The UFO flight attendant union for Eurowings has announced strikes could be possible at any time for 2 weeks, starting from Monday, Oct 24, after talks with management failed. "The public will be informed about the individual measures on time,” UFO board member Nicoley Baublies said. “There are no more negotiations; the process is finished,” he said. Baublies declined to give more details, but said the strike could continue to escalate beyond 2 weeks if there are no signs of a turnaround from the Eurowings management—then UFO will call for an indefinite strike. However, Baublies said there are no strikes planned for the Christmas season. The conflict centres around pay and working conditions for the 400 flight attendants based in Düsseldorf. <br/>
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RwandAir plans to start flights to London Gatwick by 2018, according to John Mirenge, the airline’s CE. Mirenge said the carrier was currently negotiating with the UK Civil Aviation Authority to start flights to Gatwick. The move, he added, is part of the airline’s expansion plans that also include opening of new routes to other parts of Europe and East Asia. Last year, the airline officials told Parliament that they were in final stages of seeking approvals to start flights to these two regions as part of the wider expansion drive by RwandAir. However, RwandAir will first open routes to Harare in Zimbabwe; Mumbai, India; and Guangzhou in China before expanding to Western Europe, Mirenge said Friday. He said the airline is ready to ply the Kigali-Gatwick route any time it gets the green light by the UK civil aviation body. <br/>
Alaska Air Group can’t complete its merger with Virgin America unless it gives at least 7 days advance notice to the San Francisco federal court judge presiding over a consumer antitrust case contending the tie-up is anticompetitive. US District judge William Alsup issued an order Thursday warning Alaska Air that “any consummation will be subject to divestiture,” meaning any attempt to close the US$2.6b deal before a December trial will be disallowed by the court, said Joseph Alioto, who is representing the plaintiffs in the antitrust case. “They can’t do anything,” the attorney said. “Basically it’s a preliminary injunction.” The airlines’ merger is still being reviewed by the US Justice Department’s antitrust division. <br/>
Pegasus Airlines recorded a 7.4% increase in the number of passengers flown in the first 9 months of the year compared to a year previously, the airline has announced. The LCC flew 18.1m passengers, a notable rise against a backdrop of geopolitical problems that have severely affected the country’s important tourism industry this year. Tensions with Russia saw the number of Russian tourists plummet over the first part of the year, while western European visitors have stayed away in droves because of terrorist attacks. Analysis of the figures shows that Pegasus’s extensive domestic network helped passenger numbers keep expanding: numbers on Turkish domestic routes increased 10.9% to 11.42m while the number of passengers on international routes saw a much more modest 1.9% increase to 6.66m. <br/>
AirBaltic has joined A4E, adding to the lobbying group’s growing number of carriers. A4E has been steadily gaining members since its creation in January 2016 and has been campaigning on a variety of issues affecting the airline industry, notably air traffic control strikes, removing what it regards as unreasonable taxes and lowering the cost of using airports in the EU. AirBaltic is the first carrier from Eastern Europe to join the organisation. It is unusual in that it brings together a mix of full-service, low-cost and leisure carriers. Some members of the pre-existing Association of European Airlines (AEA) have departed in favour of A4E, while the European Low-Fares Airline Association announced in Sept 2016 it would close because of defections to the new organisation. <br/>
Porter Airlines CE Robert Deluce is still holding on to the idea of flying CSeries jets one day, but knows it’s probably a far-off dream. “We’ve kept our CSeries conditional order in place, leaving those deposits with Bombardier,” said Deluce Sunday. “On our part, we’re keeping all of our options open,” he said, though he quickly adds there are no discussions under way to get jets at the island airport. “We’ll wait until there is a better climate to talk about CSeries in the future, if that opportunity presents itself,” he said. That’s a reference to whether there might someday be the political will — either at city hall or Ottawa — to allow jets and extend the runway at Toronto’s island airport. Now, Deluce said the airline is focused on a different growth plan, centred on its Q400 turboprops. <br/>