Seven European pension schemes overseeing nearly E300b of assets have pulled their investments in Ryanair due to concerns about high-profile labour disputes involving the airline. Denmark’s largest pension fund, ATP, and Folksam, the Swedish retirement scheme, are among the large investors that have sold their holdings in Ryanair at a time of growing concern about how the airline pays its staff and interacts with unions. Baillie Gifford, one of the UK’s largest asset managers, and Hermes EOS, the influential adviser to institutional investors, have also raised concerns about labour issues with Ryanair in recent months. CE Michael O’Leary described the pension funds that have sold their holdings as “idiots”, adding: “They are misinformed. We don’t have any labour issues." <br/>
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Norwegian is continuing its long-haul expansion by studying long-haul routes from Germany, although the LCC would not confirm specific routes. “Norwegian is growing in Germany,” a spokesperson said. “Also, 250 [ordered] aircraft are coming to Norwegian. We see a potential for long-haul flights from Germany,” she said. Norwegian has 30 Airbus A321LR aircraft on firm order, which could potentially be used on a German route. The A321LR has a range of up to 4,000 nm, making it suitable for routes between the US east coast and Europe. “The A321LR makes it much easier [to open new long-haul routes],” the spokesman pointed out. “But so far we have no specifics on if Norwegian would operate routes, for example, from Frankfurt, Hamburg or other German cities.” <br/>
Air Arabia reported Sunday Dh103m in net profit for Q1 of 2017, marking a 10% drop over the Dh114m recorded in the same period in 2016. Air Arabia said it posted a Q1 turnover of Dh810m, a 14% decline over Q1 in 2016. The airline said the decline came amid a drop in yield margins across the industry over the first 3 months of the year. The profits for Q1, though lower year-on-year, are a turnaround from the Dh38.6m in losses recorded by the carrier in Q4 2016. The loss at the time came well below market expectations. Air Arabia attributed the results to challenges in the global aviation market. Abdullah Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia, said the carrier continued to see strong passenger demand, and that he remained confident “of the growth prospects of the low cost travel segment in the region”. <br/>
Jazeera Airways announced a net loss of KD900,000 (US$2.96m) for Q1 2017 as it continued to be hit by a slowing economic backdrop and excess capacity in the area. The carrier achieved the result on revenue of KD10m, down 15.3% on the same period in 2016. Load factor was 72%, down 0.9% from Q1 2016. “Our earnings for the quarter were impacted by a continuing slowing macro-economy and that is impacting our sector’s yields, Jazeera chairman Marwan Boodai said. “The fact that our load factor remained virtually unchanged from the same time last year is a clear indication that demand for our product continues to be strong despite the macroeconomic pressures and the extra capacity that continued to be dumped on our sectors," he said. <br/>
Wizz Air will launch 2X-weekly Budapest-St. Petersburg Airbus A320 service Aug 27, becoming the first foreign LCC to operate to Russia’s Pulkovo International. Wizz Air received a Budapest-Moscow Vnukovo designation and launched flights to the Russian capital in 2013. Since then it has carried 440,000 passengers between the two cities, Wizz Air said. St. Petersburg is Wizz Air’s 13th destination from Budapest. Wizz Air operates flights from Budapest and Debrecen with 12 aircraft. In 2016, the LCC carried 3.7m passengers to and from Hungary, up 23% year-over-year. Pulkovo St. Petersburg Airport is the fourth airport in Russia in terms of passenger traffic. In Q1, Pulkovo traffic grew 25% YOY to 2.9m passengers <br/>
A captain is under investigation for taking a nap during an international flight and handing the aircraft over to a trainee pilot. Pakistan International Airlines captain Amir Akhtar Hashmi reportedly handed over the reins to the under-training first officer, Ali Hassan Yazdani, and took a 2.5 hour nap in the business class cabin. According to sources, the airline was initially reluctant to take action against Hashmi, a former president of the highly-influential Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association, but later caved to "pressure from above". Hashmi was supposed to be training Yazdani when he left the cockpit to grab some shut-eye. One of the passengers spotted the uniformed pilot taking a nap and, fearing for the safety of travellers, turned him in to a senior flight attendant. <br/>