HS2 boss says only building line to Crewe ‘doesn’t do justice to the business case’ March 10, 2020 The boss of controversial rail project HS2 has said that only building the line to Crewe “doesn’t do justice to the business case” after doubts emerged over whether the proposed eastern route to Leeds would be built. In a speech last month Andrew Stephenson, the new minister responsible for the project, made no mention of [...]
EU suspends landing slots rule in bid to ease burden on beleaguered airlines March 10, 2020 The EU has dropped a rule meaning that airlines must run the majority of their scheduled services or risk losing profitable landing slots in a bid to give the industry some relief amid the coronavirus outbreak. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said that the bloc would temporarily do away with [...]
Norwegian shares plunge 12 per cent as airline cancels 3,000 flights March 10, 2020 Shares in low-cost carrier Norwegian plunged 12 per cent today after the airline said it would cancel around 3,000 flights between now and mid-June to tackle the slump in demand caused by coronavirus. The cancellations, which extend existing measures, represent approximately 15 per cent of the carrier’s total capacity for the period. They are part [...]
Peugeot’s Ellesmere Port factory to go down to four-day week March 10, 2020 Peugeot’s car factory at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire will go down to a four-day working week later this month as the manufacturer looks to save costs due to the stalling European car market. Last year the plant built around 62,000 Vauxhall and Opel Astra models last year, but there is doubt over the long-term future [...]
Covid-19: Qantas to cut international capacity by 25 per cent due to fall in passenger demand March 10, 2020 Australian airline Qantas will cut its global capacity by a quarter over the next six months as part of a package of measures to deal with the plunge in passenger demand caused by coronavirus. In addition, Australia’s largest airline has delayed an order for 12 Airbus A350-1000 planes while the outbreak continues. Qantas will also [...]
British Airways and Ryanair cancel all flights to Italy as travel lockdown extended to whole country March 10, 2020 British Airways (BA) and Ryanair have cancelled all of their flights to and from Italy today after the entire country was placed into travel lockdown as coronavirus continued to ravage its population. BA, which operates 60 routes to the country, had previously cancelled a raft of flights to the north of the country, but has [...]
John Menzies suspends dividend over coronavirus March 10, 2020 John Menzies will temporarily suspend its dividend for this year after warning of an expected 2020 profit blow from coronavirus. The coronavirus outbreak prompted Menzies to issue a profit warning last month, saying it expects a hit of between £6m and £9m if the outbreak subsides towards the end of the second quarter. The aviation [...]
Qantas to cut international capacity by a quarter as it grapples with coronavirus March 9, 2020 Qantas will slash its international capacity by nearly 25 per cent for the next six months, as it grapples with a steep fall in demand due to coronavirus. Qantas’ chief executive Alan Joyce will not take his salary until the end of the financial year, which ends 30 June. The board will take a 30 [...]
Shipping firm Clarksons swings to £10.5m loss March 9, 2020 Shipbroker Clarksons swung to a £10.5m loss for 2019 after a one off impairment charge relating to buying Norwegian rival RS Platou ASA. Clarksons wrote down the goodwill from the deal by £47.5m which pushed into the red for the year. In 2018, the company had posted a £32.7m profit. “2019 delivered robust underlying financial [...]
Boeing share price dives as regulator rejects 737 Max wiring plan March 9, 2020 Boeing’s share price dived today after the aerospace giant suffered another blow in its attempt to get its 737 Max model flying again after US regulators said its wiring bundles did not meet safety standards. Shares initially plunged over 10 per cent before recovering slightly, but the US firm was still down eight seven per [...]