Aviation

Aeromexico becomes latest LatAm airline to file for bankruptcy

Mexican airline Aeromexico announced it had begun restructuring under Chapter 11 proceedings, the latest Latin American airline to run into serious trouble as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on…

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Vietnam grounds Pakistani pilots over licence concerns

Vietnam's aviation authority said on Monday it had grounded all Pakistani pilots working for local airlines, amid concern from global regulators that some pilots may have been using "dubious" licences.…

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Airbus CEO sees production down 40% over the next two years

Airbus plane output will be 40% lower for two years compared to pre-crisis plans, its chief executive said in remarks published on Monday, underscoring the threat to jobs as it…

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Boeing 737 MAX certification flight tests to begin on Monday

Pilots and test crew members from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing Co aim to kick off a certification test campaign for the 737 MAX on Monday, expected…

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Spanish airline Iberia will downsize due to coronavirus

Spanish airline Iberia will reduce the size of its fleet, the number of destinations it flies to and how frequently as the coronavirus pandemic continues to drag on demand, its…

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Delta Air Lines to warn pilots about possible furloughs

Delta Air Lines announced it will soon send warning notices to about 2,500 pilots regarding possible furloughs at the airline, as the industry takes a huge blow after the coronavirus…

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Kenya Airways estimates coronavirus revenue loss at $100 mln

Kenya Airways has lost an estimated $100 million in revenue as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns, CEO Allan Kilavuka told reporters on Friday. "We don't have…

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EasyJet strengthens its finances through $255 mln sale and leaseback of six planes

British low-cost airline easyJet said it strengthened its finances by $255 million through the sale and leaseback of six A320neo aircraft with leasing firm SMBC Aviation Capital. EasyJet on Thursday…

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Virgin Australia to fly again

U.S. private equity group Bain Capital said on Friday it has agreed with the administrator of Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd to buy Australia's second-biggest airline for an undisclosed sum, banking…

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Dutch govt to support KLM with 3.4 billion euro package

The Dutch government on Friday said it would provide Air France-KLM's Dutch subsidiary KLM with a 3.4 billion euro ($3.81 billion) financing package to help it survive during the coronavirus…

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ZZ336, the British Prime Minister’s and royal family’s new aircraft

Photos made available by the Ministry of Defence (MOD)'s Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit show the ZZ336, the Prime Minister's Voyager, landing and taxiing into RAF Brize Norton,…

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Israel’s El Al agrees to cut jobs to save $30 mln a year

El Al Israel Airlines announced it agreed to trim its staff of flight attendants to save $30 million a year, as it negotiates a government bailout while flights have been…

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European airlines face longer haul to recovery

by Laurence Frost Editing by Mark Potter A patchwork of national restrictions and a reluctance among travellers to cross borders mean European airlines face a bumpier return to the…

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Pakistan International Airlines to ground pilots for ‘dubious’ licences

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be grounding nearly 150 out of its 426 pilots, amid an inquiry that they hold "dubious" licences, a company spokesman said. The decision comes at…

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UK airports warn 20,000 jobs at risk as travel slump continues

Up to 20,000 jobs could go at Britain's airports, an industry group warned, calling on the government to do more to help an aviation industry that was shut down by…

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Pakistan air crash probe shows pilots distracted by coronavirus worry

The pilots of a Pakistan airliner that crashed last month, killing 97 people, were distracted as they talked about the coronavirus pandemic throughout the flight before an abortive landing bid,…

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Lufthansa closing down the flight operations of its subsidiary Sun Express Germany

Sun Express, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, will restructure its business to focus on leisure flights to and from Turkey, as well as domestic flights in the country,…

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Airbus extends furloughs in UK, Spain in latest effort to tackle COVID-19 fallout

European planemaker Airbus SE announced it is extending furlough programs for 5,300 of its employees in Spain and the United Kingdom in its latest effort to cope with the…

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Air maintenance firms, manufacturers plan for $60 billion in lost sales

Maintenance firms and spare parts producers who keep airplanes running are bracing for a decline of up to 75% in sales this year - and more pain to follow -…

