Benelux & Ireland in January 2026: the most important developments in economy
In the Benelux countries and Ireland in January 2026, the most covered economic story was the public dispute between Ryanair and Elon Musk. On 21 January, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary dismissed Musk's suggestion of buying the airline, calling the idea unserious. He thanked Musk for boosting Ryanair's ticket sales through their exchange on the social media platform X. The dispute began with personal insults and has become a promotional opportunity for the airline.
In industry, chipmaking equipment supplier ASML reported record quarterly orders on 28 January and raised its outlook, citing a surge in demand for the machines used to produce AI chips. Chipmaker Nexperia and its Chinese owner Wingtech were in a Dutch court battle for control of the company. Czech defence group CSG planned a stock market listing in Amsterdam, and the sale of Shell and Exxon's UK gas assets to Viaro Energy collapsed.
On trade and sanctions, the European Union was preparing a final sanctions package targeting Russian oil while urging approval of a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine. President Donald Trump said he canceled a tariff threat after NATO's Rutte agreed to a framework for a deal on Greenland. French President Emmanuel Macron called for more Chinese foreign direct investment in Europe's key industrial sectors.
In aviation, KLM canceled all flights to Tel Aviv until further notice, reversing an earlier decision to resume limited service, and Aer Lingus said it would cancel all flights from Manchester to the United States starting the following month.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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