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 [...]
Government would be ‘very unwise’ to ignore Huawei rebels, says David Davis March 10, 2020 The government would be “very unwise” to ignore Conservative rebels on Huawei, even if Downing Street wins today’s key vote, David Davis has warned. Speaking just hours before MPs debated an amendment designed to force the government’s hand on 5G, banning it from using “high risk vendors” after 31 December 2022, the former Brexit secretary [...]
The Westbury Hotel owner seeks £1bn sale of Mayfair portfolio March 10, 2020 Cola Holdings, the owner of the The Westbury Hotel, is seeking a £1bn offer for its Mayfair property estate, which also includes Bond Street’s Burberry store and a private members club. Kurdish-born millionaire Bakir Cola owns the group, which has recently received planning permission to redevelop the five-star hotel in Conduit Street to attract “top [...]
Treasury to push back target date to sell off RBS stake March 10, 2020 The Treasury is set to push back its target date for selling its stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in the wake of stock market uncertainty. The government is due to announce tomorrow that it will not divest its 62 per cent stake in RBS until 2025. An exit strategy the Treasury published [...]
Asda cuts fuel prices after oil price spirals on coronavirus March 10, 2020 Supermarket Asda has cut the price of petrol and diesel amid the Russia-Saudi Arabia oil war. The supermarket has cut its price by 2p per litre (ppl), meaning petrol will cost 114.7p per litre and diesel will cost 116.7p per litre. Asda said they are its lowest fuel prices since November 2017. “It will be [...]
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 [...]
Coronavirus: Hostel firm Safestay suffers spike in school cancellations March 10, 2020 Hostel operator Safestay has warned that it has suffered a sharp drop in bookings and a growing number of cancellations as fears over the Coronavirus outbreak ramp up across Europe. The firm said that group bookings from schools and colleges have been cancelled. Some countries including Italy have temporarily closed schools to stop the spread [...]
Coronavirus: Rory Stewart cancels London mayoral campaign launch March 10, 2020 Rory Stewart has cancelled his London mayoral campaign launch due to fears over coronavirus. Stewart yesterday criticised the government for not acting “much more aggressively” to stop the spread of Covid-19 and called for all schools to to be closed and all large public gatherings cancelled immediately. Last night, he said it was important for [...]
UK banks announce lending support for coronavirus-hit firms March 10, 2020 Some of the UK’s biggest banks have announced measures to help businesses and customers to cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Britain’s largest high-street lender Lloyds said it would offer £2bn of loans without fees to small firms hit by the virus, and said some of the worst-affected businesses would be offered [...]