Effects of Covid-19 on airlines

[caller]

Packed planes still arriving in London from China (Chengdu I see a lot) - seriously?! And God only knows how many direct/indirect flights from the likes of Brazil.

Cargo - PPE et al. Still several flights a day, apparently. Group tourism from China is still banned

https://mediacentre.britishairways.com/ ... 86/0/12263

[STEVE G]

Qatar have been putting passenger Boeing 777's into Luxembourg just for the cargo in the belly. I can't imagine it's profitable to do that so I suppose it must be for essential supplies.

[Nereus]

NokScoot goes out of business

Regional budget carrier says it can't recover from pandemic impact

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... f-business

The regional budget airline NokScoot is shutting down, saying it cannot recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The carrier said its board of directors decided on Friday to liquidate the airline, with the decision to be announced in a general meeting of shareholders to be held in two weeks.

The decision will leave 450 staff members unemployed, save for some who will work on the liquidation process. The company promised to pay them full benefits in accordance with Thai law.

NokScoot was established in 2014 as a joint venture between Singapore-based Scoot and SET-listed Nok Airlines Plc. Nok, a domestic budget carrier established in 2004, holds 51% of the shares and Scoot, a Singapore Airlines subsidiary, holds the remaining 49%. Thai Airways International, now under bankruptcy protection, holds a 13.28% shareholding in Nok Airlines.

NokScoot operated medium- and long-haul Asian routes serving seven cities in China and three in Japan, as well as New Delhi, Singapore and Taipei, from its base at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok. Even before the coronavirus outbreak began, it was struggling in the market due to intense competitive from other low-cost carriers.

“Unprecedented challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic have further exacerbated the situation,” the board said in its statement on Friday.

There had been speculation that the company would exit the business after it announced employee layoffs.

NokScoot will return three aircraft from the five-jet fleet to the parent company in Singapore by the end of this month.

NokScoot cabin attendants pose in front of a Boeing 777-200 at Don Mueang airport on Feb 1, 2017. (NokScoot photo)

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[buksida]

AirAsia to resume all domestic operations
Thai AirAsia (TAA) has increased flight frequency and will resume operating to all 23 domestic destinations next month, chief executive Santisuk Klongchaiya said on Friday.

He said domestic flights were allowed to resume in May, but TAA waited about two months to resume its domestic operation.

Aside from the 23 domestic destinations next month, the airline will make connection flights available in 25 regions, including for the Chiang Mai-Hat Yai and Chiang Mai-Pattaya routes, Mr Santisuk said.

He noted that 68 daily return flights will be made available to stimulate air travel.

"We increased the frequency of popular routes such as the nine daily flights for Chiang Mai, seven daily flights for Khon Kaen, five for Phuket, in accordance with travel demands," Mr Santisuk said. "We are ready to support domestic tourism to best stimulate spending in various parts and provinces of the country."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... operations

[PeteC]

AirAsia's future in doubt due to virus

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... e-to-virus

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia's future is in "significant doubt" due to the collapse in demand for air travel caused by coronavirus, its auditor has warned.

The aviation industry is facing its biggest-ever crisis due to the outbreak, with airlines worldwide laying off huge numbers of staff while some have already gone out of business.

AirAsia, which shook up Southeast Asian budget air travel with its slogan "Now everyone can fly", Monday reported a record quarterly loss of 803 million ringgit ($187 million) for the first three months of the year.

Auditor Ernst & Young said Tuesday that "travel and border restrictions implemented by countries around the world has led to a significant fall in demand for air travel which impacted the group's financial performance and cash flows".

It noted the "existence of material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt on the group's and the company's ability to continue as a going concern", in an unqualified audit opinion statement to the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange.... (Continued at link)

[pharvey]

"Qantas Airways has effectively suspended all international flights from its schedule for the remainder of the year as airlines around the globe continue to contend with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Australian flag carrier has removed inventory for all international routes—except for a handful into New Zealand—through March of 2021, according to Executive Traveller. When an airline removes inventory, it means flights are no longer available for passengers to book and is usually seen as a precursor to cancellation. So although Qantas’ international routes have not yet been formally canceled, the flights are likely to be officially nixed in coming days.

Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce has alluded to the fact that the suspension of international flights could stretch even further into next year. Last month, Joyce said he doesn’t foresee the airline’s international route network significantly relaunching until at least July 2021, according to Australia’s 7News. “We have to position ourselves for several years where revenues will be much lower and that means becoming a smaller airline in the short term,” Joyce told 7News. Currently all Qantas international flights (except New Zealand routes) are canceled through October 2020."

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/qantas ... march-2021

[PeteC]

When all the dust settles in a year or two, there will be fewer airlines, fewer route choices, and tickets at sky high prices. I don't think business and leisure travel will ever be the same again in this decade.

We'll see what people experienced in the 1960's.....IMO

[buksida]

China suspends air routes from Thailand after positive covid tests
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has suspended two air routes from Thailand to China after several passengers tested positive for coronavirus upon landing.

The two routes, a Thai Lion Air route operating from Bangkok – Don Muang to Guangzhou and a Air Asia X route from Bangkok – Don Muang to Tianjin, were suspended by the CAAC for one week according to its official website.

Six passengers tested positive from the Guangzhou route while five passengers tested positive from the Tianjin route.

However, both airlines maintained that no passenger disembarked in Thailand and that the Bangkok stop was transit point.

Lion Air and Air Asia X representatives said that their respective airlines followed Thailand’s civil aviation authority guidelines strictly and no disembarkation was allowed and safety measures were enforced on the plane.

