Aviation

Bloomberg Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd will carry out rapid pre-flight coronavirus testing for cabin crew and pilots from its base at London’s Heathrow airport, the company said on Monday. The carrier said it launched a trial on flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong on September 30 and is planning a wider roll-out that will involve testing every operating crew at ...

Bloomberg Airbus SE is under pressure to carry out its job-cutting plan as the prospects for the aviation industry deteriorate, Chief Operating Officer Michael Schoellhorn said in an interview with Handelsblatt. The planemaker’s plan to eliminate 15,000 positions is “the minimum of what we have to do,” Schoellhorn said, adding that the company currently has no plans to expand the ...

Bloomberg Ethiopian Airlines Group is willing to provide planes, pilots and maintenance services to beleaguered rival South African Airways as part of a joint venture with that country’s government. Africa’s biggest airline is offering operational assistance, Ethiopian CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said in an interview in Addis Ababa. The carrier isn’t interested in helping with debt repayments or the cost of ...

Bloomberg India’s Supreme Court ordered local airlines to refund tickets booked for travel during a nationwide lockdown earlier this year, dealing a blow to an industry already strapped for cash. The court’s verdict also mandated airlines to issue credit vouchers even for tickets booked for travel outside the lockdown period, if the flights were later canceled due to virus-related restrictions. ...

Bloomberg Holiday giant TUI AG could seek to raise about 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) through a rights issue and asset sales once bookings recover and the company starts generating meaningful revenue again. TUI will look at selling some of its 400 hotels and UK cruise arm Marella, Chief Executive Officer Fritz Joussen said in a briefing at the Frankfurt ...

Bloomberg Changi Airport Group said the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic isn’t abating as officials behind the world’s best airport warned of a “daunting” period ahead. Passenger traffic for Changi for the fiscal year ended in March declined for the first time in more than a decade, as a slump in the last two months of the period wiped out ...

Bloomberg Malaysia Airlines Bhd has reached out to lessors, creditors and key suppliers as part of its “urgent” restructuring exercise as it sees little sign of the pandemic easing. The flag carrier, wholly owned by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, would take more drastic measures if the restructuring can’t be completed over the next few months, according to ...

Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings Inc’s pilots agreed to accept lower minimum pay guarantees to prevent almost 4,000 of their members from being put on furlough. The pact with United won 58% support in a vote by union membership, the Air Lines Pilots Association (ALPA) said. The airline had sought to cut costs while avoiding pilot layoffs because of the expense ...

Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd is opening one of its Airbus SE A380 superjumbos as a temporary restaurant, joining a gaggle of other carriers trying out novel ways to raise cash while the coronavirus decimates air travel. Diners can choose their cabin class where they will be served meals with two alcoholic drinks and free flow of other beverages, the carrier ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s National Treasury wants strict conditions attached to any guarantees it provides for loans to the country’s embattled state airline, according to two people familiar with the matter. Treasury and Department of Public Enterprises officials met to discuss ways to restart South African Airways, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. Representatives ...