Ryanair’s fares fell by 6 per cent in the year to March 2019, leading to a slump of 29 per cent in the airline’s profits. But with full-year profits of over €1bn (£880m), Europe’s biggest budget airline remains in far better shape than many of its rivals. Last year, the carrier’s average one-way fare was €37 (£32), down 6 per cent. Passenger numbers grew by 7 per cent to 139 million, representing a profit per passenger of £6.33. Non-fuel costs rose by 5 per cent, largely due to an increase in salaries – particularly for pilots.Simon Calder (The Independent)
1. High Tatras, Slovakia; 2. Madrid, Spain; 3. The Arctic Coast Way, Iceland; 4. Hercegovina, Bosnia and Hercegovina; 5. Bari, Italy; 6. Shetland, Scotland; 7. Lyon, France; 8. Liechtenstein; 9. Vevey, Switzerland; 10. Istria, Croatia.Lonely Planet
😋Žiga Sancin
Orchids are everywhere, in varying shades of flecked pinks and whites and greens, in clusters or dotted singly throughout the mountain slopes and fields. I count seven new varieties in a happy half an hour before our guides inform us that there are 42 varieties growing here in the Julian Alps and 84 different wild orchid types in the country.Allan Jenkins (The Guardian)
Until the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, much of southern Texas was Mexico, and for centuries before that part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. That’s why, to Mr. Medrano, the heart of Texas Mexican culture is an area that includes southern Texas — the Rio Grande Valley, Corpus Christi and greater San Antonio and Houston — but also part of the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.Rachel Wharton (New York Times)
After establishing Dubai as the leading interchange for flights linking cities around the globe, Emirates is finding it tougher to find profitable new routes, especially with sluggish Persian Gulf economies weighing on margins. The state-owned airline was also unable to convince Airbus SE to upgrade the A380, forcing it to buy smaller jets requiring a recalibration of its super-hub model.Layan Odeh (Bloomberg)
Ryanair, the famed European budget carrier, boasts that its average fares do not actually cover the cost of flying the passenger. […] The airlines use complex software to make dynamic price adjustments based on historical data, competitor fares, expected and actual sales for a particular fare class on a flight, along with some oversight by internal teams.Mike Arnot (CNN)
Singapore’s government creates stringent guidelines for building projects, a necessity in a country that only has 279 square miles to work with. The city-state’s Urban Redevelopment Authority gives architects clear briefs that go far beyond most conventional building projects.Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan (Fast Company)
The new JetBlue routes will be served by Airbus A321LR single-aisle aircraft featuring a version of the carrier’s premium cabin, Mint. It is not known how much the flights will cost.Jennifer Newton (Daily Mail)