Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary believes it will be difficult to increase his airline’s load factor above 93%, which it achieved in its 2015-16 financial year. “I think 93% is as high as it can go. I think it will flat line at 93%,” he said. He said the high load factor was partly driven by Ryanair’s Always Getting Better (AGB) initiative, which has pushed aircraft occupancy up from 83% to 93% over the last two years and boosted annual passenger numbers from 80m to over 106m. Under AGB, Ryanair has improved its product, schedules and has added more primary airports to its network. Instead of using the high load factor as leverage to increase fares, Ryanair plans to keep prices low to maintain the figure at around 93% and put pressure on its rivals. Ryanair is expecting its fares to drop 5%-7% in the first half of its 2016-17 financial year. <br/>
unaligned
Thomas Cook cabin crew voted in favour of a strike in a row over health and safety, the Unite union has said. About half of union members voted, with 74% of those backing industrial action in the dispute over rest breaks. Thomas Cook Airlines said plans were in place to make sure customers would still be able to go on holiday in the event of strikes. A Unite spokesman said union bosses would hold talks with the airline and conciliation service Acas Thursday and next Tuesday. For a strike to go ahead, the union would need to give Thomas Cook 7 days' notice, and that notice has not been served. Thomas Cook has reduced its cabin crew's breaks from one 20-minute break every 6 hours to one 20-minute break every 12 hours worked - the minimum indicated in the Civil Aviation Authority's guidelines. <br/>
AirAsia plans to expand its fleet as it taps demand in a region projected to surpass the US as the world’s biggest air-travel market in 2 decades, led by China. The airline is looking to add 5 aircraft this year and as many as 10 more in 2017 “depending on demand,” chairman Kamarudin Meranun said Wednesday. The company is also planning to increase the number of destinations in China from 18 and frequency of its flights in the world’s second-biggest economy, he said. “We see the strongest growth in China,” he said. AirAsia currently has about 170 aircraft in its fleet. AirAsia is among airlines in the region adding more aircraft as economic growth and rising incomes make air travel affordable to more people. <br/>
Norwegian Air International has made its final submissions on a licence application to the US authorities that will allow it offer transatlantic flights from Cork and Shannon. The US DoT recently gave the airline initial approval for a foreign carrier’s permit, allowing it to fly to the US from Europe, but said granting the licence depended on final submissions from all interested parties. The process closed Monday after the airline formally responded to the DoT which has begun considering all submissions ahead of making its final decision in coming weeks. Meanwhile, Norwegian Air Shuttle’s group CE, Bjorn Kjos, said Wednesday that its subsidiary may launch US flights from Edinburgh in Scotland next year. He named Boston, New York and San Francisco as possible destinations. <br/>
TransAsia Airways will reduce regional services and schedules to Japanese destinations following a FY2015 operating loss of NT$2.49b (US$76.8m). The carrier also plans to mothball 2 4-year-old Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The carrier said it is making the cuts to “improve finances” after declining profits over the last 12 months on the heels of 2 fatal crashes in 2014 and 2015 that killed a total of 91 people. Following the crashes at Pudong and Taipei, both involving ATR 72 aircraft, the Taiwan Civil Aeronautics Administration ordered comprehensive pilot retraining and denied the carrier access to new route schedule destinations for a year. The carrier will cut regional schedules from its home base at Taoyuan International, Taipei to Hokkaido, Sapporo and Asahikawa to 1 flight a day—down from 2X-daily. <br/>
Low fuel costs and increased volumes lifted profits at Wizz Air to record levels as the company forecast further increases in profit in 2017, despite heightened price competition. The airline Wednesday reported adjusted net profit for the year ending in March at E224m, up 53% from the previous year, and ahead of the company’s March forecast of E200m–E210m. The airline’s profit measure excludes currency moves and exceptional items. The airline carried a record 20m passengers — a 21% increase — while revenue jumped 16% to E1.43b. Earnings were lifted by a combination of lower fuel prices and increased volumes. Jozsef Varadi, Wizz Air founder and CE, pledged the company would do “whatever it takes” to remain competitive on pricing as the airline faces into a period of increased competition with Ryanair. <br/>