European Commission approves €3.4bn KLM bailout July 13, 2020 The European Commission has approved a €3.4bn (£3.1bn) bailout of the Dutch wing of Air France-KLM, despite objections from Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary. The rescue package, which was agreed last month, will see the Dutch government guarantee a €2.4bn loan from a consortium of banks, as well as providing €1bn in loans itself. When the [...]
London City Airport resumes international flights after three-month suspension July 10, 2020 International flights have resumed from London City Airport after a three month suspension due to the UK’s coronavirus lockdown. It comes as the government’s relaxation of quarantine rules takes effect, which will allow people to travel across Europe without quarantining on arrival. It has been met with massive demand from travellers, with bookings for flights [...]
Greece to resume direct flights from UK next week July 6, 2020 Greece will resume direct flights from the UK on 15 July, after it last week extended a ban on travel from Britain over concerns the infection rate could spike. Greece is exempt from the Foreign Office’s advice against all but non-essential international travel, but the country last week signalled it was not ready to resume [...]
Quarantine legal challenge begins as measures scrapped for 60 countries July 3, 2020 Three of the UK’s biggest airlines have today begun their legal challenge against the government’s travel quarantine plan, the same day the measures were lifted for 60 countries. In a rare show of unity, rivals British Airways, Ryanair and Easyjet had come together to challenge the blanket restrictions, which say that all those entering England [...]
Aviation industry hails ‘turning point’ as quarantine scrapped for 60 countries July 3, 2020 People from England will be able to go to more than 50 countries from 10 July without having to quarantine on return, the government has announced. The full list of countries will be published later today but ministers have already named France, Germany, Spain and Italy among those exempted from the blanket restrictions. The announcement [...]
Ryanair passenger numbers down 97 per cent as ‘air bridges’ wait goes on July 2, 2020 Ryanair flew just 400,000 people last month, the low-cost airline revealed today, as the coronavirus continued to cripple global aviation. The figure represents a 97 per cent drop on the same month in 2019, when the budget carrier flew 14.2m people. However, compared to April and May, in which the airline flew a combined 110,000 [...]
Accenture to cut up to 900 UK jobs as coronavirus bites July 1, 2020 Consultancy firm Accenture is planning to axe up to 900 jobs in the UK as the firm tries to cut costs to deal with the coronavirus crisis and an uncertain future. Accenture is a US firm headquartered in New York, but it employs more than 10,000 people in the UK. The job cuts are part [...]
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary says 3,000 jobs at risk unless pay cuts agreed July 1, 2020 Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary today confirmed that the airline would cut 3,000 jobs if it was not able to agree pay cuts with staff. Speaking to the BBC, O’Leary said: “We’ve already announced about 3,000 job losses but we’re engaged in extensive negotiations with our pilots, our cabin crew and we’re asking them to all [...]
Work still ‘ongoing’ on air bridges, says Alok Sharma July 1, 2020 Business secretary Alok Sharma has said the UK’s plans to create air bridges with other countries is still “ongoing”, potentially indicating further delays to any announcement. The UK’s plan to have quarantine-free with some low coronavirus risk countries, also known as air bridges or travel corridors, was expected to be announced last Friday. Media reports [...]
Greece extends ban on flights from UK June 29, 2020 The Greek government has extended a ban on direct flights from Britain until 15 July, amid fears the rate of infection in the UK could spring up as lockdown measures are lifted. Brits had strong hopes that summer holidays to Greece would be given the green light this week, as so-called air bridges with European [...]