Tata Sons, which is a co-promoter of AirAsia India, said Tuesday it is supporting its nominee director R Venkataramanan, who has been named by the CBI in an FIR for allegedly trying to manipulate govt policies to get an international flying licence for the carrier. Besides Venkataramanan, the CBI had named several persons, including AirAsia Malaysia CE Tony Fernandes, in the FIR. The Malaysian carrier holds 49% in the India entity. According to the Tata Sons’: “The board is aware that prior audits and forensic reports were initiated by AirAsia India on some of the issues being currently investigated and based on such reports there have been no findings of any wrongdoing on the part of its nominee director, Venkataramanan.” <br/>
unaligned
Ryanair passengers could face a wave of problems this summer when travelling to Spain. The airline’s cabin crew are threatening to strike this summer if their unions are not recognised. According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, it could affect as many as 115,000 passengers a day. While the strike is currently just threatened to affect Spain, it could spread to other countries in Europe. Belgium, Portugal and Germany could join in the strike for their unions to be recognised also. The strike, which could last up to 3 days, is expected to take place at the end of July or the beginning of August, during the busiest time of year. Cabin crew have given Ryanair until June 30 to come to a decision. July 3 and July 4, cabin crew representatives from European countries have given appointment to announce measures. <br/>
El Al says it will take a firmer stand against what critics say is discrimination after the airline moved 2 female passengers under pressure from ultra-Orthodox travellers. El Al CE Gonen Usishkin said Monday that he had ordered that "any traveller who refuses to sit next to another traveller will be immediately removed from the flight." That statement comes after the airline moved 2 female passengers last week after male ultra-Orthodox travellers refused to sit next to them. Similar incidents have previously been reported. The latest incident sparked criticism from NICE, an Israel-based software company, which said it would not fly with El Al until it stopped the practice. The company said "we don't do business with companies that discriminate." <br/>