Airline News & Gossip Archives

These articles/post are taken from various top experts in the travel and tourism industry. A professional group of people that keep us all informed of what is going on in the sky around us. We are then passing this important information on to you.

Airline News & Gossip
Jet2 adds more Turkey flights for next winter

Jet2 is adding more Turkey flights and holidays for winter 2023/2024. It is boosting capacity to Dalaman and Antalya as well as Paphos Cyprus. The expansion represents an extra 32,000 seats on sale. Jet2.com and Jet2holidays are tadding capacity to Dalaman from all ten UK bases. Over 15,000 additional seats have gone on sale. Antalya has...
Airline News & Gossip
Ryanair makes record Q3 airline profit

Ryanair Holdings posted a record third-quarter airline profit. It made €211m thanks to strong demand between half-term and the peak Christmas/New Year holiday season. It upgraded its full-year airline profit guidance. There is strong demand for Easter and summer flights, CEO, Michael O’Leary, said. Q3...
Airline News & Gossip
Government reinstates airport slot rules

The ‘use it or lose it’ rule for airport slots is coming back. Airlines at UK airports will have to maintain 80% of their take-off and landing slots to keep them. The government said it will reinstate the pre-pandemic rule from March 26. “Slots rules will return...
Airline News & Gossip
Wizz Air joins scramble to recruit Flybe workers

Wizz Air UK is offering redundant Flybe workers a lifeline. It will hold recruitment events in Birmingham and online, for former Flybe cabin crew and pilots. The events are open to anyone looking to join Wizz Air. Pilots interested in joining Wizz Air can register for an online recruitment event which...
Airline News & Gossip
EasyJet holidays invests in Morocco tourism

EasyJet holidays is investing in Morocco tourism development over the next four years. The easyJet group is cooperating with the Moroccan National Tourism Office (MNTO) starting this summer. This cooperation will include online and offline marketing by easyJet holidays for Moroccan destinations. EasyJet holidays and MNTO will...
Airline News & Gossip
EasyJet reports record bookings in January

EasyJet expects to surpass market expectations for profits this year. It points to record booking levels in January despite the cost of living crisis. It hit record numbers on several days this month. It says easyJet holidays packages are 60% sold for this summer. The company had a 161% year-on-year increase...
Airline News & Gossip
Stansted summer recruitment drive offers 1,000 airport jobs

London Stansted is embarking on an airport jobs recruitment drive for summer. It plans to recruit 1,000 new employees ahead of a busy summer season. A job fair will be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel on February 7 to showcase almost 200 different job roles These include...
Airline News & Gossip
Lufthansa makes a stand-alone bid for Italy’s ITA

Lufthansa confirmed yesterday that it has submitted an offer to the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance to acquire ITA. ITA is the ‘reborn’ Alitalia, although the airline is not currently operating on the scale of its predecessor. Having been through numerous bailouts, at huge cost...
Airline News & Gossip
UK airfares price surge

UK airfares are rising at their fastest ever rate, according to the Office for National Statistics. ONS data showed airfares increased 44.1% in December from a year earlier. It was the largest year-on-year increase since it started recording UK airfares data in 1989. It was...
Airline News & Gossip
Civil Aviation Authority urged to crack down on airlines

Which? again called for the Civil Aviation Authority to be given stronger regulatory powers. It comes as four in 10 travellers lack confidence in airlines treating them fairly. Almost two in five (39%) reported that they had little confidence that airlines would treat them fairly....
Airline News & Gossip
BA flight makes emergency landing after ‘strange smell’ reported

A British Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport. Passengers reported reported a ‘strange odour’ on the flight and pilots were seen wearing oxygen masks. The plane turned around to make the emergency landing not long after take-off. It issued a...
Airline News & Gossip
IATA urges countries to release blocked airline revenue

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is pushing hard for the release of $6 billion in blocked airline revenue. It says airline members’ assets are held in more than 27 countries worldwide. The total has risen by $395 million in the past six months alone....
Airline News & Gossip
BA’s Gatwick Airport subsidiary Euroflyer cleared to fly

British Airways ‘new Gatwick Airport based subsidiary has received its Air Operator’s Certificate. The new BA Euroflyer was cleared by the UK Civil Aviation Authority to operate short-haul international flights from Gatwick‘. BA Euroflyer has been operating at Gatwick Airport since early 2022 under British Airways...
Airline News & Gossip
British Airways is the 2nd biggest A380 operator

