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Kort nyt om coronakrisen

 Af: Ole Kirchert Christensen i Liveblog 20. marts 2020

Følg med i vores opsummering af internationale luftfartsnyheder om COVID-19, der i øjeblikket påvirker flyselskaber og lufthavne over hele verden.

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IAG er på kapitaljagt

(22-06-20 – 07:40) IAG, der er moderselskab for British Airways, er i markedet for at søge at finde ny driftskapital til en værdi af 1,5 milliarder britiske pund, eller hvad der svarer til 12,35 milliarder danske kroner. Det skriver britiske medier.

IAG har tilknyttet Goldman Sachs og Morgan Stanley som rådgivere, og der tales om en rettet emission, hvor en kreds af de nuværende aktionærer får mulighed for at tegne nye aktier.

Under alle omstændigheder vil planen kræve en godkendelse af Qatar Airways, der ejer 25 procent af aktierne i IAG og dermed i dag er største aktionær i luftfartskoncernen.

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Flyselskab vil skrotte mundbind

(22-06-20 – 07:35) Indonesiske Garuda har planer om at lade mundbind erstatte med visirer for personalet på selskabets fly.

Det skyldes, at flyselskabet har fået klager over, at passagererne ikke kan se ansigerne på kabinepersonalet og derfor ikke er i stand til at se de sædvanlige smil.

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Iran vil give rabat på overflyvninger

(22-06-20 – 07:30) COVID-19-pandemien og eftervirkningerne af nedskydningen af flyet fra Ukraine International Airlines har betydet, at væsentligt nedgang i antallet af civile fly, der overflyver det iranske luftrum,

Det har betydet en større indtægtnedgang, hvorfor den statslige lufttrafiktjeneste forbereder en rabatstruktur for de otte største flyselskaber, der overflyver iransk luftrum samt flyselskaber, der vil øget antallet af overflyvninger med mindst 20 procent.

Den kommende rabatordning skal først godkendes af myndighederne, skriver det statslige nyhedsbureau IRNA.

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Emirates tilbage i Københavns Lufthavn

(20-06-20 – 09:55) Fredag kl. 12.35 landede en Boeing 777-300ER fra Emirates i København Lufthavn som rutenummer EK151 og markerede dermed genåbningen af ruten mellem Dubai og København.

Emirates vil i første omgang flyve to gange om ugen, men selskabet meddeler, at man vil kunne øge kapaciteten med kort varsel, hvis efterspørglen ændrer sig.

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Flere end 50.000 kommercielle fly i luften

(20-06-20 – 09:50) Den 18. marts var det muligt for Flightradar24.com at følge flere end 50.000 kommercielle flyvninger over hele verden. Det er første gang siden den 25. marts, at så mange fly er i luften.

Flightradar24

✔@flightradar24

Yesterday was the first day since 24 March that we tracked more than 50,000 commercial flights. https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/commercial-flights-top-50000-for-the-first-time-since-march/ …

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Air France markerer sidste flyvning med A380

(20-06-20 – 09:45) Fredag den 26. juni er det endegyldigt slut med Airbus A380 hos Air France. Denne dag foretager selskabet en særflyvning over Frankrig for at markere, at flytypen skal på en øjeblikkelig pensionering.

Air France har beskæftiget 10 Airbus A380, der har en gennemsnitsalder på lidt mere end ni år.

Lufthansa, der en anden stor A380-operatør, har netop meddelt, at dobbeltdækkerflyet tidligst kommer på vingerne i 2022, og at det er usikkert, om det overhovedet har en fremtid i flåden.

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IAG-selskab vil nedlægge 500 stillinger

(20-06-20 – 09:40) Det irske IAG-selskab Aer Lingus bekræftede fredag, at man vil nedlægge 500 af 4.500 stillinger i selskabet som følge af COVID-19-pandemiens konsekvenser.

Meldingen kommer dagen efter, at forhandlingerne med fagforeningerne er brudt sammen, hvor Aer Linges truer med at reducere lønningerne med 70 procent frem til august.

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Medie: Lufthansa overvejer salg eller konkurs for Brussels Airlines

(20-06-20 – 09:35) Ifølge det belgiske medie La Libre skal Lufthansa mødes med ledelsen i Brussels Airlines mandag for at afklare selskabets fremtid.

La Libre har talt med kilder i Lufthansa, der bekræfter, at der er overvejelser om at lade Brussels Airlines gå konkurs eller alternativt at forsøge at sælge det.

Den belgiske regering har tidligere udtalt, at man er klar med en redningspakke til 300 millioner euro, eller hvad der svarer til 2,24 milliarder kroner. Det kræver dog, at Lufthansa vil garantere selskabets fremtid, hvilket endnu ikke er sket.

