Ryanair cut its traffic outlook by 1m passengers and said it will close two bases next summer as the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max jetliner further frustrates expansion plans. Europe’s biggest low-cost airline now expects to attract 156mi customers next fiscal year, based on it getting 10 Max aircraft for summer 2020, or half the number previously projected. The shortfall will necessitate the closure of hubs in Nuremberg, Germany, and at Stockholm Skavsta airport, it said. “We are continuing to work with Boeing, our people, our unions and our affected airports to minimize these capacity cuts and job losses,” Eddie Wilson, CEO at the company’s main operating arm, said Wednesday. Ryanair is reining in growth as the Max remains grounded after two fatal crashes. While Boeing aims to get the model flying again this year, the Irish company is due to be the debut operator of a high-capacity version requiring additional certification even when the baseline plane has made its return.<br/>
unaligned
Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary on Wednesday dismissed accusations that he bullied and forced out his former operations chief Peter Bellew, telling a court he was a highly paid professional who had failed to deliver. Bellew resigned as Ryanair COO in July and the Irish low-cost carrier has asked the Irish High Court to delay his departure to arch-rival easyJet, saying he is subject to a 12-month non-compete clause. Former Malaysia Airlines boss Bellew denies he is subject to the clause and plans to start working with the British airline at the start of next year. O’Leary was in court to give evidence for a second day. On Tuesday he had made a series of accusations against Bellew, accusing him of lying and of failing to perform, citing “repeated complaints” from employees working under him about slow decisions or no decision making. “If I am hiring Sergio Aguero, I expect him to score goals, I don’t expect to have to show him which side of the goal to shoot at,” O’Leary told the court, comparing Bellew to the Manchester City soccer club striker. Story has more.<br/>
Norwegian Air has sold subsidiary Norwegian Air Argentina for an undisclosed sum, with JetSMART Airlines taking control with immediate effect. Norwegian’s Argentina operation launched only in October last year and currently offers flights from Buenos Aires to eight cities. However, Norwegian has switched this year from rapid growth to cost cuts, trimming its sprawling network to stem losses and preserve cash. “Attaining satisfactory profitability for a relatively small domestic operation has proved difficult to achieve, given the overall situation in the country,” Norwegian Air’s acting CE Geir Karlsen said of the Argentinian business. “While most of NAA’s costs are denominated in dollars, revenue is obtained in pesos only, and the sharp depreciation of the peso against the dollar has created a significant gap between costs and revenue.” The company said JetSMART will continue to operate scheduled flights from Buenos Aires, with the Norwegian brand expected to be phased out in the domestic Argentinian network over several months.<br/>
Norwegian Air named Marty St. George as its interim CCO as part of a senior management reshuffle at the airline. Current CCO Helga Bollmann Leknes is leaving after two years at the company having declined the opportunity to take up a different role. St. George’s most recent role was at JetBlue. He has also worked at US Airways and United. “I am very pleased that Marty St. George will be joining Norwegian. Strengthening our commercial position in key markets and increasing our revenue-generating activities are key elements in our strategy of returning to profitability. I am convinced that St. George with his extensive experience from several of the biggest U.S. airlines will be an asset to Norwegian,” said acting CEO and CFO of Norwegian Geir Karlsen. The changes come only a few weeks after Norwegian named Jacob Schram as its new permanent CEO.<br/>
Air France-KLM's budget carrier Transavia is to open services from the Belgian capital Brussels next summer, with initial routes to nine destinations. Transavia believes there is a "gap" in the Brussels market for low-cost leisure travel, and has identified several sectors for budget services. The airline will serve the Spanish resorts of Alicante and Ibiza, as well as Corfu, Heraklion and Thessaloniki in Greece. It will also operate to Verona, Tel Aviv, Faro and Agadir. The carrier uses a fleet of Boeing 737-700s and -800s. "A significant part of our current customers and our existing [business] customers already come from Belgium and the southern Netherlands," says commercial director Erik-Jan Gelink. He says the entry into Brussels is a "great step" towards meeting customer demand from both countries.<br/>
Virgin Australia says it remains committed to its leisure carrier Tigerair Australia, refuting claims that it could be forced to shut down the airline due to ongoing losses. The carrier made the commitment after Mark Landau, managing director of global fund manager L1 Capital, which is a Qantas investor, told an investor forum in Melbourne last week that Tigerair Australia is losing money on many routes, and as a result Virgin will be forced to significantly cut capacity or shut it down. Strongly refuting the suggestion, it says: “Virgin Australia has no intention of shutting its budget carrier, Tigerair, and any suggestion is completely inaccurate and uninformed.” “Tigerair will continue to play a very important role as the budget carrier for the Virgin Australia Group now and into the future,” it adds. Virgin Australia has already announced cuts to Tigerair’s operations, with the airline to cease Brisbane-Darwin and Proserpine-Sydney services on 3 February 2020 and Adelaide-Brisbane from 29 March 2020.<br/>
Easyjet will return to London's bluechip FTSE 100 index from Dec. 23, along with food delivery firm Just Eat, after the latest quarterly review, operator FTSE Russell said Wednesday. The budget airline's shares have rallied 43% in the last three months, helping them secure a place again after being demoted in June. Miner Fresnillo and insurer Hiscox will be relegated. The demotions were widely expected based on the recent closing prices of the stocks that saw them ranked at 111 or lower.<br/>
Spirit Airlines passengers awoke to bad news about flight cancellations and lengthy delays on Wednesday, but the airline said the emails were sent in error. Travellers took to Twitter to freak out about having their flights changed by several hours with little notice. One passenger said their flight was bumped up by six hours. Another reported an eight-hour delay for the departing flight and a five-hour delay for the return flight. The last-minute emails left travellers wondering whether they should head to the airport or rebook on another airline so their travel plans weren't affected. The discount airline blamed a "system error'' and is telling travellers via Twitter to disregard the email and check the airline's website for the correct flight status. It apologised to travellers for the "inconvenience.''<br/>