. About Northern Trust Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has a global presence with offices in 24 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 22 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of March 31, 2025, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$16.9 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.6 trillion. For more than 135 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Visit us on Follow us on Instagram @northerntrustcompany or Northern Trust on LinkedIn. Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Global legal and regulatory information can be found at View source version on Contacts Media Contacts Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia-Pacific: Camilla Greene+44 (0) 20 7982 2176Camilla_Greene@ Simon Ansell+ 44 (0) 20 7982 1016Simon_Ansell@ US & Canada:John O'Connell+1 312 444 2388John_O'Connell@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Travel Weekly
12 hours ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Indian carrier IndiGo will do its first U.S. codesharing
NEW DELHI, India -- - Fast-growing IndiGo, India's largest airline, will begin its first U.S. codeshares. IndiGo will partner with Delta and KLM on U.S. and Canada codeshares from Amsterdam and with Virgin Atlantic for U.S. codeshares from Manchester, England. For now, the partnerships are limited, but they potentially could be an early step toward deeper integration between IndiGo and the transatlantic joint venture alliance of Delta, Virgin Atlantic and Air France-KLM. CEOs from all three companies joined IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers at a press conference Sunday at IATA's Annual General Meeting to announce the partnership. "We believe that the opportunity of this is just immense," Elbers said. IndiGo already codeshares with Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic on 30-plus domestic routes in India. And along with transatlantic codeshares, IndiGo announced Sunday that it will begin codesharing with KLM on flights from Amsterdam to 30 destinations in Europe. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said that Delta isn't currently working on a deeper integration with IndiGo, but he didn't rule out a joint venture down the road. "You could envision a world when that takes place," he said. Bastian added that Delta plans to return to India in the next couple years. The airline last flew to India briefly in early 2020, only to see its new route between New York JFK and Mumbai upended by the Covid-19 pandemic. IndiGo, said Elbers, plans to launch India-U.S. service eventually, but the timeline won't be determined until after the airline begins taking delivery of its own widebody aircraft in 2027. IndiGo's first U.S. codeshares will come after its launch on July 1 of service to Manchester from Mumbai and its July 2 launch of Mumbai-Amsterdam. The routes will be the airline's first long-haul operations. The carrier also expects to add eight more long-haul cities in the coming year, including London, Copenhagen and Athens. Inception dates for the codeshare will be dependent upon regulatory approvals. For now, Indigo's long-haul routes are to be operated with leased Boeing 787 aircraft. But in 2027, the airline expects to take delivery of the first of 30 Airbus A350s that it ordered last year. On Sunday, Elbers announced that the carrier would convert 30 of the 70 Airbus 350 options that it secured last year into firm orders. The orders are a major step in IndiGo's transformation into a global carrier after launching 18 years ago as discount domestic operator. At present, the airline flies to 41 international destinations to go along with its extensive domestic network of 91 cities. IndiGo plans to add 10 more international destinations in the coming year. This month, Delta will fly to eight U.S. destinations from Amsterdam, while joint venture partner KLM will fly to 14 U.S. destinations and five in Canada, Cirium flight schedule data shows. Virgin Atlantic is serving four U.S. cities in June from Amsterdam. The airlines did not specifically note whether all or just some of those Amsterdam and Manchester routes will become IndiGo codeshares. IndiGo flies more than 400 aircraft and has what Elbers described as the world's largest order book, which includes a record 500-plane Airbus narrowbody order placed in 2023. "I don't think there's a more exciting airline in the world in terms of what they're doing," Bastian said on Sunday. Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss said that 7 million passengers flew between the U.S. and India last year. The potential for the market, he said, is "tremendously immense."
Medscape
16 hours ago
- Health
- Medscape
Can New Biomarker Help Identify High-Risk DLBCL Patients?
For patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) following first-line treatment is independently predictive of disease recurrence and overall survival over 2 years, suggesting important prognostic value of the biomarker to improve upon standard assessment with PET-CT imaging. 'We demonstrated the prognostic value of ctDNA MRD [minimal residual disease] in first-line DLBCL cell patients [and that] ctDNA MRD provides independent evidence of residual disease beyond PET-CT,' said first author Steven Wang, MD, of Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in presenting the findings at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. 'These results support the integration of ctDNA MRD as a standard component of response evaluation in first-line DLBCL treatment,' he said. The prognosis for long-term outcomes in DLBCL currently relies on PET-CT; however, key challenges with the approach include sometimes suboptimal sensitivity and specificity, with the potential to miss microscopic residual disease. Liquid biopsy-based analysis of ctDNA, increasingly used in other cancers, meanwhile offers a radiation-free, non-invasive method for the assessment and monitoring of DLBCL. To further investigate the biomarker's prognostic benefits in DLBCL in a prospective context, Wang and colleagues evaluated data on 160 patients at more than 50 centers in the Netherlands and Belgium in the HOVON-902 trial. Of the patients, most (79%) had stage 3 or 4 disease. All patients had been treated with curative-intent first-line therapy, with either R-CHOP or DA-EPOCH-R chemotherapy regimens. In the assessment of ctDNA MRD, the investigators utilized the phased variant (PV) enrichment and detection sequencing (PhasED-Seq) assay, which targets unique 'phased variant' alterations, or multiple mutations on the same DNA molecule. The design boosts the assay's sensitivity compared with other tests, which can have limitations such as error profiles of single nucleotide variants (SNVs). Among the patients, most (90%) had DLBCL, with 9% having high-grade B-cell lymphoma and 1% with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma. In terms of the distribution of International Prognostic Index (IPI) risk level, 22% were low-risk, 29% low-intermediate risk, 27% high-intermediate risk, and 22% at high-risk. Patients' median age was 67.5 years. With 31 months of median follow-up in the cohort overall, the 24-month rates of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 74% and 86%, respectively. The rates of PFS after 3 years were substantially higher for those who were MRD-negative at the end of treatment compared with those who were MRD-positive (85% vs 15%, respectively; hazard ratio [HR] 11.03; P < .0001), and 3-year rates of OS were also higher (92% vs 41%; HR, 7.38; P < .0001). The findings show that 'end-of-treatment ctDNA MRD is strongly prognostic for PFS and OS,' Wang said. Higher cancer stage and IPI risk were associated with MRD positivity (both P < .05), and ctDNA was the most strongly prognostic of PFS (HR, 11.03), compared with end-of-treatment PET-CT results (HR, 5.31) or IPI level of risk (HR, 1.61). Of patients who did not have a complete response based on PET results, MRD-positivity was likewise significantly prognostic for worse PFS at 3 years (PFS 4%) compared with those who were MRD-negative (PFS 64%), importantly suggesting the ability of MRD to adjudicate imaging results (HR for PFS, 6.78; P < .0001). 'End of treatment ctDNA MRD-positivity in patients without complete response have especially poor outcomes,' Wang noted. All of the patients who did not achieve a complete molecular response and remained MRD-positive experienced a relapse. The prognostic accuracy of ctDNA-MRD status was observed across subgroups, including based on the source of baseline sample (tumor vs plasma), best clinical response, IPI, sex, lactate dehydrogenase, stage, or extranodal disease. The researchers also examined how ctDNA MRD status at the end of treatment correlated with the timing of response, and they found that 80% of patients who relapsed within a year of treatment had positive ctDNA MRD at the end of treatment, while only 22% of patients who relapsed after the first 12 months of first-line therapy had positive MRD. 'This distinction is important as early relapsers might be eligible for CAR T-cell therapy, and this demonstrates that end of treatment ctDNA MRD can reliably predict early relapses; however, long late relapses might require longitudinal MRD monitoring,' Wang explained. 'These data demonstrate the robust prognostic value of ctDNA MRD by PhasED-Seq in first-line DLBCL patients,' Wang said. ctDNA Risk-Stratification Benefits Important Discussing the research at the meeting, Mark Roschewski, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, agreed that results on the timing of events were notably important. 'Now we can have a better understanding of when these events get captured [on ctDNA testing] and what we saw is that mostly these are early events,' said Roschewski, who recently co-authored a review of ctDNA as measurable residual disease in aggressive B-cell lymphoma. Roschewski noted that the benefits of ctDNA are reflected in changes in National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines, which indicate that ctDNA, using a sufficient test — such as PhasED Seq — does appear to be suitable as an alternative to invasive tissue biopsies for positive PET scans. However, the most important thing that the research shows — which validates other findings — is that 'these tests can actually risk-stratify patients who have positive as well as negative PET scans, improving upon our current definition of remission,' Roschewski added. Ultimately, the findings show that 'ultrasensitive ctDNA at the end of frontline therapy for large B-cell lymphoma is the most precise tool to define remission,' he said. Not Ready for Prime Time? However, for all of its promising benefits, a key concern expressed in the Q&A portion of the session was whether ctDNA could indeed be relied upon to replace a tissue biopsy in real-world practice. For instance, while a positive PET scan and positive ctDNA MRD result could likely give clinicians confidence in moving ahead with second-line therapy, the approach may be less clear if a patient is PET-negative but MRD-positive. 