Latest Airlines news – Page 270
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NewsPressured SA Express suspends services until further notice
South African regional carrier SA Express is suspending operations until further notice, in response to various pressures on the airline. While it mentions the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, SA Express indicates this is only one consideration behind its decision, attributing the suspension to “adverse recent developments”. The airline had ...
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NewsTaiwan extends financial lifeline to its airlines
The Taiwanese government will offer financial aid to its carriers – in the form of subsidies and loans – to help cushion the financial blow from the coronavirus. Among the measures the MInistry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) rolled out was the offering of loans to help airlines with normal ...
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NewsVirgin Australia cuts entire international network, halves domestic capacity
Virgin Australia will suspend all international flights until June, and ground its entire widebody fleet, as it continues to reel from the impact of coronavirus outbreak. It will also cut domestic capacity by half until June, up from a previously announced cut of 5%. Virgin Australia states that it was ...
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NewsVietnam to cease visa issuance for one month
Vietnam will cease issuing visas for incoming visitors over the next 30 days as the country seeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus. According to a government web site, exceptions include overseas Vietnamese and their spouses and children, but only if they can submit papers that prove they have not ...
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NewsBrussels Airlines to shut down for a month
Brussels Airlines has become the latest carrier to shut down services in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, suspending all scheduled flights for a month. It says the services will be gradually wound down and then halted on 21 March and will not restart until 20 April. “We need to ...
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NewsIATA warns government action needed to tackle airline liquidity crisis
Airline trade association IATA is calling for governments to urgently step in with financial support measures, warning a liquidity crisis resulting from the swathe of capacity cuts means many airlines are close to running out of cash.
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NewsSwiss bolsters senior management to face coronavirus fallout
Swiss has shored up its management teams in order to provide greater corporate stability as the Lufthansa Group carrier deals with the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak. It has installed Markus Binkert as its chief financial officer – a position which had been left vacant – and appointed Thomas Frick ...
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NewsAlitalia to be renationalised under broad emergency decree
Italy’s government has indicated that it will renationalise struggling flag-carrier Alitalia as part of a broad set of emergency measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The government says, in a decree published on 16 March, that the epidemic is being formally recognised as a “natural disaster and exceptional event”. ...
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NewsCoronavirus costs Cathay HK$2 billion in February
Cathay Pacific made an unaudited loss of more than HK$2 billion ($257 million) in February, as it takes a hit from the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines saw falling passenger numbers for the month, and warns of weakened travel demand in the near term.
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NewsQantas to ground nearly entire widebody fleet, cut capacity further
Australia’s Qantas Group will ground 150 aircraft — including “almost all” of its widebody fleet —amid deeper capacity cuts across both its international and domestic networks.
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NewsEU plans 30-day travel ban and state aid framework
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled proposals for a 30-day restriction of travel to the European Union, as well as development of a framework for state aid to affected businesses. Von der Leyen says EU member states have been taking measures intended to reduce pressure on the ...
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NewsIAG not seeking state aid as Virgin appeals for government credit
IAG has not approached governments for state aid to assist the company through the coronavirus crisis, chief executive Willie Walsh has disclosed. Speaking during a 16 March briefing, Walsh said the company had not followed other individual carriers in seeking financial assistance from governments. “Governments would expect airlines to look ...
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NewsIAG looks at recruiting passenger jets to serve critical freight lines
IAG is considering recruiting some of its passenger aircraft for air freight operations, to ensure that essential cargo supplies are maintained as the coronavirus crisis persists. Chief executive Willie Walsh, speaking during a 16 March briefing, said that governments “need to appreciate” that there is a strong cargo demand, and ...
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NewsIAG to accelerate retirement of older BA and Iberia aircraft
British Airways and Iberia parent IAG is considering accelerating the retirement of older aircraft in the fleet – including some Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A340-600s – as part of the capacity-reduction measures being introduced to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking during a 16 March briefing, IAG chief executive Willie ...
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NewsTUI seeks state guarantees as travel market collapses
Leisure group TUI is applying for state-aid guarantees to support its business until it can restore normal operations, after suspending most of its travel operations. TUI says it is halting the “vast majority” of its package travel, cruise and hotel activities to assist with the efforts to counter the coronavirus ...
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NewsAir India seeks government-guaranteed short-term loan
Air India is inviting bids for government-guaranteed loans totalling INR4.22 billion ($57.1 million). A tender document on the flag carrier’s website states that the loan tenor will be up to one year, and the full amount will be drawn by 24 March. The carrier asks that banks submit their bids ...
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NewsSAS halts most services over 'non-existent' air market
Scandinavian operator SAS is to suspend most of its operations, after declaring the demand for international air travel to be “essentially non-existent”. It will temporarily reduce its workforce by 90% – some 10,000 personnel – while the crisis situation persists. SAS says the traffic will be restored when “there are ...
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NewsAir Baltic to suspend flights until 14 April as Latvia tightens restrictions
Air Baltic is to temporarily suspend flights from 17 March until 14 April following the Latvian government’s decision to suspend international air traffic as part of measures to counter the coronavirus crisis.
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NewsAlitalia orders passengers to wear masks on busy flights
Alitalia is to enforce the wearing of protective masks on board flights if load factors mean passengers cannot be adequately spaced. The Italian flag-carrier has imposed the measure with immediate effect, part of the effort to combat the coronavirus outbreak which has affected Italy particularly badly. Alitalia is having to ...
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NewsJet2 suspends services to Spanish market
UK leisure carrier Jet2 has cancelled all services to mainland Spain, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands with immediate effect. Multiple Jet2 aircraft en route to Spanish resorts on 14 March have abandoned their original flightplans and instead turned around to head back to the UK. Spain is an ...