Ryanair said it will start selling long-haul tickets on behalf of Air Europa and hopes to start offering passengers direct connections to the Spanish low-cost carrier's flights later this year. Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers, is in talks with several airlines including Aer Lingus and Norwegian Air Shuttle about allowing passengers to connect directly on to long-haul flights, but it has yet to finalise a deal. "We look forward to offering our 130m customers an even greater choice and range of long-haul services in 2018," Ryanair CE Michael O'Leary said Tuesday. Madrid-based Air Europa offers low-cost long-haul flights to cities in North, Central and South America.<br/>
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Profit at Malaysia's AirAsia X fell sharply in Q1, with a weak ringgit and higher fuel costs overshadowing higher revenue at the long-haul budget airline. AirAsia X's fuel and aircraft operating lease expenses are denominated in US dollars, as is much of its debt. Some analysts had forecast that AirAsia X's headline earnings for the quarter could underperform largely due to a 122m ringgit foreign exchange gain a year ago. But the airline's chief executive Kamarudin Meranun said in a statement that it was worth taking the short-term pain. "We believe the short-term earnings pressure arising from weakening ringgit against the US dollar as well as newly introduced capacity will be well worth the long-term strategic value as yields will rise as this new capacity matures." The budget long haul airline said on Tuesday that for the quarter ending in March, net profit was 10.3m ringgit ($2.4m), down 94.2% from 179.5m ringgit a year ago. However, AirAsia X said revenue rose 22% to 1.2b ringgit. "The relative weakness of the Malaysian ringgit remains a key concern as a large portion of the company's borrowings and operating costs are denominated in US dollars," AirAsia X said late Tuesday.<br/>
Low-cost carrier Norwegian is to offer US preclearance on its new Irish transatlantic routes from Dublin and Shannon, which are set to launch in July. From Dublin, Norwegian will fly daily to Stewart International (New York State) and 5X-weekly to Providence (greater Boston). From Shannon, it will serve Stewart International 2X-weekly and Providence 2X-weekly. “All bookings on Norwegian’s transatlantic flights from Dublin and Shannon will now include use of the US preclearance facilities at each airport. Dublin and Shannon are among only a few airports worldwide to offer US preclearance, with Dublin Airport the only European capital to offer the facility,” Norwegian said. Preclearance allows passengers to undergo US border checks prior to departure, so they are treated as domestic arrivals on landing, allowing them to avoid lengthy immigration queues.<br/>
A Virgin Atlantic flight from Dubai to London that was evacuated over unspecified concerns earlier Thursday in the United Arab Emirates was cleared after a security check and took off for Britain, officials said. The Airbus 330 had just left its gate in Dubai when it suddenly turned back and evacuated its passengers after receiving an unspecified threat, authorities said. Nothing wrong was found abroad the aircraft heading to London’s Heathrow Airport from Dubai International Airport and it later took off. Passengers underwent a second security screening before the flight left, Virgin said. This was “purely as a precautionary measure as the safety of our customers and crew is our No. 1 priority,” Virgin said. Virgin only described the threat as “non-credible.”<br/>
Emirates Airlines will begin a second daily Airbus A380 service to Beijing and Shanghai Pudong from July 1, replacing the Boeing 777-300ER on both routes. Emirates operates 519-seat A380s in a three-class configuration on its Chinese routes. The carrier said it is able to offer seamless A380-to-A380 connections between the two Chinese cities and more than 30 international destinations, including 18 in the UK and Europe, via its Dubai hub. Emirates operates a total of 38 weekly flights to China—including to Guangzhou, Yinchuan and Zhengzhou. Beginning Oct. 29, Emirates will introduce a second daily A380 service between Dubai and Birmingham, replacing a Boeing 777.<br/>
Complete with an ice cave-like cabin interior and a hand-painted livery bearing the image of a glacier, Icelandair has unveiled a newly designed Boeing 757-200 aircraft inspired by Europe's largest ice cap. The airline's Vatnajökull plane, named after the glacier of the same name, features an icy, electric blue-coloured LED lighting system in the main cabin and a "glacier soundtrack" to "create the right atmosphere", while the headrests on the seats have been decorated in white and turquoise hues. The plane's drinks trolley has been made into a "mini ice cave" while cups, napkins, and sick bags have also been decorated in glacier prints. All of Icelandair's aircraft are named after an Icelandic volcano, but the Vatnajökull, launched to celebrate the airline's 80th anniversary, is the only one named after a glacier. It was designed by the team behind Icelandair's Hekla Aurora, the Northern Lights-inspired aircraft released in 2015. The Vatnajökull plane is in normal circulation and passengers can also request to fly in one through the airline's website where they can see it's latest available routes. The UK routes on which it is most likely to operate include Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London Heathrow and Gatwick. It will also serve other European routes as well as North American ones. <br/>