Virgin Australia to cut 3,000 jobs as carrier slims down under new owners August 5, 2020 Embattled airline Virgin Australia is set to cut 3,000 staff as it seeks to streamline its business under prospective new owner Bain Capital. Back in June Bain bought the carrier out of administration, with creditors due to vote on the sale on 4 September. If the deal is approved, the airline will focus on the [...]
SMMT: New UK car sales rise 11 per cent post-lockdown August 5, 2020 New UK car sales rose for the first time this year in July as dealerships enjoyed their first full month of trading since reopening after lockdown. According to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), registrations rose 11.3 per cent last month as pent-up demand and special offers tempted consumers to [...]
Honda and BMW see profits slump in second quarter as lockdown hit sales August 5, 2020 Car giants Honda and BMW saw their profits hammered in the last quarter as the coronavirus pandemic hammered car sales amid widespread lockdowns. Japan’s Honda fell to an 113.7bn yen (£820m) loss in the last quarter, as sales of its vehicles plunged 40 per cent around the world. As a result of the dire quarterly [...]
Coronavirus: How safe is the post-lockdown commute to work? August 4, 2020 After more than four months of lockdown Londoners are beginning to return to the office as public transport operators take measures to make the once-daily commute as safe as possible from coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave employers “more discretion” from 1 August to bring back their staff if it was safe to do so. [...]
Booking.com to axe a quarter of workforce August 4, 2020 The owner of holiday firm Booking.com has today confirmed that it will cut its 17,000 strong workforce by a quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic. A spokeswoman for Booking Holding confirmed reports of the cuts, which had been announced internally in a video from chief executive Glenn Fogel. “Unfortunately, as a result of the crisis, [...]
Easyjet chief: We will keep flying to quarantined countries if there is demand August 4, 2020 Easyjet’s chief executive Johan Lundgren has said that the airline will not stop flying to destinations if the government chooses to reimpose quarantine restrictions on them while demand to travel to them remains. Speaking to City A.M., he said: “People, as we have seen with Portugal for example, are willing to take the sacrifice of [...]
Easyjet to expand flight schedule due to demand for holidays August 4, 2020 Budget airline Easyjet is preparing to expand its flight schedule over the summer to cater for higher than expected demand. The company’s share price soared more than 10 per cent this morning after it said it will fly at around 40 per cent of capacity over the summer following “better than expected” bookings. Previously it [...]
Sir Richard Branson set for space as Virgin Galactic signs Rolls-Royce deal August 4, 2020 Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of private spaceflight firm Virgin Galactic, will be one of the first to go into space in one of his company’s rockets, it has been revealed. As long as two test flights scheduled for the autumn are successful, Branson will go into orbit early next year, Virgin Galactic said [...]
AA attracts rival bids from private equity firms August 4, 2020 Driving association the AA confirmed this morning that it is in talks with three private equity firms over a potential sale. Centerbridge Partners Europe an Towerbrook Capital Partners, acting jointly, have approached the firm. Platinum Equity Advisors and Warburg Pincus have separately approached AA with possible cash offers for the company. “The potential offerors have [...]
Business travel firms call for government help to avoid 10,000 job cuts August 3, 2020 The UK’s business travel sector has called on the government to provide it with an emergency rescue package to help prevent up to 10,000 jobs being lost this year. The chief executive of industry body the Business Travel Association (BTA) has written to chancellor Rishi Sunak, transport secretary Grant Shapps and business secretary Alok Sharma [...]