Category: 3. Business

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• Ryanair Holdings (ISE:RYA) is investing £40 million in a new aviation maintenance facility at Prestwick Airport in the UK.

• The airline has also opened a €25 million maintenance centre at Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain.

• These projects expand Ryanair’s maintenance capacity and create additional high skill roles across two key European hubs.

Ryanair Holdings (ISE:RYA) operates as a low cost carrier across Europe, with a focus on high aircraft utilisation and tight cost control. The new maintenance projects at Prestwick and Madrid sit within a wider industry focus on fleet reliability, operational resilience and in house technical capability as airlines manage busy flight schedules.

For investors, these facilities highlight where Ryanair is allocating meaningful capital and resources, particularly around core infrastructure and technical staff. The scale of spending in the UK and Spain signals a long term commitment to these bases, which may influence how you think about the airline’s route network, cost structure and operational flexibility over time.

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4 things going right for Ryanair Holdings that this headline doesn’t cover.

The Prestwick and Madrid maintenance projects point to Ryanair tightening control over more of its aircraft life cycle. By scaling heavy-maintenance capacity in-house and tying it to training academies and engineering programmes, the airline is putting more of its cost base into owned infrastructure and long term staff development rather than outsourced support. For an operator built around high aircraft utilisation, that can matter as much as new aircraft orders when it comes to reliability, schedule resilience and keeping unit costs competitive with peers such as easyJet, Wizz Air and IAG’s short haul brands.

• The expanded maintenance and training footprint aligns with the narrative around in house capabilities such as training centres and planned engine shops, which are intended to keep Ryanair’s unit costs low as the fleet grows.

• Higher fixed investment in facilities and engineering staff could challenge the idea that Ryanair can always flex capacity quickly between markets if demand or regulation shifts, given more capital is now tied to specific hubs.

• The scale of long term commitments in Spain and the UK, including partnerships with aviation schools, may not be fully captured in high level growth assumptions that focus mainly on aircraft deliveries and passenger targets.

Knowing what a company is worth starts with understanding its story. Check out one of the top narratives in the Simply Wall St Community for Ryanair Holdings to help decide what it’s worth to you.

• ⚠️ Concentrating significant maintenance capacity in key hubs like Prestwick and Madrid could expose Ryanair to operational disruption if those locations face regulatory, labour or infrastructure issues.

• ⚠️ Large capital commitments to fixed facilities may limit flexibility if traffic patterns, environmental rules or airport economics evolve in ways that reduce utilisation of these hangars over time.

• 🎁 Greater in house maintenance and training capacity can provide more control over turnaround times and technical quality, which may support aircraft availability and service reliability.

• 🎁 Building long term engineering pipelines with local schools and training academies could help Ryanair manage skilled labour availability and reduce reliance on external providers as the fleet grows.

Investors may want to track how quickly Ryanair ramps utilisation of the new bays in Prestwick and Madrid, and whether management provides any detail on maintenance cost per aircraft or operational reliability metrics linked to these hubs. It is also worth watching how these facilities interact with regulatory trends, such as sustainable fuel mandates and environmental requirements, which could affect maintenance practices and capital needs across Europe.

To ensure you’re always in the loop on how the latest news impacts the investment narrative for Ryanair Holdings, head to the community page for Ryanair Holdings to never miss an update on the top community narratives.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include RYA.IR.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

Baker McKenzie has advised AURELIUS, a global private equity investor, on the sale of LSG Asia-Pacific (“LSG APAC”) to a Japanese consortium comprising Kobe Bussan Co., Ltd. and GOURMET KINEYA Co., Ltd. The sale follows the swift carve-out and successful development of LSG Asia-Pacific into a regional champion with locations in Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, Canada and Micronesia. The agreement with the Japanese consortium was signed today.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

LSG Group is a leading global integrated airline caterer and provider of onboard retail and has built a strong presence in the growing food commerce industry in recent years. AURELIUS acquired LSG APAC from Deutsche Lufthansa in 2023 as part of the broader takeover of LSG Group (International) and focused from the outset on the development of independent operational structures.

