Aviation

BLOOMBERG TUI AG’s summer bookings are approaching pre-pandemic levels, the latest sign that the travel sector is recovering despite high inflation squeezing household budgets. The world’s biggest tour operator said booking volumes were at 96% of 2019 levels, led by demand for travel to Spain, Greece and Turkey. Prices are 26% higher than pre-pandemic levels, the company said. The stock ...

BLOOMBERG Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd is close to paying A$730 million ($494 million) to its private equity owner Bain Capital, months before a possible listing in Sydney, according to a person familiar with the matter. The planned capital return is almost exactly the same size as the amount that Bain paid for Virgin Australia’s equity in 2020, said the ...

BLOOMBERG A European Union (EU) court toppled Germany’s massive bailout of Deutsche Lufthansa AG at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, backing Ryanair Holdings Plc’s claims that the package unfairly tilted competition towards its rival. Terms of a €6 billion-euro ($6.6 billion) recapitalisation approved by the European Commission were too favourable to Lufthansa, and demands that Europe’s biggest network carrier ...

BLOOMBERG IAG SA raised its full-year earnings outlook after reporting a surprise profit in the typically weak first quarter, highlighting how the airline industry has rapidly bounced back from the depths of the pandemic slump. The parent company of British Airways and Iberia now expects operating profit to exceed the upper end of its previous guidance, which called for a ...

BLOOMBERG Go Airlines India Ltd, which went under citing Pratt & Whitney engine failures, is optimistic about resuming flights within seven days if the bankruptcy court restrains lessors from taking back its aircraft. The airline, controlled by billionaire Nusli Wadia’s group, has enough funds to sustain operations on a cash-and-carry model for about 10 days, Chief Executive Officer Kaushik Khona ...

BLOOMBERG Nordstrom Inc plans to give up its store in downtown San Francisco, becoming the latest retailer to depart the area as the city struggles with emptied office buildings and crime concerns. “The dynamics of the downtown San Francisco market have changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate ...

BLOOMBERG Air France is pressing the French government to limit Chinese airlines’ access to the country, saying they enjoy an unfair advantage because they can fly over Russian airspace closed to many other carriers. The French arm of Air France-KLM wants President Emmanual Macron to introduce taxes or other measures that would create a similar cost base between Air France ...

BLOOMBERG Deutsche Lufthansa AG said first-quarter earnings at its air cargo division fell as global freight rates declined, denting a continued recovery in demand for summer tourism travel. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes at the cargo division fell to €151 million ($166 million) in the period, down from €495 million for the same period a year earlier, the airline ...

BLOOMBERG Go Airlines India Ltd’s slide into bankruptcy has left travellers frustrated and confused, with many worried about how expensive re-booking tickets may be against the spiralling cost of air fares. The airline, majority owned by billionaire Nusli Wadia’s Wadia Group, is the latest to go under in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. It blames its fate on ...

BLOOMBERG American Airlines Group Inc and its pilots union are close to reaching an agreement on a new contract after weeks of focussed negotiations. The two sides could have a tentative agreement by the end of this month, said a person familiar with the talks who asked not to be named discussing a private matter. Negotiations will continue even as ...