UK regional carrier Flybe and Finnair have completed their joint acquisition of Finnish Commuter Airlines.
This will result in the creation of Finland-based carrier Flybe Nordic.
The two carriers formed a joint venture in July to acquire Finnish Commuter Airlines from owner Finncomm for a total of €25 million ($36 million).
source: flightglobal.com
Ryanair has moved swiftly to capitalise on the drama surrounding actor Gerard Depardieu’s antics on a CityJet flight on Tuesday.
Not one to miss an opportunity, the homepage of Ryanair’s web booking site says, “‘Pissed off with high fare airlines …’†alongside newspaper cutouts announcing the actor’s controversy.
It is in keeping with Ryanair’s tradition of using the latest controversy to sell flights.
source: siliconrepublic.com
The veteran chief executive of Air Berlin has resigned after launching a sweeping package of cuts to routes and its fleet aimed at ensuring future profitability.
Mr Hunold’s departure highlighted the turmoil hitting European airlines, which have struggled to produce profits amid fierce competition and setbacks including Japan’s earthquake, unrest in the Middle East and north Africa and disruption caused by an Icelandic volcano.
source: FT.com
Passengers on Virgin Atlantic flights will receive “‘weep warnings'” before they watch emotional films on board, after an airline survey found that passengers experienced emotions more acutely while flying.
The move comes after Richard Branson’s airline conducted a survey which found 55 percent of travelers agreed that their emotions became heightened during a flight.
s0urce: poconorecord.com
easyJet launches its UK spring schedule this week with around 300 low fare destinations.
More than 60,000 spring flights are now on sale, enabling passengers to secure the best fares early with 10 million seats available for travel from 25th March through to 24th June 2012.
Additional flights have been added to popular destinations including Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante and Rome, making Europe more accessible than ever before for passengers travelling from easyJet’s 10 UK bases.
source: 4-traders.com
Ryanair announced that traffic to Spain grew by 800,000 in July, which is up 25 per cent on last month. This means Ryanair alone delivered over half of the extra 1.4 million passengers who flew through Spanish airports.
Ryanair saw growth in traffic in all of its major Spanish airports including Barcelona El Prat (+100 per cent), Palma (+45 pc), Alicante (+14 pc), Gran Canaria +74 pc, Ibiza (+63 pc), Tenerife (+92 pc) and Lanzarote (+89 pc). This meant that Ryanair delivered more traffic growth at Spanish airports than all the other airlines combined.
source: joe.ie
Air France ruled that only male cabin crew were allowed to serve Dominique Strauss-Kahn, currently fighting accusations he attempted to rape a New York hotel maid.
The claim was reported Thursday by Le Parisien newspaper, which also says lawyers for the former IMF chief’s alleged victim, Nafissatou Diallo, are soliciting testimony from female flight attendants at the national carrier, who may have been subjected to inappropriate behavior by the Frenchman.
source: Fox News
Ryanair is disputing claims that its crewmembers recently tried to help a passenger suffering a heart attack by feeding him a sandwich and a soda. The man’s horrified family has also alleged that the airline then charged him for the food.
Per-Erik Jonsson was flying from England to Sweden when he felt ill, then fell into cardiac arrest and began to lose consciousness.
Although EU regulations require that all cabin crew be trained in basic first aid, a Jonsson’s family member told that the crew were slightly dismissive of the situation.
Jonsson family has expressed their desire to see Ryanair apologize, and say they are considering legal action.
source: irishemigrant.com
The long-running war between the easyJet board and the airline’s founder and largest shareholder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has erupted again.
Sir Stelios has sent a letter to the easyJet board to call for a shareholders’ meeting to vote on the removal of Sir David Michels as a director.
This latest initiative by Sir Stelios is part of his campaign to get the company to limit its purchases of new planes and pay a dividend.
source: This is Money
Passengers on a budget airline last weekend were treated to the surreal experience of having a Royal prince in their midst.
Shunning the usual VIP treatment, Prince Harry took an easyJet flight home from Edinburgh with several other guests who had been attending the wedding of his cousin, Zara Phillips.
The story of Prince Harry’s cost-saving flight from Edinburgh to London came to light when rugby star and fellow passenger Olly Barkley, 29, posted a message on Twitter.
source: News Letter