AURELIUS is a global private equity investor known and widely recognized for its outstanding operational approach. AURELIUS focuses on private equity, private debt and real estate. To date, AURELIUS has completed more than 300 transactions and has a long track record of generating attractive returns for its investors. AURELIUS has grown strongly in recent years, in particular through the expansion of its global presence, and now employs more than 400 people at nine locations in Europe and North America.

“This transaction highlights AURELIUS’ ability to transform a carved out business into a stand alone regional champion and successfully position it for the next phase of growth. We are grateful for the trust placed in our team throughout this demanding and fast moving process,” commented Jakub Lorys, Corporate/M&A Partner in Munich and one of the lead partners of the transaction.

Ash Chandhok Tiwari, Corporate/M&A Partner in London, who co-led the transaction with Jakub Lorys, adds: “The investment in LSG APAC as part of the larger LSG Group has been a great success for our client. Today, LSG APAC is one of the leading aviation caterers in the region and has completely restructured its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Legal adviser to Aurelius:
Baker McKenzie:

Lead: Corporate/M&A: Dr. Jakub Lorys (partner, Munich), Ash Chandhok Tiwari (partner, London)

Team: Corporate/M&A: Dr. Tino Marz (partner, Munich), Priya Shah (senior associate, London), Eva Kriechbaumer (counsel, Munich), Nandi Maesela (associate, London), Anna Giulia Klaas (associate, Munich), Adeola Alade (associate, London), Felix Berger (associate, Munich)
Tax: Matthew Legg (partner, London), Taras Varava (senior associate, London), Yasmin Kalhori (associate, London)
Banking & Finance: Matthias Töke (partner, Frankfurt), Kieran Verdano (associate, Frankfurt)
Commercial & Trade: Dr. Robin Haas (counsel, Munich), Lisa Elisaveta Moskalenko (associate, Munich), Helen Griffiths (associate, London)
Employment/Pension: Dr. Felix Diehl (partner, Frankfurt), Dr. Sebastian Pfrang (senior associate, Frankfurt)
IP/IT: Patrick Wilkening (partner, Dusseldorf), Anela Winzig (associate, Frankfurt), Yannick Filoda (associate, Dusseldorf)

Canada: Nancy Hamzo (partner, Toronto), Jacqueline Lacchin (associate, Toronto), Matthew De Lio (associate, Toronto), Justine Johnston (associate, Toronto), Jing Xu (associate, Toronto), Spencer Harrison (associate, Toronto)

China: Nicholas Fong (counsel, Hong Kong), Ken Ng (counsel, Hong Kong), Chelsea Cheung (associate, Hong Kong), Venus Man (senior associate, Hong Kong), Chelsea Liang (associate, Shanghai), Harrods Wong (associate, Hong Kong)

South Korea: Jae Yoon Ahn (associate, Seoul), Young Jin Lee (associate, Seoul), Hankyul Lee (associate, Seoul), Hyunuk Lee (associate, Seoul)

Thailand: Duangkamon Amkaew (partner, Bangkok), Denpoum Pipatcharoenkij (associate, Bangkok), Karnjanick Chutima (associate, Bangkok)

USA: Dieter Schmitz (partner, Chicago), Sarah Swain (partner, San Francisco), Christopher Guldberg (partner, Chicago), Erin Karnig (associate, Chicago), Sesen Hailemichael (associate, San Francisco), Tatenda Makanza (associate, Chicago)

The Revolutionary, Multi-Year Program Advances Online Chef Training to Expand Culinary Expertise

MIAMI, March 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Oceania Cruises^®, the world’s leading culinary- and destination-focused luxury cruise line, today revealed The Floating Pastry Academy, a new multi-year training program for its onboard chefs, and first of its kind for the cruise industry, created in partnership with revered digital training platform, The Butter Book^®.

Through the new training partnership, more than 200 Oceania Cruises pastry and bakery chefs will complete the three-year program which will mix theory with practical assessments, both online and in person on board its vessels.

The new Floating Pastry Academy establishes an industry-leading long-term model for pastry and baking education at sea, providing Oceania Cruises’ culinary talent with a structured pathway to deepen technical expertise and refine their craft.

The new collaboration underscores the luxury line’s commitment to serving The Finest Cuisine at Sea^® while preserving and advancing French gastronomic heritage, and reinforces the classical foundation that defines Oceania Cruises’ culinary identity.

