Ryanair is starting to see the damage from the labour strife that’s disrupted flights across Europe at the height of summer, just as the dispute threatens to extend to Britain, the carrier’s biggest market. Thursday, UK pilots triggered a so-called failure-to-agree mechanism, indicating that contract talks have reached an impasse. The move limits the span of negotiations and may lead to a strike ballot, the union confirmed. “We always aim to reach agreements with airlines without entering a formal dispute process or balloting for industrial action,” Terry Brandon, national officer for the British Airline Pilots Association, said, adding that talks are stalled on issues including pay and Ryanair’s use of contractors. A Ryanair spokeswoman said it would meet with Balpa again Thursday to continue negotiations toward a collective labour agreement. <br/>
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Ryanair pilots in Ireland have called a fifth 1-day strike for Aug 10, leading the airline to cancel a further 20 flights and adding to a wave of European industrial action as a conflict with its workforce continues. Trade union Forsa, of which IALPA is a branch, said directly employed Ryanair pilots in Ireland would stage their fifth 1-day strike since July 12 beginning at 0100 Aug 10 in an ongoing dispute about working conditions including base transfers. Swedish pilots have also voted to strike Aug 10 while Belgian pilots’ union the Belgian Cockpit Association has called on its members to walk out on the same day. In Ireland, IALPA/Forsa and Ryanair are locked in a war of words over the two parties’ approach to ironing out their issues. <br/>
Traffic at Ryanair rose 4% in July, with the airline carrying 13m passengers during the month. The company said load factor remained at 97% for July, with Ryanair attributing it to lower fares. Rolling annual traffic to July grew 7% to 133.5m. The company has been hit by flight cancellations in recent weeks through a combination of air traffic control staff shortages, bad weather and strikes by pilots and cabin crew. Ryanair said more than 1,000 flights were cancelled last month. Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said almost 200,000 customers had their flights cancelled in July. “Ryanair, together with other European airlines, calls for urgent action by the EC and European govts to address the effect of these ATC staff shortages which are disrupting the travel plans of millions of Europe’s consumers this summer.” <br/>
Norwegian Air Shuttle has applied to Brazil’s civil aviation authority ANAC for permission to fly to and from the country, as it continues its plans to expand into new markets. The carrier is now awaiting approval from ANAC, a process that typically takes 90-120 days, a Norwegian spokesman said. “As an ambitious airline with a large aircraft order, we have made no secret of our plans to expand to other parts of South America,” the spokesman said. Norwegian received its Argentinian AOC in January and launched Buenos Aires-London Gatwick flights in February. The carrier has been expanding rapidly, launching numerous new destinations, opening up new markets, including Argentina and expanding its fleet rapidly, sparking some doubts about the sustainability of its growth. <br/>
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA will fly the first used Airbus A380 between London and New York this month as the carrier seeks to replace capacity it lost when some of its Boeing 787 planes were grounded for engine issues. The leasing deal for the 12-year-old superjumbo comes after Thomas Cook Group flew the used jet on 2 routes this week as a stop-gap solution. The plane, which spent a decade in service at SIA and comes with top-notch luxury seating, is the first A380 to be flown on the secondary market. Norwegian will operate the 4-engined aircraft for “several weeks” in August, a spokesman for the airline confirmed. The airline is using the latest fuel-efficient technology to keep its costs down, but has struggled to build capacity as some of its Dreamliners were side-lined for unexpected engine maintenance. <br/>
Icelandair Group’s efforts to restructure its operations have included shedding UK services operated by its regional division Air Iceland Connect. The group admits that the regional operation is “challenging” and that it has taken “efficiency measures” in a bid to improve performance. Air Iceland Connect operates a fleet of 6 Bombardier turboprops – comprising 3 Dash 8-200s and 3 Q400s. It has withdrawn services to its UK destinations of Aberdeen and Belfast and, as of mid-May, it axed its Q400 flights on the domestic link between Reykjavik Keflavik and Akureyri. “The company now concentrates its efforts on domestic flights and regional flights between Iceland and Greenland,” says Icelandair Group. “Work is also in progress on further integrating Air Iceland Connect with Icelandair.” <br/>
Swoop will become Canada’s first ultralow-cost airline to fly to the US when it launches service this fall to 5 popular tourist destinations in Florida, Nevada and Arizona. The subsidiary of WestJet will start Oct 11 with flights to Las Vegas from Abbotsford, B.C., and Edmonton, Alta., about 4 months after Swoop began to fly. Service will be added over the following couple of weeks between Hamilton, Ont., and Las Vegas as well as to the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa Bay. Flights between Edmonton and Phoenix will start Oct 27. Most destinations will be serviced a few times per week but daily service will be flown between Edmonton and Las Vegas. The transborder service will be launched to these US gateways as Swoop receives delivery of its fifth and sixth airplane, said Swoop president Steven Greenway. <br/>
Luxair plans to acquire 2 Boeing 737-700s in 2019 to expand its route structure and build additional resilience to its network. The aircraft will be bought from an unnamed “large European flag carrier,” a Luxair spokesman said Thursday. The airline said in late 2017 that it was looking at a fleet renewal plan. It also said last year it was seeking to replace its 737-700s with a new regional jet, with the choice between the Bombardier CS100 (now Airbus A220-100) or the Embraer E190 E2. However, the spokesman said the purchase of used 737-700s was going ahead as the airline required additional short-term capacity. “They are used aircraft because we need new aircraft immediately to strengthen our markets and routes, so ordering new aircraft was not an option” given the lengthy lead times at virtually all major manufacturers. <br/>