Virgin Atlantic is targeting frequent flyers who have lost out from controversial changes to the British Airways loyalty programme, in the latest salvo in a decades-old rivalry between the two carriers. The airline, which is majority owned by billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, said it would match the status of BA “gold” and “silver” executive club members if they switched to its loyalty programme. The changes “make it easy for customers who are not feeling the love from their existing airline to experience the award-winning hospitality of Virgin Atlantic,” said Anthony Woodman, the executive in charge of Virgin’s “Flying Club” loyalty programme. In an attempt to target disaffected BA customers, Virgin said it would, until February 14, give five customers who “status match” 1mn of its air miles, enough to fly from London to the east coast of the US 10 times. BA sparked criticism from many customers last month when it announced sweeping changes to its loyalty points system in which passengers earn rewards such as free seat selection and access to the airline’s lounge. Under the changes, which will be introduced from April, “tier” points will be awarded based on the cost of flights or package holiday bookings instead of the class of travel and the length of trips. To reach the coveted “gold” status passengers will now have to spend around £20,000 per year flying with BA. The tier points system is separate from the Avios loyalty currency that can be spent on flights and holidays. Many frequent flyer experts said the changes meant BA was in effect pricing out most leisure travellers from the higher tiers of its loyalty programme. But some customers welcomed the move, which will bring BA into line with many of its rivals and better reward passengers who spend the most with the airline.<br/>
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A Ryanairplane about to land at Vilnius airport was diverted to Warsaw in Poland on Thursday because of GPS interference, Lithuania's air navigation authority said on Friday. Estonia and Finland last year blamed Russia for jamming GPS navigation devices in the region's airspace. Russia has denied interfering with communication and satellite networks. Most modern airliners have a variety of sensors and sources to determine their positioning, in addition to GPS, meaning they can fly if there is interference. The Boeing 737 MAX 8-200, from London's Luton airport, was approaching Vilnius airport runway for landing, lowering to an altitude of 850 feet (259 metres) before lifting off again and flying to land in Warsaw, 400 km (249 miles) away, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. Ryanair did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. "The plane experienced GPS signal interference", a spokesperson for Lithuania's air navigation authority said on Friday, adding the decision to divert the flight was taken by the pilot. "All other planes were landing at the airport as usual," the spokesperson said. Lithuania is investigating the incident, Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene told reporters. Finnair paused several flights to Estonia last year after GPS disturbances in the area and several airports in eastern Finland reintroduced radio navigation equipment.<br/>
UK judges have dismissed an appeal by Ryanair of a 2021 employment tribunal ruling, after the carrier revoked concessionary travel benefits from pilots who participated in a 2019 strike. The UK cockpit union BALPA initiated a strike over pay and conditions across several days in August and September 2019. Ryanair lost a challenge to the strike ballot. But it circulated a notice to all its UK-based pilots on 16 September 2019 warning that staff travel was a discretionary benefit – and that any pilot participating in further strikes that month would have this privilege removed for a year. The carrier carried out this threat after strikes on 18-19 September, and affected pilots took the matter to an employment tribunal in January 2020, alleging that the withdrawal of travel benefits constituted a “detriment” contrary to labour relations legislation. The tribunal held that, by taking strike action, the pilots were taking part in trade union activities, and so-called ‘blacklisting’ regulations prohibit, to an extent, companies from compiling lists of people who take part in trade union activity for the purposes of discrimination. While Ryanair’s appeal to the tribunal was dismissed, the carrier was given leave to appeal to the High Court.<br/>
Israeli flag-carrier El Al’s controlling shareholder, Eli Rozenberg, has exercised stock options, taking his interest in the airline to 49.46%. El Al’s share price has surged – more than doubling since mid-June last year – following a robust financial performance. The airline has benefited strongly from depleted competition as rival carriers reduced operations to Israel in the wake of the Gaza conflict. Its share price, however, has recently dipped as a ceasefire agreement emerged. Cessation of hostilities could lead to restoration of services by foreign airlines. According to an update from the Tel Aviv stock exchange, Rozenberg exercised options on nearly 14.3m shares, at a transaction price of 2.11 shekels, on 16 January. This compares with the El Al share price of 8.55 shekels ($2.38) on the same date. El Al has yet to disclose its full-year 2024 financial figures, but the airline generated a third-quarter pre-tax profit of $246m and an overall nine-month pre-tax surplus of $538m.<br/>