Ryanair has threatened to close bases in Spain and Italy if new labour agreements cannot be reached with unions.
Speaking to investors on 27 July as Ryanair reported a first-quarter net loss of €185 million ($217 million), chief executive Michael O'Leary said the carrier was "looking at base closures in Spain where, for the moment, the unions have not yet agreed to the pay cuts we need". He also said there was a "real risk to some of the regional bases in Italy, where you've a combination of slow pace of negotiations with unions but also the Italian government trying to impose Alitalia's pay rates" on other airlines. Ryanair has already announced the closure of its Hahn base in Germany after failing to reach an agreement on cost savings with German pilots, and has threatened to also close its bases at Berlin Tegel and Weeze near Dusseldorf. However, O'Leary says Ryanair's Poland-based charter subsidiary Buzz could "take on a couple more bases this winter". Ryanair chief financial officer Neil Sorahan adds that the group's Malta Air unit might also "take on more of our operations over the coming years and months". Ryanair Group has 14 Boeing 737s with leases due to expire in May 2021 and is "in discussions with the lessors", says O'Leary. "We'd certainly be willing to extend those leases, as long as we could do so on competitive terms," he adds.

Source: Cirium

Grounded Indian carrier Jet Airways has received two bids as part of its sale process, according to a 23 July filing to the BSE. The airline's resolution professional has received resolution plans from two prospective applicants, and these will be placed before the airline's committee of creditors for its consideration, the filing adds. Indian business and financial news service BloombergQuint reported on 22 July that one of the bidders is a consortium led by Imperial Capital and includes Flight Simulation Technique Centre and Big Charter. The other is a consortium of UK-based Kalrock Capital and UAE businessman Murari Lal Jalan. Jet Airways is now in its fourth round of seeking expressions of interest. The airline's resolution professional decided in May to exclude India's coronavirus lockdown period from the timeline of the airline's corporate insolvency resolution process. This was originally due to expire on 13 June, but has now been extended to 21 August and could be extended further.

Source: Cirium

El Al has called a shareholders’ meeting for 18 August in order to seek approval to raise the company’s registered share capital. The Israeli flag-carrier is planning to raise $400 million through a $150 million share issue and a state-backed staggered $250 million loan. El Al says that, in order to issue the shares, an amendment to the company’s articles of association, to hike the registered capital, is necessary. Its capital currently stands at 1 billion shares plus a special state share. El Al says it wants approval to increase this by 500 million shares, to 1.5 billion. The airline says it is holding discussions with the ministry of finance on the terms and conditions for the funding, adding that the government will undertake to purchase, at the average May price, any shares not taken up by the public. If the government takes shares they will be placed with a trustee whose role and powers have yet to be decided. But El Al says the conditions for the financing scheme will include restrictions on the use of the funds, and a prohibition on dividends, until the loan is repaid. Another condition requires the airline to improve its efficiency by reaching collective agreements with personnel. But while it has achieved new pacts with cabin crew, maintenance and administrative personnel, a deal signed for the pilot sector is causing friction because it was signed in the absence of pilots’ representatives. The airline’s pilots have turned to the labour court in Tel Aviv in a bid to block the agreement, aimed at saving over $100 million, signed with the trade union organisation Histadrut. El Al says its pilots’ committee has filed an urgent request to the labour court against the airline and Histadrut, seeking a ruling that the agreement – made without fair representation – is “invalid”.

Source: Cirium