Tag: Agree

Ryanair agrees on new partnership deal with OTA kiwi.com

January 29, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

KIWI GUARANTEE NO OVERCHARGING FOR RYANAIR FLIGHTS/ANCILLARIES

Following the recent approved partnership between Ryanair Holdings PLC (Ireland: RYA) and OTA, loveholidays.com. Ryanair today (Monday, January 29) announced a new partnership agreement with approved OTA, Kiwi.com, which guarantees that Kiwi will now have direct access to the Ryanair.com website without screenscraping, and Kiwi agree to provide their customers with low Ryanair prices for flights and ancillaries, and will see Kiwi provide the direct accurate customer contact and payment details to Ryanair.

This new approved OTA deal means that Kiwi customers can now buy Ryanair flights/ancillaries at real prices (without mark-ups) via the Kiwi.com website, and Kiwi customers will have direct access to their myRyanair account and will receive all Ryanair flight info directly to their email from Ryanair. Kiwi customers will no longer need to complete Ryanair’s customer verification process which unauthorised OTA Pirates’ customers must continue to do.

In addition to these benefits, this deal also allows customers to enjoy Kiwi virtual interline service which allows customers to book connecting flights, but if they miss their connection flight, Kiwi will reaccommodate passengers free of charge on the next available flight.

Ryanair has long campaigned for all consumers to be protected from OTA Pirate overcharges and pricing scams, and an end to fake customer contact and payment info. This approved OTA partnership with Kiwi demonstrates how OTAs can work with Ryanair in a transparent way that eliminates the need for anti-consumer practices while giving Kiwi.com passengers direct access to Ryanair’s low prices with no overcharges or price scams.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Luxembourg, Historical city center in the morning, Aerial View

SkyWest orders 19 Embraer E175 aircraft for United Airlines operations

October 26, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, October 26, 2023 – Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) has agreed to the sale of 19 new E175 jets to SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) for operation in the United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) network, adding to the 90 E175 jets SkyWest already operates for United. The E175 aircraft will fly exclusively with United under a Capacity Purchase Agreement (CPA). The value of the contract, which has been included in Embraer’s Q3 backlog, is US$1.1billion, based on list price.

The 70-seat aircraft will be delivered in a three-class configuration. Deliveries will begin Q4 2024.

About Embraer

A global aerospace company headquartered in Brazil, Embraer has businesses in Commercial and Executive aviation, Defense & Security and Agricultural Aviation. The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets aircraft and systems, providing Services & Support to customers after-sales.

US & China to Allow 4 Weekly Flights Each for Airlines

June 15, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Delta to fly next week

FILE PHOTO: Delta Air Lines passenger planes parked in Birmingham

(Reuters) – The United States and China will each allow four weekly flights between the two countries, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Monday, easing a standoff on travel restrictions in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. government still hopes China will agree to restore full U.S. flight rights under their bilateral aviation agreement, the Transportation Department said Monday in its revised order on China flights.

“As the Chinese government allows more flights by U.S. carriers, we will reciprocate,” it said.

The United States had threatened to bar Chinese passenger flights on June 16 due to Beijing’s curbs on U.S. airlines amid simmering tensions between the world’s two largest economies, and has raised concerns about the number of charter flights Chinese carriers want to fly.

Among U.S. airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines had each sought to restart daily passenger flights to China in June but changed their plans in the absence of government approval.

Following China’s agreement to allow four U.S. flights total, Delta said it would operate two flights to Shanghai from Seattle next week and once weekly flights from Seattle and Detroit beginning in July, all via Seoul.

United said it was aiming to re-launch service to China in the weeks ahead.

Chinese authorities have already agreed to some changes on requirements for U.S. carriers, including allowing temperature checks to be done before flights take off for China, rather than mid-flight as previously discussed, a person briefed on the matter said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Grant McCool and Stephen Coates)

Jet Airways to Sell Netherlands Business to KLM

January 16, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

A Jet Airways vehicle leaves the company’s headquarters in Mumbai

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Bankrupt Indian airline Jet Airways Ltd said it had agreed to sell its assets in Netherlands to Dutch airline KLM.

