Belgium to take Ryanair to court over thousands of cancelled flights

Belgium has said it intends to take Ryanair to court, accusing the low cost airline of illegally punishing customers hit by thousands of flight cancellations.

The Dublin-based airline has "shown a lack of professionalism", Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Kris Peeters, who handles the consumer affairs portfolio, said in a statement yesterday.

Ryanair has been plagued by a pilot shortage that has led it to axe thousands of flights in Europe -- and has now extended the wave of cancellations into early 2018.

The firm had already scrapped 2,100 flights in the six weeks to the end of October as it struggled with landing planes on time.

Based on a series of infractions, "I have lodged a cease and desist action against Ryanair, which if accepted will bring fines against the firm if the practices continue," Peeters said.

The minister accused Ryanair of a series of failings, including only communicating with Belgium's French and Dutch- speaking customers in English and a failure to notify them of their rights.

Ryanair last week defended its handling of the problems saying it had emailed all passengers hit by the latest cancellations, offering them alternative flights or a full refund. They have also received a 40 euro travel voucher, it said.
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Trump leaves on maiden foreign trip; to visit Saudi Arabia, 4 other nations

President Donald Trump today left on a nine-day maiden overseas trip during which he will visit five countries and is expected to push for his agenda of boosting US economy, bringing peace in conflict-prone zones of the world and calling for greater security cooperation.

Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, Vatican, Belgium and Italy during his visit with the defeat of ISIS topping his agenda.

"Getting ready for my big foreign trip. Will be strongly protecting American interests - that's what I like to do!" Trump told his nearly 30 million followers on Tweeter hours before he boarded Air Force One along with his top officials and a battery of White House reporters from Joint Andrews Air Force Base.

In Saudi Arabia, the first stop of his trip, Trump will address leaders from more than 50 Muslim countries with the message of peace and calling for a partnership with the Islamic world.

The leaders of the Muslim world - including those from Afghanistan and Pakistan - would be asked to sign a pledge to make it illegal in their countries to raise funds for extremist and terrorist groups.

Senior administration officials said the US later would hold these countries accountable if there is any violation of the pledge.

However, a major highlight of his trip would be his address to the Muslim world.

"The speech is intended to unite the broader Muslim world against common enemies of all civilisation and to demonstrate America's commitment to our Muslim partners," his National Security Adviser Lt General H R McMaster said ahead of the trip.

McMaster said Trump will also participate in a signing ceremony of several agreements that will further solidify US- Saudi security and economic cooperation.

According to senior administration officials, agreements are expected to cross a whopping $500 billion in all, with security co-operation alone accounting for $300 billion.

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