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Genoptager flyvninger fra Island til Grønland

(20-06-20 – 09:30) Air Iceland Connect vil fra den 3. juli genoptage ruten fra Reykjavik til Nuuk i Grønland.

Der flyves med Dash 8-200 hver fredag, og fra den 3. august er det planen, at der skal flyves to gange om ugen.

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Qantas aflyser internationale flyvninger til udgangen af oktober

(19-06-20 – 09:00) Australske Qantas forventer, at “hovedparten” af selskabets internationale flyvninger vil være aflyst frem til slutningen af oktober i år, da landets grænser vil være lukkede et stykke tid endnu.

I løbet af de kommende måneder vil selskabet genoptage flyvningerne til New Zealand, og hvis efterspørgslen vender tilbage tidligere end forventet, eller hvis der åbnes op til andre lande, vil Qantas tage bestik af situationen.

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LOT genoptager internationale ruter uden Danmark

(19-06-20 – 07:30) Polske LOT genoptager fra den 1. juli en del af de europæiske flyvninger. Indtil videre er der udvalgt 20 destinationer, men hverken København eller Billund er iblandt disse. Der er heller ingen svenske destinationer på det spinkle rutekort.

LOT vil starte op til Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bruxelles, Budapest, Bukarest, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Kiev, Oslo, Split, Prag, Tbilisi, Vilnius og Wien samt Chania, Korfu, Podgorica, Varna og Zadar.

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Baltisk flyselskab har verdens yngste flyflåde

(18-06-20 – 17:50) Lettiske airBaltic har ifølge simpleflying.com i dag verdens yngste flyflåde. 

Efter COVID-19-nedlukningen har airBaltic besluttet sig for at pensionere selskabets Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 samt de ældre Boeing 737-fly, Nu består flåden i stedet af 22 Airbus A220-300, der har en gennemsnitsalder på 1,9 år.

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Qatar Airways: Ingen nye fly i 2020 og 2021

(18-06-20 – 17:45) Qatar Airways har besluttet at udsætte leveringen af nye fly, da selskabet har registeret en nedgang i efterspørgslen som følge af COVID-19-pandemien.

Derfor vil selskabet ikke kunne honorere de mange bestillinger, der er afgivet til både Airbus og Boeing.

“Ret mange levering vil blive udskudt. Vi har allerede meddelt både Boeing og Airbus, at vi ikke vil tage levering af nye fly i år og næste år,” siger koncernchef Akbar al-Baker til SkyNews.

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Malta International Airport åbner for alle lande den 15. juli

(18-06-20 – 17:40) Selvom Malta International Airport genåbner den 1. juli er det i første omgang kun et begrænset antal lande, som det vil være muligt at modtage flypassagerer fra. I denne liste indgår både Danmark, Norge og Finland samt de baltiske lande.

Maltas regering har nu besluttet, at lufthavnen fra den 15. juli skal være åben for alle destinationer, således at alle restriktionerne vil være ophævet.

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Thailandske lufthavne sat tilbage indtil 2023

(18-06-20 – 17:35) Airports of Thailand (AOT) har offentliggjort en trafikprognose, hvoraf det fremgår, at man tidligt i 2023 forventer, at passagertallene vil komme op på samme niveau som i 2019.

AOT forventer i 2023, at 144,2 millioner passagerer rejser gennem landets lufthavne, hvilket repræsenterer en vækst på 1,6 procent sammenlignet med 2019.

I 2020 forventer AOT, at lufthavnene vil betjene 69,04 millioner passagerer, hvilket er et fald på 51,3 procent i forhold til året før. 

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COVID-19-teststation i Billund Lufthavn

(18-06-20 – 17:30) Region Syddanmark har i løbet af få dage etableret og klargjort en teststation i Billund Lufthavn, der var klar kl. 12.00 i dag.

Teststationen er et frivilligt tilbud, når de rejsende rejser fra udlandet til Billund Lufthavn. Der gælder næsten de samme regler i teststationen i lufthavnen som i de hvide telte rundt i landet: Har man tegn på symptomer, skal man søge egen læge eller vagtlægen. Det kræver dog ingen tidsbestilling at blive testet i lufthavnen.

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Tysk koncern sælger ejerandel i rumænsk lavprisflyselskab

(17-06-20 – 18:20) Den Berlin-baserede transport- og luftfartsvirksomhed Zeitfracht har solgt sin ejerandel på 10 procent i det rumænske lavprisflyselskab Blue Air. Køberen er selskabets majoritetsaktionær, den rumænske investor Teodor Cristian Rada. 

Ejerandelen i det rumænske flyselskab blev erhvervet i februar sidste år, men Blue Air har ligesom andre flyselskaber haft det svært under coronakrisen, hvor selskabet midlertidige måtte afskedige 90 procent af de ansatte.

