Ryanair’s relations with Portugal will suffer because of the Irish airline’s campaign to try to block state aid for struggling Portuguese rival TAP, Portugal’s infrastructure ministry warned on Wednesday. “Due to systematic hostile attacks on TAP, Ryanair should not expect an attitude of cooperation,” the ministry said in a strongly worded statement after minister Pedro Nuno Santos met Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary earlier in the day. Last week, the EU’s second-highest court upheld Ryanair’s fight against a E1.2b rescue loan TAP received in 2020 from the state, with the EC’s blessing, on the grounds that the commission failed to justify the huge cash injection. The commission has said it is studying the ruling before considering its next steps. “It is clear to everyone that Ryanair is trying to take advantage of a difficult situation caused by a pandemic to attack a group of European companies of central importance for several (EU) member states,” the ministry said. O’Leary said the meeting with Santos was “interesting although pointless,” and rejected the minister’s accusations. “We condemn his false claims over recent days that Ryanair is waging a commercial war, when this is called competition. ... We again call on minister Santos to stop wasting taxpayers’ money on TAP,” he said.<br/>
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Sweden and Denmark said on Wednesday they had agreed to offer ailing airline SAS, in which both countries own stakes, a 3b Swedish crown ($361m) loan guarantee. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen air travel collapse, plunging the industry into crisis and leaving carriers scrambling to secure funds to weather the slump. SAS said the credit line should be seen as a complement to other ongoing activities to cut costs and strengthen liquidity. "Market conditions also make it difficult to predict how demand will develop ahead of the important summer season given that customers are increasingly choosing to book their trips on short notice," SAS said. Sweden and Denmark will guarantee 1.5b crowns each, the two Nordic governments said. "It is still the Government's position that SAS is important for Denmark's accessibility, Danish jobs, companies and the Danish economy in general," the Danish government said, adding that SAS had been hard-hit by the pandemic. The guarantee is pending European Union approval.<br/>
Thai Airways has started selling direct flights from four cities in Europe to Phuket as the province counts down to its planned quarantine-free reopening in July, with hundreds of tour agents invited to take experimental trips during Q3 to test the scheme. However, with the cabinet on Wednesday extending a nationwide state of emergency until July 31, all services to the island have to be conducted as semi-commercial flights, requiring passengers to obtain a certificate of entry prior to arrival as part of Covid-19 containment measures. Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, deputy governor for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas at Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said tourism demand during the initial stage of the Phuket sandbox is expected to be soft because of tight travel restrictions in both Thailand and some tourist origin countries. For instance, a travel advisory in the UK rates Thailand on the amber list, mandating travellers returning from Thailand to quarantine at home for 10 days.<br/>