AirlinesThe World Has A New Busiest Airline Route Here at Simple Flying, we’ve reported on the rise of commercial aviation in Vietnam. That rise continues. The sector between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh is now the busiest airline route in the world. For the week ending 23 March 2020, 212,699 passengers flew between the two Vietnamese cities. That was enough to make the route the world’s busiest.
LinkVirgin Atlantic And easyJet Crew To Assist NHS Against Coronavirus The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the airline industry and put thousands upon thousands of airline industry employees out of work worldwide. The UK is solving two problems with one swift move. The National Health Service (NHS) is aiming to put to work Virgin Atlantic and easyJet staff at its Nightingale hospitals as part of the fight against coronavirus.
LinkCondor Opens Crew Base In Phuket For Repatriation Flights There are a lot of logistics when it comes to managing crew on repatriation flights. Some of these flights are incredibly long– such as flights from New Zealand back to Germany. Condor is participating in the repatriation of German citizens from around the world. And, as a result, the German carrier has opened up a temporary crew and aircraft base in Phuket, Thailand.
LinkUS Airlines Are Selling 5-Hour Flights For $16 The American aviation industry is in turmoil. Within a span of weeks, airlines went from the height of profitability with full flights to– by the end of March– facing financial pressure due to obliterated flight schedules at home and abroad. Now, for travel through even the early summer, US airlines are offering flights for as low as $16 one-way.
LinkairBaltic Flies Nearly 7 Hour Airbus A220 Aid Flight Commercial passenger airlines all over the world are contributing their resources in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. airBaltic is no exception to this. Yesterday, the carrier flew one of its Airbus A220-300s from Riga (Latvia) to Urumqi (China) to transport vital medical supplies which will be used in Latvia.
LinkLoganair To Reach Out For Government Support UK regional airline Loganair is reported to be on the verge of reaching out for government support as the slump in travel demand eats into its available cash. The carrier is reducing services from today for at least a month to just a ‘skeleton schedule’, but has highlighted the critical nature of its connectivity for rural communities, such as those living on the Scottish islands.
LinkeasyJet Founder Demands Airbus Order Is Deferred Or Cancelled easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has called for the airline to terminate all future Airbus deliveries. The move comes as the low-cost carrier has grounded all of its aircraft until June at the earliest.
LinkSome Aircraft Types May Never Fly Again For Thai Airways According to a senior government official in Thailand, the nation’s national flag carrier, Thai Airways, may permanently reduce certain types of aircraft from its fleet following the current coronavirus pandemic. Since the COVID-19 crisis began earlier this year in Wuhan, China, Thai Airways has been forced to ground most of its fleet.
LinkUnbelievable: Australian Repatriation Flight Ticket Costs $5500 Australians seeking to return home from South America have been forced to buy one of the most expensive economy tickets of all time. $5,500 Australian dollars ($3,387.59 US dollars) for a one-way economy ticket on the specially charted LATAM aircraft from Lima to Sydney via Santiago.
LinkQantas Pilots Agree To Project Sunrise But Virus Threatens Timeline Qantas’ well-publicized ultra-long-haul innovation, dubbed Project Sunrise, has finally reached a deal on pay and conditions with the airline’s pilots. The pilots voted 85% in favor of the deal today, ending a bitter dispute between executives and workers.
LinkeasyJet Grounds Its Entire Fleet Until At Least June European budget airline easyJet is reported to have grounded its entire fleet due to the slump in travel demand and increasing restrictions on routes it can fly. The UK based airline will now park up its entire fleet of 344 aircraft for a period of at least two months.
LinkGoAir offers its aircraft, crew, airport staff to govt for emergency services NEW DELHI: GoAir on Friday said it has offered government its aircraft, crew and airport staff to carry out emergency services and repatriation of citizens, two days after another low-cost carrier IndiGo made a similar offer.
LinkPassenger sues five Canadian carriers Canadian airlines Air Canada, WestJet, Swoop, Air Transat and Sunwing have been accused of breach of contract in a class-action lawsuit filed in British Columbia for refusing to refund tickets purchased after the coronavirus severely impacted air travel.
LinkRussian low-cost carrier Pobeda halts flights until end of May Aeroflot low-cost unit Pobeda has suspended all flights until the end of May following the introduction of travel restrictions by the Russian government.
Russia called a halt to all international air travel from 27 March and the temporary suspension of mass recreational events as part of its fight against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
LinkAir Canada to cut 16,500 workers Air Canada says it is cutting 16,500 employees and slashing its network by up to 90% in April and May, confirming earlier reports in Canadian media.
LinkJapanese and South Korean carriers further cut April schedules Japanese and South Korean carriers have made further reductions to their summer schedules in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
ANA had planned to serve a total of 4,653 flights on 72 routes between March 29 and April 24, but says 3,813 of those, on 68 different routes, have now been affected by reductions or suspensions.
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