La compagnie irlandaise Ryanair a annoncé mardi avoir commandé 300 nouveaux Boeing 737-MAX-10, dont 150 commandes fermes et 150 en option, pour un prix “évalué à plus de 40 milliards de dollars”, selon un communiqué.

“Il s’agit de la plus grosse commande jamais passée par une société irlandaise pour des produits manufacturés américains”, affirme Ryanair, qui précise que compte tenu de sa taille, la transaction “sera soumise à l’approbation de [ses] actionnaires” le 14 septembre en assemblée générale.

Les prix catalogues ne sont en règle générale jamais appliqués en raison des importantes ristournes consenties, en particulier pour les commandes de grande ampleur.

Doublement du nombre de passagers envisagé

Ryanair estime que ces nouveaux avions, prévus pour livraison entre 2027 et 2033, lui permettront de créer plus de 10’000 nouveaux emplois de pilotes, personnel de cabine et ingénieurs, et espère voir le nombre de passagers transportés passer de 168 millions fin mars 2023 à 300 millions par an d’ici mars 2034.

“Ces nouveaux avions […] offrent 21% de sièges en plus, consomment 20% de carburant en moins et sont 50% plus silencieux” que les anciens modèles utilisés par Ryanair jusqu’ici, des 737-800, soit la génération précédente de ce même modèle, a fait valoir le patron de Ryanair Michael O’Leary, qui parle de “commande d’avions record”.

Michael O’Leary dit aussi espérer que ces nouveaux appareils permettront “de nouvelles économies de coûts, qui seront répercutées sur les passagers grâce à des tarifs aériens plus bas”.

Les actuels 737-800 de Ryanair sont configurés pour accueillir 189 passagers. Les nouveaux 737 MAX 8 qu’elle a précédemment commandés accueillent eux 197 passagers. Quant aux futurs 737 MAX 10, le concurrent de l’Airbus A321neo, ils pourront accueillir jusqu’à 230 passagers (contre 244 pour l’A321neo, plus long).

Partenariat Boeing-Ryanair

“Le partenariat Boeing-Ryanair est l’un des plus productifs de l’histoire de l’aviation commerciale, permettant aux deux sociétés de prospérer et d’étendre les voyages à prix abordables à des centaines de millions de personnes”, a fait valoir de son côté le PDG de Boeing Dave Calhoun, cité lui aussi dans le communiqué de Ryanair.

Boeing est resté dans le rouge au premier trimestre, avec une perte nette plus importante que prévu de 425 millions de dollars, avait annoncé le constructeur fin avril.

La compagnie aérienne avait quant à elle annoncé en janvier un bénéfice net de 211 millions d’euros pour son troisième trimestre décalé, portée par le rebond de la demande, notamment pour la période clé des fêtes de fin d’année.

World Opinions + Agences

L’article Ryanair commande 300 Boeing 737 MAX 10 pour 40 milliards de dollars est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

In recent months, Europe has watched impotently from the sidelines as Alexander Lukashenko brutally reasserted his illegitimate authority over the population of Belarus. The protest movement that threatened the survival of his regime after fraudulent 2020 elections has, for the time being, been subjugated: a combination of state violence, media suppression, incarceration and torture has battered a people into temporary submission.

The modest sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States have had limited effect, while deepening the dependency of “Europe’s last dictator” on Vladimir Putin’s largesse and goodwill.

Calibrating a response to state repression that will not play into Mr Putin’s hands has not been easy. But for the EU in particular, Monday’s extraordinary abduction of Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist based in Lithuania, must be the catalyst for a stepchange in strategy. Along with his girlfriend, Mr Protasevich was abducted from Ryanair flight FR4978, which was crossing Belarusian airspace while flying from Athens to Vilnius.

It appears he was followed onto the commercial flight by members of the Belarusian KGB. Passengers have reported Mr Protasevich’s panic and terror as the flight was diverted to Minsk on spurious grounds, accompanied by a MiG-29 fighter jet. The opposition movement’s main figurehead, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has said that he may face the death penalty.

The abduction of an opposition blogger from a commercial Ryanair flight sends a chilling message to dissidents. The west’s response must be swift and robust

The effect on other Belarusian dissidents will be chilling. Ms Tikhanovskaya, currently exiled in Vilnius but a frequent traveller across Europe, took the same route a week earlier, after speaking in Greece. With Minsk more or less under control, Mr Lukashenko has begun to pick off prominent opponents still at large. Last month, his former spokesman, Alexander Feduta, who had joined the opposition movement, was detained in Moscow and taken back to Minsk, where he has been charged with trying to organise a coup.

The international community must do everything possible to keep a spotlight on the case of Mr Protasevich, and the hundreds of other detainees facing uncertain fates in Minsk prisons. But its response must also be commensurate with the wider implications of an act of aviation piracy. Monday’s outrage will send a shiver down the spine of every overseas critic of an authoritarian regime. As the Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has furiously observed, this was an act of aggression on “an Irish airline, a plane that’s registered in Poland, full of EU nationals, travelling between two EU capitals”. A line has been crossed. As one recent study has noted, authoritarian governments have become increasingly proactive in silencing protest beyond their borders, using methods of “transnational repression” ranging from online harassment and intimidation to abduction and assassination.

The Warsaw offices of the Telegram channels for which Mr Protasevich works operate under police protection after repeated bomb threats. The effective hijacking of flight FR4978, and what happens next, will be observed with acute interest from Beijing to Riyadh.

Britain has ordered all UK planes to cease flying over Belarus and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has suspended the operating permit for Belavia, the country’s state-owned airline. It seems likely that the EU will also move in the direction of aviation-related sanctions, blocking Belavia flights and designating Belarusian airspace unsafe. Beyond this, there should now be consideration of tough economic sanctions that go beyond the current targeting of senior regime officials. When the supremely courageous attempts to remove Mr Lukashenko from power began last summer, there was western reluctance to reinforce a state narrative of foreign hostility and interference. But by sending a MiG fighter to corral a Ryanair flight and arrest a journalist living under the protection of the EU, Mr Lukashenko has brazenly stepped over a red line. This time, the response must be swift, robust and, for his regime, painful.

The Guardian view

L’article View on Belarus: a line has been crossed est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

UK and other non-EU investors will lose voting rights when new Brexit trading rules come into force on 1 January.

By law, airlines operating flights in the EU must be owned by citizens of the EU or other affiliated countries.

Ryanair said it was banning its UK shareholders from attending or taking part in its general meetings.

Wizz Air said that if it did not take action, about 80% of its shares would be held by non-EU nationals. It said about 60% of its shareholder base would be sent restricted share notices.

Ryanair said in a statement to the London stock exchange: “These resolutions will remain in place until the board of the company determines that the ownership and control of the company is no longer such that there is any risk to the airline licences.”

The airline said it will not require British citizens to sell their shares, but will ban them from showing up to, speaking at or voting at shareholder meetings.

Another airline, easyJet, has already said it will restrict voting rights for some shareholders to ensure EU citizens own 50% of the company.

A spokesperson for Airlines UK, the trade body for UK-registered airlines, said it was still “working through some of the wider detail” of the Brexit deal.

However, the spokesperson added: “The headline position is that all air travel between the UK and EU – which represents the vast majority of flying by UK carriers – is safeguarded from 1 January, which is good news for holidaymakers, our inbound tourism industry and UK business.”

World Opinions News – bbc.com

L’article Ryanair and Wizz Air deny votes to UK investors after EU exit est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.