France’s economy minister Bruno Le Maire has pledged to support big companies, including Air France, by any means necessary as the government unveiled an initial €45 billion ($49.6 billion) package of financial aid for struggling businesses hit by the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.
IATA expects the global airline industry to need $150-200 billion in various forms of government financial assistance to survive the current COVID-19 crisis, the association’s director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said Mar. 17.
Air New Zealand and Qantas are making further major cuts in capacity, suspending most international flights and grounding aircraft in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
LCC Cebu Pacific (CEB) and Philippine Airlines (PAL) will suspend flights as quarantine measures are ramped up across the Philippines following the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
Korean Air’s parent company Hanjin KAL has hit back with regulatory complaints against two shareholders that are attempting to take over management control of the flag carrier.
Cathay Pacific Airways, which was one of the earliest airlines to be heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, has moved to improve its liquidity situation with the sale and leaseback of six Boeing 777-300ERs.
Several Middle East nations have severely limited, or entirely banned, commercial air services as they struggle to contain the spread of the COVID-19-causing coronavirus.
By the end of May-2020, most airlines in the world will be bankrupt. Coordinated government and industry action is needed—now—if catastrophe is to be avoided.
Following increased government travel restrictions and massive drop in demand because of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus, Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines and Ryanair subsidiary Laudamotion have decided to suspend all operations from Vienna this week.
Korean Air has begun using grounded Airbus A330 passenger aircraft for some cargo-only flights and intends to extend this initiative to more destinations.
Italy plans to nationalize Alitalia in a bid to save the already-bankrupt airline as part of a €25 billion ($27.8 billion) economic support package aimed at helping the country recover from the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis, Italian media reported.
U.S. airlines stripped their international schedules to skeletal levels over the weekend, parking their widebody fleets and signaling difficult decisions ahead over reining in labor costs.
China Southern Airlines has canceled plans to increase services to the U.S., following intensification of Chinese entry controls to prevent reimportation of the novel coronavirus, said several sources close to the airlines.
Air France-KLM, EasyJet, International Airlines Group and Ryanair all said they will cut most of their flights in the coming days as travel restrictions push demand for air transport close to zero.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines has become the latest airline deciding to stop almost all of its flights Mar. 16 and will temporarily lay off 90% of its workforce, the airline said Mar. 15.
