Aviation Daily Roundup: August 21

Brussels Airlines has got the green light from the European Commission for a €460 million ($542 million) bailout package part-funded by the Belgian state that is designed to help the flag-carrier survive the COVID-19 crisis and support its turnaround plan.

FAA’s shift to emphasizing corrective actions over civil penalties for unintentional regulatory violations needs more centralized oversight and data analysis to determine its effectiveness, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of the program shows.

Austrian aerospace parts and services provider FACC expects further challenges in the supplier business in the wake of COVID-19 as it revealed plans to lay off 700 of its 3,700 employees.

Bratislava, Slovakia-based ACMI lessor Go2Sky will end its activities by September 2020 as a result of COVID-19’s impact on the air transport market.

There is never an easy time to launch an airline.

For the new Eastern Airlines startup, which quietly kicked off international scheduled service from New York JFK in February 2020, the timing has been especially problematic.

LATAM Airlines Group continues to navigate its way through the Chapter 11 reorganization process that includes working with suppliers to shrink its fleet as a recovery in passenger demand remains uncertain.

The UK has added Portugal to a safe list of “travel corridors,” exempting arrivals from a 14-day quarantine, but removed Austria and Croatia in the latest update to British COVID-19-related travel restrictions.

A commuter operator of Avic MA60 turboprop aircraft will soon begin flying after receiving approvals from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Starting Sept. 1, Singapore will allow general travel from Brunei and New Zealand, lifting quarantine requirements for arrivals from those two countries at the island-state.

The Jetstar Group will have a smaller footprint outside Australia as it pulls out of one overseas joint venture (JV) and some of its other franchises shrink in size.

UPS and the Kansas City Aviation Department have agreed to long-term leases that will see the air-cargo titan expand its Kansas City International Airport (MCI) operation.

Airport technology manufacturer SITA has deployed its most comprehensive biometric project to date at Beijing Capital International (PEK), allowing a fully automated counter-to-aircraft experience supported by facial recognition technology.