Corporate Travel News For Europe/MEA

Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed (04-Jan-2018) an order lifting restrictions on the operation of scheduled Cairo air services. As previously reported by CAPA, Russia suspended services to Egypt in 2015. [more - original PR - Russian] [more - original PR - Russian - II]

Lufthansa improved (04-Jan-2018) services for its lounge guests with the LoungeNet portal for mobile devices, offering passengers tailored content including flight status information, airport and lounge information and special offers. LoungeNet also offers yoga relaxation exercises, in partnership with TINT, print services at Frankfurt and Munich, in cooperation with Konica Minolta and spa services. [more - original PR]

Ryanair launched (04-Jan-2018) the Ryanair Transfers booking platform, powered by CarTrawler. The new transfers service allows Ryanair passengers to book ground transport including taxis, chauffeur, bus, coach and rail services in 33 European countries on the Ryanair.com website. [more - original PR]

Saudia director general Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser commented on the airline's challenges, stating: "The biggest challenge is over-capacity in the entire region. Yields are already under pressure and we think this will continue for a few years to come" (Arabian Aerospace, 03-Jan-2018). He also said the airline is "definitely over-staffed" and aims to be more efficient.

Brussels Airlines CEO Bernard Gustin stated the acquisition of Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium will help solve productivity issues by allowing the airline to better utilise aircraft on weekends for leisure traffic (airliners.de, 03-Jan-2018). Mr Gustin explained Brussels Airlines aircraft are currently under utilised on Saturday afternoons due to the lack of business travellers on weekends.

US Department of Transportation awarded (03-Jan-2018) VI Airlink an amended foreign air carrier permit to operate scheduled and charter services to the US with aircraft of up to 60 seats, effective 02-Jan-2018. The permit is valid for five years. [more - original PR]

Ethiopian Airlines MD international services Esayas WoldeMariam said the airline treats operations within Africa as a whole, rather than separate markets, commenting: "We serve the entire continent as one piece" (The Guardian, 03-Jan-2018). Mr WoldeMariam said: "Not all the routes in Africa are profitable but the routes have little contributions to overall traffic. For one, all the routes in Nigeria are loss making but they have network contribution because we have the largest number of passengers from Nigeria... Without Nigeria in our network, it just doesn't work because that is the largest population and the people are very mobile".

Eurowings CEO Thorsten Dirks confirmed the airline plans to focus on digitalisation in 2018 (handelsblatt.com, 03-Jan-2018). Mr Dirks stated: "In 2018, we will show that Eurowings is not only setting growth, but also digitising and simplifying customer service".

FairPlane confirmed (03-Jan-2018) Austria's Ministry for Transport extended NIKI's operating licence by three months. Without the extension, NIKI's slots in Austria would have expired. The measure is intended to simplify the transfer of NIKI to IAG. [more - original PR - German]

El Al announced (03-Jan-2018) ​​​​​​a new pricing model for economy class tickets to all European destinations, offering classic, flex and lite fares. With the success of the UP brand, El Al decided to optimise work processes and unify European destinations in order to offer a uniform product under the El Al brand. The sale of new products to Europe will start on 30-April-2018, for services departing from 15-Oct-2018. UP operations will reportedly be suspended (Globes/Israel National News/Hamodia, 03-Jan-2018). [more - original PR]