The High Court has ruled against Ryanair's legal action challenging Covid travel restrictions.

Mr Justice Garrett Simons ruled: "The Government acted lawfully in providing travel advice and public health advice in respect of the coronavirus pandemic on a non-statutory basis."

READ MORE: Whisky family hails online sales hike

He added: "The Government is entitled, in the exercise of the executive power, to provide such advice to the public."

The judgment in Ryanair v An Taoiseach was delivered on Friday morning.

Ryanair challenged the legality of travel advice published by the Irish Government in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

In its action the airline claimed the travel restrictions were "unlawful" and that what had been published by the Government went "well beyond mere travel advice" and represented the "imposition of restrictions on international travel".

In his concluding remarks, Mr Justice Garrett Simons said: "Ryanair's principal complaint is that, as a matter of domestic constitutional law, the Government in publishing the impugned travel advice exceeded its executive powers and trespassed upon the legislative power. These arguments have been rejected."

Tui mulls capital raise

Travel giant Tui has said it is mulling a capital raise after the holiday sector was hammered by the pandemic.

However, the company said it would be "significantly lower" than the one billion to 1.5 billion euros (£910 million to £1.35 billion) mentioned in press reports.

READ MORE: Home plan will boost Ayrshire, Barratt says

It comes shortly after the business received a 1.2 billion euro (£1.1 billion) injection of state aid from the German government to see it through the tough winter period.

In a statement, Tui said: "In view of the still very volatile market environment resulting from the Covid-19 crisis, it continues evaluating various measures to achieve an optimal balance sheet structure and maturity profile."

A short to mid-term capital raise is among the measures being considered, it added.

However, it stressed that a decision on such a measure has not yet been made, and its timing or size has also not yet been determined.

It came after Fritz Joussen, chief executive of Tui, said that the company was considering selling some of its 400 hotels or its UK-based Marella cruise line in order to shore up its balance sheet, according to the Financial Times.

The tour operator said on Thursday that it will retire one of its Marella vessels, leaving it with four ships and resulting in the cancellation of multiple cruises next year.

Tui has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, as it saw summer bookings dive by 83% against last year.

Last week, it made further cuts to winter capacity due to changing restrictions.
It said that holiday prices also slipped by 19%, while it has also seen winter sales fall 59% against the same period last year.

Tui revealed proposals to axe 8,000 jobs and shut 166 of its high street stores earlier in the pandemic as part of its cost-cutting plans.

Prime Minister to discuss Brexit 'next steps' 

Boris Johnson is to hold talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to take stock of negotiations on a post-Brexit free trade deal, Downing Street has said.

The two leaders will speak on Saturday to discuss the "next steps" following the conclusion of the final formal round of talks in Brussels.

READ MORE: Scottish firms buy used printers ‘in cost-saving move in wake of lockdown’

The chief negotiators Michel Barnier and Lord Frost were meeting on Friday in the Belgian capital at the end of a week of talks.

A No 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister will be speaking to President von der Leyen tomorrow afternoon to take stock of negotiations and discuss next steps."

Both sides have acknowledged that time is running out if they are to achieve an agreement before the current Brexit transition period comes to an end at the end of the year.

Mr Johnson has said he is prepared to walk away from the negotiations if there is no agreement by the time of the next EU summit on October 15.

There was no further immediate detail about what Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen will be discussing.

However, the announcement will prompt speculation that they will consider whether sufficient progress had been made for them to authorise a final intensive round of talks - known as "the tunnel" - in an attempt to get a breakthrough.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said there were still some "very significant issues" which needed to be resolved if they were to get an agreement.

"There isn't very much time now so we are urging the EU to show flexibility and pragmatism in these final stages of the talks," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"We hope that we can move swiftly now to reach the kind of sensible trading that we would like to see along the lines of Canada.

"Of course, as we have always said, that if that isn't possible then we are perfectly content to see the transition period end and us to continue to trade on the same sort of arrangements Australia and other major economies have with the EU."

The main stumbling blocks to an agreement remain the issues of future fishing rights and state aid rules after the transition is over.

The EU has also been angered by Mr Johnson's UK Internal Market Bill which gives ministers the power to override provisions in the Brexit divorce settlement relating to Northern Ireland.

On Thursday, Mrs von der Leyen announced that the commission was taking legal action against the UK for breaching its international treaty obligations in the Withdrawal Agreement.

However, few observers expect the case to end up in court.

You can now have the bulletin and the top business news stories sent direct to your email inbox twice-daily for free. Tick Business Bulletin AM edition and Business Bulletin PM edition, and Business Week for the weekly round-up on Sunday, in the newsletters section here to sign up:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/my/account/register/