Ryanair and other budget carriers are expected to start flying from Russia's St Petersburg airport in 2020, the Russian Transport Ministry said. The move is part of Russia's plan to boost tourist flows to St Petersburg and will mean more competition for Russian air carriers, including Aeroflot. The ministry said Tuesday that Ryanair, EasyJet, WizzAir, Volotea, Air Baltic and Fly One had expressed interest in flights from St Petersburg Pulkovo, Russia's fourth largest after Moscow's 3 major hubs. It said the companies had applied for flights from Pulkovo including Britain, Germany and France. Russia will introduce a so-called "Open Skies" regime for the companies 5 five years, the ministry said, allowing airlines to fly to St Petersburg without requiring the traditional bilateral inter-governmental agreements. <br/>
unaligned
Alaska Airlines reportedly lost “hundreds” of passengers’ bags just before Christmas after too many of its workers called in sick over the weekend. The staff shortage meant numerous travellers flying into Sea-Tac Airport in Washington State Dec 21 were left luggageless. The shortage also resulted in thousands of passengers being stranded on the tarmac for hours waiting to deplane. The airline apologised for the chaos. “With many different factors working against us, we dropped the ball, and by doing that, created an awful holiday travel experience just when people rely on us the most.” Alaska Airlines blamed severe staffing shortage during a very heavy travel period, combined with “difficult weather conditions” for the issues. “We simply did not have enough people to do all the work,” they added. <br/>
GoAir operations continued to be disrupted for the fourth day, with the airline cancelling more flights Wednesday. Senior airline officials said that the airline was working towards reducing the flight disruptions due to which there were 5 flight cancellations Wednesday, and nearly 20 flight cancellations each Monday and Tuesday. Sources privy to the matter said the airline has been facing crew rostering issues which are likely to continue for a few days. The DGCA has pulled up the airline for making its crew work more than the prescribed flight duty time limit. The passengers, however, complained of unannounced delays and cancellations. Other passengers took to social media to describe their disappointment and have questioned the airline’s claim of providing alternate arrangements for cancelled flights. <br/>