Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co’s 2022 nightmare before Christmas is unlikely to inflict long-lasting damage to the carrier’s reputation if management compensates customers and makes good on vows of operational changes, communications and management professionals say. In recent days, social media has been flooded by angry Southwest customers after storms and shaky computer systems forced the airline, the largest domestic …

  Bloomberg Australians spent a record-breaking A$74.5 billion ($50.4 billion) in the run-up to Christmas, a sign that rising prices and soaring interest rates have yet to weaken consumer demand. Retail sales across Australia surged 8.6% between November 1 and Decemebr 24 from a year ago, according to figures released by Australian Retailers Association in partnership with Westpac DataX. Trading …

  Bloomberg Hong Kong scrapped its closed-loop requirement for international airline crews, ending almost two years of pandemic-related restrictions on flight staff. Transport officials in the Asian financial hub told airline industry representatives of the change, which took effect immediately, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified because they’re not authorised to speak publicly. The change means …

  Bloomberg Italian health authorities will begin testing all arrivals from China for Covid after almost half of the passengers on two flights to Milan were found to have the virus. They are also sequencing the Milan tests to see if there are new variants, the Health Ministry said in a statement. If a new strain is found, officials may …

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc is scrubbing some flights to and from Belgium over the New Year’s weekend because of a strike by cabin crew. The airline was forced to cancel “a small number” of its 2,500 flights into and out of the country on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Europe’s largest discount carrier said. Brussels South Charleroi airport told customers …

  Bloomberg Solar equipment makers are in a fierce competition to cut wafer prices, providing some relief for China’s efforts to install a massive amount of renewable power and reach ambitious climate targets. Falling solar material prices have driven down costs along the supply chain in recent weeks, with silicon wafers seeing the largest discount. Top player Longi Green Energy …

Bloomberg Shell New Energies, EDP Renewables and Engie asked regulators for a delay in the planning of a proposed joint-venture offshore wind farm, the latest potential setback to President Joe Biden’s goal of powering millions of homes from Atlantic gusts. The sharp spike in interest rates presents “significant challenges” to Mayflower Wind’s economics, the project’s lawyers said in a filing …

  Bloomberg EQT Corp, the largest US natural gas producer, saw production drop by as much as about 30% during the recent bout of extreme cold that caused disruptions for some of its wells in the Appalachian Basin. The drillers’ daily output fell by between 1 billion and 1.5 billion cubic feet per day during the winter storm, Chief Executive …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp is suing the European Union in a push to eliminate a new windfall tax against oil groups, arguing the bloc does not have legal authority to impose the levy. The lawsuit is a major response to the tax from the oil industry that has reaped record profits this year as western governments have sought to bring …

  Bloomberg Germany’s RWE Supply & Trading GmBH agreed to a 15-year contract with Sempra Infrastructure to purchase liquefied natural gas from a production terminal set to open in Port Arthur, Texas, in 2027, according to both companies. With the deal, RWE said it had secured sufficient LNG volumes to make full use of its booked regasification capacities for an …