Aviation Daily Roundup: Nov. 02

After years of delays and setbacks, Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt (BER) welcomed its first scheduled flights on Oct. 31 with a parallel landing from Lufthansa and easyJet. Credit: Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Latin America has been a study in contrasts during the COVID-19 crisis. Several countries in the region have held spots among the top ten countries with the largest number of outbreaks, and borders are just starting to reopen after closing up to stave off the virus. But airlines in Latin America’s two largest markets–Brazil and Mexico–are bullish about their prospects to recover faster than the industry at large. Credit: Rob Finlayson

Delta Air Lines officially retired the last of its former widebody workhorse, the Boeing 777, following the final flight of a 777-200LR from New York JFK to Los Angeles International Oct. 31. Credit: Delta Air Lines

A number of Chinese carriers posted profits for the 2020 third quarter (Q3) between July and September, with China Southern Airlines leading the charge. Strong domestic travel demand also propelled some of the country’s other largest carriers, such as China Express Airlines, LCC Spring Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, into profitability, although the dismal first half (H1) means that most could not register a profit for the first nine months of 2020. Credit: China Southern Airlines

South African carrier Comair has reached an agreement with its lenders and secured competition approval for a new investor, paving the way for flights to resume in December. Privately owned Comair had been profitable every quarter for 73 consecutive years. However, the airline entered business rescue in May 2020, after being hit by a surge of exceptional items, including the Boeing 737 MAX grounding, set-up costs linked with a major maintenance transition, South African Airways’ (SAA) defaulting on a legal settlement and the COVID-19 crisis. Credit: Rob Finlayson

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has become the first rail partner in easyJet’s connecting services network Worldwide, which allows the LCC’s passengers to connect to flights across its network as well as those of partner airlines. EasyJet made the announcement as it took part in the opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), with its Airbus A320neo flight EJU 3110 the first to land at the airport on Oct. 31. Credit: Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Indonesia’s government is reportedly planning to consolidate flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia, the country’s two airport operators and other state-owned tour agencies into a single holding company. The move would be designed to streamline marketing operations, reduce prices and attract travelers to the country and its popular tourist sites. Credit: Garuda Indonesia

Leisure travel has been banned in England for four weeks from Nov. 5 under a second national lockdown that piles further pressure on the country’s airlines. The new rules were announced by the UK government but only affect England as the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have control over their own COVID-19 restrictions. The other nations have other measures in place to limit international travel. Credit: EasyJet

COMAC has reiterated its plan to achieve certification for the C919 narrowbody airliner in 2021, adding that it will try to deliver the first unit in the same year. The state company has also found time in the program’s flight-test schedule to use one of the six prototypes for a flight display at an air show. Credit: State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC)

The Dutch government has failed to approve a restructuring plan for flag-carrier KLM after unions refused to agree to make salary commitments for the duration of the planned state aid package. Both the French and the Dutch governments have pledged multi-billion-euro aid packages to Air France and KLM amid the COVID-19 crisis. The two partner airlines have each come up with restructuring plans aimed at helping them to weather the crisis. Credit: KLM

Chinese online retailing giant JD plans to set up a global logistics center at Wuhu in east-central China. Announcing the agreement with the city government, JD said it plans to have 114 aircraft by 2025 and 501 by 2045. In those years its air freight turnover will be 2.33 million metric tons and 8.1 million metric tons respectively, the company added. Credit: Longhao

Air Canada’s leisure-focused Rouge subsidiary is back flying as the Canadian carrier works to tap into what little demand there is as the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions continue to keep many travelers home. Credit: Air Canada

The body representing Arab airlines believes that around half of all aircraft deliveries to its members scheduled for the next two years will be canceled or deferred and that recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic hinges on a series of government actions to aid the sector. Credit: Rob Finlayson

A project to create a long-haul start-up carrier operating flights between the UK and India has re-emerged following several years’ silence after securing UK government funding. On Nov. 2, flypop said it had secured £250 million ($323.7 million) from the UK government’s Future Fund loan scheme, which aims to support UK-based companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Flypop / Twitter

United Airlines continues its push to convince governments that COVID-19 testing is a viable alternative to quarantines and other travel restrictions—it plans to conduct free rapid testing for passengers onboard select flights between its Newark hub and London Heathrow. Credit: United Airlines

Ryanair Group posted a €197 million ($230 million) net loss for its fiscal 2021 first half (H1) but said it sees opportunities for expanding its network and fleet in a post-COVID-19 landscape of depressed traffic within Europe. Credit: Ryanair / Twitter

China-based YTO Cargo Airlines has begun as 3X-weekly freighter service between Hangzhou (HGH) and Singapore (SIN), as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba looks to improve service fulfillment to southeast Asia. The service will be Changi Airport’s fourth new cargo service between Singapore and China since border closure measures began in April. Credit: Changi Airport Group