Mayday: Year from hell in aviation as empty flights crash-land by staggering 71 per cent from pre-pandemic levels December 29, 2021 Covid-related travel restrictions led to a 71 per cent reduction in the number of international flights to and from UK airports this year compared with pre-pandemic levels, new analysis shows. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said around 406,060 international flights served UK airports during 2021 up to December 22, compared with 1,399,170 in the pre-pandemic period [...]
More competitive travel prices on the horizon? Wizz Air poaches Gatwick take-off slots December 23, 2021 Budget carrier Wizz Air is set to be taking off from Gatwick next spring, after winning the rights at Britain’s second largest airport. It puts Wizz in a strong position going into the new year, after several years of battling rivals Ryanair and easyJet in the affordable European short-haul market. As travel prices rise alongside [...]
Air passenger demand to grow by two thirds on 2021 levels December 22, 2021 Passenger demand in 2022 is expected to grow by two thirds on 2021, only 15 per cent down on 2019 levels. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, capacity growth will reach up to 47 per cent and will go back to 2015 levels. “Whilst I knew Cirium’s fleet forecast is more optimistic than what we [...]
Ryanair expects losses to double as Omicron eats into bookings December 22, 2021 Low-cost carrier Ryanair is expecting its losses for the year ending March to double following concerns over the latest Covid variant, Omicron. The company’s shares on the ISE went down today 1.06 per cent to €15.43. The airline said its net losses will range between €250m to €450m, compared with €100-€200m that was previously estimated, [...]
Airlines call on government to reopen travel despite possible restrictions December 20, 2021 The aviation industry has called on the UK Government to either reopen travel or “come to the table with economic support.” Airlines UK, the trade body that represents British carriers, has lambasted the government for its lack to support, saying “offering more debt to a sector that has already borrowed billions of pounds is not [...]
Ryanair stops trading on LSE over post-Brexit regulations December 20, 2021 Ryanair announced that it has stopped trading on the LSE’s main market from 8am this morning, while maintaining a primary listing on Dublin’s Euronext. With an £18.4bn value, Ryanair was one of the biggest airlines listed in London. The decision pushed down the low-cost carrier’s shares on the Irish market to €13.85, 4.25 per cent [...]
Ryanair mocks absent Chancellor with ‘come back to help out’ tweet December 16, 2021 The Chancellor of the Exchequer faced criticism from Ryanair this afternoon, as the budget airline urged him to return to the UK and help out ailing businesses. Hospitality and tourism firms have been calling on Sunak to bring back pandemic support measures, as they face waves of cancellations amid a surge of Omicron cases before [...]
BA’s owner IAG to pay €75m to Air Europa after pulling out of takeover agreement December 16, 2021 British Airways’ (BA) owner IAG has announced today it will pay €75m (£63.7m) to Air Europa following yesterday’s decision to pull out from a £420m takeover deal, leaving shares up 0.70 per cent at closing time. IAG said it would it would pay the rival carrier’s owner Globalia €35m, on top a €40m break-up fee, [...]
BA restarts Gatwick operations, selling tickets for short-haul subsidiary December 14, 2021 British Airways (BA) announced today it will restart flying from Gatwick from March 2022, selling tickets for 35 destinations that will be part of its short-haul subsidiary British Airways*’s operations. Created to compete with the likes of Easyjet and Ryanair, the subsidiary company will begin to operate as a standalone business from August, with BA [...]
UK airlines ask PM to remove travel restrictions as Omicron pushes shares down December 13, 2021 Bosses of major UK airlines have sent Prime Minister Boris Johnson a letter asking the government to remove travel restrictions , as stocks today continued to plummet. Easyjet, as well as British Airways’ (BA) owner IAG and Ryanair, saw their stocks go down 4.72, 5.29 and 3.46 per cent respectively because of fears of further [...]