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Ryanair flights from Germany to Athens, the Spanish coasts and Latvia were among 150 canceled Wednesday as pilots and cabin crew walked out as part of a year-long campaign for higher pay and improved contracts. The airline has been forced to scrap more than a third of its 400-plus daily flights in Germany after unions there called a strike late Monday. Among the majority of departures due to operate as normal were trips from Frankfurt to London Stansted, Ryanair’s biggest base, and Majorca. CE Michael O’Leary that he won’t “roll over” in the face of unreasonable demands, while pledging to work to avoid walkouts wherever possible. While public concern about the strikes is hurting demand and fares, the CE reiterated guidance for full-year net income between E1.25b and E1.35b. <br/>

Ryanair is lobbying the Irish govt to change tax regulations such that the airline could meet a key demand of unions to contract staff under the employment laws of the country in which they reside. Ryanair CE Michael O'Leary said that at present the carrier could only offer its employees Irish contracts because the aircraft they work on were registered in the country, and its management based there. O'Leary says Ryanair employees based outside of Ireland can pay their social taxes in their country of residence but must pay their income tax in Ireland. He notes that Ryanair cabin crew typically earn amounts that subject them to Ireland's higher tax rate. "Ireland has this image as a corporate tax haven with low corporate tax rate, which to some extent it is, but it's penal [to] the person," he says. <br/>

Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary said Wednesday that recent political developments in the UK have made the post-Brexit outlook for flights less clear. O’Leary said the risk of a hard Brexit, in which flights could at least be temporarily grounded, is being “underestimated” and has become “more likely.” O’Leary said it was likely there eventually would be a deal on flight rights between the UK and EU, though such an accord may not come in time to avoid a disruption to air travel. Still, O’Leary said, “I don’t think a no-flight scenario will last more than a couple of days or a couple of weeks.” He spoke as the airline announced 23 new routes for next year from 3 London airports. It will base an additional 5 planes at airports around the UK capital with passenger numbers from the area set to grow 5% to 26m. <br/>

Interjet is in talks with Sukhoi to sell its Superjet 100 fleet, following a series of maintenance issues over the aircraft's 5 years of service at the airline. "We're finalising an amicable negotiation with Sukhoi," Interjet CE Jose Luis Garza said. Garza indicates that an outcome could be reached within days. Sukhoi did not respond to queries for comment. Interjet is the only SSJ100 operator in the Americas, and began revenue service with the type in Sept 2013. The carrier has 21 SSJ100s in service, with 1 aircraft in storage and another 8 on order. Its plan to sell the SSJ100 fleet comes after several episodes in which the airline was forced to ground part of the fleet over mechanical issues. In Q2, the airline received compensation of almost US$40m for maintenance costs related to its SSJ100 fleet. <br/>

AirAsia’s core Malaysian operation has been registered on IATA’s operational safety audit (IOSA) for the first time, joining 2 other AirAsia affiliate carriers on the list. AirAsia Malaysia gained its IOSA accreditation after passing an audit. Sister-carrier AirAsia X joined the IOSA list in 2014, and affiliate AirAsia Indonesia was registered last month. The AirAsia group wants its remaining short-haul LCC franchises to undertake the IOSA audit process by early next year. Its other LCC affiliates are based in India, Thailand and the Philippines. There are now 68 Asia-Pacific airlines on the IOSA registry, according to IATA data. AirAsia is the fourth Malaysia-based carrier on the list, after AirAsia X, Malaysia Airlines, and Malindo Airways. <br/>

Norwegian plans to drop its only service to Southeast Asia early next year in a major blow to its ambitious plans to grow Asian traffic. According to the airline’s booking website, the flight departing London-Gatwick will no longer be available after Jan 10, 2019, and the last return flight leaves Singapore the following day. Norwegian did not immediately comment. Expansion to Asia-Pacific—China in particular—was initially one of the main pillars of Norwegian’s planned foray into long-haul flying. The start of new services was initially held up by the long-delayed US air carrier permit for Norwegian Air UK, the unit that was supposed to operate Asian routes because it could take advantage of UK or EU traffic rights. Since overcoming that hurdle, Russia’s refusal to grant overflight rights has held back any moves. <br/>

Swiss Skies, a low-cost airline that aims to launch in the second half of 2019, said Wednesday it was seeking to raise more than US$100m in start-up funding this week. The company, which will focus on North American destinations from Basel before expanding to other European bases, expects to have $1.5b in revenue within 5 years and to be profitable in its third year. It said it aimed to have a fleet of 38 aircraft with 1,900 employees serving 45 destinations across 5 continents eventually, without giving a timeline. "We aim to be a true disruptor of the airline industry," said co-founder Alvaro Oliveira, a Swiss pilot and former director of flight operations at Azul Airlines. The airline said it planned to use 190-seat Airbus A321neo long-range aircraft. <br/>

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) is having difficulty receiving passenger information on an Emirates Airlines flight that carried a man who was confirmed to have been infected with MERS. The 61-year-old man departed from Kuwait for Incheon with a transfer at Dubai, and later tested positive for MERS after arriving in Korea. The KCDC obtained a list of passengers on the flight from Dubai to Incheon and has been monitoring them, especially those who sat close to the patient. But it has not obtained a list for the flight from Kuwait to Dubai. "The airline does not want to release the passenger list for the first plane as the flight did not land in Korea, citing privacy issues," a KCDC official said. More than 400 people, including passengers on the second plane, came into possible contact with the patient. <br/>