Ryanair confirmed on Wednesday that it will fly the Dublin-Kerry service, which was lost when Stobart Air ceased trading, clearing confusion that followed an announcement last week. Stobart’s closure prompted the Government to seek bids from airlines to provide State-subsidised services between Dublin and Kerry and Donegal that ended when the carrier wound up in June. Ryanair said it would operate the Kerry route on a commercial basis, saving taxpayers E3.95m, beginning on July 28th, with a once-a-day service both ways. This will rise to twice daily from September 1st. Wednesday’s announcement partly confirmed a Government communication on Friday that sparked a row between Ryanair and the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan.<br/>
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Kazakhstan’s Air Astana Group posted a net profit of $4.9m for the first six months of 2021, swinging from a loss of $66.2m in the same period in 2020. The group, consisting of full-service carrier Air Astana and its low-cost subsidiary FlyArystan, says it carried 2.97 million passengers, an increase of 91%. The number of passengers on domestic routes grew 125% to 2.5m. President and CE Peter Foster states: “The two brands, Air Astana and our LCC FlyArystan, have both performed well on domestic routes. Strong market growth and a preference for air travel over long rail journeys have transformed Kazakhstan into the world’s fastest growing domestic market, with 31% passenger growth over 2019, undoubtedly stimulated by FlyArystan’s ultra-low fares.” International capacity remains at 45% of the level of 2019, it adds. Foster says higher yields on regional routes, coupled with high demand on lifestyle routes to the Maldives, Red Sea, Montenegro, Dubai, Turkey, Georgia and Sri Lanka, have also contributed to the turnaround, assisted by regular cargo charters on its converted 767. While remaining cautious on guidance for the remainder of the year, Foster adds: “Covid case numbers are again moving in the wrong direction in Central Asia and many of the countries to where we are flying. Whether the recovery will be sustainable will come down to a race between Covid variants and vaccine take-up.”<br/>
AirAsia Group CE Tony Fernandes says he has found it “painful” how a minority of lessors have treated the business during the Covid-19 crisis. Fernandes stated Wednesday that most lessors “have been fantastic”, but “not every lessor”. “My most important lesson from this is you could be paying someone for 19 years, you could have grown their business… they’ve made so much money from us, but they forget that in one week when you miss a payment,” he says, without naming the lessors he is referring to. “It is painful to see how we’re treated sometimes.” Describing AirAsia as “a very emotional airline”, Fernandes says he “will not forget the guys who have treated us badly after we’ve treated them so well, and I’m so motivated”. There was “nothing I could do” when the group was unable to operate flights, Fernandes insists regarding the business’s ability to meet its financial commitments during the crisis. “It’s amazing we’re still alive after 16 months”, he adds, but AirAsia will “come back stronger”. During that recovery, AirAsia will “not forget the guys who have treated us great”, he notes.<br/>