Category: Top Stories

British Airways has lost an Appeal Court hearing to stop an impending pilots’ strike over a long-running pay dispute. The three senior judges refused to grant the airline a temporary injunction this Wednesday, having agreed that information provided to BA in a ballot notice was in accordance with the legislation which covers industrial action. This means that BALPA, the pilots’ union, can now give BA 14 days’ notice of when the strike will start, though it has yet to mention any specific dates. BA is attempting to block the strike as it is estimated it will cost the airline up Read more

The EU commission has issued a statement approving the merger of Dublin, Ireland-based CityJet DAC and Valencia, Spain-based Air Nostrum: “The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation of a joint venture between Fortress Investment Group, of the U.S., and Air Investment Valencia, of Spain. It will combine the activities of CityJet of Ireland and of Air Nostrum of Spain.” The merger was first announced on July 17 when the two companies signed a Heads of Terms for the creation of a new holding company and the formation of what will become the largest pan-European airline Read more

On Tuesday, July 23, Kenya’s parliament voted in favour of nationalising the country’s flag-carrying airline in a bid to help it overcome problems with mounting debts. With a failed expansion program behind it and a slump in air travel which forced the carrier to restructure US$2 billion of debt in 2017, rather than allow Kenya Airways to take over the profitable running of Nairobi’s main airport, the country’s lawmakers proposed an alternative solution. Currently the carrier is 48.9% government-owned and with Air France-KLM holding a 7.8% stake. The Kenyan transport committee has proposed nationalisation that would see the struggling carrier Read more

British Airways (BA) is seeking a high court injunction to stop a potential pilots’ strike with a hearing due in the high court on Tuesday morning. The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has rejected a pay offer for BA pilots of 11.5% set over three years, despite Unite and GMB trade unions acting for BA in other roles recommending its acceptance. 93% of the carrier’s 4,000 pilots voted in favor of strike action which has been penciled in to commence August 7, peak summer holiday period for travelers. Legally, BALPA must give BA at least two weeks’ notice of any Read more

British Airways announced on Saturday that it was canceling all flights to Cairo with immediate effect for a period of seven days “as a precaution to allow for further assessment.” The U.K.’s Foreign Office has warned travelers to Egypt that “There’s a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation. Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the U.K.” Though no further and more specific reasons were given for the flight cancelations, Lufthansa, which operates flights from Cairo to Munich and Frankfurt, said it was also suspending flights until Sunday, citing “an unclear security situation”. On Friday, Read more