Gama Aviation suffers $14.7m loss but focuses on emergency service flights May 27, 2021 British aviation company Gama Aviation, like most airline businesses, suffered a gruelling financial year after the Covid-19 pandemic grounded flights across the globe. Gama reported a statutory loss of $14.7m this morning, down from a loss of $11.5m in 2019, in the year to 31 December. While unable to fly commercially across borders, the group [...]
Car production bounces back on 12-month anniversary of factory shutdowns May 27, 2021 UK car production returned to near normality in April compared to the same month a year before as automakers continued to struggle with the shortage of semiconductor chips. Britain made 68,306 cars last month, up from 197 a year ago when factories were shuttered due to the initial Covid-19 lockdown. Compared to April 2019, the [...]
Uber strikes deal with GMB union over driver representation May 26, 2021 Union GMB will now represent Uber drivers after striking a deal with the ride-hailing firm, it was announced this evening. The firm’s 70,000 drivers will now be able to choose to be represented by the union if they wish, in a first for the sector. The deal comes months after Uber said it would treat [...]
Airline SAS gets £255m loan guarantee from Denmark and Sweden May 26, 2021 Sweden and Denmark said today that they had agreed to offer ailing airline SAS, in which both countries own stakes, a 3bn Swedish crown (£255m) loan guarantee. The Covid-19 pandemic has seen air travel collapse, plunging the industry into crisis and leaving carriers scrambling to secure funds to weather the slump. SAS said the credit [...]
Ford aims for 40 per cent electric car sales by 2030 May 26, 2021 Ford today said that it was aiming for 40 per cent of its sales to be of electric cars by 2030, sending shares up 7.0 per cent today. The announcement came as the Michigan-headquartered firm unveiled a new strategy, call Ford+, that will see it put $30bn into electrification over the next decade. That is [...]
Nissan ‘in talks’ to build Sunderland battery gigafactory May 26, 2021 Nissan is reportedly in talks with UK ministers over plans to build a new battery gigafactory at its existing site in Sunderland. The new facility, the FT reported, would be run by the Japanese car giant’s subsidiary Envision AESC, and would produce enough batteries for 200,000 electric cars each year. Nissan said it had “no [...]
Island time: Mykonos, Ibiza and Canaries set for UK green list even if mainland Greece and Spain stay amber May 26, 2021 Island time: Mykonos, Ibiza and Canaries set for UK green list even if mainland Greece and Spain stay amber
Norwegian Air emerges from restructuring with wings clipped May 26, 2021 Norwegian Air has today emerged from a six month restructuring process, defying those who thought the pandemic would spell the end for the carrier. However, despite surviving the worst aviation crisis on record, the airline will return to the skies in utterly different shape – and much smaller – than it was before the pandemic [...]
Ready, set, go: Britain is bound for the next space race May 26, 2021 The UK is bound for a seat in the next space race, the transport secretary has said today, as the government preps for Virgin’s commercial Orbit mission – the UK’s first space-bound flight. The National Space Agency (NSA) confirmed on Monday that spaceflights will soon be a reality as the government has funded spaceports that [...]
Russia and Saudi Arabia planning joint space mission May 25, 2021 Russia and Saudi Arabia are preparing for a joint manned space mission, the former’s government confirmed today, in another sign of warmer relations between the two countries. In a statement, the Kremlin said that Saudi astronauts were being trained in Russia while the mission is developed. “Speaking of the two countries’ work on the joint [...]