Bloomberg South Africa’s minister in charge of embattled state-owned companies gave an impassioned defense of the sale of a majority stake in the national carrier for about $3 — a deal that’s subject to a lawsuit from one of the spurned bidders. The privatisation of South African Airways (SAA) is a vital reform for the country’s battered economy, Public ...
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Air Canada’s hope for recovery foiled over delays at ‘airports’
Bloomberg Air Canada’s hope for a strong recovery in 2022 has been foiled by chaos at Canada’s biggest airports. Travellers are back in big numbers as the summer vacation season kicks off. But Toronto’s Pearson International Airport has descended into scenes of long lines and a sea of luggage, and the nation’s largest airline is paying the price. About ...
Read More »Frontier asks Spirit to delay vote on merger
Bloomberg Frontier Group Holdings Inc asked buyout target Spirit Airlines Inc to further delay a shareholder vote on their proposed merger, saying it’s still “very far†from winning sufficient support because of a higher offer from rival JetBlue Airways Corp. Frontier also asked Spirit’s board to publicly reaffirm its commitment to their original agreement reached in February in light ...
Read More »CDC faulted for inability to track Covid via air travel
Bloomberg The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses outdated tools to track and analyse how Covid-19 spreads on planes, hindering the agency’s ability to stop outbreaks, a government watchdog agency said. Air travel is a constant concern in public health, since a sick person can board a plane in one country and hours later land in another, ...
Read More »SpiceJet sees new technical glitch after flight to Dubai
Bloomberg SpiceJet Ltd, the Indian airline already under scrutiny from regulators in the country, had another technical issue after a flight to Dubai, according to people familiar with the matter. The plane, an eight-year-old Boeing Co 737 next generation jet, had flown from India to Dubai and after landing was discovered to have a technical issue with its nose ...
Read More »Hong Kong’s nearly empty airport gets $18b expansion
Bloomberg It could be one of the world’s most expensive white elephants. Hong Kong opened its new, third runway at its airport, part of a HK$141.5 billion ($18 billion) project that will increase its footprint by 50%, adding 650 hectares (1,606 acres), equivalent to the size of Gibraltar. Also under construction is a HK$20 billion entertainment, retail and commercial ...
Read More »Wizz Air cuts 5% of its capacity in peak season
Bloomberg Wizz Air Holdings Plc is cutting 5% of its capacity over the peak summer travel period to reduce the impact of a staffing crisis that’s plaguing the industry. The low-cost carrier’s reductions, announced in a statement, will add to travel disruptions across Europe after companies including British Airways, KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG scrapped flights as demand bounced ...
Read More »Two of Europe’s biggest airlines scrap hundreds more flights
Bloomberg Two of Europe’s biggest airlines announced another round of cancellations, adding to the disruption turning the travel sector’s pandemic recovery summer into a nightmare. The Dutch arm of Air France-KLM plans to cancel as many as 20 round-trip flights to European destinations every day through the end of August. Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it will cancel 770 flights this ...
Read More »Spirit delays shareholder vote again to extend ‘talks’
Bloomberg Spirit Airlines delayed for a third time a crucial shareholder vote so it can continue discussions of its merger options with Frontier Group Holdings and rival suitor JetBlue Airways. The special meeting was delayed until July 15, Spirit said in a statement. While Spirit will continue to solicit shareholder proxies, there won’t be a vote or other business ...
Read More »British Airways close to union deal as Lufthansa feels strain
Bloomberg British Airways is nearing a possible agreement on pay with check-in staff that could head off a strike and prevent further disruption after the carrier scrapped thousands of flights amid a staffing crunch. Talks with the Unite union have progressed and a deal is close, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named ...
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