Bloomberg EasyJet Plc sold more jets to aircraft lessors, raising almost $400 million to pad its finances against a surge in Covid-19 cases that’s pushed a travel recovery into next year. The UK discount airline said it sold nine Airbus SE A320 jets in two transactions, and will lease the planes back for almost 10 years, according to a statement. ...

Bloomberg SpiceJet Ltd is starting a seaplane service connecting the city of Ahmedabad with Kevadia, site of the world’s tallest statue — a 182-metre tribute to the country’s first home minister, Vallabhbhai Patel. Flights will start this Saturday, the 145th anniversary of Patel’s birth, from Sabarmati riverfront to near the so-called Statue of Unity. Fares for the 30-minute trip on ...

Bloomberg Look across the street from your home-office window: chances are you will see a delivery van. Trucks from Amazon.com Inc and other e-commerce companies have become ubiquitous during the pandemic. In much of the industrialised world, an ever-growing number of vans, trucks, trains and ships are hauling everything from desks to smart phones as consumers turn to online shopping ...

Bloomberg Many European airports will struggle to stave off insolvency without state help unless travel recovers from its pandemic slump by the end of the year, according to the continent’s main industry group. Airports Council International Europe predicts that 193 out of 740 airports in the region will soon struggle to pay their bills while government-imposed quarantine requirements remain in ...

Bloomberg ANA Holdings’s plan to launch a new low-cost carrier has doubters, given the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on airlines worldwide and an industry trend towards retrenching. The company said it will launch a new budget brand around fiscal year 2022, targeting medium-distance flights to Southeast Asia and Oceania. That coincided with the carrier unveiling a restructuring plan involving cost reductions ...

Bloomberg When Joe Biden popped up in Warm Springs, Georgia to stump for votes, it underscored just how up for grabs the long-time Republican state has become this presidential election. And if Biden manages to become the first Democratic candidate to turn Georgia blue in 28 years, Asian Americans will likely play a decisive role in that victory. Their ranks ...

Bloomberg The Philippines is taking a page out of China’s book by building up its own fleet that includes fishing boats in the South China Sea, the Southeast Asian nation’s top diplomat said. “We are swarming the areas because that’s the Chinese strategy — to swarm the areas also with the fishing boats,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said in ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s king called on all lawmakers to support the government’s 2021 budget, in a move that could lend some stability to embattled PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership ahead of a key parliament vote. The monarch expressed “full confidence” in the prime minister’s ability to lead the country through the crisis, and urged all politicians to cease their bickering, Indera Ahmad ...

Bloomberg Tanzanians started voting in general elections, with President John Magufuli’s party likely to extend its decades-long rule on the country that’s one of Africa’s top four gold producers. Magufuli, 61, whose Chama Cha Mapinduzi has governed for more than half a century, is seeking a second five-year term to continue major infrastructure works, including an expansion of Tanzania’s road ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for a partial lockdown in Germany that would include closing restaurants and leisure facilities through the end of November, as coronavirus infections continue to surge across Europe. Merkel is also urging citizens to keep private contacts to an absolute minimum, and to avoid all non-essential private travel, according to a draft federal government briefing ...