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Norwegian joins new European airline alliance

Budget airline Norwegian announced on Thursday that it will join the new alliance Airlines for Europe (A4E), which will see it collaborate with Irish budget carrier Ryanair and others.

Norwegian joins new European airline alliance
Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT / NTB scanpix
Other members of the alliance include Air France-KLM, EasyJet, IAG Group and Lufthansa group. 
 
“Norwegian has always believed in healthy competition among airlines to create more choice and lower fares for passengers. But we also firmly believe in an industry where low-cost and network carriers can unite to tackle the many issues we all face together,” Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos said.
 
“We are delighted to join Airlines for Europe to add our voice to the important debate about the huge challenges and opportunities our industry faces in the future,” he added.
 
Rumours had been circulating that Norwegian and Ryanair were working on a so-called feeder agreement in which Ryanair’s short-distance routes will be slotted in to Norwegian’s long-haul routes. 
 
“We have said that we are interested in cooperation with companies that can feed traffic into our long-distance routes, particularly at London Gatwick. Ryanair is an example of an operator that may be relevant for this,” Norwegian spokesman Lass Sandaker-Nielsen told Norwegian financial outlet E24.
 
The Irish Ryanair transported 7.5 million travellers in January, but the airline has no long-haul aircraft that can range across the Atlantic. Norwegian, meanwhile, has been steadily adding to its long-distance routes. 
 
The A4E group was launched last month and claims to account for more than half of Europe's passenger journeys. 
 
It was also announced on Thursday that Finnair would join the alliance. 
 
“Airlines for Europe is open for business and ready to represent the interests of all European airlines. We will grow our member base over the next months, uniting more European airlines to take forward changes that will increase our competitiveness and result in lower fares and more choice for passengers,” A4E managing director Thomas Reynaert, A4E’s Managing Director.
 
Just last week, Norwegian poked fun at Ryanair by getting involved in a minor political scandal in Denmark. Danish PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen flew to Malaga on Ryanair despite the airline’s bitter battles with Danish unions and its lack of a collective bargaining agreement in the country. Rasmussen’s flight angered his political opponents but provided an opportunity for Norwegian to capitalize on the scandal with a cheeky ad aimed directly at the PM.
 
“You are always welcome on board with us, Lars. We have both a collective bargaining agreement and free wifi!” Norwegian’s Danish team posted on Facebook:
 
 

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Att. statsministeren!

Posted by Norwegian on Friday, February 19, 2016

 
 

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RYANAIR

UPDATE: Ryanair passenger jet makes emergency landing in Berlin over ‘fake bomb threat’

Polish police said Monday they were investigating a fake bomb threat that forced a Ryanair passenger plane travelling from Dublin to Krakow to make an emergency landing in Berlin.

UPDATE: Ryanair passenger jet makes emergency landing in Berlin over 'fake bomb threat'
A Ryanair flight making an emergency landing

The flight from Dublin to Krakow made the unexpected diversion after a reported bomb threat, German newspaper Bild Zeitung said.

“We were notified by the Krakow airport that an airport employee received a phone call saying an explosive device had been planted on the plane,” said regional police spokesman, Sebastian Glen.

“German police checked and there was no device, no bomb threat at all. So we know this was a false alarm,” he told AFP on Monday.

“The perpetrator has not been detained, but we are doing everything possible to establish their identity,” Glen added, saying the person faces eight years in prison.

With 160 people on board, the flight arrived at the Berlin Brandenburg airport shortly after 8 pm Sunday, remaining on the tarmac into early Monday morning.

A Berlin police spokesperson said that officers had completed their security checks “without any danger being detected”.

“The passengers will resume their journey to Poland on board a spare aeroplane,” she told AFP, without giving more precise details for the alert.

The flight was emptied with the baggage also searched and checked with sniffer dogs, German media reported.

The passengers were not able to continue their journey until early Monday morning shortly before 4:00 am. The federal police had previously classified the situation as harmless. The Brandenburg police are now investigating the case.

Police said that officers had completed their security checks “without any danger being detected”.

“The Ryanair plane that made an emergency landed reported an air emergency and was therefore immediately given a landing permit at BER,” airport spokesman Jan-Peter Haack told Bild.

“The aircraft is currently in a safe position,” a spokeswoman for the police told the newspaper.

The incident comes a week after a Ryanair flight was forced to divert to Belarus, with a passenger — a dissident journalist — arrested on arrival.

And in July last year, another Ryanair plane from Dublin to Krakow was forced to make an emergency landing in London after a false bomb threat.

READ ALSO: Germany summons Belarus envoy over forced Ryanair landing

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