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 [...]
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 [...]
UK aviation industry rejects decision to leave EU Aviation Safety Agency March 9, 2020 The UK aviation industry has hit back at plans to leave the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) by the end of the year, saying that the move posed a risk to highly skilled jobs in the UK. The calls come after US magazine Aviation Week reported that transport secretary Grant Shapps had confirmed that [...]
Flybe’s last flight: How Europe’s biggest regional airline met its demise March 9, 2020 At 8.30pm on Wednesday evening, passengers were still being ushered onto planes bearing the indigo livery of Flybe. Half an hour later, members of the cabin crew on one of its last ever flights, from Manchester to Belfast, were crying, having just lost their jobs. “Staff in tears. This is so grim,” tweeted Holly Hamilton, [...]
Norwegian under scrutiny amid concerns over carrier’s debt pile March 8, 2020 A number of hedge funds have increased their bets against Norwegian Air amid concerns that the low-cost carrier could follow Flybe into bankruptcy due to the slump in demand due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to IHS Markit data obtained by the Sunday Telegraph, nearly 16 per cent of the airline’s stock is on loan [...]
Budget 2020: Pilots call for air passenger duty tax suspension March 6, 2020 The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) has called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to suspend air passenger duty in next week’s budget to protect the struggling aviation industry and avoid another airline collapsing like Flybe. Global airlines have been severely damaged by the coronavirus outbreak, with international trade body IATA predicting a 24 per cent reduction [...]