Aviation Daily Roundup: September 16

Icelandair Group is now anticipating a $363 million EBIT loss for 2020 and a further $43 million loss in 2021, before climbing back to profitability in 2022 and building to a $175 million positive EBIT by 2024.

In a normal year, September marks the month when U.S. carriers enter their off-peak period, as stepped-up travel by deep-pocketed corporate customers offsets a seasonal decline in vacation-goers.

Air Malta issued a local and international call on Sept. 14 for applications to fill its CEO vacancy.

Kazakhstan-based Air Astana is continuing to reopen its Central Asian network, with flights from its Almaty (ALA) hub to Bishkek (FRU), Kyrgyzstan, starting from Sept. 20.

South Korean start-up LCC Aero K plans to begin operations In October following significant delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air New Zealand plans to make further significant cuts to its international flight attendant workforce as it switches more passenger flights to cargo-only.

Lufthansa LCC subsidiary Eurowings—taking advantage of Ryanair’s base closure at Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS) in Germany—plans to take over up to 95% of the routes that have been operated by the Irish LCC.

The FAA proposed extending a slot rule waiver in place at three congested U.S. East Coast airports through March, in an effort to relieve airlines hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told employees to expect deeper cuts to staff levels and the group’s fleet as the recovery of air travel will take much longer than originally anticipated.

The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) has called a meeting with Irish LCC Ryanair to discuss reports that the airline may not be fully complying with national COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Shareholders at Russian carrier Aeroflot have approved plans to issue up to 1.7 billion new shares to help the company weather the COVID-19 crisis.