A Belarusian passenger plane flying from Minsk to Barcelona turned back on Wednesday, data from website Flightradar24 showed, after Poland said it may not be able to enter French airspace. EU leaders have directed officials to draw up new sanctions against Belarus and work out a way to ban Belarusian airlines from the bloc’s skies after a Ryanair flight carrying a dissident journalist was forced to land in Minsk. Belarusian state carrier Belavia flight 2869 from Minsk had been scheduled to land in Barcelona on Wednesday afternoon. “This pilot received information from us that the French airspace was blocked ... and he may have a problem with entering,” Polish Air Navigation Services Agency spokesman Pawel Lukasiewicz said by telephone. Belarus’ foreign ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz called the move “air piracy”, while Belavia said a ban on flights from Minsk to Paris, received earlier from the French aviation authorities, initially did not include a ban on passage through French airspace. “A second attempt to coordinate the route with Marseille’s Air Traffic Control was also unsuccessful, including flights on routes passing over neutral waters, which is contrary to the norms of the Chicago Convention and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” it said. French Junior Minister for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said on Monday that France had suspended the authorisation for Belavia flights to cross its territory.<br/>
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Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle “has been saved,” its CE said Wednesday, adding it had “written history” as the ailing airline had struggled with fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and a debt restructuring plan. CEO Jacob Schram said Norwegian had “successfully” concluded the plan after it raised 6b kroner ($721m) through the sale of perpetual bonds, new shares and a rights issue. In January, the Oslo-based airline said it was ending its long-haul operations and was focusing instead on European destinations. The company then presented a plan that cut its fleet from 140 aircraft to about 50. Norwegian said it had reduced its total debt by approximately 63-65b kroner ($7.5b-$7.8b) to around 20b kroner ($2.36b) under a plan that had to be approved by bankruptcy courts in Ireland, where its planes are registered, and in Norway.<br/>
More customers are booking flights with Norwegian Air for the upcoming summer season in Europe, although pandemic restrictions still weigh on demand, the carrier's CEO said. Norwegian on Wednesday emerged from six months of bankruptcy protection, ready to compete for customers in its native Norway and on traditional holiday routes to destinations in southern Europe. "There is a clear rising trend, it won't be the kind of summer we had in 2019, but it is a rising trend," CE Jacob Schram said at the company's headquarters on the outskirts of Oslo. "The most important thing will be how governments choose to open up society. The demand is there, we can see that on the bookings, people are aching to travel," Schram said. Allowing travellers to reschedule journeys is a key measure to help regain confidence, he added. "I think all airlines are looking at how they can reassure the customers in relation to giving greater flexibility," Schram said.<br/>
Ryanair is appealing a decision by Italy’s antitrust authority to fine it E4.2m for not refunding costumers for flights cancelled after June 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, the airline said on Wednesday. “We have instructed our lawyers to appeal this decision,” Ryanair said. It said the airline had acted in full compliance with EU261 requirements and guidelines on passenger rights in the context of the pandemic. “Customers affected by these cancelled flights have been offered all options in compliance with EU law, including free moves, refunds in the form of cash or vouchers as an additional choice, subject to the passengers acceptance,” Ryanair said. Italy’s antitrust regulator said on Monday that Ryanair, British airline easyJet and Spain’s Volotea had behaved in a “seriously improper manner” by using the pandemic as a motive to cancel flights even after travel restrictions had ended, and by issuing vouchers rather then refunding customers.<br/>