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here. When anyone mentions the A380, you think of Emirates. This isn’t surprising, of course. Emirates is by far the bigger user of the aircraft and built its entire business model...
Airline News & Gossip
Air India and Vistara to merge

India’s aviation industry may finally be on the road to consolidation and profitability after an agreement was struck to merge Air Indiaand Vistara. A deal has looked likely ever since Indian conglomerate Tata, which owned 51% of Vistara alongside 49% shareholder Singapore Airlines, acquired Air India...
Airline News & Gossip
Airline losses since Covid almost $220 billion

Airline losses have totalled almost $220 billion since the pandemic. Cirium’s World Airline Group Finance Rankings show the extent of the financial troubles the industry has faced. This is despite some airlines getting back in profit. It cover all of 2021 and the first half of 2022....
Airline News & Gossip
Ryanair plans to launch Egypt flights

Ryanair has entered talks with officials about operating Egypt flights for the first time. CEO Michael O’Leary confirmed discussions are ongoing. O’Leary also said the airline is keen to launch flights to Libya. “We’re talking to the Egyptians and the Libyans,” O’Leary said at a business event. Ryanair’s...
Airline News & Gossip
Unruly passenger pleads guilty to attacking flight attendant

An unruly passenger pleaded guilty to attacking a flight attendant on an easyJet flight from Manchester. Colin Smith, 51 admitted he was drunk after downing nearly a full bottle of whiskey. He stood up when in seatbelt on mode and when approached, he attacked a flight attendant...
Airline News & Gossip
Jet2 expands London Stansted flight schedules

Jet2.com announced significant expansion with more London Stansted flights for summer 2023. It is adding aircraft at the base after securing extra slots. It enables Jet2 to add Stansted flights and holidays to a large number of destinations. These include the Balearics, Croatia, Greece and Turkey. The expansion means it will now operate over...
Airline News & Gossip
American Airlines, BA co-locate operations at New York JFK

American Airlines and British Airways wll welcome customers at their renovated Terminal 8 location at New York JFK Airport. Starting on December 1, customers get seamless travel connections as the two airlines co-locate operations. It marks the completion of the first phase of redevelopment of the airport....
Airline News & Gossip
British Airways launching new Cincinnati route

British Airways is adding a new non-stop route to its US network Beginning June 5, 2023, British Airways will fly non-stop to Cincinnati. It becomes BA’s 27th US destination and the 26th out of London Heathrow. British Airways will be the airline offering the most...
Airline News & Gossip
Emirates Group posts record half-year net profit

Emirates Group reported a record half-year net profit of AED 4.2 billion (US$ 1.2 billion). It represents a turnaround of almost AED 10 billion from its AED 5.7 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) loss for the same period last year. Group revenue was AED 56.3 billion (US$ 15.3...
Airline News & Gossip
Ryanair unveils biggest ever schedule to Cornwall

Ryanair announced its largest ever schedule flying from Newquay, including three new routes to Dublin, London, and Malaga. Ryanair’s new Cornwall Airport (Newquay) summer 2023 schedule offers over 25 weekly flights across five routes and supports around 90 jobs. To celebrate the new routes, Ryanair...
Airline News & Gossip
Jet2 places new $4 billion Airbus order

Jet2 has agreed to purchase at least 35 new Airbus jets, with an option to double the order. It is buying 35 Airbus A320 neo aircraft with the option for up to 71 jets. The potential value is $8 billion at list prices. The firm ordered...
Airline News & Gossip
IAG says forward bookings still strong

Shares in British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group took off after it revealed better than expected Q3 financials. IAG expects operating profit to be around £1bn, with ‘no weakness ‘in forward bookings. Shares in IAG rose as much as 10%. Despite cost of living...
Airline News & Gossip
British Airways chops three Southampton routes for Summer 2023

Some readers may be surprised to know that British Airways runs a relatively large number of routes out of Southampton Airport. The launch of these services got caught up in the pandemic (the original announcement was made in December 2020) so they have never had...
Airline News & Gossip
Loganair up for sale

