Ryanair expects to operate its full schedule of UK flights Thursday and Friday despite failing to secure an injunction today preventing industrial action by pilots represented by the BALPA union. Following the London court ruling, BALPA has confirmed the planned strike by UK pilots employed by Ryanair will go ahead. “Ryanair foolishly tried to stop our strike in the High Court today and failed," says BALPA general secretary Brian Strutton. "Despite that, we extended an olive branch to Ryanair as a way of getting back around the table and calling off strikes over the next 2 days. Ryanair said that "thanks to the great work and volunteerism of the vast majority of our UK based pilots," it now expects to operate its full schedule of flights to/from our UK airports. <br/>
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The Irish High Court Wednesday granted Ryanair an injunction to prevent its Dublin-based pilots from going on strike later this week. Ryanair went to court to obtain an order against Forsa, the parent body of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association , to prevent the Dublin-based pilots from striking for 48 hours Thursday and Friday. Wednesday, Ryanair's legal counsel told the High Court that Forsa had not allowed for the mediation process to be completed before announcing the strike and claimed the strike would be in breach of an agreement made between the airline and the union last year. IALPA represents some 180 Dublin-based pilots who are directly employed by Ryanair. <br/>
Fourteen people had to be treated for injuries in Madrid after a flight operated by Spanish charter airline Evelop ran into severe turbulence en route from Mauritius, a company official said Wednesday. The A330-343 Airbus aircraft landed safely at its original destination at Madrid's Barajas Tuesday night after suffering a 15-second episode of clear-air turbulence that made the aircraft plummet a few hundred meters in the sky over Ethiopia. Three crew members were among those injured, all of them lightly. The company source said the 11 passengers had ignored the seat belt warning activated before the plane flew into the turbulence zone. El Mundo newspaper Wednesday quoted a passenger as saying the plunge had sent various people "flying towards the ceiling and floating in the air, like you see in the movies". <br/>
Air Belgium is increasing routes to the French Caribbean, adding 2 transatlantic destinations, and making a comeback to China. Dec 7, Air Belgium plans to resume scheduled Airbus A340-300s flights with twice-weekly Brussels South Charleroi-Fort-de-France; Martinique-Pointe-à-Pitre; and Guadeloupe-Charleroi services. "We are seriously considering increasing capacity by eventually operating 2 separate straight rotations from Charleroi to Fort-de-France and to Pointe-à-Pitre. We are being encouraged by the market to do so,” a spokesperson said. In addition to services to the French Caribbean, the spokesman said Air Belgium is “indeed considering a further 2 transatlantic destinations. These would be disclosed in due time.” Air Belgium said it remains committed to operate scheduled services to China as of summer 2020. <br/>
Air Astana is shifting its Moscow services from Sheremetyevo to the Russian capital's Domodedovo airport from the beginning of the winter season. Links to both Nur-Sultan and Almaty – a total of 25 weekly flights – will be moved from Oct 27. Air Astana is switching airport following the recent codeshare agreement it signed with S7 Airlines, which has its Moscow base at Domodedovo. The Kazakhstani carrier disclosed the transfer as it unveiled a profitable half-year, and credited its newly-established budget operation FlyArystan with stimulating domestic traffic since its launch May 1. Air Astana reversed last year's interim operating loss of nearly US$12m to generate a profit of $6.8m, under international accounting standards, for the 6 months to June 30. <br/>