Ryanair

The European Commission on Tuesday stated the French government is allowed to contribute €4 billion to help keep Air France afloat.

In February, Ryanair lost a legal fight in the EU General Court against state aid being granted to Air France and Sweden's SAS through national schemes. Ryanair is still seeking to contest the German government's bailout of Lufthansa, as well as similar schemes in Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal.

Due to new lockdowns in Ireland, the United Kingdom and some other EU countries, the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is drastically cutting its flight offerings starting January 21, the company announced Thursday.

From January 21, Ryanair plans to operate "few, if any" flights to and from British and Irish airports. This will apply until the severe travel restrictions are lifted.

British budget airline Ryanair will close its Vienna, Austria, base by the end of 2020, the Austrian national public service broadcaster ORF reports. Vienna-based employees are being told they can either relocate to a different location or lose their job.

The chairman of Fáilte Ireland, Michael Cawley, has resigned after the Irish Independent revealed that he traveled to Italy despite the country advising citizens to avoid trips abroad that are non-essential.

In addition, Fáilte Ireland has launched a "no place like home" marketing campaign to encourage people to stay inside the country.

Cawley, who is the former chief operating officer of Ryanair, has stated that he does not "wish to allow this issue to become a distraction from the important work of Fáilte Ireland in rebuilding the Irish tourism industry" and that he is in support of the government's tourism policy.

ENAC, the Italian air transport regulator, has threatened to suspend Ryanair from flying to Italy over what it claims were "repeated violation of anti-Covid-19 health measures drafted by the Italian government".

Ryanair said in a statement that ENAC’s assertions were "factually incorrect" and that the company "complies fully with the measures set out by the Italian government."

Italian rules require passengers to maintain distance from others unless other precautions are taken including controlled boarding and disembarkation to avoid close contact, temperature tests and the wearing of face masks.

Ryanair announced Friday it would go to European courts to challenge the latest Portuguese government’s investment in TAP. The government reached a deal with private shareholders of TAP to increase its state in the company to 72.5%.

Before the bailout, the Portuguese state had 50% of TAP and Atlantic Gateway, owned by Brazilian-American aviation businessman David Neeleman and Portuguese entrepreneur Humberto Pedrosa, had 45% of the airline, which suffered heavy losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lufthansa shareholders voted in favour of a €9 billion bailout from the German government on Thursday, following a tense week in which Heinz Hermann, the company's most significant shareholder, threatened to block the deal.

"We have no more money," Chairman Karl-Ludwig Kley told shareholders. "We are living from the reserves we set aside. Without support, bankruptcy looms in the next few days."

Ryanair announced it plans to challenge the deal through European courts.

The Irish budget airline Ryanair is in negotiations with its trade unions and employees about a series of cost-cutting measures. With the Covid-19 pandemic reducing passengers by more than 5 million and a presumed €200 million first quarter loss, the airline plans to cut around 3,000 jobs and is working out unpaid leave and pay cuts with its employees.

Ryanair hopes to start operating almost 1,000 flights a day, equivalent to 40% of its usual schedule, in July as European Governments lift the lockdowns related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The airline, which is Europe's largest by passenger numbers, announced this Tuesday that it plans to operate a daily flight schedule of almost 1,000 flights starting July 1. It will focus on flying as many routes as possible at a lower frequency than normal.

Currently, Ryanair schedule consists of 30 flights daily.