Bank junction to be used as drone taxi landing zone April 1, 2020 The City of London Corporation is preparing to designate the newly pedestrianised Bank junction as a drone taxi landing zone, City A.M. can reveal. Taxi drones could be zipping through the skies of the capital as soon as the summer after ministers backed a plan to prioritise new regulations allowing passenger transit on autonomous flying [...]
Coronavirus: UK airports renew calls for government aid as passenger numbers plummet March 31, 2020 The UK’s aviation sector has renewed calls for the government to do more to prop it up through the coronavirus pandemic, as new figures showed that UK passenger numbers could drop by a third in 2020. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the UK is on course to see 113.5m fewer passengers pass [...]
Coronavirus: American Airlines to seek $12bn in state aid March 31, 2020 The US’ biggest carrier American Airlines will ask for $12bn (£9.7bn) in government aid in order to prevent it from making any pay cuts or laying off staff over the next six months. In a memo to employees last night, chief executive Doug Parker said that with the financial help American would be able to [...]
Coronavirus: Government poised to unveil rescue deal for bus industry March 31, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said that a sector-specific deal for the UK’s bus operators will be announced shortly after passenger numbers collapsed nearly 80 per cent. Speaking to Sky, Shapps said that he was “working very hard on a package” for buses, having announced a set of emergency measures to protect the UK’s struggling [...]
British Airways suspends Gatwick flights over coronavirus March 31, 2020 British Airways has temporarily suspended flights from Gatwick Airport over the worldwide coronavirus crisis. BA has already warned it must slash jobs and ground planes to combat coronavirus travel bans, and today took the step of stopping Gatwick flights. “Due to the considerable restrictions and challenging market environment, like many other airlines, we will temporarily [...]
Aston Martin furloughs workers as production suspended March 30, 2020 UK sports car-maker Aston Martin said today it would furlough some of its workers after the coronavirus crisis forced it to close factories. Under the government scheme employers can claim for 80 per cent of wage costs of up to £2,500 for staff they place on leave. The company suspended production at its Gaydon and [...]
Easyjet founder blasts board over call for state aid, tells firm to raise cash March 30, 2020 Easyjet’s founder and largest shareholder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has blasted the airline’s calls for state aid, saying companies as big as Easyjet “do not deserve charitable gifts”. Instead, the carrier should look to raise cash through an equity raise, he said, saying government loans “would only postpone the problem, [they] do not cure it”. In [...]
Coronavirus: Carnival shares plummet as firm extends cruise suspensions March 30, 2020 Carnival’s luxury cruise operator Cunard today said that it would extend the suspension of all its voyages by a month to 15 May due to the coronavirus pandemic. Carnival, also the operator of two coronavirus-stricken Princess cruises, has already temporarily suspended several of its ships due to concerns over the rapidly spreading Covid-19 crisis earlier [...]
Coronavirus: Mercedes-designed ventilator gets approval for NHS use March 30, 2020 Mercedes’ F1 team has designed a ventilator along with engineers and clinicians at University College London (UCL) that has been approved for use by the NHS. Around 100 of the breathing aids, which were designed and produced within 100 hours of engineers’ first meetings, will now be distributed to UCL’s hospital for clinical trials. The [...]
Coronavirus: Scottish flier Loganair confirms it will seek state aid March 30, 2020 Scottish airline Loganair has confirmed that it will join other UK carriers in seeking a government bailout, its chief executive has said. The regional carrier, which earlier this month agreed to take on a number of collapsed carrier Flybe’s routes, has recently suspended all of its passenger operations. Chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said this morning: [...]