US senate unanimously approves $58bn package for airlines March 26, 2020 Late last night the US senate voted unanimously in favour of a $58bn (£49bn) rescue package for its struggling aviation industry, which has been decimated by the plunge in travel demand caused by coronavirus. Almost half – $25bn of the total package – comes in the form of grants, which airlines will use to continue [...]
Coronavirus: Easyjet and Lufthansa bosses warn that industry will need state aid March 19, 2020 Easyjet chief executive Johan Lundgren has warned that he expects to see “a lot of failures” in the global aviation industry due to the damage done by the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking to the BBC, Lundgren said: “I have been working in the industry for 30 years and I have never seen anything like this.” “If [...]
IAG boss Willie Walsh to take pay cut amid coronavirus strife March 18, 2020 British Airways owner IAG’s boss Willie Walsh, who earlier this week deferred his retirement to guide the airline group through the coronavirus crisis, has volunteered take a 20 per cent pay cut. Walsh’s decision, which was first reported by Sky News, makes him the latest in a series of prominent airline executives such as Virgin [...]
Coronavirus: Government to lift financial assistance rules for struggling airlines March 18, 2020 The government will use emergency legislation to ensure that airlines and other industries that have been hit hardest by the coronavirus epidemic receive the support they need to survive. According to the Times, ministers will use the legislation to lift restrictions on the amount of financial support that businesses can be given. At the moment, [...]
Covid-19: IATA calls for $200bn in state aid for beleaguered airlines March 17, 2020 Industry body the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that the world’s airlines may need up to $200bn in government support to see them through the coronavirus crisis. Airlines around the world are in talks with different governments regarding the possibility of state aid as the outbreak continues to devastate the aviation industry. Boeing, [...]
Unite joins calls for government rescue package for airlines March 15, 2020 Unite, the UK’s largest union, has called on the government to listen to the country’s airlines, which have warned that they are facing unprecedented challenges due to the coronavirus outbreak. The workers’ association, which represents tens of thousands of people in the aviation sector, said that the industry needs government assistance now to help it [...]
Coronavirus: Scandinavian Airlines puts flights ‘on hold’ due to ‘non-existent’ demand March 15, 2020 Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) today announced that it has put most of its operations “on hold” due to the “non-existent” demand for air travel as a result of coronavirus. The measures are the most extreme yet taken by an airline and comes amid the grounding of thousands of planes worldwide as countries step up their measures [...]
Coronavirus: US travel ban decimates airline stocks March 12, 2020 President Donald Trump’s travel ban on European citizens entering the US due to coronavirus fears sent airline stocks to new lows today after weeks of pressure on the sector. Recent FTSE 100 dropout Tui led the falls, posting a 10.4 per cent decline by the mid-morning, while British Airways owner IAG was not far behind, [...]
Budget 2020: Government to review Air Passenger Duty March 11, 2020 The government has announced that it will undertake a review of Air Passenger Duty (APD) as a part of its new Budget, after calls from the aviation industry to scrap the tax. It said that it would “consider the case for changing the APD treatment of domestic flights, such as reintroducing a return leg exemption, [...]
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 [...]