AirlinesAir France-KLM Delays A350 Deliveries, Mulls Other Models' Fate Air France-KLM has pushed back the delivery of three widebody Airbus 350s to 2021 as part of the major reduction in capital expenditures to cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Franco-Dutch group trimmed planned Capex this year by a third compared with its pre-Covid-19 guidance, to €2.4 billion ($2.6 billion), and it will revise medium-term Capex “for future development of demand and flexibility needs,” the group said Thursday during the presentation of its first-quarter results.
LinkIAG Cuts Deliveries As Full Recovery Not Anticipated Before 2023 International Airlines Group is bracing for three tough years and doesn't anticipate a return to 2019 trading conditions until 2023. Reporting an operating loss of €535 ($577 million) for the first quarter of 2020 on Thursday, group CEO Willie Walsh announced plans to defer deliveries of 68 new aircraft and to return more than 100 more to leasing groups in a bid to rebalance overall fleet capacity in the face of radically reduced demand.
LinkBritish Airways & American Airlines Forced To Surrender US Flight Slots British Airways and American Airlines will be asked to surrender some of their flight slots in London Gatwick or Heathrow in the interest of competition. A review, published today, has found that there is not enough diversity on these non-stop routes. The method of surrendering key slots on select routes between the UK and the US should address this issue.
LinkCould IAG And Etihad Be Looking To Invest In Austrian Airlines? The Lufthansa Group is seeking government aid for all of its airlines. So far, only the Swiss airlines have been successful, with negotiations ongoing with Germany, Belgium, and Austria. One thing it has made clear is that it does not want governments involved in the running of its airlines. Could its competitors gazump the German aviation giant at the eleventh hour?
LinkJetBlue Expects First Airbus A220 Delivery In Second Half Of 2020 Today, US carrier JetBlue released its first-quarter 2020 earnings report. One small note on the airline’s update on its fleet was that it anticipates taking delivery of its very first Airbus A220 sometime in the second half of this year. In 2018, the airline announced an order for 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft and included the option for 60 additional aircraft, beginning in 2025.
LinkIAG’s Air Europa Purchase Is Still In Progress Willie Walsh, IAG chief executive, confirmed that the purchase of Spanish airline Air Europa would go ahead despite the current situation. At the company’s Q1 results today, he said that the process was ongoing, but there was now a price adjustment mechanism. The company announced last November that it planned to acquire the airline for around €1 billion ($1.1 billion).
LinkLufthansa Group Negotiating €9 Billion German Bailout German carrier Lufthansa is in the midst of negotiations for a government-funded stabilization package for €9 billion ($9.7bn). More specifically, talks are ongoing with Germany’s Federal Economic Stabilization Fund (Wirtschaftsstabilisierungsfonds – WSF) to finance the Lufthansa Group.
LinkUnited Airlines Seeks Hong Kong Singapore Fifth Freedom Approval On Tuesday, United Airlines requested that it be allowed to reinstate its fifth freedom flight between Singapore and Hong Kong. While the flights starting on the 10th of May will be cargo only, the airline wants to keep options open to transport passengers at a later stage.
LinkTurkish Airlines Will No Longer Fly Untamed Animals Turkish Airlines announced today that it would be changing its rules regarding the transport of live exotic animals. The airline is responding to government orders aimed at tackling the spread of the coronavirus. Turkish Airlines is thought to be the first carrier to ban untamed animals because of the pandemic. Is it a valid approach?
LinkIAG Boss Wishes To Maintain London Gatwick Base IAG’s boss Willie Walsh today told how he would like the airline group to maintain a presence at Gatwick Airport. Last week, a leaked British Airways memo suggested Britsh Airways’ Gatwick base could be closed.
LinkFrontier Airlines Cuts Social Distancing Fee Following Backlash US-based low-cost carrier Frontier has rescinded its decision to make passengers pay for the privilege of an empty middle seat. The airline had previously offered the ‘More Room’ policy to give passengers peace of mind that they wouldn’t be sitting next to someone else. Following criticism by both passengers and lawmakers, the airline has withdrawn the offer and says it will be blocking middle seats at no cost to its customers.
LinkNorwegian Carried Just 41,000 Passengers In April It was announced today that low-cost airline Norwegian carried just 41,000 passengers in April, a drop of 98.7% from the same period last year. With most of its fleet grounded by the COVID-19 crisis, Norwegian is looking at ways to raise finance to rescue the airline.
LinkBritish Airways Considering Early Retirement For The Boeing 747 IAG is considering early retirement of the British Airways Boeing 747 fleet. The airline group today released its first-quarter financial results. However, it also detailed the steps it was taking to deal with the crisis afflicting the aviation industry.
LinkAir France Mulls Early A380 Retirement As Group Posts Q1 Loss The Air France-KLM Group is looking at earlier retirement for some of its less-efficient aircraft as a result of the current crisis. The news comes as the group announced revenue had fallen by over €900 million year-on-year.
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