Hong Kong Special Administrative Region chief executive, Carrie Lam, announced today travellers would again be permitted to transit through Hong Kong International Airport from June 1. Lam told reporters Hong Kong, which has been closed to transit passengers since March 25 as part of efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, would resume transit passenger services “in moderation”.Read More »
Air New Zealand (Air NZ) said today it was expecting an underlying loss for the full 2019-2020 financial year, compared with earnings before taxation of NZ$374 million (US$230 million) in 2018-2019. The airline said in a market update lodged with the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges on Tuesday – the airline is listed in both countries – it was not providing specific earnings guidance at this time because there was still a "high degree of uncertainty regarding demand for air travel" under the country's Alert Level Two, which included the requirement to have social distancing on the aircraft.
Air NZ chief financial officer, Jeff McDowall, said the airline had NZ$640 million in short-term liquidity at the close of business on May 25 and so far had not needed to utilise a NZ$900 million loan facility from the New Zealand government. "We continue to utilise all available levers to reduce our cash burn and right-size the business to reflect the expectation that, for some time, our airline will be smaller than it was pre COVID-19, McDowall said in the company's trading update.
Fiji Airways said today it had received "sovereign guarantees to support urgent financing actions" from the Fiji government worth FJ$450 million (US$201 million) to help the airline through the COVID-19 pandemic. An airline statement said the sovereign guarantees would support initiatives such as boosting cash reserves, including payment deferrals, and new long-term debt financing. "We are grateful to the Fijian Government and the Fijian people for recognising the vital role of Fiji’s national carrier,” Fiji Airways CEO, Andre Viljoen, said in the statement.
The announcement of government aid came a day after Fiji Airways said more than 800 people would lose their jobs as the COVID-19 pandemic left the carrier with "virtually zero revenue" in coming months. The job losses covered 758 employees – or 51% of staff – across the airline group, 79 expatriate pilots and eight expatriate executives. Those remaining on staff at the airline will have their pay reduced by 20% from June 1.
Thai Airways International (THAI) has officially dropped its state enterprise status after confirming in a regulatory filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on Monday that the country's Ministry of Finance had sold a 3.17% holding in the airline to Vayupak Fund 1. The end of THAI's state enterprise status was one of the steps involved in a reorganisation and restructure of the airline. THAI has been struggling with debt and crippled by COVID-19, a situation that has led it to Thailand's Central Bankruptcy Court.
The loss of THAI’s state enterprise status was followed by an announcement the airline had appointed four new directors, including the former THAI president, Piyasvasti Amranand, who held the role between 2009-2012, alongside Pirapan Salirathavibhanga, Tevin Wongwanich and Boontuck Wungcharoen. The new board members replaced Sirikul Laukaikul, Pratana Mongkolkul, Pinit Puapan and Pitipan Tepartimargorn, THAI said in a regulatory filing to the SET.
Figures from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) show the country's airlines carried 62,151 passengers in April, a 99.8% reduction from 26.7 million passengers in the same month a year earlier. There were 10,874 domestic passengers (down 99.9% from 21.2 million) and 51,277 international passengers (down 99.1% from 5.5 million previously), the figures from the AAI website reported. India has been in a state of lockdown since late March.
