Smoothing tensions

THE Spanish President, Pedro Sánchez arrived in Morocco on Thursday, February 2 for a summit with top officials in the country. Among other topics, the countries are looking to recover their bilateral agreements on migration after relations broke down in recent years.

Pedro Sánchez declared a “new era” in relations between the two countries at the start of the summit adding, “We are committed to transparency and keeping all channels of communication open”.

During the first day of the conference, Foreign Ministers, Fernando Grande­Marlaska and Abdelouafi Laftit met to discuss immigration issues.

Agreements reached include strengthening relationships between law enforcement agencies working on trafficking cases, tightening migration controls and developing better repatriation proce­ dures to fight illegal immigration.

The Spanish delegation expressed their satisfaction at Morocco’s economic development, particularly with a new trade deal between Spain’s North African enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, for which testoperations have been running smoothly.

Sánchez also highlighted the Spanish government’s objectives of developing better social and cultural ties with its North African neighbour, saying education and employment exchanges will be the focus of discussions.

Flybe slots

LUFTHANSA and Air France / KLM are said to be competing to buy Flybe which went out of business last week.

According to a news source on Monday, February 6 the two companies are not bidding to reinstate the airline but to acquire their landing rights in the UK. In particular, the companies are said to be after Flybe’s landing slots at Heathrow airport.

Flybe also had landing slots at Schiphol in Amsterdam adding to the value of the defunct company and the interest of the two leading European airlines.

For both Lufthansa and Air France / KLM the landing slots are vital to their ability to grow their transit offering, as the Dutch government has restricted the number of flights that can operate from Schiphol.