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The government of the Balearic Islands has called an urgent meeting with Ryanair and the local pastry-makers’ association after the airline tried to charge passengers to bring cakes onboard, claiming it exceeded their cabin baggage limit. The row erupted after two passengers at Palma de Mallorca airport tried to each carry an ensaïmada, a traditional Mallorcan pastry, along with their hand baggage. The airline demanded an additional E45 each to bring the pastries onboard, at which point the passengers abandoned them rather than paying. Iago Negueruela, the Balearics’ tourism minister, said the meeting was called “in order to defend local produce and avoid any kind of discrimination”. Negueruela said he hoped the meeting would be held this week and that the issue would soon be resolved. Pep Magraner, the president of the Balearic Islands pastry-makers association, pointed out that passengers may take onboard ensaïmadas bought at the airport’s duty free shop, and that this discriminated against other suppliers. “All the other airlines allow passengers to take two ensaïmadas on board,” Magraner said. “It’s only a problem with Ryanair, but we’re talking about a lot of flights, especially to the Spanish mainland, which is the destination of most of the ensaïmadas.” The issue is part of a wider dispute over the loose interpretation of what comprises hand luggage. Last year, the Balearic Islands’ consumer affairs office filed cases against easyJet, Eurowings and Volotea, demanding fines of E20,000 for charging large fees for hand luggage. The consumers’ association Facua levelled similar charges at Vueling and Ryanair. The cases are being considered by the consumers’ affairs ministry in Madrid while there is pressure on Aena, the Spanish airports company, to devise a formula.<br/>

Mozambique's national flag carrier, Linhas Aereas de Mocambique (LAM), will explore new destinations including Brazil, China, India, and the United Arab Emirates, and reactivate the Maputo-Lisbon route as part of the strategy to rescue the debt-ridden company, LAM's management committee announced Monday. "We are going to reopen some routes. The first phase will be Maputo-Portugal, then the subsequent phases will be Maputo-Sao Paulo, Maputo-Guangzhou, Maputo-Mumbai, Maputo-Dubai," said Sergio Matos, project and restructuring manager of Fly Modern Ark, at a press conference in Maputo, capital of Mozambique. LAM has been run by Fly Modern Ark, a South African company, as part of its restructuring efforts since April. The press conference was called to share the results of the first month of the strategic intervention by Fly Modern Ark. Matos said that LAM's fleet of aircraft will be gradually increased from the current seven to 14 and the acquisition of more aircraft is part of the plans to reach new routes. The manager said that the increase in the fleet will make it unnecessary to reduce the number of workers en masse, but "some will leave," as the company currently has 753 workers working on just seven planes while the ideal ratio would be at least 25 workers per aircraft. Since April, the company has cut ticket prices by 30 % to attract more passengers, he said.<br/>

Go Airlines India Ltd. plans to raise salaries of captains by 100,000 rupees ($1,211) a month and by 50,000 rupees for first officers as it tries to salvage its operations after filing for insolvency on May 2. The additional pay, which the airline calls a retention allowance, will come into effect on June 1, according to an email to pilots seen by Bloomberg News. It will also be offered to those who have left the company but are willing to withdraw their resignations by June 15. The airline, which rebranded as Go First two years ago, said it will also soon reintroduce a “longevity bonus” for long-serving staff. Go’s captains currently earn about 530,000 rupees a month on average, according to data on AmbitionBox, compared with 750,000 rupees at SpiceJet Ltd., which has increased wages twice in recent months. Last week, India’s aviation regulator gave Go Air 30 days to submit a revival plan, including details on how many pilots it has. “If things shape up as per the present progress plan, it won’t take long before we will be flying again which will also enable us to be regular on salary payments,” the airline said in the email to pilots. A representative for the company didn’t respond to request for a comment.<br/>

The National Commercial Joint Stock Bank (NCB) has said it initiated a process to collect the written opinions of its shareholders and “quickly” obtain their approval for the bank to sell 203m shares, or an almost 11% stake, in Tre Viet Aviation Joint Stock Company, the legal name for Bamboo Airways, the investor news site Nhadautu reported. The privately-owned bank is looking to sell the shareholding for just over VND1.12t dong (US$47.8m), or VND5,518 (USD0.2359) per share. As ch-aviation reported in early May, the loss-making airline had previously pledged the shares as collateral for loans taken from the bank. The bank clarified that the sale would fully cover the loan’s principal and interest and that the payment method will be negotiated with the buyer. “Based on the capital needs for production and business activities and its current situation, the NCB urgently needs to speed up the processing of the BAV shares that it is holding to recover capital for the bank quickly. The transfer of the BAV shares using the process of negotiation for the proposed transfer price will reduce the cost and implementation time and recover enough capital for the bank soon,” the financial institution said.<br/>

AirAsia X is considering plans to launch flights from Malaysia to Istanbul, as well as “potentially” to cities in Central Asia, as it ramps up flying to Mainland China in the near-term. In comments made alongside the release of its financial results, the medium-haul, low-cost operator makes no mention of plans to launch long-haul flights to London – to be operated via Dubai – which was first disclosed about a year ago. Airline chief Benyamin Ismail, however, notes that the airline’s strategy currently is to “resume services to our core markets in line with demand”. The Malaysia-headquartered carrier mainly flies to North Asian markets - including Japan, Mainland China and South Korea – as well as to Australia and India. “In the coming quarters, the team will further ramp up flight frequencies and is looking to launch more destinations to China while reviewing new services to Istanbul and potentially Central Asia,” says Ismail. AirAsia X had initially planned to make a highly-anticipated return to London at end-2022, but by October, those plans appeared to be delayed, in favour of a medium-haul network within Asia. The network update comes as the airline remained in the black for the quarter to 31 March, posting an operating profit of around MYR308m ($66.9m). Revenue for the quarter stood at MYR549m, a four-fold increase year on year. AirAsia X also notes that the figure is about half that of the same quarter in pre-pandemic 2019. The airline carried more than 504,000 passengers during the quarter, a 49% increase against the previous quarter. AirAsia X attributes the increase to new year holidays and spring season travel demand, and helped by an increase in seat capacity. During the quarter, AirAsia X had a fleet of 14 Airbus A330s, of which nine were operational. Thai associate AirAsia X Thailand had five operational A330s out of eight. Says Ismail: “Our key priority remains to ensure that more aircraft are activated within the stipulated timeline with all safety requirements fulfilled. We have been actively engaging with third-party aircraft lessors for the induction of additional aircraft to join AirAsia X’s growing fleet.” The airline has, as at end-May, a fleet of 11 operational A330s, out of a fleet of 17 aircraft.<br/>

Scotland-based aviation service provider Menzies Aviation has formed a partnership with MYairline to launch a ground services business in Malaysia. Menzies will supply ground services at Kuala Lumpur International Airport as part of the new arrangement, which encompasses services such as ramp handling and baggage, customer services and maintenance. This collaboration further expands Menzies Aviation’s extensive reach, as the company currently handles over 11,000 aircraft weekly and serves more than 300m passengers annually. Menzies Aviation South East Asia SVP James Wong said: “We are delighted to be entering Malaysia through this new partnership with MYAirline. Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Malaysia and will provide an excellent base for our Malaysian operation. We’re focused on accelerating growth in the region through partnerships that will contribute to this rapidly developing aviation market and offering our global standards to deliver the safest, most secure and sustainable aviation services.”<br/>