Pilots employed directly by Ryanair in Dublin, its second largest base, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action in a growing dispute over the airline's collective bargaining system, the IMPACT trade union said Monday. The airline is trying to recover from a damaging wave of flight cancellations caused by crew rostering problems, while pilots at fewer than a third of its 87 bases have accepted an offer to increase pay. Several unions across Europe have been preparing for industrial action in a demand for better conditions at Ryanair with its pilots in Italy due to stage the company's first ever strike by pilots later this week. The Dublin ballot covered direct employees only, rather than the majority of pilots which the airline hires through agencies. <br/>
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A woman making a long-planned trip with her parents and young son says Spirit Airlines kicked the family off the plane when she didn't immediately stop breast-feeding the 2-year-old, who was restless after a long delay. Mei Rui says she asked for a few minutes to let her son fall asleep in her arms while the plane was still at the gate in Houston and other passengers were walking around. A Spirit spokesman disputed the woman's account Monday. He said Rui repeatedly failed to follow flight attendants' instructions to buckle her son into his seat after the plane's door was closed. The spokesman, Stephen Schuler, said that Rui told crew members they would have to drag her off the plane while she recorded them. The incident is the latest in a growing series of confrontations between airline passengers and crews. <br/>
Jetstar Pacific says domestic passenger growth has slowed in 2017, to a rate of 14-15% compared with 30% per annum previously. "The market has probably been over stimulated in the last 5 years, so I don't think you'll see a lot of additional market simulation as we go forward," says Jetstar Pacific COO Leslie Stephens. "We think it's going to be more natural growth. From whatever everyone is predicting it will be double GDP growth, so about 14-15% growth a year, about half the growth we've seen the last 5 years. We've certainly seen this in 2017." The stimulation Stephens alludes to is due to the rise of low-cost rival VietJet, which has grown rapidly since its launch in late 2011. The carrier operates 44 Airbus A320 family aircraft, many of them deployed in Vietnam's domestic market, where it holds about 40% market share. <br/>
Argentina Monday authorised Norwegian to fly about 60 aircraft in the country, opening 72 local and 80 international routes to the company starting next year in a move the govt said would generate 3,200 direct jobs in Argentina. The Argentine govt said that Norwegian will have access to major airports in cities including Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Mendoza. Norwegian will start operating in Argentina next year, investing a total of US$4.3b to fly about 60 aircraft, the govt said. The concession has a 15-year lifespan before it can be considered for renewal, it said. Norwegian is the latest in a series of LCCs to be authorised to operate in Argentina in the past 2 years. President Mauricio Macri, an advocate of free-markets, has said competition among carriers is the best way to keep air fares down. <br/>
Emirates and Flydubai have resumed using Iraqi airspace for flights to other countries, the airlines said Monday, 2 days after Iraq declared victory in its years-long fight against Islamic state. Several airlines stopped flying over Iraq in 2014 on safety concerns because of the conflict and after a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine the same year. Airlines have instead been flying longer routes over Iran and other countries, increasing congestion in the region, with many airlines also avoiding Syrian airspace. The use of Iraqi airspace is likely to help Emirates and Flydubai to save on fuel costs by shortening flying hours and also reduce regional airspace congestion. Emirates did not say when it started flying over Iraq again or which routes were affected. <br/>