unaligned

An airline "abandoned" a 24-year-old autistic man who was flying to Heathrow from Dublin, his mother has said. Jane Atkinson said she was told by multiple Aer Lingus staff that her son George Stookes would be cared for before, during and after his flight. But she said he was not helped at the terminal in Ireland, was ignored on the flight and left on arrival at Heathrow. Aer Lingus told the BBC it was investigating the matter with its assistance provider at both airports. A spokesperson for the airline said: "When a customer requests special assistance, Aer Lingus notifies departure and arrival airports to arrange contracted assistance providers, which was the case in this instance. They are responsible for providing necessary support to our customers." Atkinson said although her son was high-functioning, "there's still a huge vulnerability".Stooke's stepfather, Martin Atkinson, usually travels with him to and from Dublin but was unable to as his own flight had been cancelled. His mother said she had been assured someone would stay with her son at all times and make sure he was put on the plane safely.<br/>

Budget airline Ryanair said Wednesday it had appealed to the courts after Hungary fined it for passing on to customers the cost of a business tax meant to target excess profits. Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government in May announced the special tax targeting "extra profits" earned by major banks, energy companies and other firms, aiming to plug budget holes created by a spending spree that helped him gain re-election in April. The new levy on the airline industry involves a tax worth 10 to 25 euros per passenger departing Hungary from July. Ryanair said earlier this month that it would appeal against a 300m forints ($726,000) fine following a consumer protection investigation. Ryanair said it was "confident that EU Courts will validate its decision to pass on this retrospective tax to passengers." Ryanair's CE Michael O'Leary said in an emailed statement that EU law guarantees airlines’ freedom to set prices and pass on retrospective taxes to consumers. O'Leary went on to say that "applying an “excess profits” tax to the loss-making airline sector in Hungary is inexplicable, and only succeeds in making flying to/from Hungary more expensive and less competitive compared to other Central European airports..." Ryanair has previously called on Orban's government to scrap the new tax, saying the measure would damage Hungarian tourism and the economy.<br/>

Ryanair is adding more than a million additional seats to its UK schedule this winter. A move it trumpeted as a relief to travelers in the wake of capacity cuts by other airlines, most importantly British Airways. The additional seats, Ryanair said in a statement Tuesday, are a “response to BA’s announcement that it will cancel 8% of its winter schedule (over 10,000 flights) due to staff shortages and capacity cuts at ‘Hopeless Heathrow.’” Heathrow, London’s busiest airport, informed airlines on August 15 that it would extend capacity caps first introduced in June through October 29. Ryanair does not fly from Heathrow, instead primarily serving London’s Stansted airport with small operations at Gatwick and Luton.<br/>Ryanair’s new flights also benefit areas of the UK outside of London, including airports in Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Manchester. In total, the Irish discounter serves 20 UK airports, more than any other airline including British Airways. Other major competitors in the UK shorthaul market include EasyJet, Jet2, and Wizz Air. According to data from Diio by Cirium, Ryanair’s UK schedule for December is now about 4% larger than it was in the same month of 2019, based on total number of seats scheduled. The carrier is offering many new winter routes that did not exist before the pandemic. London Stansted to Vienna and Stockholm, for example. <br/>

EasyJet has announced a shake-up of its board, with three directors leaving as the airline’s management aims to move on from this summer’s disruption. Former Google executive Nick Leeder, who joined the board in 2019, is to step down at the end of September, while Julie Southern and Andreas Bierwirth will not seek re-election at the company’s annual meeting in 2023. The departing trio will be replaced by Harald Eisenächer, Detlef Trefzger and Ryanne Van der Eijk. EasyJet’s chair Stephen Hester said the new appointees will bring “extensive airline and travel industry experience, with extra focus on operations and logistics, customer experience, digital and data”. “This, combined with their European outlook will further strengthen the board,” he said. Eisenächer is a former Lufthansa and Deutsche Telekom executive who recently worked for a Danish airfare technology company, while Trefzger has just stepped down as chief executive officer of Swiss logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel. Van der Eijk has served 20 years at KLM. Hester is a veteran of the City of London with a reputation as a turnround specialist, who was appointed easyJet’s chair 12 months ago. The board changes follow a difficult summer for easyJet, which was caught up in the barrage of flight cancellations, delays and disruption in May and June that marred the return of mass travel following two years of border restrictions. The airline, which pinned much of the blame on staff sickness and issues across the aviation supply chain such as air traffic control delays, was forced to slightly pare back its summer schedule in early July to inject greater resilience into its operations.<br/>

The Qatar Investment Authority aims to invest $3b in Pakistan, the Qatari ruler's office said on Wednesday, lending support to the South Asian nation's cash-strapped economy. Pakistan is in economic turmoil and faces a balance of payments crisis, with foreign reserves having dropped as low as $7.8 billion, barely enough for more than a month of imports. It is also contending with a widening current account deficit, weakening rupee currency, and inflation that exceeded 24% in July. "The Qatar Investment Authority announced its aspiration to invest $3b in various commercial and investment sectors in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," the Emiri Diwan said, without giving details. The announcement was made during a visit to Doha by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who held official talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Wednesday after a meeting with the QIA on Tuesday. Doha has shown interest in airport management partnership and the Roosevelt Hotel in New York's Manhattan owned by the Pakistan International Airlines, two Pakistani aviation officials involved in the talks told Reuters. "Qatar has shown interest in taking over terminal and cargo services at Islamabad airport," one of the officials said, adding other airports, such as Karachi, could also be considered later on.<br/>

Virgin Australia will add another four Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft to its fleet, amid sustained strong demand for travel, and in line with fleet growth plans. The commitment, announced 24 August, adds to an existing order for four Max 8s – announced in April – and 25 larger Max 10s. Virgin Australia says delivery of the Max 8s are still on track for 2023, with the latest four jets to enter the fleet in the second half of next year. It did not indicate whether the aircraft were direct orders from Boeing or from a lessor. “These additional aircraft support capacity increases in-line with Virgin Australia’s broader growth strategy bringing total Boeing 737 fleet to 92 (consisting of 737-700s, 737-800s and Max 8s) an increase of nearly 60% since relaunching in November 2020,” states the carrier. Airline chief Jayne Hrdlicka adds that “demand for travel remains strong”, despite challenges confronting the airline sector. Separately, Virgin Australia has also secured “priority access” to a 737 full-flight simulator in Perth, allowing to increase training capacity by about 25%, particularly for over 200 pilots based in Western Australia. The deal is part of a long-term partnership with aviation training provider CAE, and is the airline’s first training facility outside of Queensland and Victoria states, where it bases most of its operations.<br/>