The Austrian Consumer Information Association (ACIA) announced on Monday that low-cost carrier Ryanair had lost a case in Austria's Supreme Court over certain?passenger charges, including a fee for airport check-in. Austria is the latest country to reject some of Ryanair’s charges. The airline announced last week that it would no longer charge parents for sitting with their children, after the British Competition Watchdog opened an inquiry into the policy. VKI, a consumer group, reported that an Austrian court on May 14 ruled that 14 clauses of Ryanair's Terms and Conditions are illegal. VKI brought the case for the Austrian government....

As diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict that followed the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran gain momentum, some airlines are restoring their flights to certain parts of the Middle East. However, many carriers continue to suspend flights, causing global travel disruptions. The following is a list of the current status of flights by alphabetical order. AEGEAN AIRLINES Thessaloniki-Tel Aviv flights were resumed by Greece's largest airline on June 28. Dubai flights are suspended until August 31 and Erbil and Baghdad flights until September 30. AIRBALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, has suspended flights to Tel Aviv from June 28 to July 1,...

The CEO of Lufthansa said that the German group is preparing a bid to rival Air France-KLM. In July, the Portuguese government launched a long-delayed TAP privatisation. It aimed to sell a stake of 44.9% to a strategic partner airline to increase its global reach, and set aside an extra 5% to employees. Portugal has asked Lufthansa to submit binding bids before the end of July. The two airlines were the only contenders, with initial offers that the government considered "largely equal and very ambitious" in terms of strategic, industrial, and financial terms. This demonstrates its confidence in TAP’s valuation....

Gulf markets opened lower on Monday as investors were on edge due to recent strikes by the U.S. against Iran. This was despite a pact?between both?countries?to stop further attacks. After several days of retaliatory attacks, which were triggered by a projectile fired by Iran that struck a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on last week, there will be?a renewed push for diplomacy throughout the Middle East. Since then, both sides have accused each other for violating an interim truce. Oil prices rose due to uncertainty over the durability of the peace deal, but crude oil has since lost?nearly...

On every World Cup matchday, tens and thousands of American and international fans throng Union Station, in downtown Los Angeles, to take special buses directly?to Inglewood Stadium, while thousands watch from the "Fan" Zone inside and outside of the ornate Art Deco Station. When a soccer fan is lost, "ambassadors", who are there to guide them, will help them find the Fan Zone or buses. If they feel overwhelmed by heat or stress, "calming pods" or hydration centers can be used. Armando Roma, manager of the civil rights, inclusion, and racial equity group at LA Metro, said that some people...

Sources said that an outage this week on a power transmission line in Venezuela's Central Region is slowing down efforts to restore?full services at a port, refinery, and petrochemical complex following earthquakes. Residents and sources said that many roads have reopened, and electricity has been restored to areas affected by the earthquakes. The death toll is now at almost 600, but residents and sources say the area closest to the epicenter, in the central region, remains largely without power. Sources said that the lack of electricity is preventing injured people from being transported, hospitals from operating, goods imported at ports...

Spiegel reported that Lufthansa has prepared contingency plans for a fuel shortage. This is in response to the conflict in Iran, which will have an impact on the shipments of 'energy through the Strait of Hormuz. Spiegel reported that Lufthansa's CEO, Carsten Spohr, briefed his employees on Friday at an internal event. He pointed out a dramatic worsening in the crisis. It said that the management had prepared two "contingency plans" which would allow up to 40 planes to be grounded if an emergency occurred. Spiegel reported that the grounding was not yet certain. Spohr said at the event, "Today,...

Some airlines have resumed flights to certain parts of the Middle East, as diplomatic efforts intensify to resolve the conflict that erupted after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. However, many carriers continue to suspend their flights, causing global travel disruptions. Below is an alphabetical update of the flight statuses for airlines. AEGEAN AIRLINES Thessaloniki-Tel 'Aviv flights were cancelled by Greece's biggest carrier until 26 June. Flights from Thessaloniki to Tel 'Aviv have been canceled until June 26. AIRBALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, has canceled flights to Tel Aviv and Dubai until the 28th of June. AIR CANADA Canadian Airlines has...

A police report on Friday showed that Kenya deported Somalia’s?second vice prime minister? back to his home country this week for suspected fraudulent acquisition of a kenyan passport. Jibril Haji, a Somali diplomat, arrived at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Wednesday afternoon. He had a valid visa on his passport but was suspected during an immigration check of fraudulently obtaining a Kenyan passport. The report stated that "when he was interrogated, he confessed. And?when asked to surrender the passport, he refused to do so and said he could only present it to a court of justice." Haji and Somalia's Information...

Ship tracking data revealed that fewer vessels traversed the Strait of Hormuz Friday than they did earlier in the week. This was hours after an Iranian-operated vessel fired on a Taiwanese ship. U.N.'shipping 'agency temporarily suspended its voluntary scheme for evacuating hundreds of stranded vessels and thousands of seafarers out of the Gulf, after the ship was damaged by the attack near the Omani side. Nevertheless, data from LSEG's and MarineTraffic's ship tracking showed that at least four oil tankers, including three very large crude carrier ships, each of which can carry a maximum 2 million barrels, had entered the...

China Eastern Airlines announced on Friday that it will purchase '25 A330 Neo jets from Airbus at a catalogue price of $9.35 billion. The Chinese carrier is expanding its widebody fleet in order to service more international routes. China Eastern said that it would deliver the aircraft in batches between 2029 and 2033 in a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The two companies had signed a purchase agreement earlier in the day in Shanghai. The filing stated that the transaction would be used to upgrade and replace the existing aircraft models and supplement the company's?future transportation capacity. The A330neo,...

The storm that hit central New Zealand Friday knocked out power for 'thousands' of homes, caused flooding, and triggered landslides. MetService, the national?weather forecaster, issued multiple severe weather alerts as a system of low pressure swept across Canada. The warning was issued after wind speeds?exceeding?150 kph were recorded in some parts of the country over night. The?storm caused 200 flights to be cancelled in and out of Wellington. The airport said that "most flights into and out of Wellington Airport today have been cancelled, and most but not all scheduled flights tonight have also 'been cancelled". The winds are expected...