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Air freight rates head back to earth as virus-driven boom cools

An air cargo boom driven by demand for protective gear against the coronavirus has peaked and rates, while still 50% above normal levels, are falling in a worrying trend for…

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French finance minister calls on Air France not to make compulsory job cuts

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday called on Air France not to make compulsory job cuts but declined to confirm media reports saying the airline was planning to…

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Italy insists nationalised Alitalia will not be in competition with low costs airlines

A new, state-controlled Alitalia will not be in competition with the low-cost carriers operating in the country, Italy's transport minister said after meeting with officials of Ryanair, Easyjet and other…

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Polish airlines LOT to resume international flights on July 1

Polish national airline PLL LOT will resume international flights on July 1, it announced, almost four months after suspending them to curb the spread of the coronavirus. State-controlled LOT said…

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Milan-Linate excluded from list of 25 airports re-opening in Italy

Italian transport authorities have announced the re-opening of 25 airports around the country but Milan's Linate airport will remain closed at least for another month. Paola de Micheli, Transport Minister,…

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German airline Condor to cut up to 25% of staff

German charter airline Condor will cut up to 25% of its employees to reduce costs and recover from the coronavirus crisis, Chief Executive Ralf Teckentrup told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung…

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EasyJet resumes flying today with COVID-19 measures in place

EasyJet aircraft will take to the skies on Monday for the first time since March 30, as the British carrier resumes a small number of mainly domestic flights after weeks…

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Italy to set up vehicle to nationalize Alitalia in the short term

Italy's transport minister said on Friday the government would set up a vehicle to nationalise ailing carrier Alitalia in the short term. Rome is preparing to retake control of the…

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Bombardier to cut up to 600 jobs in Northern Ireland

Planemaker Bombardier Inc is to cut up to 600 jobs in its Northern Ireland operations, it said, as part of plans announced last week to cut 2,500 jobs or about…

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UAE’s flydubai extends salary cuts, puts pilots on unpaid leave

United Arab Emirates carrier flydubai has indefinitely extended the period of reduced pay for employees and placed dozens of pilots on unpaid leave for a year, company sources said. The…

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Virgin Australia to double domestic flight capacity by early July

Airline Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd said on Thursday it would double domestic capacity by early July as state border restrictions ease and demand grows, joining rival Qantas Airways Ltd in…

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Israel’s El Al airline may be heading back into state hands

The coronavirus crisis may be pushing El Al Israel Airlines back into the hands of the state, less than two decades after the flag carrier was privatised. El Al's union…

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Emirates to lay off more pilots, cabin crew on Wednesday

Emirates, one of the world's biggest long-haul airlines, will lay off more pilots and cabin crew on Wednesday, sources said, in what would be a second day of redundancies. An…

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Thai Airways rehabilitation may take up to 7 years

The rehabilitation of flag carrier Thai Airways International Pcl may take up to seven years, the airline's legal advisor said on Monday. After the bankruptcy court allows the rehabilitation, its…

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Airbus warns it may sue airlines over undelivered jets

Airbus is ready to sue airlines that refuse to honour contracts to take aircraft, its chief executive was quoted on Friday as saying, raising the stakes in a stand-off between…

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Canadian business jet maker Bombardier to cut 2,500 aviation jobs

Canadian business jet maker Bombardier Inc announced it would cut 2,500 jobs at its aviation unit and take a related charge of $40 million this year, as the COVID-19…

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AirMalta makes 69 pilots redundant

Airmalta has taken the decision to make a number of pilots redundant after ALPA demands a €73 million retirement buyout. Airmalta conducted numerous lengthy meetings with the Pilots’ union in…

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SAS reopens routes to Germany, Belgium, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Lithuania, Spain, France, Greece, Croatia

Scandinavia Airlines (SAS) has announced that it reopened 16 routes from Copenhagen To Germany, Belgium, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Lithuania, Spain, France, Greece and Croatia The airline also said that it will…

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Qantas plans to ‘ramp up’ Australian flights

