Ryanair plans to pivot its growth away from Britain over the next 2 years as it fears the lack of clarity over Brexit will cause major travel disruption and hit demand. Airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet have urged the British government to put aviation at the front of the queue when negotiating its EU exit because they need to finalise their 2019 summer schedules in the first half of next year. Ryanair has warned more stridently than peers of the dangers of neglecting aviation in the negotiations, saying that there may be no flights between the UK and Europe for a period of time if a special aviation deal is not agreed. Without a deal, it is unclear what rules would govern airlines with significant British and EU business after Brexit. The uncertainty is pushing Ryanair to look outside Britain to grow the network by adding new routes and flights. <br/>
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Ryanair will start offering connecting flights later this month, a senior executive said Thursday, marking a break from its traditional point-to-point model as it looks to appeal to a broader spread of customers. The airline rose to become Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers by running a bare-bones operation shunning transfers due to their complexity and the risk they would keep planes on the ground for too long. CE Michael O'Leary dropped his opposition in 2015 and said the airline would look to trial transfers as part of plans to expand beyond its traditional customer base. Ryanair will roll out connections, initially between its own flights, at the end of April at Rome Fiumicino, chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said Thursday. This would allow for example a journey from Dublin to Palermo, Sicily, which has no direct service. <br/>
The long-anticipated flotation of Azul failed to launch Thursday after the country’s securities regulator suspended the listing process, citing investor roadshow materials that it had not approved. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil, known as the CVM, said that Azul had made projections about its investment in TAP during marketing roadshows in the lead up to the initial public offering that were not disclosed in its prospectus. The suspension will last for 30 days after which Azul may once again attempt a flotation. The freeze can be lifted if the group addresses the irregularities before the 30 day mark. The IPO had been set to price later Thursday, as bankers worked to finalise order books and allocations of the deal. Azul has attempted an IPO several times before, each time failing to get the deal off the ground. <br/>