The Lion Air Flight’s point of origin was Jakarta, Indonesia while the Air Asia X flight had made stops in the Philippines and Malaysia before stopping in Don Muang.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/15661/chin ... -thailand/

[HHTel]

That makes no sense at all. No passengers disembarked in Thailand which is a point in Thailand's favour and even if they had, they'd have been quarantined which has no effect on the flight arriving in China.
If passengers were picked up in Thailand, then China has a point.

[buksida]

Nothing about any of this makes any sense at the moment ... Thailand bites back with the big ban hammer ...

New rule on transit flights through Thailand
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has banned all flights with Covid-19 infected passengers from transiting through Thailand after China banned two flights from here.

CAAT director-general Chula Sukmanop spoke of the new measure on Thursday in response to the report that the Chinese government temporarily banned the services of Thai AirAsia X and Thai Lion Air for carrying some passengers infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 to China.

Under the new requirement, he said, airlines must sell tickets only to passengers who had Covid-19-free certification for flights transiting through Thailand.

The requirement applies even though passengers do not get off the planes in the country, Mr Chula said.

Most international flights at this time were those chartered to carry people back to their homeland.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... h-thailand

[PeteC]

I read somewhere else that both were chartered by the Chinese to bring people home!

[pharvey]

British Airways Retires Entire 747 Fleet After Travel Downturn

"British Airways has said it will retire all of its Boeing 747s as it suffers from the sharp travel downturn.

The UK airline is the world's largest operator of the jumbo jets, with 31 in the fleet.

"It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect," a BA spokesman told the BBC.

Airlines across the world have been hit hard by coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

"It is unlikely our magnificent 'queen of the skies' will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic," the spokesman added."

Taken From: - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53426886

[Dannie Boy]

Although it’s a sad reflection on how the aircraft industry has been hit by Covid - in the case of (most of) BA’s 747’s, they were long overdue for retirement!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pharvey]

Although it’s a sad reflection on how the aircraft industry has been hit by Covid - in the case of (most of) BA’s 747’s, they were long overdue for retirement!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree with that one!! That said, the report mentions the intention to retire the 747's by 2024. Also Boing stopped production a year ago.

With them being the "Gas Guzzlers of the Skies", their days are certainly numbered. When will the last (passenger) 747 fly I wonder...

[PeteC]

UPS pilots demand right to refuse to fly to Hong Kong

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... -hong-kong

United Parcel Service (UPS) pilots want the right to refuse to fly to Hong Kong, further threatening to undermine the world's biggest air cargo hub, days after FedEx Express aircrew called for the suspension of flights to the city.

The Independent Pilots Association (IPA), which represents the global freight carrier's cockpit crew, wants the US company to only use volunteer staff to fly to Hong Kong, which is battling a surge in Covid-19 infections.

There is already an agreement with the airline covering flights to mainland China, which has been in place since February.

On Wednesday, FedEx pilots called on the company to halt Hong Kong flights, which they said posed an "unacceptable risk". Their anger stemmed from the forced hospitalisation, and poor quarantine conditions, three company pilots were subjected to after testing positive for the virus on arrival in the city.

The IPA said its agreement with UPS allowed pilots and its members to "opt into" and volunteer to operate mainland China flights.

"The IPA has requested that UPS use the same volunteer system for Hong Kong. The company has not responded yet," Brian Gaudet, the association's communications director, said.

Hong Kong is battling its most serious outbreak of the virus. A record 149 cases were reported on Thursday, the ninth straight day of three-figure increases, pushing the city's total to 3,151, with 25 related deaths.

The United States has been the worst hit by the virus. It had recorded more than 4.46 million cases and more than 151,000 deaths as of Thursday.

UPS, whose main operating base in Louisville, Kentucky, is the fourth busiest air freight hub in the world, said it did not talk publicly about discussions with its pilots' union.

Mike Mangeot, the cargo airline's strategic communications director, said it had "coordinated extensively" with its pilots to ensure their safety and the continuity of its operations, which included opt outs of mainland China flights "if they did not feel safe in doing so due to coronavirus concerns".

He added: "Our public affairs team has also worked at length with government agencies around the world, including in China and Hong Kong, to keep our employees safe and our customers' shipments moving on time."

Shenzhen is the main East Asia hub for UPS, handling an average of 14 company flights per day, flying across the region and to the rest of the world.

Hong Kong handles about 10 UPS flights a day focusing on Asia to Europe and vice versa. The airline operates 265 aircraft and charters a further 296, mounting 2,300 flights per day.

UPS had six scheduled flights on Thursday, but four were cancelled. FedEx also had six flights, which departed as normal. The Cathay Pacific Group, the fifth largest cargo carrier in the world, had a combined 29 flights scheduled to take-off.

Mangeot said the cancellations were "normal variations in the network" and the company was "in good shape crewing our flights".

FedEx reiterated an earlier statement it made in response to calls for it to suspend flights to Hong Kong, and there had been no apparent changes made to its flight network.

"Our operations in Asia-Pacific are vital to our global network, and we are proud of the way our entire FedEx team has continued to operate through difficult circumstances to keep the global supply chain moving around the world," it said.

Increased measures by the government, which took effect on Wednesday, require aircrew to be tested before they fly to Hong Kong. They are also banned from taking public transport to avoid mixing with the general public, and must self-isolate in hotel rooms.

Between July 8 and July 28, 18 aircrew tested positive for the virus, and of those, eight were pilots. Since July 8, all aircrew were required to be tested upon arrival at Hong Kong.

Earlier this week, the Hong Kong government said that it recognised the impact testing would have in the industry, but it considered it "necessary to adopt stringent measures at this time".