German labour union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) said it had agreed with Ryanair's management to continue negotiations this month, even as it ballots the carrier's pilots in Germany for industrial action. Ryanair last year agreed to recognise unions for the first time to try to avert strikes and resolve a staffing crunch, but is struggling to reach agreements in some countries. VC was the first union to carry out a threat to strike at Ryanair last year, although the disruption was limited. The German pilots have until the end of July to cast their votes on whether to stage further walkouts. VC said Monday that while Ryanair's management had signalled it could make some concessions on the structure of its labour agreements, these should not lead to an increase in staff costs. <br/>
unaligned
Low prices on routes across the Atlantic are coming as Norwegian Air and Wow Air, in particular, increase routes in hopes of capturing summer travellers. Whether these low fares will last, especially if oil prices continue to climb, is uncertain. “What used to be 4 digit airfares in peak summer are now 3 digits,” said one airline industry consultant. As Norwegian and Wow go after travellers who are willing to forgo some convenience, the major carriers are responding by dividing up their cabins or offering no-frills options just like they have done on domestic flights. Some airlines now have as many as 4 classes on international flights, and economy cabins that are further subdivided. Customers buying the cheaper tickets, and accepting limits on carry-on baggage or in-flight food, were never likely to pay for a premium ticket, analysts say. <br/>
Philippine Airlines is introducing 4 new domestic routes within the archipelago, operating from Clark International. PAL began daily flights July 1 from Clark to Siargao with the Bombardier Q400 turboprop. The airline also announced new service to Cauayan, San Jose, and 8X-weekly flights to San Vicente. The latter opened a new terminal in May for commercial flights as part of a plan to introduce more tourists to the city. San Vicente in Palawan was slated as the country’s flagship tourism enterprise zone in 2016. Clark was often seen as the secondary airport for congested Manila Ninoy Aquino International, and operates more than 250 weekly domestic flights. The airport is undergoing construction of a second new terminal that is scheduled for completion by 2020 with capacity to handle 8m passengers annually. <br/>
Nordica passed a milestone in 2017 as it moved into profit in just its second year of existence. A boom in passenger numbers saw the airline edge into the black with a profit of E900,000 (US$1m) after having previously forecast a loss of E6m for the year. The airline did not specify whether the profit figure was before or after tax. The improvement in Nordica’s fortunes was primarily because of a 68% leap in passenger numbers over the year, to 613,000. Part of the reason for the uplift was that for the latter half of 2017, Estonia held the rotating chairmanship of the 28-nation EU, which saw an influx of officials heading for the Estonian capital, Tallinn. The Estonian airline started the year with 6 aircraft, but added a further 10 to its fleet throughout 2017, primarily Bombardier CRJ700 and -900 regional jets. <br/>
Flydubai has deepened its partnership agreement with Emirates Airline by adopting the Emirates Skywards product as its loyalty program. The LCC said this “strategic move builds on the success of the initial phase of the extensive partnership.” The agreement, announced in July last year, incorporates codesharing, but also includes several initiatives spanning the commercial, network planning and airport operations fields. Under the adoption of Emirates’ loyalty program, members of Flydubai’s OPEN loyalty program will be enrolled into Emirates Skywards from Aug 1. They will accumulate Skywards Miles and tier points when travelling with either airline. Flydubai’s route network has relatively little overlap with that of Emirates, considerably enhancing the number of destinations available to passengers on either carrier. <br/>