If the deal is finalised, it will only involve a sale of part of the company’s business and not impact the shareholding pattern, Jet said in a statement dated Jan. 16. It did not detail the assets held in Netherlands.

Once India’s biggest private carrier, Jet stopped flying in April after running out of cash, leaving thousands without jobs and pushing up air fares across the country.

It was admitted to bankruptcy court in June after its lenders, led by State Bank of India SBI.NS, failed to agree on a revival plan.

KLM, a part of Air France KLM, was once codeshare partners with the defunct airline and in the wake of Jet’s collapse had added flights to India.

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Anil D’Silva)

British Airways, Pilots Union Agree on Preliminary Pay Deal to End Dispute

November 22, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: British Airways logos are seen on tail fins at Heathrow Airport in west London

(Reuters) – British Airways and its pilots’ union BALPA have reached a preliminary agreement to end the pay dispute that resulted in the first walkout by pilots in the airline’s history, the union said on Friday.

The agreement came after the two sides held talks under the auspices of the ACAS arbitration service.

BALPA said in a statement: “We can confirm that BALPA, BA and ACAS have put together a new pay and conditions proposal and, subject to final checks, BALPA expects it will shortly be consulting its 4,000 BA members on them.”

A BA spokeswoman said “We welcome this positive step.”

As part of the agreement, BA agreed to insert an inflation protection clause to its previous pay offer of an 11.5% rise over three years, the Financial Times reported.

The airline also offered improvements to working conditions, rostering and flight bonuses, the paper added.

British Airways pilots went on strike for 48 hours in September, grounding 1,700 flights.

BA, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group <ICAG.L>, said in September that the strikes had cost it 137 million euros ($151 million).

(Reporting by Alistair Smout in London and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Louise Heavens)

Evening taxi to Runway 6L, Toronto-Pearson

Arms Firms Fret Delays in Franco-German Fighter Project

October 7, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS, Oct 7 (Reuters) – France’s Dassault Aviation and Europe’s Airbus have stepped up pressure on France and Germany to agree on the next stage of a planned fighter project, warning Europe’s arms industry and long-term security could suffer from delays.

The two companies are the leading industrial partners in a project to build a futuristic swarm of manned and unmanned warplanes, announced by the leaders of France and Germany two years ago and expanded earlier this year to include Spain.

Dassault and Airbus won a 65-million-euro contract in January to develop the concept for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) but await a new contract to build demonstrators for interlinked fighters, drones and an “air combat cloud” by 2026.

Dassault Aviation Chief Executive Eric Trappier told a conference of policymakers last month that the demonstrator contract should have been launched in September but this was now slipping towards end-year. He called it “indispensable” to avoid any further delays in order to maintain the 2026 deadline.

No reason has been given for the delays.

On Monday evening, Dassault and Airbus amplified those warnings with a joint statement.

“If Europe does not move forward — and move forward quickly — on this programme, it will be impossible to maintain the development and production capabilities needed for a sovereign defence industry,” the companies said.

The warplane system is expected to be operational from 2040, with a view to replacing Dassault’s Rafale and the four-nation Eurofighter, in which Airbus represents both Germany and Spain.

The new project faces competition from Britain and its plans for a new combat jet dubbed “Tempest”.

The fighter developments have split the current Eurofighter consortium and led to a shake-up of industrial alliances as Italy joins Eurofighter partner Britain on Tempest, turning its back on Germany and Spain, while Sweden has opened the door to abandoning its independent stance by co-operating on Tempest.

The FCAS is also overshadowed by differences between France and Germany over export policy after Germany imposed a ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia over the death of killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi a year ago by Saudi operatives.

The ban, recently extended to March, has raised questions over a long-delayed Saudi border systems contract run by Airbus.

Airbus Defence and Space Chief Executive Dirk Hoke called in a magazine interview last week for the export ban to be relaxed. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has said there is no reason for the moratorium to be lifted.

