Virgin Atlantic boss expects to fly full fleet by October April 21, 2021 Virgin Atlantic is eyeing October or November this year to be back flying its full fleet, its chief executive said today. The comment forecasts the end of the pandemic crisis for airlines, as the majority of flights have been grounded for over a year. “We are by no means out of this situation, we will [...]
Ryanair loses legal challenges to EU state aid for Scandi airlines April 14, 2021 Ryanair has this morning lost its attempt to have state aid provided by the EU to Scandinavian airlines SAS and Finnair ruled unlawful. The Luxembourg-based General Court, the EU’s second highest legal body, ruled that the bailouts were in compliance with the bloc’s rules on state aid. The ruling is another blow to the airline, [...]
Ryanair expects to limit last year’s losses to £732m April 7, 2021 Ryanair said it believes losses in the last year will now be lower than previously expected, at between £689m and £732m, compared with previous guidance of around £100m more. The downgrade comes despite the company adding that travel restrictions and lockdowns over Easter, blaming the slow rollout in the EU of Covid-19 vaccinations, delayed any [...]
Ryanair and Wizz Air passenger numbers down again as year of pain continues April 6, 2021 Ryanair flew just 0.5m people last month as travel restrictions continued to batter the airline industry as the worst year in its history came to an end. Since last March, when the coronavirus began to spread through Europe, carriers have seen their schedules decimated, with passenger numbers plunging to a mere fraction of normal levels. [...]
Ryanair launches vaccine passport-style ‘travel wallet’ March 10, 2021 Ryanair has today launched a coronavirus “travel wallet” into which passengers can upload documents showing they have had a vaccination or negative test result. The Irish carrier is one of a number of organisations that has been developing an app of this sort in order to enable people to travel more freely when restrictions are [...]
Brits must prove flights are essential as government cracks down on illegal travel March 5, 2021 People wishing to leave the UK from Monday will have to prove their travel is essential, as the government attempts to crack down on illegal holidays in the run-up to leaving lockdown. Passengers will now be required to fill out a mandatory form listing their reasons for travel before leaving the country. Non-essential travel is [...]
Ryanair to launch own vaccine passport tool over delay fears March 3, 2021 Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said this morning that the budget carrier is adding a tool to its app to allow passengers to upload vaccine certificates and negative coronavirus tests to get travel going again. Speaking to the parliamentary transport select committee this morning, the Irishman said that the airline had done so because it [...]
Ryanair flies just 500,000 people in February as travel restrictions continue March 2, 2021 Irish carrier Ryanair flew just 500,000 people in February as widespread coronavirus restrictions all but ended air travel. In the same month last year the airline carried 10.5m passengers, but over the last 12 months the pandemic has totally reshaped the aviation industry. Since last March, when the pandemic hit Europe, the airline has flown [...]
Easy does it for travel and leisure as they underpin the FTSE 100 today February 23, 2021 After a promising start European markets struggled to maintain their early market optimism today. However, some decent gains continue in the likes of travel and leisure stocks, with multi-month highs in a lot of cases. Over the last three days this renewed buoyancy has been evident in anticipation of a possible reopening, and with a [...]
Ryanair to appeal court decision to allow state aid for Air France and SAS February 17, 2021 Ryanair this morning said that it would appeal after an EU court dismissed its challenge over state aid given to rivals Air France and SAS. Luxembourg’s General Court, the EU’s second highest legal body, backed the European Commission’s decision to grant discriminatory aid to the virus-hit carriers. In its judgement, which was laid out earlier [...]