Air Transport

Tourism-dependent Thai Airways has reported a record loss of THB141 billion ($4.7 billion) for 2020 after the sector collapsed following COVID-19-related border closures.

Qantas expects to reopen almost all of its international routes by late October, although they will be operated by smaller widebodies as its Airbus A380s will remain parked.

Spirit AeroSystems is growing the defense part of its revenue streams faster than expected, which is mildly helping to offset lost work in making airliners, the company’s CEO said Feb. 23.

Air New Zealand has slashed its cash burn by more than half compared to the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis thanks to its cost-cutting efforts.

Industry embarks on coordinated endeavor against runway excursions, a risk that appears to persist despite being a long-time concern.

International and regional procedures have been established for the unlikely but still possible contingency of losing direction from air traffic control (ATC) in oceanic airspace, a situation that occurred in spring 2020 in airspace controlled by the FAA’s New York oceanic control center.

The UK government plans to set up a taskforce to decide how it can help the travel sector through the COVID-19 pandemic.

London Heathrow Airport is hopeful that a combination of the UK’s successful COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and its hosting of a G7 summit in June will be catalysts for restoring air services at the hub airport.

Alaska Airlines forecast an improvement in cash flows during the 2021 first quarter (Q1), signaling expectations for a pick-up in domestic passenger

Air New Zealand and Malaysia Airlines are the latest carriers to sign up to trial the IATA Travel Pass, a new digital app that streamlines how passengers can access the COVID-19 tests required for their travel and securely convey results to airlines.

Thailand’s domestic capacity has bounced back strongly since the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, with LCCs leading the recovery and increasing their dominance of the Thai market.

IATA is concerned that its December 2020 forecast for traffic recovery may have been too optimistic and the airline industry will burn a lot more cash for longer than anticipated.

Kuwaiti LCC Jazeera Airways foresees significant demand for air transport starting to return from midway through 2021 and intends to continue with plans to revitalize its fleet.

Moldovan startup HiSky has opened a base in Romania’s northwestern city of Cluj-Napoca, from where it plans to launch two routes starting in April.

SunExpress has unveiled its 2021 summer flight plan, which will see the leisure carrier expand its network between Turkey and destinations in Europe and the Middle East.

Qatar Airways Cargo would consider adding freighter versions of the Boeing 777X and Airbus A350 to its fleet if these aircraft were to come on to the market.

Garuda Indonesia subsidiary Citilink is reportedly looking to add five ATR 72-600 turboprops to its fleet to increase its foothold in the domestic market, a booming sector especially while borders are closed.