Ryanair Boss Earns £8k A Day

As passengers have to pay a small fortune to sit together on one of his aircraft, Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair Chief Executive gets paid almost £8000 a day to sit in his seat!

Yes, the boss of the budget irish airline took home earnings of €3.26million last year, that's £2.92million,  which calculates at approximately €8,931 / £7,987 per day.  The figures released  atis week revealed he got an increase of £89,000 from last year.  But it's not just his wages that are soaring, so to are complains to the airline. 

End of the line for the A380?

Hot news from Airbus.....The aircraft manufacturer is slowing down the production rate of its super jumbo the double decked A380 even more.   The future of vast aircraft looks even more bleak after the European aircraft company confirmed it was cutting production to just 8 air frames in 2019. 

Virgin Atlantic Bargain Basement Sell Off

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is flogging off a major stake in the airline Virgin Atlantic at bargain basement prices to Air France-KLM and existing investor Delta Air Lines.

Air France-KLM is to buy 31 percent of Virgin Atlantic for £220m.  The Virgin Group will hang on to just 20 percent of the troubled trans-Atlantic airline, they will also continue to chairman the company.

Avianca Ends Flights to Venezuela

Colombian airline Avianca confirmed today (Thursday) that it will stop flying to and from Venezuela as of today due to the complicated and dangerous situation in the neighboring country.

The airline had initially planned to suspend flights during the middle of August, however  "Due to operational and security limitations in recent hours, Avianca has been forced to suspend its operations from Thursday, and not from 16th Aug as previously scheduled," the airline rushed to say in a statement today.

Big Losses for Etihad

Massive losses are announced for the premier airline Etihad.  It announced it lost $1.87 billion in 2016, siting "one-off impairment charges and fuel hedging losses" as the main reasons for the massive loss, and 2017 may well be worse!

New - Birmingham to New York and Boston.....

   

United Airlines announced last week that its Birmingham to New York route would end in October this year, leaving England’s populous city without a direct route to the US for the first time in over 20 years.

However, like a bolt from the blue, a special new lifeline was offered when another airline announced it would fly not one, but two new routes from Birmingham across the pond.  This new aviation saviour  will fly a daily service to Newark and a four-times weekly service to Boston.

But who is this new entrant into the UK - America trans-Atlantic carrier club.  It's an airline you most probably have never heard of,   they are called  Primera Air,  a little-known low-cost carrier.  They will launch their routes from Birmingham in May 2018 and London Stansted in April 2018.   

Joon - The Air France 'Youth' Brand Budget Airline

The Air France-KLM Group will start flights this autumn of  'Joon' its low fare budget airline, that will go all out to target millennial customers. 

Joon - previously talked about under the code-name 'Boost' plans to operate mainly medium-haul services from Paris,  Charles de Gaulle airport, then towards the end of next year it may venture into the long-haul market place. 

Singapore Review Nuts Policy

An allergy scare involving a three-year-old toddler has prompted Singapore Airlines to review the serving of nuts on board its flights.

Marcus Daley suffered a severe allergic reaction after passengers around him opened their snack packets of peanuts.  He went into anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition which can be triggered by food including peanuts and shellfish.  He was travelling with his parents to Melbourne after a holiday in Thailand.

Burst tyre on take-off for Air Canada Rouge at Gatwick

Travellers at the UK#s second busiest and the world's busiest single runway airport are facing travel chaos after an Air Canada Rouge aircrafts tyre burst as it left the runway at the start of a transatlantic flight.

Flights are using Gatwick's main taxiway 1 as a back-up or 'emergency' runway after the airport's main runway was closed following the incident involving the Toronto bound jet. 

The plane was leaving Gatwick at 1.16pm on Monday bound for Canada when its tyre suffered a blowout.  The airports managers ordered the runway closed immediately after the plane departed so that could carry out an inspection.  

The aircraft then came back to make and emergency landing after the full scale emergency procedures had been put in place.  This included all the airports fire appliances mobilized and more than a dozen ambulances dispatched to the airport.   The aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely on the runway, where it remained.  

Many flights have been cancelled or diverted and the disruption is likely to last well into the evening. 

Air Zimbabwe Lays Off Half its Workforce

Zimbabwe's state-owned airline has laid off 200 workers, roughly half of its staff, with immediate effect.

The job losses are part of a turnaround strategy to bring struggling Air Zimbabwe back to profitability from a $300m (£230m) debt.

Last month the EU banned it from using its airspace, citing safety concerns.  There have been major changes at the national airline since President Robert Mugabe's son-in-law took over as chief operating officer last year.  Money has been hemorrhaging from the company ever since. 

Iberia fined over enforced Pregnancy tests for staff

The Spanish airline Iberia has said it will stop requiring female job candidates to take a pregnancy test after it was fined for the practice.

Labour inspectors in the Balearic Islands discovered the airline insisted on the tests, and fined it €25,000 that's around £22,000.

Second Hand Champaign From Emirates

A video showing an Emirates airline steward pouring champagne from a glass back into a bottle went viral this week. The very short video was filmed by a passenger on board the Airbus A380 and was shared via social media, with well over a million views.

The action was captured accidentally at the very start of the video which was a gentle sweep through the cabin.  Watch it here.....

No comment yet from Emirates, but just be aware your bubbly inflight might well be second-hand and left overs from the boarding welcome drink.

EasyJet to Relaunch as a European Airline in Brexit Backlash

The UK's largest budget airline, EasyJet is to set up a new airline based in Vienna, Austria to relaunch the airline after UK leaves the European Union.

According to current regulation an airline must have an air operator certificate in an EU member country to allow it to continue flying between any EU member states. Therefore, if the regulations stay the same as they are now, Easyjet want a new EU based airline to continue to operate their current schedules without interruption.

Tourist killed by jet blast at St Maarten

A tourist has been killed after being knocked over by jet blasts at an St Maarten where the runway is just yards from a road and the beach on the tiny sunshine isle.

The tourist who is reported to be a 57-year-old from New Zealand, had been standing by the fence at the end of the runway at Princess Juliana Airport on the island of St Maarten. She was watching the plane take off when she was knocked down by the jet blast and hit her head sustaining serious head injuries. She was taken to hospital, where it was later announced that she had died.  

St Maarten's is known throughout the world as one of the most exciting airports for plane spotters and thrill seekers as the runway is so close to the narrow road and thin beach. 

There are many signs along the beach and airport perimeter fence that warn of the dangers of the jet wash or blast from the aircraft. However, thrill seekers often loop their hands through the wire fence and feel the full force of a departing aircraft.  

Monarch Launch Auctions For Extra Legroom Seats

Legroom....what legroom?

Passengers using budget airline Monarch will now be able to bid against each other if they are wanting to get a seat with extra legroom.

The airline launched two new features for passengers this week, one called the ‘extra comfort seat’ and the other ‘bid for extra legroom’ feature.

It will see customers battling it out online for extra spaces or upgraded seats making more money for the budget airline and increasing frustration for those unsuccessful in their bidding.

Customers will be able to purchase as many as two extra seats on flights, with the company claiming the policy will allow customers to “treat themselves to something better”.  Yet the cost of buying the extra seats is lightly to be one and a half times higher than the retail price.