Ryanair has clarified its response to an incident in which a woman was racially abused on one of its flights, and accused the daughter of the victim of making an “untrue” claim about whether the airline made an apology. Ryanair also implied its cabin crew had not understood the seriousness of the incident at the time, which happened while passengers were boarding a flight from Barcelona to Stansted last Friday. Ryanair said it “immediately wrote . . . to the female passenger at 11am Sunday morning, apologising sincerely for what happened on board the aircraft . . . We also invited the passenger to contact the airline if they wished to discuss the matter further. The claim made in the media in recent days, that Ryanair did not contact or apologise to the female passenger, is untrue.” <br/>
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A significant shareholder in Ryanair has demanded that the carrier replace its chairman, reigniting a row the company hoped had been put to bed just over a month ago. The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, whose members own about 1% of Ryanair, said it would file resolutions at Ryanair’s next annual meeting in September 2019, asking the airline to replace chairman David Bonderman and explain how it is planning for CE Michael O’Leary’s succession. At the most recent annual meeting in September, almost 30% of shareholders — including LAPFF’s members — voted against the re-election of Bonderman, who has been in post for 22 years and who co-founded private equity business TPG. O’Leary has been CE since 1994. <br/>
The EC said Friday it had opened an investigation into whether Ryanair had benefited from illegal state aid at Germany's Frankfurt-Hahn airport. "We will investigate whether regional and local authorities in Germany, against the rules, gave an unfair advantage to Ryanair over its competitors," EU Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. Under the deal, Ryanair received between 2009 and 2017 training aid and funding for a crew and pilot school and for a maintenance hall at the airport, the Commission said. Ryanair said it was confident that the Frankfurt-Hahn agreement fully complied with EU state aid rules. "The EU has previously investigated this matter in 2014 and ruled that there was no state aid involved in the Ryanair-Frankfurt-Hahn agreement," the airline said. <br/>
Emirates has again denied reports that it is in talks with Etihad around a potential acquisition, saying that it is instead focused on small scale partnerships with local airlines. The carrier dismissed a Bloomberg News report in September that suggested the pair were discussing a merger, stating there was no truth to the rumour. While Emirates has rejected speculation around the issue repeatedly for a number of years, the two airlines did sign agreements in January to cooperate in a handful of areas. One of Emirates’ most senior executives has said that such low-level partnerships are all the airline is interested in. “We can make it very simple, very easy: There’s no truth to the rumour. No truth,” said Hubert Frach, the company’s head of commercial operations for the Americas and Europe. <br/>
Air Arabia is planning to purchase at least 100 aircraft in 2019 as it aims to expand its fleet and replace old aircraft. CE Adel Ali said Sunday the airline is currently in talks with manufacturers including Boeing, Airbus, and Embraer, but that it has not finalised its decision on which aircraft model(s) it will order. “We’re due to make an order. We need an order to replace the existing airplanes in the next few years. We’re looking at A320s, A321s; we’re looking at Boeing, the CSeries, the new Embraer — we’d be naive not to,” the CE said. “Currently, we’re just under 60 airplanes, and I can see by about 2025, we would probably be about 100 or 100-plus depending on what happens in the world.” He said a decision on the order is likely to be made in 2019. <br/>
Alaska Air Group experienced a drop in net income for Q3 in a row, as the company struggled to generate enough revenues to offset higher fuel costs. The group reported net income of US$217m for Q3, down 19% from the $259m reported in the year-earlier period. Revenue came in 4% higher year-over-year at $2.21b. Alaska CE Bradley Tilden said he is “not satisfied with our current financial returns,” and that the company is working to respond to a higher fuel price environment, while continuing to adjust following its merger with Virgin America. He added the company is on track to pay down $800m or 40% of debt it took on during the merger by year’s end. Tilden said one way the airline has recovered costs is by raising its bag fee for the first time in 5 years. <br/>
Juneyao Airlines plans to begin intercontinental operations in June 2019 with a connection between Helsinki and Shanghai. The daily service will employ Boeing 787-9s; Juneyao has ordered 5 of the type. Juneyao’s Helsinki services, which was announced by the CAAC, will compete with Finnair. No Chinese state carrier is operating the route, which made it easier for Juneyao to obtain the rights. The service will operate from Shanghai Pudong International, the city’s airport for long-haul flights. The airline may shift its intercontinental focus to Nanjing. The airline agreed with the city govt two years ago to set up a base at Nanjing Lukou International and open long-haul service from there. Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu province, where the provincial govt is keen to foster international air connections. <br/>