The new partnership was the brainchild of Chef Eric Barale, Oceania Cruises Executive Culinary Director and a member of the prestigious Maîtres Cuisiniers de France (Master Chefs of France), and founder of The Butter Book, Chef Sébastien Canonne, who has been awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France. This award, an international hallmark of excellence and mastery, is the highest designation of professional excellence in France and is bestowed upon the country’s finest craftspeople.

“This new academy reflects the respect we share for the traditions that shaped us, and for a passion for culinary excellence at sea. Culinary excellence starts with our people, and this new program will reinforce the consistency, refinement and artistic precision our pâtisserie demands, while nurturing the professional growth of our chefs,” said Chef Barale.

“Investing in your people is essential to sustaining luxury,” added Chef Canonne, M.O.F. “This academy creates a model designed for enduring excellence and innovation, supporting the fleet’s growth without compromising on technique or quality.”

The Floating Pastry Academy will offer expanded training, elevated service standards and enriched onboard experiences. Its launch transforms traditional onboard training into a sophisticated, progressive curriculum featuring:

• Multi-year learning pathways tailored to pastry and bakery roles
• Mandatory foundations for new team members
• Role-based specialization with defined progression
• Chef-led digital courses, quizzes and hands-on assessments
• Certification at each stage to strengthen long-term culinary careers

The academy complements Oceania Cruises’ continued investment in French culinary heritage, including the introduction of La Table par Maîtres Cuisiniers de France, the first restaurant at sea created in partnership with MCF, set to debut aboard Oceania Sonata™ in 2027. The ninth vessel in the Oceania Cruises fleet, Oceania Sonata will be the first of five new-generation ships and will sail her maiden voyage in August 2027.

Additional media information

Chef Eric Barale, Oceania Cruises Executive Culinary Director
Born in Toulouse, France, Chef Eric Barale began his culinary training at 16 and refined his craft in Michelin‑starred Relais & Châteaux properties across France, Monaco, Switzerland, and Italy. After earning a master’s degree and advanced culinary certifications, he taught aspiring chefs before taking his talents to sea in 1999. He joined Oceania Cruises in 2003 as Executive Chef, rising to Corporate Executive Chef in 2005 and Culinary Director in 2009, overseeing both Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. A Maître Cuisinier de France since 2010, he became Executive Culinary Director, alongside Chef Alexis Quaretti, in 2024. Chef Barale is renowned for his pursuit of culinary excellence and innovation, both at sea and on land.

Chef Sébastien Canonne, M.O.F.
Chef Sébastien Canonne is a world-renowned culinary and pastry master whose career began with apprenticeships in France. He went on to work in prestigious Michelin-starred restaurants and elite institutions around the world, including the Palais de l’Élysée for President François Mitterrand. In 1995, he founded the celebrated French Pastry School and later created The Butter Book Pastry Academy. A Meilleur Ouvrier de France and recipient of numerous international honors, Chef Canonne is recognized as one of France’s most accomplished educators and craftsmen.

About Oceania Cruises^®
Oceania Cruises_­^® is the world’s leading culinary- and destination-focused luxury cruise line. The line’s intimate, luxurious ships feature The Finest Cuisine at Sea^® and destination-rich itineraries that span the globe. Expertly curated travel experiences are available aboard the designer-inspired ships, which call on more than 600 marquee and boutique ports in more than 100 countries on seven continents, on voyages that range from seven to more than 200 days. Oceania Cruises^® has five Sonata Class ships on order scheduled for delivery in 2027, 2029, 2032, 2035 and 2037. Oceania Cruises^® is a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH). To learn more, visit www.nclhltd.com.

About The Butter Book^®
The Butter Book^® is an award-winning pastry and baking training platform founded by world-renowned chefs and expert educators. Built on the proven methodology of The French Pastry School and informed by more than 25 years of elite brick-and-mortar culinary training from apprentice to master craftsmanship, the platform delivers scalable digital and hands-on education for hospitality groups, hotels, cruise lines, government culinary teams, and schools. Through 24/7 chef-instructed learning, customizable training pathways, practical assessments, and enterprise-ready integration, The Butter Book helps organizations of all sizes attract, train, retain, and elevate talent while driving greater consistency, strengthening internal talent pipelines, and advancing long-term operational excellence and innovation.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oceania-cruises-announces-the-industrys-first-floating-pastry-academy-in-partnership-with-the-butter-book-302730465.html

SOURCE Oceania Cruises

Thames Water’s bosses should eat “humble pie” over a failed takeover process last year and let other firms bid for it, according to a Hong Kong investment group angling to buy the troubled water company.

