You may recall that recently Ryanair hit the headlines with an idea to charge obese passengers for two seats instead of one. However, the so-called “Fat Tax” has now been dismissed and will not be implemented by the airline. This decision has been reached not thanks to negative passenger reaction but by the time it would take to implement.
The budget airline has recently been criticised for other moneymaking ideas, such as charging passengers to use the toilet. This option is still under consideration.
Ryanair revealed that 30,000 online passengers voted for a “Fat Tax”. However, Ryanair believe that implementing such a tax would impede their ability to operate a 25-minute turnaround between flights.
Emirates, the largest passenger carrier outside of Europe and The USA has revelealed that despite the current economic downturn it still expects to see increased profit during 2009.
Crucially for aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing it has announce that it will not delay any orders for new aircraft until at least 2011, allowong for delivery of at least 17 new aircraft during the current fiscal year. These aircraft are mostly Airbus A380 and Boeing 777s.
There are many carriers now operating in the Middle East region, meaning increased competition for Emirates and ulitmately cheaper flight tickets for passengers. Competition is growing from carriers such as Quatar Airways and Ethiad Airways (Abu Dhabi).
There has recenlty been the suggestion that Emirates plans to merge with the smaller, Ehiad Airlines, particularily as the recession takes hold in the Middle East. However, Emirates have stongly denied this claim. Emirates plans appear to be based on internal growth, rather than fro the acquisition of smaller rivals.
