Air Transport

United Airlines continues its push to convince governments that COVID-19 testing is a viable alternative to quarantines and other travel restrictions—it plans to conduct free rapid testing for passengers onboard select flights between its Newark hub and London Heathrow.

A project to create a long-haul start-up carrier operating flights between the UK and India has re-emerged following several years’ silence after securing UK government funding.

The body representing Arab airlines believes that around half of all aircraft deliveries to its members scheduled for the next two years will be canceled or deferred and that recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic hinges on a series of government actions to aid the sector.

South African carrier Comair has reached an agreement with its lenders and secured competition approval for a new investor, paving the way for flights to resume in December.

AIR CANADA ROUGE relaunched operations (from COVID-19 suspension) on November 2 with Toronto-Cancun using A321.

COMAC delivered a 23rd ARJ21 (122) to CHENGDU AIRLINES (launch customer) via lease from AVIC International Leasing and a second ARJ21 (144) to AIR

MESA AIR GROUP secured 5-year, $200m loan facility from US Treasury Department under CARES Act; it accessed initial $43m and has until December 15

RYANAIR had €197m net loss for six months ended September 30 (vs €1.15b profit a year ago) on 78% lower revenues (traffic fell from 86m to 17m pax)

China-based YTO Cargo Airlines has begun as 3X-weekly freighter service between Hangzhou (HGH) and Singapore (SIN), as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba looks to improve service fulfillment to southeast Asia.

Latin America has been a study in contrasts during the COVID-19 crisis.

Air Canada’s leisure-focused Rouge subsidiary is back flying as the Canadian carrier works to tap into what little demand there is as the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions continue to keep many travelers home.

Ask the Editors: Deciding whether to diversify away from the Boeing 737, Southwest must weigh the pros and cons of a dual fleet.

CONVIASA, Venezuela acquired ex-Avior A340-300 (199) as part of plan to launch flights to Tehran and Moscow in December.

GREATER BAY AIRLINES is being established in Hong Kong for mid-2021 startup with three 737-800s serving China.

DELTA AIR LINES retired its last 777 following JFK-LAX flight on October 31.

AIR FRANCE-KLM GROUP had €1.7b net loss in 3Q20 (vs €362m profit in 3Q19) on 67% lower revenuesand ended quarter with €12.4b of liquidity. AIR FRANCE

AEROFLOT GROUP lost RUB23.3b in 3Q20 (vs RUB21.4b profit in 3Q19) on 67.4% lower revenues; it carried 10.1m pax.

JAL GROUP lost ¥67.5b in second quarter ended September 30 (vs ¥41.2b profit a year ago) on 70.4% lower revenues and ended quarter with ¥346.6b in

FLYPOP received significant investment from UK Government's Future Fund as it prepares for startup in 2021 of low-cost services between UK and India

Praveen Vetrivel to Chief Financial Officer of Lease Corporation International, Dublin.

Jaspal Jandu to Chief Executive Officer of Lease Corporation International, Dublin; Michael Platt becomes Vice Chairman.

Delta Air Lines officially retired the last of its former widebody workhorse, the Boeing 777, following the final flight of a 777-200LR from New York JFK to Los Angeles International Oct. 31.

The Dutch government has failed to approve a restructuring plan for flag-carrier KLM after unions refused to agree to make salary commitments for the duration of the planned state aid package.

Ryanair Group posted a €197 million ($230 million) net loss for its fiscal 2021 first half (H1) but said it sees opportunities for expanding its network and fleet in a post-COVID-19 landscape of depressed traffic within Europe.

After years of delays and setbacks, Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt (BER) welcomed its first scheduled flights on Oct. 31 with a parallel landing from Lufthansa and easyJet.