Easyjet to restart flights from 15 June, passengers to wear face masks May 21, 2020 Easyjet today committed to restarting some domestic flights from 15 June, with all passengers and crew required to wear face masks. The budget airline will resume a “small number” of flights mainly on domestic routes in the UK and France where “there is sufficient customer demand to support profitable flying”. Easyjet said it plans to [...]
Global coronavirus cases surpass 5m as Latin America infections surge May 21, 2020 Global coronavirus cases have now topped 5m, with Latin America overtaking the US and Europe to report the highest number of daily cases. The milestone marks a new stage of the pandemic, following the first peak in China followed by an explosion in cases in the US and Europe. Johns Hopkins University’s data tracker has [...]
Trump ratchets up China tensions with coronavirus ‘propaganda’ claims May 21, 2020 President Donald Trump ramped up his war of words with China overnight, accusing his counterpart Xi Jinping of orchestrating a “disinformation and propaganda attack on the United States and Europe”. Saying “it all comes from the top”, Trump also said China was “desperate” for Democrat Joe Biden to beat Trump to win the 2020 presidential [...]
Rolls-Royce to swing axe at 9,000 employees over coronavirus May 20, 2020 Rolls-Royce warned today it will look to make at least 9,000 workers to cut £1.3bn in annual costs as it copes with the economic downturn from coronavirus. The British engine-maker warned it will swing the axe mostly at staff in its civil aerospace division as it begins consulting unions. That prompted the government to say [...]
UK inflation rate plunges to lowest level since 2016 amid coronavirus May 20, 2020 The UK inflation rate tumbled from 1.5 per cent in March to 0.8 per cent in April as coronavirus pushed Britain into lockdown, according to data out today. Collapsing oil prices contributed to the plunge in the consumer prices index (CPI) that determines the inflation rate, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. It fell [...]
Coronavirus loans hit £22bn, but just 50 per cent of CBILS lending approved May 19, 2020 UK banks have only approved 50 per cent of applications to the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), data showed today, even as overall lending hit £22bn. CBILS lending data showed British lenders have distributed that cash to more than half a million UK companies, with over £14bn lent out in the form of bounce [...]
UK jobless claims soar by a record 856,000 to 2.1m in April May 19, 2020 UK jobless claims soared 69.1 per cent – or by 856,000 – to 2.1m in April, unemployment data showed today to illustrate the staggering impact of coronavirus on the economy. And the UK unemployment number increased by 50,000 to 1.35m as lockdown started in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS [...]
FTSE 100 breaks 6,000 barrier as vaccine hopes and Fed pledge boost markets May 18, 2020 The FTSE 100 broke through the 6,000-point milestone in a positive start to the week’s trading today, buoyed by hopes of a vaccine and more Federal Reserve stimulus. Easing lockdowns and lower infection rates in Europe infection hotspots Italy, the UK and Spain also boosted London’s blue-chip index. The FTSE 100 closed 4.5 per cent [...]
Ryanair cuts 2021 traffic target again over coronavirus, but boosts profit May 18, 2020 Ryanair has slashed its passenger traffic target by another 20 per cent for 2021 as it recorded a 13 per cent rise in profit after tax for its latest full-year. The budget airline revealed the profit jump today but warned it may pull out of some of Europe’s airports over coronavirus travel bans. Michael O’Leary’s [...]
UK economy receives fresh warnings before Rishi Sunak addresses MPs May 18, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to address MPs today following new dire predictions of the impact of coronavirus on the UK economy. Sunak is set to face questions over how the UK will pay for huge public borrowing currently propping up the economy. The Treasury boss extended his job retention scheme to October last week, [...]
