Earnings hold steady at Qantas domestic as Jetstar and frequent flyer program contribute to $300m increase in profitFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQantas has paid out bumper dividends to shareholders and announced it would buy 20 new aircraft after its before-tax profits rose by $300m to $2.4bn in the year to JuneAustralia’s biggest airline expanded its profit margin after holding ticket prices steady while fuel costs eased, its annual results showed on Thursday. Continue reading...

CEO Michael O’Leary ‘makes no apology’ for airline’s policy and says monthly cap of €80 will also be removedRyanair will pay airport staff increased and unlimited bonuses of €2.50 for every non-compliant carry-on bag they take from passengers, the airline’s boss has announced.Passengers whose cabin cases exceed the maximum dimensions for a small suitcase are charged fees of up to £75 and their luggage is taken into the hold. Continue reading...

Unclaimed suitcases were once destined for landfill. Now people are ‘suitcase gambling’ – bidding for bags and their unknown contents, and diving deep into strangers’ livesA yellow suitcase draws me in like a beacon. It is stacked on a dark shelf at the back of Greasby’s auction house in Tooting, south London, and looks brand new, with a hard exterior and wheels that Richard Stacey, a Greasby’s regular who is dressed in shorts, a plaid shirt and a cream bucket hat, tells me to test. So I test them – and they work. If I was just buying a bag, that is all I would need to know. But this isn’t just a bag: the zip is locked and when I lift it, it is heavy. This yellow suitcase is filled with a stranger’s lost belongings. And I won’t find out what is inside unless I submit a winning bid.I write down the lot number, 281, and my bid of £70 on a form, along with four other bids – for a larger black bag that is filled to the brim; a sensible blue suitcase with a compass in the handle that I expect belongs to someone older; a small wheelie in Louis Vuitton-like check; and a smart piece of hand luggage that I assume must be a businessperson’s. In all, I bid £250 for five suitcases – way too much – but Stacey has been to the auction house 10 times before, and tells me I probably won’t win if I bid less than £40 on each. Continue reading...