Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc circled back to the public-relations runway after calling Covid-19 an “ordinary seasonal virus” as the airline announced the end of the mask mandate on flights. The airline used the phrase in a statement saying it was relieved when a court lifted the federal mask mandate on air travel, drawing criticism from Twitter users for …

Bloomberg Auckland Airport has experienced a bounce in international visitor numbers, and is optimistic of further increases as New Zealand eases border restrictions, Chief Executive Officer Carrie Hurihanganui said. Foreign arrivals at the nation’s busiest airport plummeted when the border was shut in March 2020, but have started to recover following the removal of self-isolation requirements for residents returning home …

  Bloomberg L’Oreal SA sales climbed as the cosmetics giant benefited from higher demand for its luxury products, weathering virus restrictions in China. The French company’s sales rose almost 14% on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter, beating analyst estimates. Three of the four main divisions grew by double-digit percentages. The stock advanced as much as 2.8% and traded …

  Bloomberg Most major US airlines are no longer requiring travellers or employees to wear face coverings on domestic and some international flights. The decisions came hours after a US judge overturned a federal mandate for passengers to cover their faces. The US Transportation Security Administration said after the court ruling that it would stop requiring passengers on planes, trains …

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s reopening to the rest of the world is being slowed by the government’s bans on airlines for carrying infected passengers, with 11 routes in total suspended, the most since a peak in January. Hong Kong suspends routes for seven days if three or more passengers on a flight are found to be infected with Covid-19 upon …

  Bloomberg Miami International Airport saw the biggest increase in passenger seat capacity from pre-pandemic levels amid a surge in domestic tourism in the Sunshine State. Airport capacity in Miami rose 23% in April from the same month in 2019, according to a report from OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd that examined the world’s largest hubs. Orlando saw capacity rise 2.4% …

Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged to support the economy’s recovery, while downgrading its growth outlook and saying it will keep a watch on price pressures fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Bank Indonesia held the seven-day reverse repurchase rate at a record low 3.5% as expected by all 29 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The key …

  Bloomberg Chinese banks maintained their lending rates for a third month, with the central bank’s cautious easing measures and a weaker yuan reducing the scope for further reductions in borrowing costs. The one-year loan prime rate was held steady at 3.7%, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on Wednesday. A slight majority of 9 of the 16 economists …

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc is hiring senior investment bankers in Singapore, according to people with knowledge of the matter, as the US lender looks to bolster its dealmaking capabilities in Southeast Asia. The firm has hired Chua Hui Yin from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to cover corporate finance and execution, as well as Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.’s Andrew Teo for …

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is making headway in its effort to cut hundreds of millions of euros in costs by retiring the legacy IT systems linked to its Postbank unit. The lender “has successfully completed the first step” in a large-scale transformation of the IT systems in its retail business, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The project …