Coronavirus

Japan’s two major carriers are significantly cutting back their domestic schedule plans for January following a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The UK has tightened up its COVID-19 travel restrictions, imposing the requirement of a negative test for the virus on all arrivals in addition to mandatory quarantines for those coming from states not on its “travel corridor” list.

Despite significant challenges, Latin American low-cost carriers plan to seize on opportunities created by the the COVID-19 crisis.

Despite a general consensus that Latin America’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will occur at a slower pace than other areas of the world, there’s no shortage of ambition among the region’s low-cost operators.

US DOT says US scheduled pax airlines employed 678,287 full-/part-time workers in November vs 748,590 in November 2019.

LONDON HEATHROW handled 22.1m pax in 2020, down 73% from record 80.9m in 2019; cargo dropped 28% and aircraft movements fell 60%.

AIR EUROPA, Spain is expected to defer delivery of two 787-9s to 2025 and 14 737 MAXs to 2022 and beyond.

LUFTHANSA GROUP reports it has raised £500m in aircraft financing in 2H20 using five A350s and three A320 Family aircraft as collateral; funds were

EASYJET secured new 5-year, £1.4b term loan underwritten by bank syndicate and supported by UK Export Finance.

PORTER AIRLINES has now set return-to-service date at March 29; it suspended operations on March 21, 2020.

WESTJET announced capacity cuts over Canada's travel advisories and restrictions and will operate at >80% reduction year-over-year (150 daily

RYANAIR reduced its full-year (to March 2021) traffic forecast from <35m pax to <30m due to travel restrictions in UK/Ireland.

SMBC AERO ENGINE LEASE (SAEL) purchased 31 engines and sold five in 2020, ending year with 70 engines in portfolio.

AIRBUS delivered 89 aircraft (six A220s; 67 A320 Family; five A330s; eight A350s; three A380s) in December vs 138 (seven A220s; 105 A320s; eight A330s

AIR LEASE CORPORATION delivered 10 new aircraft (two A320neos; six A321neos; A330-900; A350-1000) in 4Q20 vs 11 in 4Q19, and completed SLB deals for

DAE CAPITAL completed 125 aircraft lease agreements/extensions in 2020 vs 35 in 2019; it acquired 38 aircraft and sold 28 others, and ended year with

AVOLON completed 141 aircraft lease transactions in 2020 vs 109 in 2019, and executed SLB commitments for 44 aircraft worth US$2.3b. It ended year

British LCC easyJet said it had signed a new $1.87 billion five-year term loan facility as it takes more steps to bolster its finances as it looks to ride out the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Ask the Editors: In theory, high production levels in times of low demand lead to low pricing. But the reality may prove more nuanced.

WestJet, citing a drop in bookings following Canada’s new COVID-19 pandemic testing protocols for international passengers, is cutting near-term capacity and staffing.

IATA reports year-over-year global pax traffic dropped 70.3% in November; cargo fell 6.6%.

U.S. low-cost carriers have touted nonstop networks and strong leisure bases as buoys in the pandemic, but other advantages are emerging.

Business jet traffic over the Christmas holiday period was down 11% compared to a year ago, peaking at 12,000 daily flights on Dec. 23, according to WingX Advance data.

A recovery is expected to start this year but the French aerospace industry is still in the middle of its endeavor to save jobs and skills, showing solidarity and exploiting state aid programs.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is planning to fly 50% of its pre-COVID-19 traffic volumes in the summer season and hopes long-haul routes will play a crucial part in its recovery.