What to Know Now

IAG, the parent company of British Airways, has long been courting the interests of Aer Lingus, the flag carrier of Ireland. And after several attempts to woo the airline and its stakeholders, the British have finally broken through. This week, the Irish gave permission to the British to buy their 25.1% stake in the airline, effectively ceding control of the carrier over to IAG. The deal still has to be approved of by the Irish government.

For business travelers, one perk of this deal may be that Aer Lingus could once more join an alliance. British is one of the strongest members of the Oneworld alliance and with the flights and landing slots of Aer Lingus supporting it, will have a stronger play in transatlantic and European travel. Those who fly primarily on Oneworld carriers such as American, Cathay and Qantas, should be pleased.

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Airlines

The Chinese Brothers Who Turned a Dairy Into the Latest Hot Airline IPO: Two decades ago, the Wang brothers sold flavored milk and yogurt to children in China. Last week, they sold shares in their airline in an IPO to become millionaires. Read more at Skift

Ryanair’s CEO’s Newfound Niceness Is Good for Business, Bad for Headlines: For the first 20 years of his career in the airline business, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary liked to think that he was always right and his customers always wrong. Read more at Skift

Delta pilot orders pizza for delayed flight: Diverted because of bad weather in Atlanta, a Delta Air Lines pilot and airport crew turned to the classic solution for many a grumpy passenger: pizza. Read more at CNN

British Airways Parents Gets Irish Approval to Buy Aer Lingus: Ireland’s government has approved the sale of its 25 percent stake in Aer Lingus Group Plc to British Airways-parent IAG, paving the way for the 1.36 billion-euro takeover ($1.48 billion) of the Irish airline. Read more at Skift

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Airports

Kentucky Airport Finds Renovation Inspiration in a Barrel of Bourbon:Louisville International Airport officials have selected a craft and distilling design theme as part of an $8 million renovation of the airport’s terminal. Read more at Skift

Dallas/Fort Worth airport reopens runway closed due to sinkhole: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has reopened a runway that it closed earlier Tuesday due to reports of a sinkhole nearby. The closure appeared to cause some disruptions late Tuesday afternoon. Read more at USA Today

Secrets of Airline Catering Kitchens Serving 100,000 Meals Per Day: How do you offer quality meals to tens of thousands every day, when those meals will be eaten hours later, after being re-heated and served at altitudes that numb the tastebuds so the richest foods taste like oatmeal? Read more at Skift

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Tech

The Best Feature of Singapore’s Premium Economy We Weren’t Expecting: Singapore Airlines invested $80 Million dollars to launch its new Premium Economy, plus costs of accelerated deployment to achieve what the airline describes as the “critical mass” it needs to succeed. The end product reflects money well spent. Read more at Skift

Where to Find the Best Hotel Wi-Fi at Chains Around the World: U.S. hotels charging for Wi-Fi in Asia evidently helps produce better Wi-Fi quality there than in the U.S. or Europe as chains like Marriott and Hilton, which both have paid models in the U.S. as well as Asia, have lesser quality Wi-Fi at their American properties. Read more at Skift

Survey: Passengers Want Simpler Tech Solutions From Airports and Airlines: SITA has released its 2015 Passenger IT Trends Survey, conducted in the first months of 2015 across 17 countries, representing 76% of the world’s passenger traffic, which reveals that aviation could implement simple changes to dramatically improve the passenger experience. Read more at Skift

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Hotels

The 10 Most Highly Compensated Hotel CEOs of 2014: Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn repeated as the most highly compensated hotel CEO in 2014 while his casino-resort peers at Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts fell in the rankings compared with 2013. Read more at Skift

Interview: Red Lion’s CEO Reveals Its New Hotel RL Brand: Spokane-based Red Lion Hotels is launching its new Hotel RL lifestyle brand in Maryland on August 1, positioned as the first “upscale three-star” property developed for design-conscious, socially-minded travelers on a budget. Read more at Skift

Hotels See Fee Opportunities When Guests Travel With Dogs: Having an 80-pound Labradoodle as a travel buddy means B.L. Ochman can quickly separate the hotels that love dogs from those that just put up with them. Read more at Skift

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Photo credit: Ground crew are seen parking an Aer Lingus Airbus A320 away from the passenger terminals at Dublin Airport. Paul McErlane / Reuters

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