Aer Lingus looks to break pilot deadlock and passing on pension plan

Aer Lingus will sit down with the pilots union today in a bid to break a deadlock over pay that the airline says may see its parent group divert new planes to other airlines, meaning the Irish airline will hire up to 80 fewer pilots than planned and cut promotional opportunities. Barry O’Halloran reports.

With Ciara O’Brien, he also reports on plans which the McEvaddy brothers say will deliver far greater capacity growth at Dublin Airport than current proposals from the DAA.

As the Government’s target date for a compulsory workplace pension plan slips again, the Pensions Council which advises the minister has recommended that an alternative to the auto-enrolment pension scheme that could more than double the size of pension pots for workers should not be adopted. Joe Brennan reports why.

Irish inflation – as measured by common EU standards – has fallen below the European Central Bank’s target rate of 2 per cent for the first time in nearly three years, bolstering hopes for a start to interest rate cuts, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy. Meanwhile Conor Pope reports that Irish grocery prices are climbing more slowly than at any point over the past two years.

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Bookmaker Paddy Power’s parent, Flutter Entertainment, has explained why it is so keen to move its primary listing to the United States in advance of a shareholder vote on the issue at its AGM next month, writes Ellen O’Regan.

And tennis champion Serena Williams has said she is deepening her links with Declan Kelly’s Consello Group, which will now act as adviser across all her business interests. Laura Slattery reports.

Sales of new electric cars are down 14.2 per cent in the first three months of 2024 compared with last year, writes motoring correspondent Michael McAleer, despite the overall new car market growing by 8 per cent. In a separate piece, he explains why that is the case.

Heading for Australia is not just the preserve of backpackers on holiday visas, writes Brianna Parkins, but making the move requires careful planning and budgeting. She gives her tips for smoothing the process.

Plans by AIB to offload some bad loan loss risks from its balance sheet through securitisation later this year could lead to higher-than-expected payouts to shareholders, according to an analyst at Bank of America. Joe Brennan has the details.

Plans for a €100 million solar farm on farmland close to Naas have been stalled by Kildare County Council following objections by Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, stud farm owners and local residents. Gordon Deegan reports

Martin Wolf tuned in as the shadow chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves made her case on how Britain’s Labour Party might jump-start the British economy at a recent lecture. Her plans won’t make things any worse than they are, he says, but will they make them any better?

In Commercial Property, Ronald Quinlan reports that the total volume of investment spend in Ireland’s commercial property market has fallen to its lowest level since the tail end of the global financial crisis in the first quarter, according to figures from BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Elsewhere, a site on the Liffey at Chapelizod with potential for 29 apartments is on the market at a guide price of €2.75 million while developer Michael Cotter’s Park Developments has secured US pharmaceutical outsourced services group PCI Pharma as a tenant at Northwest Logistics Park in Dublin.

Finally, a challenging year in the diamond business saw Mountain Province Diamonds, the listed Canadian diamond mining company in which Dermot Desmond is a large shareholder, report a net loss of 43.7 million Canadian dollars (€29.9 million). Barry J Whyte has the details.

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