EasyJet has opened its 30th base, at France’s Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport in the south west of the country, underlining the importance of France, its largest market in Europe. The carrier began flying from London Luton to Bordeaux in 2006 and has carried 10m passengers to and from the airport since. It now has a market share of nearly 30% at the airport, EasyJet said. It will base 3 Airbus A320 aircraft there, as well as over 110 pilots and cabin crew, meaning it can offer over 400,000 extra seats this summer from its sixth base in France, the carrier said. The airline is also introducing 3 new city routes–Luxembourg, Tel Aviv, Israel and London Southend–and 5 new beach routes–Catania, Italy; Faro, Portugal; Heraklion and Rhodes Greece and Ibiza, Spain) as well as one domestic route to Bastia, Corsica. <br/>
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Bailiffs are being sent into UK airline offices because companies are failing to pay passengers compensation for flight delays and cancellations. Thousands of court rulings ordering compensation have been ignored by airlines, including EasyJet and Thompson Airways (now TUI Airways). EasyJet says it is changing its policies about claims, while TUI Airways has launched an investigation. In one case, bailiffs boarded a plane belonging to a small European airline and prevented it from taking off until the owners paid up. Since 2005, EU rules state that passengers who have had their flights cancelled or delayed 3 hours or more, are entitled to compensation of around GBP500, depending on the flight. But when they put their claims in, many passengers have found the airline ignore them. <br/>
A series of planned 1-day strikes called by Portuguese cabin crew union SNPVAC (National Union of Civil Aviation Personnel) is threatening Ryanair service to Portugal over the upcoming Easter holiday. Ryanair said some flights were canceled and others disrupted March 29 after members of the SNPVAC cabin crew union went on the first of 3 planned one-day strikes over working conditions, a move the airline called “unnecessary and unjustified.” “The vast majority of our Portuguese crews are working normally this morning [March 29],” Ryanair said. “A small number of first wave flights from Portugal suffered minor disruptions. Just 3 first wave flights were canceled, but these customers are being re-accommodated on extra flights operating this morning from Ryanair bases outside Portugal, flying into Porto and Faro.” <br/>
French airline Aigle Azur is expanding long-haul flights and adding partnerships, and hopes to return to profit following a management and shareholder shake-up last year. The airline, which usually focuses on Mediterranean routes, Thursday signed a partnership with French Caribbean specialist Air Caraibes and a catering deal with Newrest. It also said it would launch flights to Beijing in June and Sao Paulo in July. CE Frantz Yvelin said Aigle Azur, which is due to receive its first 2 A330 widebody planes in mid-April, wanted to increase revenues to E320m (US$280m) in the 2018-19 financial year, up from E160m in the previous year, and return to an operating profit. Aigle Azur's main shareholders are HNA with a 48% stake and DGN, the holding company of JetBlue founder David Neeleman, with a 33% share. <br/>
Partnering with other airlines has been an important part of Alaska Air's strategy for many years. This strategy has included working with domestic competitors, but also with a sizable collection of international carriers. Alaska Air highlighted its international partnerships as a key source of revenue synergies when it decided to acquire its smaller rival Virgin America 2 years ago. However, it has been losing international partners at a steady clip since the merger was announced, mainly because of a falling out with Delta Air Lines. Alaska Airlines struck back this week, announcing a new interline and frequent flier agreement with Aer Lingus. Nevertheless, Alaska needs to keep working to find new international partners to offset the loss of others that are cutting ties with the carrier. <br/>