Zeitfracht er moderselskab til German Airways, der er et flyselskab skabt ved sammenlægningen af det tidligere Airberlin-ejede LGW samt WDL Aviation.

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SAA har brug for 10,3 milliarder kroner

(17-06-20 – 16:40) South African Airways har været under konkursbeskyttelse siden december, og selskabets administratorer oplyser nu, at der er brug for mindst 26,7 milliarder sydafrikanske rand, hvilket svarer til 10,3 milliarder danske kroner.

Beløbet er omkring 10 milliarder rand større, end hvad regeringen i februar var klar til at afsætte i statsbudgettet for at kunne holde flyselskabet i live. Den 24. juni skal den sydafrikanske finansminister tage stilling til et revideret statsbudget, og herunder behovet for penge til SAA.

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Tidligere Monarch Airlines-ejer vil byde på Virgin Atlantic

(17-06-20 – 07:50) Kapitalfonden Greybull Capital, der var ejeren bag Monarch Airlines, der gik konkurs i efteråret 2017, er involveret i et muligt bud på overtagelse af en stor aktiepost i kriseramte Virgin Atlantic.

Ifølge Sky News vil Greybull Capital sammen med den amerikanske kapitalfond Elliott fremsætte et forslag til en redningspakke, idet Virgin Atlantic akut har brug for 500 millioner britiske pund for at sikre selskabets overlevelse.

Der forventes at komme en afklaring omkring Virgin Atlantics fremtid inden udgangen af måneden.

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Frankfurt Airport overhaler Schiphol

(17-06-20 – 07:45) Frankfurt Airport registrerede 272.826 passagerer gennem terminalerne i maj, hvilket svarer til en tilbagegang på 95,6 procent i forhold til samme måned året før.

Dermed overhalede den tyske storlufthavn konkurrenten i Amsterdam, hvor Schiphol Airport blot havde 208.286 passagerer, der i maj rejste til og fra lufthavnen, hvilket repræsenterer et fald på 97 procent.

År til dato har der i Frankfurt Airport været en samlet tilbagegang på 57,2 procent, hvilket er på linje med andre større lufthavne i Europa.

Latin-America's Airlines Are Crashing, But There May Be No Bailouts. Aeromexico Denies Filing for US Bankruptcy


The AMLO government, which has refused to bail out shareholders and bondholders of large companies, could be on to something: A form of capitalism where investors, not taxpayers, carry the risks.

Mexico's main airline, Aeromexico, on Friday felt compelled to issue a denial that it "has not initiated, nor has it made the decision to initiate, a restructuring procedure under Chapter 11 of the Unites States Bankruptcy Code," following allegations to that effect in Mexico's most widely read financial daily El Financiero. A few lines further down in the press release, the company said it is exploring ways to restructure, in an orderly fashion, its short- and medium-term financial commitments.

If the statement was meant to put investors' nerves at ease, it didn't quite work that way. Aeromexico's shares ended the day 4.5% lower and are now down 60% year to date.

Investors are spooked for good reason. In May, the number of passengers on its domestic flights plunged by 89% from a year ago, and for international flights by 98%. Like all airlines, it desperately needs financial support to navigate the unprecedented turbulence hitting the aviation industry. And for the moment, it's not getting it.

Like many airlines, Aeromexico was already in trouble before the virus crisis brought air travel to a near-standstill. In 2019, its CEO, Javier Arrigunaga, went cap in hand to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's right hand man, Alfonso Romo, to request a $125 million emergency credit line from Mexico's state-owned development bank. The answer was a resounding no.

According to the article in El Financiero that forced Aeromexico's bankruptcy enial, the airline is currently being advised by U.S. law firm White & Case and Citigroup.

Two of South America's largest airlines, Santiago-based LATAM (a Chilean-Brazilian airline) and Colombia's Avianca, have already filed for bankruptcy protection in a New York court. In May, LATAM became the world's largest airline to date to seek an emergency reorganization due to the coronavirus pandemic. It seeks to restructure $18 billion in debt. Latam's filing for Chapter 11 is likely to delay a proposed bailout of the company by Brazil's state development bank as well as push back aid to its domestic rivals.

Avianca was already desperately weak before Covid struck, having emerged from a debt restructuring process in Dec. 2019. Like LATAM, Avianca's revenues and earnings were decimated by the near-total collapse of passenger operations in April, as all countries in Latin America sealed their borders and barred all non-essential travel. Passenger traffic on Latin American and Caribbean airlines plunged by a staggering 96% in April, according to the International Air Travel Association (IATA).

With Covid-19 cases rising across the region, which is now considered the epicenter of the global virus crisis, some countries still haven't opened their borders and many travel bans remain in place. For example, travel between Brazil, which currently has the second highest number of covid-19 cases in the world, and the U.S., which has the highest, is still suspended, while all non-essential travel between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada remains restricted.

