Aviation

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG is seeking shareholder approval to raise up to 2.4 billion euros ($2.6 billion), funds that could lower but not be enough to avoid the need for a government orchestrated bailout the carrier is facing to get through the coronavirus crisis. Germany’s flagship airline is seeking to issue 176 million new shares, or 36% of its existing ...

Bloomberg Indonesia has overtaken Japan to become the world’s third-biggest aviation market as airlines continue to slash passenger capacity because of the coronavirus, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide. The country’s scheduled capacity is now 2.1 million seats, down 7.8% from last week, but just ahead of Japan’s after a drop of nearly 15% there. Chinese capacity rose 7.2% to 8.7 ...

Bloomberg Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s insistence that America’s major airlines partially repay taxpayer funds aimed at shoring up the industry has set up a clash between the Trump administration and the carriers. At least some of the large carriers are unhappy with the terms — specifically, that large airlines repay 30% of any grant within five years — and are ...

Bloomberg Airbus SE slashed its aircraft output by a third in a stark concession to the coronavirus pandemic that’s upended the aviation industry. The world’s biggest commercial aircraft manufacturer now plans to produce about 48 planes a month across its A320, A330 and A350 programs, it said in a statement. It had gone into the year with a goal of ...

Bloomberg Air France-KLM has asked the French state for an immediate cash injection to help the troubled carrier stay afloat in the next four to five months, according to Les Echos newspaper. The cash injection, which could represent “many billions” of euros, would come on top of state-backed loans worth about 6 billion euros ($6.5 billion) the company is currently ...

Bloomberg The Australian government is in contact with Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd management and wants to make sure there is a competitive airline industry when people are allowed to start travelling again after the coronavirus pandemic. Australian travellers are not expected to be able to head overseas until at least the end of this year, although there may be easing ...

Bloomberg The coronavirus pandemic has brought the global aviation industry to its knees, and African carriers are particularly vulnerable as they seek assistance from governments already facing constrained finances. Ethiopian Airlines Group, South African Airways and Kenya Airways are among national airlines staring at mounting losses and the destruction of growth plans put in place before the Covid-19 outbreak. African ...

Bloomberg The European Commission approved measures from Belgium and Sweden to help the airline industry as it struggles to weather the economic fallout from the coronavirus. It gave antitrust clearance to Sweden’s 455 million euro ($497 million) loan-guarantee scheme to support airlines that hold the nation’s commercial aviation license at least as of January 1. It also welcomed a Belgian ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration wants the 12 largest US airlines to repay a portion of the federal grants they receive to cover their payrolls during the coronavirus crisis. The large carriers, which are set to receive more than $100 million in payroll assistance, are being offered aid packages that would require them to repay 30% of the grants through low-interest ...

Bloomberg FedEx Corp is redeploying aircraft it mothballed earlier this year and plans to add 150 flights over the next month to ferry masks, protective suits and other healthcare supplies to the US from Asia. The activity adds to the usual seven to nine daily flights across the Pacific, said Richard Smith, chief of FedEx Express operations in the Americas ...