Short Takes
April 3rd 2020
Indonesia AirAsia grounded its entire fleet on April 1. Read More » The low-cost carrier (LCC) said late last week domestic flights would resume on April 21, while international services would re-start on May 17.
Similarly, Thai AirAsia has ceased all flying with the suspension of all domestic services for the month of April. The airline stopped international services on March 22, with those services planned to recommence on April 25.
Malaysia AirAsia, Philippines AirAsia and India AirAsia already had stopped flying, which left Japan AirAsia as the only affiliate in the group operating scheduled flights.
Air New Zealand (Air NZ) CEO, Greg Foran, said in an email to staff and customers that based on current booking patterns the airline would "go from having revenue of NZ$5.8 billion (US$3.425 billion) to what is shaping up to be less than NZ$500 million annually". The airline said it had begun the process of standing down about 3,500 of its 12,500 staff.
Still on Air NZ, chief revenue officer, Cam Wallace, said the airline planned to operate 14 cargo flights to Shanghai in the next week, after it commenced cargo flights to the Chinese city for the first time on March 31. Wallace said on Twitter this week Air NZ was "generating some good momentum and progress with products both outbound and inbound".
Emirates Airline, which has suspended all operations, will receive financial support from the government of Dubai via an equity injection, Dubai Crown Prince and Executive Council of Dubai Chairman Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in a statement on March 31. "The Government of Dubai is fully committed to supporting Emirates Airline in the current critical period," Al Maktoum said, and added details of the package will be released imminently.
Emirates SkyCargo has set up a new flight schedule for its global cargo operations, including cargo flights operated on the airline’s 777 passenger aircraft. The passenger aircraft will offer 40 tonnes of lower deck cargo capacity and will supplement Emirates’ fleet of air freighters.
The upgraded cargo service will operate to destinations in Africa, Europe and the Asia-Pacific “with multiple and daily flights” Emirates SkyCargo said on April 2.
British Airways, the sole remaining European flag carrier with service to Australia and most major cities in the region, will end its London Heathrow-Singapore-Sydney flight, with the last departure from Sydney scheduled for April 9. The United Kingdom High Commission in Australia's Twitter account confirmed the temporary suspension of the route on March 30.
Cathay Pacific Group CEO, Augustus Tang, and the airline group's chairman, Patrick Healy, have outlined more cuts to the airline's already skeleton flight schedule amid the collapse in passenger traffic, the South China Morning Post reported on April 3. Under a revised schedule, Cathay Pacific planned to limit flights to London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Sydney and Vancouver to two a week, from three a week currently, the newspaper said.
