Singapore Airlines' (SIA) monthly traffic statistics for April showed the airline group - full-service Singapore Airlines, regional wing SilkAir and low-cost carrier Scoot - carried 10,800 passengers in April, a 99.6% reduction from 3.08 million passengers in the same month a year ago.Read More » The traffic report published on Friday evening showed passenger load factor dropped 74.4 percentage points to 9.1%.
The airline group said capacity for April, measured by available seat kilometres (ASK), was 96.3% lower than a year earlier, while demand, or revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), dropped 99.6% in the month. SIA carried 60.6% less freight in April.
Korean Air (KAL) has reported a net loss of 692 billion won (US$561 million) for the three months to March 31, 2020 deteriorating from a net loss of 89.4 billion won in the prior corresponding period. Revenue fell 22.7% to 2.35 trillion won, KAL said in its first quarter financial results published last Friday.
The airline company posted an operating loss, which removed one-off items and was regarded as the best indication of financial performance, of 56.6 billion won (US$45.9 million) for the first quarter of calendar 2020, tumbling into the red from an operating profit of 238 billion won in the prior corresponding period. In a statement, the company said more losses were expected in the second quarter due to the prolonged COVID-19 environment while improved domestic travel demand and the easing of some travel restrictions in Europe and North America would help mitigate revenue reduction.
Asiana Airlines said last week it planned to restart flights on 13 international routes in June - 12 destinations in China and one in the U.S.- amid signs the worst of the coronavirus pandemic may be over. The Star Alliance member reported an operating loss of 292 billion won (US$237 million) for the three months to March 31, 2020, compared with an operating profit of 7.2 billion won 12 months earlier.
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) has clarified in a statement today it has no intention of filing for bankruptcy. THAI was responding to online and news reports about the consensus of its Board of Directors meeting on 15 May 2020 about the subject.
The statement said its reform plan had been approved by THAI’s Board of Directors on 17 April, 2020 and was submitted to the State Enterprise Policy Office for consideration on 29 April, 2020. The rescue plan will soon be presented to the Cabinet for future action, THAI said. THAI again denies the bankruptcy rumours, the May 18 statement said.
Administrators for Virgin Australia said on Monday they had shortlisted a "small number of parties" for the next stage of the process of finding a new owner for the financially stricken airline. The administrators said in a statement the shortlisted parties, which it could not name due to confidentiality commitments, would have until mid-June to lodge binding offers to purchase the airline group.
Air China said it carried 2.67 million passengers in April, down 71.5% from 9.35 million in the same month a year ago. The airline's monthly traffic statistics published on Friday showed the number of international passengers collapsed by 99% to 15,300, regional passengers declined 99.9% to 600 and domestic passengers fell 64.1% to 2.65 million.
China Eastern Airlines (CEA) said it carried 2.66 million passengers in April, which was down 74.8% from 10.55 million in the prior corresponding period. The airline's monthly traffic statistics published on Friday said the number of international passengers fell 98.8% to 17,600, regional passengers dropped 99% to 3,470 and domestic passengers slid 69.9% to 2.64 million.
China Southern Airlines' (CSA) monthly traffic figures published on the same day showed the SkyTeam alliance member carried 3.87 million passengers in April, down 67.6% from 11.9 million in the prior corresponding period. Domestic passengers fell 61.8% to 3.84 million, regional passengers dropped 99.6% to 860 and international passengers slid 98.2% to 29,650.
Boeing said on Friday it had set up a team to work with airlines, global regulators, industry stakeholders, flying passengers, infectious disease experts and behavioural specialists on new solutions to minimise air travel health risks from the COVID-19 pandemic. The team, called the Confident Travel Initiative, is headed by senior executive Mike Delaney, who is currently Boeing vice president of digital transformation.
Japanese domestic carrier, Fuji Dream Airlines (FDA), resumed operations today on four routes, ending a period of suspension that began on April 28 due to the government-imposed State of Emergency. The schedule from May 18 to May 31 on the FDA website showed flights from Fukuoka to Nagoya Komaki, Niigata and Shizuoka, as well as between Komaki and Niigata, with the schedule for June 1 and beyond to be published on Wednesday, May 20.