Scottish regional airline Loganair has been put up for sale by owners Stephen and Peter Bond. The Bonds have been sole owners of the company for a decade. They have instructed advisors to find a buyer for the business. Loganair, which has operated for more...
Airline News & Gossip
Ryanair wants government action on overflights

Ryanair called on the UK, Irish, Italian and Spanish government to take action on overflights as French ATC strikes are set to cause mass disruption of air travel again. Ryanair takes issue with the French government using minimum service legislation to protect French flights but...
Airline News & Gossip
UK empty ‘ghost flights’ surpass 5,000 since 2019

The number of so-called “ghost flights” at UK airports since 2019 has surpassed 5,000. It is ‘pouring kerosene on the fires’ of climate change, environmental groups say. These are empty passenger flights while35,000 flights have operated almost empty with under 10% of seats occupied, Civil Aviation...
Airline News & Gossip
BA Wins World Airline Awards

World Airline Awards Returning to the Langham Hotel London, and the first since Paris 2019, the Skytrax World Airlines Awards took place last Friday (23 September). As the airline celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2022, Qatar Airways was named “Airline of the Year”, for an...
Airline News & Gossip
Airfares surge as Russians flee country

Airfares out of Russia have skyrocketed as Russians flee conscription to the Ukraine frontline Overseas flights have sold out in record time while remaining seats are on sale for the equivalent of several thousand dollars on some routes. The mass exodus of adult Russian males...
Airline News & Gossip
Ryanair Closing Athens Base

Ryanair plans to close its base in Athens for the winter, blaming what it calls a ‘dysfunctional’ charging regime by the airport operator, under which it refuses to offer incentives to stimulate traffic in the winter season. Athens Airport. From the official guide. In a...
Airline News & Gossip
Ryanair adds one million seats for winter

Ryanair is adding over one million seats to its winter schedules at 20 UK airports. Ryanair now expects to see its full year traffic grow from an original target of 165m to over 166.5m passengers this year. Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: “While BA are cancelling...
Airline News & Gossip
British Airways scrapping thousands more flights

British Airways is axing another 10,000 short-haul flights at Heathrow. It is trimming the winter schedule by 8% until the end of March and more than 600 flights will be cancelled up to late October. It comes as Heathrow decided to extend the passenger cap...
Airline News & Gossip
EasyJet demands compensation from airports

EasyJet says recent flight disruptions cost it £133 million in the last quarter. Now it wants airports to foot the bill. The airline wants to be compensated by airports for capping flights over acute staff shortages CEO Johan Lundgren didn’t say how much it is...
Airline News & Gossip
Airlines threatened with fines over ‘harmful practices’

Airlines have been read the riot act by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority. In an open letter, the watchdogs warned airlines they face ‘enforcement action’ which may include fines if they violate their legal obligations. “We are concerned that some...
Airline News & Gossip
Ryanair announces winter schedule

Ryanair announced its biggest ever UK winter schedule with 13 new routes unveiled. These include Barcelona, Lanzarote and Turin. It brings Ryanair’s total winter 2022/23 routes from the UK to 449. It has 90 bases and over 2,500 routes operating across 36 European countries this...

The ‘use it or lose it’ rule for airport slots is coming back. Airlines at UK airports will have to maintain 80% of their take-off and landing slots to keep them. The government said it will reinstate the pre-pandemic rule from March 26. “Slots rules will return...

London Stansted is embarking on an airport jobs recruitment drive for summer. It plans to recruit 1,000 new employees ahead of a busy summer season. A job fair will be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel on February 7 to showcase almost 200 different job roles These include...

Lufthansa confirmed yesterday that it has submitted an offer to the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance to acquire ITA. ITA is the ‘reborn’ Alitalia, although the airline is not currently operating on the scale of its predecessor. Having been through numerous bailouts, at huge cost...

UK airfares are rising at their fastest ever rate, according to the Office for National Statistics. ONS data showed airfares increased 44.1% in December from a year earlier. It was the largest year-on-year increase since it started recording UK airfares data in 1989. It was...

Which? again called for the Civil Aviation Authority to be given stronger regulatory powers. It comes as four in 10 travellers lack confidence in airlines treating them fairly. Almost two in five (39%) reported that they had little confidence that airlines would treat them fairly....

