Theresa May’s new merger powers would be a hostile takeover by the state October 16, 2018 Back in July 2016, Theresa May launched her campaign for leadership of the Conservative party by promising radical action on foreign takeovers of British businesses. In the wake of Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury and Pfizer’s failed bid for AstraZeneca, May promised to defend workers and local communities from transient shareholders who, she said, were more [...]
Ryanair boss ‘hopeful and optimistic’ about ending strike action by pilots and cabin crew October 9, 2018 Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has said he is "hopeful and optimistic" that the airline will not be damaged further by strikes with its pilots and cabin crew this year. O'Leary, who has previously said the airline will put up with strikes to defend its low-cost business model, said: "I am hopeful and optimistic that we [...]
Easyjet passenger numbers climbed to 8m in September as Ryanair grappled with strikes October 4, 2018 Easyjet's passenger numbers for last month climbed to 8.8m last month, including numbers it has taken from flying from Berlin's Tegel airport. The number is an 14.2 per cent increase from September last year, when the airline carried 7.7m passengers. Earlier this year the airline started operations at Tegel airport after taking over parts of Air [...]
Ryanair’s special status is tarnished – it’s now a question of fight or flight for O’Leary October 3, 2018 Michael O’Leary is not short of ambition. The chief executive of Ryanair has spoken of flying 200m passengers in a year, and of profits of €2bn per annum, adding more than a third to the highest achieved in a year to date. The target date is 2024, but questions are being asked if O’Leary will [...]
Ryanair passengers swelled to 13m last month despite staff strikes October 2, 2018 Ryanair carried 13.1m passengers in September, an 11 per cent increase on the same time last year. Laudamotion, the airline founded by Formula One giant Niki Lauda that Ryanair acquired a 75 per cent stake in, carried 0.5m passengers last month, with a load factor – a measure of how full aircraft is – of 93 per [...]
Ryanair shares fall as airline slashes profit guidance amid strike action October 1, 2018 Shares in budget airline Ryanair are down eight per cent this morning after it downgraded its full-year profit guidance by 12 per cent following a series of summer strikes by pilots and cabin crew. Chief executive Michael O'Leary blamed the downgrade on lower passenger traffic and forward bookings made because of the strikes. It now expects [...]
Easyjet soars towards full-year profit targets September 28, 2018 Easyjet today told investors it expected to deliver strong headline profit in its full year results, despite warnings of a no-deal Brexit hitting the airline. The company said before tax, profit for the year was likely to come in between £570m and £580m, in the upper half of previous guidance. It said passenger numbers for [...]
Ryanair strike: 250 flights cancelled and 35,000 passengers to be hit by today’s walkouts September 28, 2018 As many as 35,000 Ryanair passengers will be facing travel chaos this afternoon after the airline was forced into cancelling 250 flights as a result of strike action. The fresh wave of industrial disputes, which will affect almost double the number of flights that were previously expected to be cancelled, comes as pilots and [...]
British Airways and Easyjet among airlines ‘most exposed to a no-deal Brexit’ September 27, 2018 British Airways and Easyjet are among the airlines that are particularly vulnerable to a "no-deal" Brexit, financial services firm Moody's has warned. The possibility of a no-deal Brexit, in which the UK would crash out of the EU on terms set by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has been ramping up in recent months, as [...]
Ryanair cancels flights for 30,000 customers ahead of cabin crew strike on Friday September 25, 2018 Ryanair has cancelled 190 flights ahead of a strike by cabin crew workers from six different countries on Friday. Friday's strike will be held by cabin crew in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Ryanair said it has contacted the affected 30,000 customers by email or text this morning. It said 90 per cent of its flights [...]