Prior to COVID-19, Latin America's airline industry generated $167 billion in revenues and supported 7.2 million jobs, according to IATA. Forecasts now anticipate a drop of at least $77 billion in revenues, with more than 3.5 million jobs at risk.

Avianca recently reported that its passenger revenues had slumped 51% for the year up to early June compared to the same period of 2019. Given that included roughly two and a half months of normal uninterrupted operations, between January and mid-March 2020, the revenue figure shows just how dire second-quarter results are likely to be for Latin America's airlines.

By the end of 2020, LATAM Airlines expects to be operating at half of pre-pandemic levels, said the group's CEO Roberto Alvo on Thursday, adding that a full recovery was unlikely for at least three to four years.

LATAM's Argentinean subsidiary has already announced it is ceasing all cargo and passenger operations, indefinitely. The decision, it said, was "a result of current market conditions, exacerbated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the difficulty of building structural agreements with local industry actors, which has made it impossible to foresee a viable and sustainable long-term project".

It's a common theme throughout the region. The airlines say they desperately need help from taxpayers to weather the storm. And in most cases they're not getting it.

"This is our last chance to survive this crisis," said Peter Cerdá, IATA Regional Vice President for the Americas. "Time is against us and every day that goes by places more agony on an industry that is seeking clarity on timelines to restart operations. No sector has the liquidity to stay afloat during a four- or five-month standstill."

In North America and Europe, governments have responded to the turmoil hitting the aviation industry by unleashing billion-dollar aid packages to help keep airlines afloat. Some central banks have even bought bonds issued by airlines. It still may not be enough to save the industry.

On June 10, Delta Airlines, which forms part of the same SkyTeam airline alliance to which Aeromexico belongs, warned in an SEC filing that its revenues in the second quarter, ending June 30, would collapse by 90% compared to the second quarter last year. Ironically, Delta could end up facing billions of dollars in losses as direct a result of its untimely strategic partnership with LATAM, struck just seven months before LATAM's bankruptcy.

Delta can count on government support, at least temporarily, as well as raise funds relatively cheaply on the bond market. In most Latin American economies, those sorts of luxuries are painfully scarce right now. As we've been warning since late March, most economies in Latin America have neither the fiscal firepower nor monetary leeway to bail out corporations in the way that countries in Europe and North America have.

Latin American and Caribbean governments have offered less support to the aviation sector sector than any other region, says Peter Cerdá at IATA. Even in Mexico, where funds are more readily available, the AMLO government has steadfastly refused to use taxpayer money to bail out shareholders and bondholders of large corporations. And he could be on to something - some sort of wild-eyed experiment, a form of capitalism where investors, not taxpayers, carry the risks.

Qantas to announce future direction soon, trying to avoid forced pilot job cuts -sources SYDNEY, June 22 (Reuters) - Qantas Airways Ltd has told pilots it plans to make an announcement on the airline's future direction by the end of the month and that it hopes to avoid forced job cuts among flight crew, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Qantas International Chief Executive Tino La Spina made the remarks at a webinar with pilots on Monday, said the people, who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media. La Spina said avoiding forced redundancies, which he would view as a "failure", would require flexibility from the workforce as the airline grapples with the coronavirus outbreak, the people said. Measures could include early retirement, voluntary redundancy and pilots agreeing to be paid for fewer than the minimum hours in their industrial agreements due to the lack of flying, one of the people said. Qantas declined to comment directly on La Spina's comments but pointed to previous statements that the airline is reviewing the scope and scale of its business due to the impact of the coronavirus and that it expects to be smaller in the future. Most Qantas pilots have been stood down and are receiving government aid rather than their normal pay. Rival Air New Zealand Ltd last month made 300 of its 1200 pilots redundant through forced cuts and voluntary exits, while the remainder agreed to the equivalent of a 30% pay cut for nine months, its pilot union said. Qantas last week cancelled most international flights until late October after the Australian government indicated its border closure because of the coronavirus was likely to extend to 2021. The airline had previously announced plans to retire its remaining five Boeing Co 747 jets by the end of the year and said it expects its 12 Airbus SE A380s to remain in storage for some time. At the same time, it is ramping up domestic capacity.

American Airlines seeks $3.5 bln in new financing American Airlines said Sunday (June 21) it plans to secure $3.5 billion dollars as it continues to grapple with travel limits over the global health crisis. In a statement, American said it plans to raise $1.5 billion by selling shares and debt to try and free up cash. The world's air travel industry has been bleeding money during the health crisis. U.S. authorities reported record low passenger numbers in April. But American announced earlier this month it would be ramping up flights for June and July and expects to stop burning cash by the end of the year. It says that will be thanks to a rise in travellers and its own efforts to cut costs. American and fellow U.S. airline Delta said last week a modest recovery in travel demand was already helping it to burn less cash this month.