CK Infrastructure (CKI), which is owned by Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, has already acquired Northumbrian Water and has been trying to launch a bid for Thames since February last year.

Andrew Hunter, CKI’s co-managing director, told the Guardian he was “frustrated” at being shut out of the process to save the debt-laden water company, which has now been locked in talks with its own lenders since last summer. “My goodness, it’s been going on forever,” he said.

Thames has been trying to stave off financial collapse for more than two years as it struggles under the weight of £17.6bn in debt, built up over decades since privatisation. Bosses tried to sell it last year but faced embarrassment when their preferred bidder, KKR, pulled out of the deal at the last minute.

Now it is negotiating with creditors over a separate £10bn rescue plan that would involve paying off the hundreds of millions of pounds-worth of fines for leaks and pollution, in exchange for the company not falling into a government-handled administration, in effect a temporary nationalisation.

CKI has previously expressed interest in buying the company and wrote to the water regulator, Ofwat, in October to insist that it would bid for Thames if there was a competitive sale process. Asked if the watchdog should intervene to open up the bidding, Hunter said: “I most definitely think they should.”

“It’s hugely important that Thames Water is owned and operated by an experienced, knowledgeable company,” he added. “I would be encouraging government and Ofwat to have a process that brings about that result.

“The direction of travel at the moment is bringing about a very unfortunate result, in my view,” Hunter said, casting doubt on Thames’ lenders – which include the US hedge funds Elliott Management and Silver Point Capital – as suitable long-term owners of the company.

“They’re a mixed bag of traditional creditors and US distressed debt hedge funds,” he said. “They are good at what they do but they don’t run UK water companies.”

CKI has owned Northumbrian Water since 2011 and has staked much of its claim to buying Thames on its experience running that company, which serves 2.7 million customers in north-east England compared with Thames’s 16 million in and around London.

It also has a long track record in UK energy as owner of UK Power Networks and Northern Gas Networks, but some MPs have raised concerns about links to China, with former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith previously saying on social media that a CKI acquisition “should be avoided at all costs”.

“I take a little bit of issue with the characterisation [of CKI] as Chinese,” Hunter said. “CKI was founded in Hong Kong, under British rule, I hasten to add, and and it is now listed in Hong Kong and listed in London.”

“I can’t control the headlines,” he added. “We are well respected in this country and we’re a very large inward foreign investor.”

CKI had previously been eliminated from the process despite tabling a multibillion-pound proposal, as Thames chose KKR as a preferred bidder and entered exclusive talks with the company before it eventually pulled out.

Hunter said other prospective buyers should be given access to the due diligence information given to KKR at the time. “My frustration stems from the fact that we’ve never been given the information and allowed to make an offer,” he said.

He added that it “doesn’t reflect well” on Thames’ bosses that the investment company still walked away. “When you grant exclusivity to someone and they walk away, there’s a little bit of humble pie to be eaten. They’ve got to swallow their pride and say: ‘Look fellas, we need to start again.’”

However, Hunter said that while CKI had spoken to Ofwat over the matter, he had not spoken personally with Emma Reynolds, the environment secretary, who would also need to approve any potential rescue deal.

A spokesperson for Thames’s creditors declined to comment.

NEW YORK, March 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The buzz around AI is loud but its impact on the workplace remains muted. New research finds that 60% of organizations are experimenting with AI but have yet to operationalize it at scale.

The Conference Board report, which surveyed more than 250 HR leaders, finds most organizations are still in early-stage AI adoption, with fewer than half integrating it into workflows, measuring its impact, or embedding it enterprise-wide.

The report also shows that AI has yet to meaningfully impact the climb up the corporate ladder: More than half of surveyed workers believe AI skills could boost their chances of promotion, but 56% of HR leaders say AI fluency still plays little or no role in advancement.

