Europe

Our top five stories on Routes Weekly: Brexit uncertainty; Qantas to accelerate 747 retirement; US-Brazil growth; Ghana's ambitions; and Bulletin board.

Norwegian has confirmed it has rejected two separate takeover bids from British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG).

Airlines need to be the ‘master of their own destiny’ to ensure they can continue to operate in a post-Brexit environment, according to Jochen Schnadt, the chief commercial officer for British regional airline bmi. His comments come as Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air has secured a UK air operator certificate to help safeguard flights once Britain leaves the EU.

Edited highlights of an interview with British Airways' chairman and chief executive Alex Cruz, recorded live at Routes Europe 2018 in Bilbao.

This week: American Airlines expands in Latin America; Hong Kong Airlines resumes Manila and VLM returns to Manchester.

The start-up is to delay its first flight to Hong Kong, scheduled to take off on 30 April, because it has not yet received permission to fly through Russian airspace.

Ryanair has finalised an order for 25 additional high-capacity Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft during the same week as the airline revealed plans to launch its first flights from Bosnia and Herzegovina and open a base at Düsseldorf Airport.

Airlines have taken their eyes off the ball when it comes to cutting costs and may well suffer in the next economic downturn.

Former easyJet CEO Ray Webster talks about airline founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou's influence on pricing in the early days.

British Airway’s newly refurbished Boeing 777s will allow British Airways to compete "effectively" with the likes of Norwegian on long-haul routes, the airline's chief executive and chairman Alex Cruz has told delegates at Routes Europe 2018 in his native Bilbao.

China, India, South Korea and Thailand are route development targets for Budapest Airport.

Drones are increasingly likely to be used in a future terrorist attack on Europe's commercial aviation, industry professionals have warned.

More needs to be done to protect airlines from paying compensation when issues occur that aren't their fault, delegates have been told.

Companies must share basic synergies and cultures in order to ensure successful acquisitions of one another.

The former boss of easyJet has little confidence in long-haul, low-cost carriers being anything other than a niche market.

Increasing services to the US and Far East is key aim for Athens International Airport at Routes Europe.

Fresh from Spanish carrier Volotea inaugurating its new base in Marseille, the airport is gearing up for a busy summer with a string of new routes.

This week: Air Italy adds a fourth international route from Milan Malpensa and Air Malta to serve London Southend.

British Airways chief executive and chairman Alex Cruz discusses the airline's network strategy, its £4.5bn fleet investment, the growing importance of the Chinese market and how the carrier can remain premium in the face of low-cost competition.

A week after International Airlines Group bought a minority stake in long-haul low-cost carrier Norwegian, with a view to launching a full takeover of the Scandinavian carrier, Routesonline takes a look at the growth of transatlantic services from Europe to the US and Canada, and how lower fares have impacted this market.

Fresh from breaking the ten million passenger mark for the first time, Lyon-Saint Exupéry has further expansion in its sights.

To celebrate 25 years of ASM, each week we will be exploring five of the greatest moments in aviation over the last quarter of a century.

The European aviation market in 2017 was one of the strongest years for financial and passenger performance, according to figures published by IATA, carriers' international traffic climbed 8.2 percent compared to 2016. Capacity rose 6.1 percent and load factor surged 1.6 percent to 84.4 percent, which was the highest for any region.

Dutch low-cost airline Transavia will increase capacity by more than 123,000 seats this winter, as well as adding four new routes.

In the second of a two part feature, Routesonline takes a closer look at the airports named finalists in the Routes Europe 2018 Marketing Awards.