Aviation Daily Roundup: July 21

Indian LCC giant IndiGo is the latest airline to announce significant job cuts as a result of the COVD-19 pandemic and its anticipated effect on long-term demand.

China Eastern Airlines said it is running more than 80% normal domestic capacity and expects by the end of July to achieve 94% of 2019’s flight numbers for several major cities.

China is requiring inbound international travelers to provide negative results from coronavirus nucleic tests five days before boarding flights.

American Airlines, International Airlines Group (IAG), Lufthansa and United Airlines are urging the EU and the U.S. government to introduce a common COVID-19 testing program that would allow airlines to restore a more substantial transatlantic network.

UK long-haul carrier Virgin Atlantic resumed passenger flights July 20 with an initial service between London Heathrow and Hong Kong, following a three-month suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

EASA and Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) have reached an agreement on reciprocal validation of airworthiness certificates as part of a push to increase aerospace trade between the two markets.

Vietnamese start-up Bamboo Airways is set to lease a pair of Embraer E195LR from Danish operator Great Dane Airlines to launch new services to the Con Dao archipelago.

The chances of involuntary pilot furloughs at Alaska Airlines in the fall have significantly diminished after management and union representatives from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) agreed to a series of incentivized leave and early retirement programs.

Norwegian Air Shuttle has accused Boeing of “gross negligence” and “clumsy production” in a lawsuit in which the LCC is claiming damages to compensate for the grounding of the 737 MAX and 787 engine troubles, Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv has reported.