And despite widespread fears of AI-driven job loss, just 6% of organizations cite AI as a primary reason for layoffs.

“We’re at an inflection point for AI adoption. Use of the technology is happening very rapidly and there is massive investment behind it, yet the measurable impacts have yet to materialize,” said Robin Erickson, PhD, Head of Human Capital Research at The Conference Board. “Leaders now have an opportunity to align talent strategies, leadership development, and workforce planning with emerging AI capabilities—not just today’s use cases.”

Key findings include:

AI adoption is growing, but most organizations remain in early stages.

• 60% of organizations are at early stages of AI maturity, primarily focused on experimentation.
• Only 11% report more advanced AI integration.

Workers see AI skills as key to advancement, but its not yet a decisive factor in promotions.

• Just over half (52%) of workers said that improving their AI skills would affect their chances of promotion to at least a moderate extent.
• However, AI fluency is not yet a standard requirement for promotions, with 56% of HR leaders saying it plays little or no role in advancement today.
• Organizations at higher levels of AI maturity are more likely to consider AI fluency in advancement decisions, while those at earlier stages are less likely to do so.

Cost-cutting continues—but AI is not the primary driver.

• Layoffs remain common, with 37% of organizations reporting workforce reductions in the past six months.
• Just 6% cite AI as a primary reason for layoffs; restructuring and financial pressures dominate.

Hybrid work endures as the dominant model and the one most desired by workers.

• 51% of organizations primarily use hybrid work arrangements.
• Fully remote work continues to decline (6%), while fully on-site work has increased (43%).
• 83% of workers rank workplace flexibility among their most important benefits, beyond a competitive salary.

Talent challenges diverge sharply across workforce segments.

• 83% of organizations with industry and manual services workers report difficulty finding talent, compared to 63% for office workers.
• Retention challenges are more than twice as high for manual workers (63%) than for office workers (27%).

Leaders and workers remain misaligned on employee experience.

• Workers consistently rate their well-being and engagement higher than leaders perceive.
• The largest gaps persist in mental health and well-being—areas leaders find hardest to measure.

“Hybrid work, flexibility, and talent pressures are not temporary trends—they are defining features of the modern workplace,” said Diana Scott, US Human Capital Center Leader at The Conference Board. “At the same time, AI is introducing a new layer of transformation that organizations must prepare for now, even if its full impact has yet to materialize.”

To remain competitive and resilient, CHROs and business leaders should:

• Define and embed AI fluency into leadership development and workforce strategies, ensuring AI skill expectations are understood by workers.
• Balance cost discipline with investments in future skills.
• Design hybrid work with purpose, focusing on collaboration, development, and well-being.
• Address talent shortages with differentiated strategies across workforce segments.
• Improve measurement of employee well-being and experience to close perception gaps.

About The Conference Board
The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what’s ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. www.TCB.org

SOURCE The Conference Board

Whatever the answer, it’s clear that microbusinesses reported the lowest overall scores (35), with smaller enterprises employing 10-49 people ranking second lowest (39). Medium-sized (44.4) and larger businesses (47.0) were more likely to have reported higher combined Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. For all but medium-sized enterprises (who are most likely to report adverse impact from Uncertainty), Volatility presented the most significant impact.

Across all industries, VUCA scores appear most influenced by Volatility and Uncertainty, with Ambiguity and Complexity playing a more secondary role (in the case of Volatility in particular, the impact may be more immediately obvious than it is for other measures).

Certain industries are feeling the effects more than others. Transport and distribution decision makers, perhaps partially due to rising tariffs, reported the highest overall VUCA score (55.6). Among industries, IT & Telecoms (50.3) business decision makers also reporting higher than average VUCA scores. 

On a more positive note: businesses were still more likely to say they hold a positive outlook for the next 12 months than a negative one (42% vs. 25%), and they remain more confident than not that they can operate effectively in an environment affected by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (55% vs. 13%). 

Methodology

Data is based on a survey of 509 UK business decision makers conducted between January and February 2026. Respondents were asked to what extent volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity negatively affect their business. Responses were converted into an index score from 0 to 100, where 0 indicates no negative impact and 100 indicates a great deal of negative impact. The overall VUCA score is calculated as the average of the four components.