France and Germany are expected to discuss the issue at ministerial meetings this week.

AIRBUS SETBACK IN SPAIN

Airbus meanwhile faces a battle to shore up its position as a top defence contractor in Spain after losing its place as the representative of Spain’s interests on the upcoming fighter project to local defence electronics firm Indra Sistemas.

Spain last month named Indra as contractor for the Spanish share of the Franco-German-led FCAS project, displacing Airbus from the Spanish coordinator role it had held on Eurofighter.

Airbus officials have pledged to try to overturn the move but a Spanish defence source told Reuters there was no change in the decision.

Indra declined to comment.

Publicly, Airbus has said it was surprised by the decision but has pledged to continue to defend Spain’s best interests.

Dassault will meanwhile mark a long-awaited milestone on Tuesday when it delivers the first of 36 Rafales to India, the culmination of a fighter procurement process that lasted almost 20 years and involved the cancellation of a much larger deal.

La Tribune reported on Monday that France and India were discussing a possible repeat order for 36 more Rafales.

(Additional reporting by Emma Pinedo Gonzalez in Madrid, Tassilo Hummel in Berlin, Editing by Deepa Babington)

Qatar Agrees to Buy U.S. Aircraft, Engines, Defense Equipment

July 9, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Bloomberg) — Qatar has made agreements with U.S. companies to spend billions on airplanes and jet engines and to develop a petrochemical complex, the White House said on Tuesday.

At least some of the deals were previously made but were publicly touted by the Trump administration Tuesday. Among them: Qatar Airways purchasing Boeing Co. 777 freighters and large-cabin aircraft from Gulfstream Aerospace, the private jet unit of General Dynamics Corp.

“They’re investing very heavily in our country,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “They’re creating a lot of jobs. They’re buying tremendous amounts of military equipment including planes.

Qatar’s defense ministry committed to acquire Raytheon Co.’s NASM and Patriot Systems, according to the White House. In addition, a unit of Chevron Corp. entered into an agreement with Qatar Petroleum for the development, construction and operation of a petrochemicals complex in Qatar.

The agreements, whose total cost wasn’t disclosed by the White House, were announced during a visit to the White House by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

The deals come amid a two-year economic blockade of Qatar led by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia and supported by nations including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Trump initially appeared to support the Saudi move — echoing its assertions that Qatar supported terrorists — even though it put the U.S. in an awkward position because it has a major military base in Qatar.

But Qatar has looked to improve relations in the U.S., with the emir saying the country was committed to doubling the economic partnership between the two countries. Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud, who leads the Qatar Investment Authority, said earlier this year that the country’s sovereign wealth fund will look to increase its U.S. investment portfolio from around $30 billion to about $45 billion over the next two years.

The country has also made significant gestures toward increasing its spending on U.S. defense contractors, with the U.S. approving a large weapons systems purchase ahead of Sheikh Tamim’s last visit to the country. In 2017, the country signed a deal to spend $12 billion for the purchase of 36 F-15QA fighter jets.

And the U.S. has announced plans to expand and renovate the al-Udeid Air Base near Doha, which houses the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command and some 10,000 American troops. During a dinner with the leaders on Monday, Trump thanked Sheikh Tamim for Qatar’s $1.8 billion investment in the project which will be used to construct housing and entertainment facilities.

Several companies have released specifics of some of the agreements that were formalized on Tuesday.

Gulfstream said its deal is for $1 billion in corporate jets that General Dynamics announced in January without giving the customer’s name. Boeing said last month it made a deal to sell five 777 freighters at a list price of $1.8 billion.

Qatar Airways plans to use General Electric Co. jet engines for Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft, according to the White House.

A Chevron statement Tuesday said the company was signing a new agreement at the White House for a previously unannounced $8 billion U.S. Gulf Coast project. The White House statement mentions only a prior deal, announced last month, in which the company would join forces with Qatar Petroleum to build a facility in Qatar.

(Story by Justin Sink and Thomas Black, Edited by Alex Wayne, Justin Blum, and Larry Liebert)