Ryanair CE Michael O'Leary said Tuesday he was "hopeful and optimistic" that industrial relations issues would not damage the airline further this year after strikes contributed to a rare profit warning last week. The carrier cut its full-year profit forecast by 12% Oct 1 and warned that worse may follow if recent strikes across Europe continue to hit traffic and bookings. O'Leary said management was making progress in talks with unions and was hopeful there would not be a further financial hit this year. "O'Leary said: "I am hopeful and optimistic that we are making real progress with the unions and that we won't have any further damage to the business this year." O'Leary pointed to breakthroughs in talks with unions in Ireland and Italy and said Ryanair "hopes to make similar progress in other countries in the coming months." <br/>
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Pakistan International Airlines intends to dry lease 2 Airbus A320s in Q1 of 2019. The carrier states that the aircraft "are already under the evaluation phase", and that the decision was taken after "an executive meeting" was called by PIA's new chairman and CE Saqib Aziz to discuss the airline's performance. "It was discussed... that due [to] increasing demand in market, [the] enhancement of [our] fleet has become unavoidable as the present fleet is not sufficient to cater to the demand", adds PIA. The aircraft will be used on domestic and regional routes to the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia, and the carrier says that they are seeking the lease period for up to 8 years. PIA says that Aziz's appointment is a temporary one, and that it will begin its search for long-time replacement "at the end of the year". <br/>
Some Nigerian airlines are facing the risk of collapse under the weight of huge debts, according to the country’s Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, set up to rescue banks from bad loans. “The industry remains in the throes of airlines burdened with debts, under administration or on the borderline of collapse," Amcon CE Ahmed Kuru said, without identifying those that may fail. Amcon acquired the country’s biggest airline Arik last year because of difficulties arising from huge debts and poor corporate governance, it said. Nigeria’s more than 10 domestic airlines are struggling with difficulties arising from the country’s first economic contraction in a quarter century in 2016, and have seen reduced access to capital and limited leasing opportunities. <br/>
The Polish airline of Lithuania’s Small Planet Group has filed for restructuring under Polish law and is seeking an investor, shortly after the group’s German airline filed for insolvency. Oct 8, Small Planet Airlines said its Polish leisure carrier has entered “accelerated arrangement” restructuring proceedings. Accelerated arrangement is an insolvency step under Polish law, aimed at averting bankruptcy. “The aim of the restructuring is to reduce the number of aircraft, attract additional financial investment and find a sustainable way to continue flight operations. Both legally and operationally, it is an absolutely different procedure from bankruptcy,” a Small Planet Airlines spokesperson said. “We have agreed with tour operators on updated schedules, so there will be no effect on passengers,” the spokesperson said. <br/>