'What I worry about is that [ctDNA] is prognostic, but not predictive, and with a relatively small dataset in this study, what are the implications in terms of overtreatment in that kind of situation?' one audience member noted. 'This is an important point,' responded Roschewski. 'However, we should recognize that with the way things are done now, our PET scans have a positive predictive value of about 50%,' he said. 'One of the concerns, and we see it in the data, is that these patients with a positive PET scan are getting second-line therapy when they don't even have any active disease.' 'So, this is something that is already happening,' he explained. Guidelines in such situations suggest either repeating the PET scan or the biopsy, hence delaying therapy. 'So, a negative ctDNA test could help you get information sooner,' Roschewski said. 'But would it improve patient outcomes?' the audience member pressed, getting to the issue of clinical utility. 'That's something we don't have data on yet,' Roschewski conceded. 'I completely agree that this may not be ready for general clinical care without that data, but it may be fine in the context of a clinical trial for now.' Roschewski noted that the good news is that 'at least three clinical trials' are currently being planned to address the issues. He noted that 'we are able to [use this] in other hemolytic malignancies, but we have not gotten there yet [with DLBCL] and we need prospective trials to tell us what to do.' The encouraging news, however, is 'if we see success here, there is no reason to stop at large cell lymphoma. There are other curable lymphomas that we would like to test this in, and I think this could be a domino effect in which we start thinking about this all across therapies for a bunch of different lymphomas,' Roschewski said. ctDNA Benefits in Early Disease Assessment Anticipated Jane N. Winter, MD, professor of medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, agreed that, with the data showing that ct-DNA is a powerful predictor of clinical outcome and can identify patients at high risk of relapse, 'the big question is how we should use this information.' For instance, 'how important is it to identify refractory disease immediately at the end-of-treatment?' she said in an interview. 'I'm hopeful that ctDNA kinetics early in the course of therapy can help us identify patients for escalation of therapy,' said Winter, a past president of the American Society of Hematology. 'Similarly, we might be able to use ctDNA to deescalate or abbreviate therapy.' Ultimately, the results underscore that 'ctDNA at the end of treatment is a powerful predictor of progression/relapse,' Winter said. 'I'm very interested in using ctDNA as part of an early disease assessment.'
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Liverpool Target Former Allies and Fan Favourite for Assistant Role
Liverpool Begin Search to Replace Departing Heitinga After Ajax Move Coaching Carousel Continues at Anfield Liverpool are preparing for another backroom reshuffle after confirming that assistant coach John Heitinga is set to leave the club and take over as Ajax's new head coach, suggest reports from The Echo. Heitinga, who joined Arne Slot's coaching team just last summer, quickly established himself as a key figure as Liverpool stormed to a record-equalling 20th league title. Advertisement Ajax moved quickly following Francesco Farioli's resignation, which came in the wake of a catastrophic collapse that saw his team squander a nine-point lead in the final five Eredivisie games, gifting the title to PSV Eindhoven. For Heitinga, this marks a return to familiar territory. Having begun his playing and managerial career in Amsterdam, he now steps into a high-pressure role with expectations already mounting. Photo: IMAGO Slot Backs His Departing Lieutenant Speaking on the links last week, Slot said: 'If Ajax would be smart, they would consider him. He is ready to take on a job like that. If John is smart, he would stay one more season.' Advertisement That reluctant praise reflected both admiration and a desire to keep a trusted ally close. However, Slot will now be forced to act swiftly with pre-season on the horizon and Liverpool keen to maintain continuity in their tactical evolution. Candidates in the Frame Marino Pusic, a long-time associate of Slot from his AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord days, is a leading candidate. Fresh from a domestic double and Ukrainian Cup success with Shakhtar Donetsk, Pusic ticks the boxes for both familiarity and pedigree. Etienne Reijnen, who was blocked by work permit issues last summer, could be reconsidered. Another name linked is former fan-favourite Dirk Kuyt, who is expected to leave Beerschot following their relegation from the Belgian Juliper Pro League. Strategic Importance of This Appointment Liverpool's choice of Heitinga's replacement will be critical, not just for preserving last season's momentum but for embedding Slot's identity into the long-term structure at Anfield. With an early July pre-season start looming, the club must act decisively. Our View – Anfield Index Analysis From a Liverpool fan's perspective, the departure of John Heitinga feels more like a commendable graduation than a setback. He was a quiet but effective presence under Slot, and his move to Ajax shows the calibre of staff the Reds are attracting. Advertisement 'If we're producing coaches who are getting headhunted by Ajax, we must be doing something right,' one fan remarked in the Kop bar after the news broke. The potential candidates bring intrigue. Pusic's recent silverware in Ukraine is not to be ignored. If he can adapt quickly, the Slot-Pusic reunion could be seamless. Reijnen, despite his previous permit issues, also remains an attractive proposition for continuity. And then there's Dirk Kuyt. A cult hero at Anfield, but is sentiment clouding judgement? His track record as a coach isn't glittering, and stepping into such a tactical role might be a big leap. That said, his passion, understanding of the club, and bond with fans can't be measured by trophies alone. One thing is clear – this summer's assistant appointment matters. If Slot is to build a dynasty, choosing the right right-hand man is just as vital as selecting the starting XI.