Australian airline Qantas says it hopes to increase domestic flights to 40% of pre-pandemic levels by August, up from 5% currently. That's contingent on state borders reopening as expected, says…

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Lufthansa vows company revamp as losses balloon

Lufthansa vowed to step up up restructuring measures after posting a first-quarter net loss of 2.1 billion euros ($2.35 billion), days after agreeing a state bail-out amid the fallout from…

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Air Arabia lays off more staff due to COVID-19 impact

Air Arabia, the only listed carrier in the United Arab Emirates, has made further job cuts due to the business impact of COVID-19, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The Sharjah-based…

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Lufthansa posts a net loss of 2.1 billion euros

German airline Lufthansa posted a net loss of 2.1 billion euros ($2.35 billion) in the first quarter, writing down the value of assets as the coronavirus pandemic hits the travel…

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Emirates could take four years to resume flying to entire network

Emirates' outgoing President Tim Clark on Monday said it could take the state carrier up to four years to resume flying to its entire network that has been decimated by…

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Emirates airline lays off trainee pilots, cabin crew

Emirates airline said on Sunday it had made some staff redundant due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with two company sources saying trainee pilots and cabin crew…

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Work on flight data of crashed Pakistani airliner to start June 2 in France

Work on the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of a crashed Pakistani airliner will begin in France on June 2, investigators said. "The mission on site (of the crash) is…

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EasyJet will not fly to Italy with distancing on planes

EasyJet will not fly to Italy if Rome prolongs social distancing rules on planes beyond June 15, the budget airline's chief executive said in a newspaper interview. "It would…

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Lufthansa’s board accepts demands from EC in exchange of €9 billion bailout

Lufthansa's management board accepted a more favourable set of demands made by the European Commission in exchange for approval of a 9 billion euro ($10 billion) government bailout, the carrier…

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Wizz Air adds new flights between Britain and Spain, to open base in Italy

Hungary's Wizz Air is adding new flights between Britain and Spain and opening a base in Italy as it sees opportunities arising from the coronavirus crisis which is forcing competitors…

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Greece announces package of measures to support air transport sector

Greece announced a package of measures amounting to 115 million euros to support the country's air transport sector, hit hard by the lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus…

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German official sees Lufthansa bailout within reach

The Berlin government is likely to reach a deal with Brussels on a $10 billion government bailout of stricken airline Lufthansa, senior government official Thomas Jarzombek said on Friday, but…

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Norway to extend loan guarantees for airlines

Norway's government plans to extend a state guarantee for loans to airlines by four months until the end of October, it said in a statement on Friday. Norwegian Air, which…

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EasyJet to slash staff by 30%

British low cost airline easyJet said it planned to cut up to 30% of its staff, or 4,500 jobs, and shrink its fleet, to fit the smaller market it expects to emerge…

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Boeing cutting more than 12,000 U.S. jobs with thousands more planned

Boeing Co said Wednesday it was eliminating more than 12,000 U.S. jobs, including laying off 6,770 U.S. workers as the largest American planemaker restructures in the face of the coronavirus…

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Airline SAS to resume some short- and long-haul flights in June

SAS said on Wednesday it would in the first half of June resume some of its suspended flights as a growing number of countries start to ease travel restrictions introduced…

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Serbia blocks flights from Montenegro

Serbia has banned inbound flights by Montenegro's flag carrier Montenegro Airlines after Podgorica refused to open its borders to people from Serbia, where coronavirus persists. Serbia's Directorate for Civilian Aviation…

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Ryanair CEO reports surge in holiday bookings, sees UK dropping quarantine

Ryanair expects Britain to join European nations in dropping COVID-19 quarantine plans in the coming weeks, Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said in an interview on Wednesday, reporting a "big surge"…

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Air France-KLM seeks to cut staff

Air France-KLM has started talks with unions to reduce staff as part of a restructuring to be unveiled in the coming months -- a plan that also calls for a…

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LATAM becomes largest airline driven to bankruptcy by coronavirus

LATAM Airlines Group, the continent's largest carrier, filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, becoming the world's largest carrier so far to seek an emergency reorganization due to the coronavirus pandemic. The…

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