The Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday the country was working on launching a "fast lane" arrangement with China to "facilitate essential travel for business and official purposes between the two countries".Read More »Initially, the fast lane arrangement would cover travel between Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in China and Singapore before being expanded to other parts of the country.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said both countries had agreed in recent ministerial talks to "explore the increase of air links between the two countries for the Fast Lane".
Hong Kong International Airport began accepting international transit passengers today. The airport said in a statement all transit passengers would be given stickers at transfer points for identification purposes, have their body temperature checked upon arrival and were requested to go to the boarding gate for their connection flight immediately. Designated dining areas had been set up for transit passengers.
While domestic flights had resumed in the country, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said over the weekend it had extended an order prohibiting international commercial passenger flights until June 30. The circular, published on the DGCA's Twitter account, said all-cargo services, as well as flights specifically approved by the DGCA, would be exempt from the restrictions, which have been in place since late March.
ANA Holdings, the parent company of Japanese carrier, All Nippon Airways (ANA), announced late last week new debt financing from the Development Bank of Japan in the form of a 350 billion yen loan. The company said in a regulatory filing outlining the loan terms its consolidated forecast for the current financial year was yet to be determined as it was unknown when the outbreak of the coronavirus would end.
Airlines in the Philippines have announced plans to resume domestic operations following an easing of restriction of movement rules in the capital Manila and other parts of the country. Local media reports indicated the government would allow, with restrictions, domestic flights between locations under "general community quarantine", with passengers to undergo temperature checks, wear face masks and observe local distancing.
Cebu Pacific and its sister carrier, Cebgo, said in a statement on their website on the weekend they planned to resume passenger flights on Tuesday on four routes from Manila to Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, General Santos and Naga. The statement noted leisure travel was not allowed as per government rules and reminded passengers to check with the country's inter-agency task force (IATF) and local governments for guidelines on preparing the required documents to travel.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) said in a statement on its website it planned to resume a reduced domestic schedule starting June 3 covering 23 destinations from its Manila hub and one from Cebu. In terms of international services, PAL said it would operate nonstop flights from Manila to destinations in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan, as well as repatriation flights to Australia, Japan, Singapore and the UK.
AirAsia Philippines said in a statement it would resume domestic flights on six routes from Manila and three routes from Clark from Wednesday, with international services scheduled to restart on July 1. AirAsia Philippines CEO, Ricky Isla, said the low-cost carrier (LCC) was "well prepared to welcome everyone onboard".
The LCC's Indonesia affiliate said it was targeting a commencement of domestic and international flights from June 8. The carrier's statement on its website noted passengers would need to understand and strictly adhere to regulations and requirements set by government authorities.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines commenced domestic flights today with nonstop flights from Dhaka to Chittagong, Saidpur and Sylhet with De Havilland Canada Q400 turboprops, according to a statement on the airline's website. Biman suspended all domestic and international services in early April.
Myanmar Airways International has conducted a relief flight to Sydney with an A319 XY-ALK. The relief flight took off from Yangon over the weekend and made a technical stop in Denpasar on the way to Sydney. This morning, the A319 took off from Sydney a little after 1000 local time bound for Denpasar and then to Yangon.
