Coronavirus

Talks with the European Commission on plans for a second Air France bailout will last as long as is necessary to reach a fair agreement, French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said March 4.

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has launched an audit to examine whether air passenger rights have been safeguarded effectively during the COVID-19 crisis.

In a sign of progress toward sustainability goals, the aviation industry has set out a plan to achieve carbon-neutral growth by 2050.

Boeing’s possible new aircraft could raise complicated questions for Airbus.

Fractional ownership provider NetJets recorded a 27% decline in flight hours in 2020, while training hours in FlightSafety’s commercial and corporate simulators fell 30% compared to 2019, according to a 2020 earnings report from Berkshire Hathaway, parent company to NetJets and FlightSafety.

The vaccines have given us back the power of “someday soon.” Now is the time for the aviation industry to think ahead.

GA TELESIS announced agreement to acquire fleet of 777-300ERs; it would not disclose the seller or number of aircraft.

IATA reports global pax traffic dropped 72% in January (vs Jan 2019) on 58.7% lower capacity; cargo traffic increased 1.1%.

European Commission (EC) president Ursula von der Leyen has confirmed that work is underway on a “Digital Green Pass,” which aims to facilitate the restart of European travel.

AerCap CEO Aengus Kelly sees “strong growth opportunities” for his company as airlines are forced into pursuing asset-light strategies and reducing debt burdens over the coming years.

CARGOJET earned C$291.4m in 2020 (vs C$156m in '19) on 37.4% higher revenues; block hours rose 46.3%. It has 28 aircraft.

AERCAP had $295m net loss on $4.5b revenues in 2020 vs $1.2b net income on $4.9b in 2019 and ended year with owned/managed/committed fleet of 1,330

Cutting jobs, closing factories, reducing purchase costs but protecting research and technology investment: Safran finds a new balance.

Delta Air Lines said it plans to return all pilots to active status by October, signaling a faster-than-expected timeline for demand recovery.

After nearly a year of being idled, Canadian operator Porter Airlines has been forced to push back its re-launch date because of continued travel restrictions.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is shifting focus slightly on its Embraer E1 and E2 fleets in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Czech Airlines (CSA) has filed for court reorganization as a last-ditch survival attempt, following the Czech government’s continued refusal to provide any COVID-19 support.

Organizations representing airports, airlines and the tourism sector are calling on European tourism ministers to work together to establish a strategy for post-pandemic travel recovery in the region.

FORWARDKEYS says domestic air travel in China during New Year Golden Week (Feb 11-17) was down 69.3% vs a year ago.

ICELANDAIR agreed to sell two 737-9s to SKY Leasing for leaseback; aircraft are to be delivered in 1H21.

AIR INDIA restarted weekly Delhi-Moscow Sheremetyevo (A320neo).

PORTER AIRLINES further pushed back its return-to-service date to May 19 from previously announced target of March 29.

VUELING lost €875m in 2020 (vs €240m profit in 2019) on 77% lower revenues.

IBERIA lost €1.4b in 2020 (vs €497m profit in 2019) on 60% lower revenues.

AER LINGUS lost €563m in 2020 (vs €276m profitin 2019) on 78% lower revenues.