A British Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport. Passengers reported reported a ‘strange odour’ on the flight and pilots were seen wearing oxygen masks. The plane turned around to make the emergency landing not long after take-off. It issued a...

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is pushing hard for the release of $6 billion in blocked airline revenue. It says airline members’ assets are held in more than 27 countries worldwide. The total has risen by $395 million in the past six months alone....

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here. When anyone mentions the A380, you think of Emirates. This isn’t surprising, of course. Emirates is by far the bigger user of the aircraft and built its entire business model...

Airline losses have totalled almost $220 billion since the pandemic. Cirium’s World Airline Group Finance Rankings show the extent of the financial troubles the industry has faced. This is despite some airlines getting back in profit. It cover all of 2021 and the first half of 2022....

An unruly passenger pleaded guilty to attacking a flight attendant on an easyJet flight from Manchester. Colin Smith, 51 admitted he was drunk after downing nearly a full bottle of whiskey. He stood up when in seatbelt on mode and when approached, he attacked a flight attendant...

British Airways is adding a new non-stop route to its US network Beginning June 5, 2023, British Airways will fly non-stop to Cincinnati. It becomes BA’s 27th US destination and the 26th out of London Heathrow. British Airways will be the airline offering the most...

Emirates Group reported a record half-year net profit of AED 4.2 billion (US$ 1.2 billion). It represents a turnaround of almost AED 10 billion from its AED 5.7 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) loss for the same period last year. Group revenue was AED 56.3 billion (US$ 15.3...

Jet2 has agreed to purchase at least 35 new Airbus jets, with an option to double the order. It is buying 35 Airbus A320 neo aircraft with the option for up to 71 jets. The potential value is $8 billion at list prices. The firm ordered...

Shares in British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group took off after it revealed better than expected Q3 financials. IAG expects operating profit to be around £1bn, with ‘no weakness ‘in forward bookings. Shares in IAG rose as much as 10%. Despite cost of living...

Some readers may be surprised to know that British Airways runs a relatively large number of routes out of Southampton Airport. The launch of these services got caught up in the pandemic (the original announcement was made in December 2020) so they have never had...

Scottish regional airline Loganair has been put up for sale by owners Stephen and Peter Bond. The Bonds have been sole owners of the company for a decade. They have instructed advisors to find a buyer for the business. Loganair, which has operated for more...

Ryanair called on the UK, Irish, Italian and Spanish government to take action on overflights as French ATC strikes are set to cause mass disruption of air travel again. Ryanair takes issue with the French government using minimum service legislation to protect French flights but...

World Airline Awards Returning to the Langham Hotel London, and the first since Paris 2019, the Skytrax World Airlines Awards took place last Friday (23 September). As the airline celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2022, Qatar Airways was named “Airline of the Year”, for an...

Airfares out of Russia have skyrocketed as Russians flee conscription to the Ukraine frontline Overseas flights have sold out in record time while remaining seats are on sale for the equivalent of several thousand dollars on some routes. The mass exodus of adult Russian males...

Ryanair plans to close its base in Athens for the winter, blaming what it calls a ‘dysfunctional’ charging regime by the airport operator, under which it refuses to offer incentives to stimulate traffic in the winter season. Athens Airport. From the official guide. In a...

Ryanair is adding over one million seats to its winter schedules at 20 UK airports. Ryanair now expects to see its full year traffic grow from an original target of 165m to over 166.5m passengers this year. Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: “While BA are cancelling...

British Airways is axing another 10,000 short-haul flights at Heathrow. It is trimming the winter schedule by 8% until the end of March and more than 600 flights will be cancelled up to late October. It comes as Heathrow decided to extend the passenger cap...

EasyJet says recent flight disruptions cost it £133 million in the last quarter. Now it wants airports to foot the bill. The airline wants to be compensated by airports for capping flights over acute staff shortages CEO Johan Lundgren didn’t say how much it is...

Airlines have been read the riot act by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority. In an open letter, the watchdogs warned airlines they face ‘enforcement action’ which may include fines if they violate their legal obligations. “We are concerned that some...

Ryanair announced its biggest ever UK winter schedule with 13 new routes unveiled. These include Barcelona, Lanzarote and Turin. It brings Ryanair’s total winter 2022/23 routes from the UK to 449. It has 90 bases and over 2,500 routes operating across 36 European countries this...