IAG has disclosed that the proportion of its shares held by “non-EU persons” has declined to 39.5%, from 47.5% in February 2019, enabling the group to remove maximum limits on non-EU ownership that ensure regulators class it as a European airline. Ahead of Brexit Jan 31, IAG must ensure that it is majority-owned by EU citizens in order to maintain its European operating rights. Limits were placed on the number of non-EU shares that could be held in order to ensure this criteria was met. IAG says it will continue to monitor the non-EU ownership level, and could reintroduce limits if it threatens to rise above 50%. A Credit Suisse analyst expects that the markets will respond favourably to the move. “This block had weighed on stock and we expect its removal to positively impact the share price,” he wrote. <br/>
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Russian investigators are probing an engine fire involving an Airbus A321neo which occurred as the aircraft was preparing to depart Novosibirsk. The twinjet – fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW1100G powerplants – had been operating S7 service to the Vietnamese resort of Cam Ranh Jan 18. Russia’s federal Investigative Committee states that preliminary information indicates that an “ignition of accumulated aviation fuel” occurred as the parked aircraft’s engines started. Exhaust gas temperature sensors were triggered, it adds, and the crew activated the engine’s fire-extinguishing system. None of the 180 passengers and five crew members was injured, and those on board disembarked normally. The captain chose to cancel the flight. Circumstances of the incident are being assessed. <br/>
Qatar Airways, Emirates and several other Gulf airlines still fly in Iraqi and Iranian airspace and to cities in both countries, even as other international carriers have rerouted planes since the US and Iran traded military strikes. Executives and analysts said carriers in the Gulf, a major transit stop between European and Asian destinations, have few alternative routes to choose from in an area where much of the airspace is kept clear of civilian aircraft for military use. "We will continue to fly to Iran because Iran is an important country to us," Qatar Airways CE Akbar al-Baker said. Qatar has forged closer economic ties with Iran since 2017 when neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Arab states cut relations with Doha in a diplomatic row. <br/>