Ryanair, Norwegian Air end talks on flight connections

Ryanairand Norwegian Air Shuttle have halted talks on a flight connection agreement, both companies said Monday. Norwegian Air, which recently agreed a partnership with easyJet to make its long-distance flights available to easyJet customers, confirmed an earlier statement by Ryanair CE Michael O‘Leary that talks with the Irish airline on a similar agreement had ended. “Norwegian welcomes any initiatives that offer passengers smooth, affordable transfers between flights and we are delighted to have entered into partnership with easyJet which was an obvious and natural fit for each airline’s large and growing networks,” Norwegian Air said. “Previous discussions with Ryanair are no longer active,” it said. Earlier Monday, Ryanair and Norwegian Air disagreed publicly over the number of staff each was poaching from the other. Ryanair has been seeking deals to provide short-haul “feeder flights” to link passengers to routes operated by long-haul carriers and had planned to start serving fellow low-cost operator Norwegian Air earlier this year. <br/>