Business diary: Thieves reject Aviva's bikes

Have London's bike thieves gone on holiday? When Aviva wanted to promote its bike insurance policies, it struck on the bright idea of leaving a few unlocked bikes round the capital so that it would be able to tell everyone how quickly they had been pinched. The only problem being that the criminal community didn't seem to want to play ball. Aviva took one bike home from Euston train station after it had been ignored for two days and had a similar experience with a bike left outside a central London office block. Only in Fulham did the insurer manage to get its trusty steeds successfully stolen.

Ryanair not welcome here?

An interview with Michael O'Leary, the outspoken Ryanair boss, in the American magazine Bloomberg BusinessWeek appears to have prompted a little nervousness in the US. "He insults the dignity of the flying public every time he opens his mouth," Kate Hanui, who runs the American pressure group FlyersRights, tells the magazine. "What we don't want is to have Ryanair's wide and foolish ideas trickle into the US."

Place your bets on BA's targets

No sooner had Willie Walsh, the British Airways chief executive, let it be known that a dozen rival airlines are on his shortlist for takeover or merger potential than Paddy Power started a book on who might be up for grabs first. For the record, it makes Chile's LAN Airlines its hot favourite for some close attention from BA. Or, if you're looking for better odds than 9/4, the bookmaker will give you 11/4 on Cathay Pacific.

Fish stock flies ever higher

Forgive us the puns, but the opportunity is too good to miss. Shares in Aqua Bounty Technologies have leapt 26 per cent higher after officials ay the US Food and Drug Administration approved its AquAdvantage salmon. The genetically modified fish, which grow to full size in half the time of normal salmon, could now be on sale in American supermarkets within three years.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk