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JAL Group Adjusts Domestic Network Plan Between September 3 and September 30

The JAL Group (OTC: JAPSY) today announced further reductions on its domestic network between September 3rd and September 30th. In accordance with the conditions of carriage, customers affected by the cancellations during this period will be re-accommodated on an alternative flight. The “JAL Domestic PCR Inspection Service” for JAL Group customers, we will be expanding the program to include all JAL Group domestic customers and all fares offering better price. To date, the carrier has received more than 57,000 applications to conduct pre-travel testing for COVID-19. We will create a hygienic and clean environment at airports and on board to provide our customers with a safe and secure travel experience.

In addition, the Japanese government is also offering free PCR and antigen quantification tests for passengers departing from Haneda, Narita, Nagoya(Chubu),Osaka(Itami), Osaka(Kansai) and Fukuoka to airports in Hokkaido, Okinawa, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Kagoshima from July 20 to September 30, in order to ensure the safety of people in Hokkaido, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures as well as those who have no choice but to travel there.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, this may cause to customers who have booked flights on the reduced schedule, but would like to ask for our customer`s understanding during this unprecedented time.

Reductions Added Today

Summary by Month

Note – Figures Include JAL Group Operated Flights (JAL, J-AIR, JAC, HAC, JTA, RAC) Select routes may be operated by a different aircraft configuration and customers may receive a new seat assignment. Also, First Class/Class J may not be offered when a change in aircraft configuration occurs.

For the full list of flights, click here.

SWISS Reduces Geneva Flight Operations to Minimum Due to Travel Restrictions

In view of the tighter travel restrictions announced by the Swiss Federal Council on 27 January and the resulting decline in demand for air travel, SWISS has been compelled to temporarily reduce its flight operations to an absolute minimum at Geneva Airport until the end of February. SWISS remains fully committed to its Geneva business and operations in the longer term, and will continue to strive to keep Western Switzerland as well connected as possible with its global Zurich-based network. Further changes are also being made to SWISS’s Zurich flight schedules. Travellers affected by flight cancellations can rebook free of charge or have the price of their ticket refunded.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is temporarily reducing its already-downsized flight operations in Geneva to an absolute minimum until the end of February with effect from today (Monday 1 February), in view of the tighter travel restrictions announced by the Swiss government. The action is being taken because SWISS’s Geneva services are point-to-point operations that do not generate additional business through a feeder function (as is the case at SWISS’s Zurich hub). Geneva Airport also currently lacks traveller testing facilities. The 13 weekly services between Geneva and SWISS’s Zurich hub will continue to operate, as will the seven weekly frequencies between Geneva and the Frankfurt hub of Lufthansa. So SWISS will continue to keep Western Switzerland connected with its global route network in these still difficult times. 

SWISS remains fully committed to its long-term strategy of maintaining a strong presence in Geneva and further expanding its present range of point-to-point air services. “Geneva is and remains an extremely important location for us,” confirms SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx. “And as soon as conditions permit and the demand for air travel returns, we will steadily expand our services from Geneva again, as we will from Zurich, too.” 

Zurich schedules also affected

Many of the short- and long-haul SWISS services that are currently being offered from and to Zurich can continue to be operated, in view of their feeder function and/or their cargo-carrying role. But the already substantially diminished range of flights here, too, is being further reduced with effect from 1 February. As a result, SWISS will only be operating some 10 per cent of the February services which it provided in 2019. 

Travellers whose flight is cancelled as a result of these developments can rebook free of charge or have the price of their ticket refunded.

Airbus Adds More Deliveries, Breaks 3 Month Order Drought

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus delivered 49 aircraft in July, up from 36 in June as it continues to recover from a slump in deliveries during this year’s coronavirus lockdowns, the company said on Thursday.

The aircraft were all narrow-body jets, highlighting a dearth of demand for the industry’s biggest models, which last month prompted Airbus to trim A350 production for a second time.

The month’s deliveries included 47 A320neo-family jets.

Airbus also scored its first orders in three months as it sold two A320neos to an undisclosed customer and two A321neos to Lufthansa Technik, the modification and repairs business of German carrier Lufthansa <LHA.DE>.

So far in 2020, Airbus has delivered 245 jets and sold 369, or 302 after cancellations.

Demand for aircraft has been crippled by the coronavirus crisis and its heavy impact on air travel.

Airbus is boosting deliveries on a monthly basis despite the industry’s worst crisis as it negotiates deals with airlines.

But although deliveries are rising compared to the trough seen in April, several bankers and analysts have questioned how many of the aircraft are being placed into service as airlines struggle to save cash. Some are said to go straight to storage.

Airbus has issued default notices and threatened to sue airlines that refuse to collect planes already built while showing flexibility in deferring jets not yet in the factory.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Keith Weir)

An Airbus A320neo aircraft is pictured during a news conference to announce a partnership between Airbus and Bombardier on the C Series aircraft programme, in Colomiers near Toulouse, France

Airbus First-Half Deliveries Hit 16-Year Low Despite June Bounce

Airbus logo at the entrance of the Airbus facility in Bouguenais

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus <AIR.PA> deliveries rose 50% in June compared with May and reached their highest level since the coronavirus crisis spread to Europe in March, but the accelerating recovery failed to prevent first-half deliveries from sliding to a 16-year low.

Figures released by the European planemaker late on Wednesday underscored a collapse in aerospace industry fortunes since early this year, hours after Airbus workers facing job cuts staged their first strike in 12 years.

Deliveries rose to 36 aircraft in June from 24 in May and a low of 14 in April. For the first half, deliveries fell by 49% to 196 planes compared with 389 in the same period last year.

Airbus has said it faces an average 40% drop in business over the next two years, forcing it to cut 15,000 jobs, or 11%, of its workforce. Unions oppose compulsory cuts.

Facing a slump in demand, planemakers have been urging airlines to take planes that have already been built in return for agreement to defer others due at later dates.

Some aircraft, however, are going straight into storage because travel demand is recovering slowly, experts say.

June’s figures suggested negotiations were partially paying off as Airbus handed over three wide-body A350-900 aircraft for European airlines despite a glut of large jets.

But deliveries of many other wide-body aircraft at Airbus and U.S. rival Boeing <BA> remain hampered by weak demand for long-haul travel as a result of the crisis.

Sources said last month that Airbus had sent out dozens of default notices to airlines in a bid to keep deliveries moving.

With airlines focusing on survival, Airbus posted no orders for a second month.

Gross orders so far this year remained at 365 jets, but net orders adjusted for cancellations slipped by one unit to 298, after lessor Avolon cancelled one of 10 A330neos it has ordered.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)

Why Shares of Sabre Corporation Were Up Monday

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh joined travel technology leader Sabre to mark the grand opening of its Boston Innovation Lab, the new headquarters for its research and development team, Sabre Labs. From left to right: Andrew Gasparovic, vice president and chief architect, Sabre Labs; Caroline Wester, director of software engineering, Sabre Labs; Sundar Narasimhan, president of Sabre Labs and product strategy; Sean Menke, president and CEO, Sabre; Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, Sabre.

Shares of Sabre (NASDAQ: SABR) rallied along with airline stocks on Monday on hope that travel patterns might slowly be returning to normal. The airlines were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and with them companies that rely on air travel like Sabre, but investors are seeing signs that the worst might finally be over. Sabre, a former American Airlines Group subsidiary that runs airline ticketing and reservation systems, has lost two-thirds of its value in 2020 on a decline in airline business and regulatory issues that blocked a planned acquisition.

Click the link below to read the full story!

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/06/01/why-shares-of-sabre-are-up-today.aspx

ATR Releases 2019 Results

ATR performed well in 2019. We received 79 orders and delivered 68 aircraft for a book-to-bill of more than one. The turnover for the year was $1.6 billion and was boosted by a strong performance from our Services.

In 2020, the aviation industry is facing an unprecedented challenge that will last well beyond the current year. It is too early to understand the full impact on our backlog, however we have not had any cancellations to date.

Currently, 40% of ATR aircraft around the world continue to fly, playing a vital role in humanitarian missions and the transportation of essential goods to the remotest areas.

Naturally, during this time, ATR continues to support airlines 24/7.

Cargo is becoming increasingly important and we have developed a solution allowing airlines operating ATR aircraft to quickly and temporarily convert to a light freighter configuration, allowing them to unlock potential operations.

During this crisis, ATR is not standing still. While our major concern is always the safety and health of our employees and subcontractors, our manufacturing sites have never closed, and we have implemented a very strict health protocol that has allowed us to continue critical activities. We remain committed to the delivery of our new programmes, the ATR 72-600F freighter and the ATR 42-600 STOL. The first deliveries of our new cargo variant will happen this year.

ATR believes that regional aviation will resume its activities faster than international air traffic, because it will have a huge role to play in the recovery of the global economy, connecting communities around the world with necessary supplies.

CDB Financial Scraps Purchase of 29 Boeing 737 MAX Jets

SYDNEY (Reuters) – China Development Bank (CDB) Financial Leasing Co said on Monday it had agreed with Boeing Co <BA.N> to cancel the purchase of 29 undelivered 737 MAX jets, adding to a string of recent cancellations of the grounded airplane.

The model has been grounded globally for more than a year following deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

“In light of evolving aviation market dynamics, we’ve been working together with Boeing over many months to re-calibrate our MAX orderbook to be in line with our long-term view of the market and related opportunities,” Xuedong Wang, chairman of CDB Financial unit CDB Aviation, said in a statement.

The lessor said it retained an order for another 70 of the planes that also have yet to be delivered.

Boeing recorded a total of 150 MAX cancellations in March, including 75 from Irish leasing company Avolon. Boeing remains in talks with regulators seeking approval to return the plane to service, but its customers have also seen a sharp fall-off in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Boeing said in a statement it continued to partner with leasing company customers to help them balance their portfolios in a challenging market.

“As we work to return the 737 MAX to service, our focus remains on addressing our customers’ fleet needs while optimising the delivery of the more than 4,000 airplanes in our 737 backlog,” it said.

“As market conditions normalise, Boeing anticipates that lessors who have restructured or reduced their orderbooks will continue to add MAX aircraft to their portfolios through sale leaseback agreements with airlines,” the planemaker said. “Longer term we expect these lessors will again place orders for direct MAX purchases.”

CDB Financial Leasing said that all 737 MAX 10 jets still on order will be switched to the smaller 737 MAX 8 model, and 20 deliveries will be deferred to dates in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington Editing by Tom Hogue and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

A Boeing 737 Max aircraft is seen parked in a storage area at the company’s production facility in Renton

Ryanair Suspends All Italian Flights Until Wednesday April 8

– Government extends restrictions to all of Italy

Ryanair today (Tues 10 Mar) announced the suspension of its full flight schedule to/from and within Italy, following the decision of the Italian Government to “lock down” the entire country to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

These additional cuts will be implemented as follows:

  1. From 24:00hrs Weds 11 Mar until 24:00hrs Wed 8 Apr, Ryanair will suspend all Italian domestic flights.
  2. From 24:00hrs Fri 13 Mar until 24:00hrs Wed 8 Apr, Ryanair will suspend all Italian international flights.

All affected passengers have received email notices today informing them of these flight cancellations. Passengers looking for repatriation can obtain a free move to an earlier Ryanair flight operating up until midnight Fri 13  Mar. Affected passengers will be able to choose between a full refund or a travel credit that can be redeemed on Ryanair flights in the next 12 months.

Ryanair continues to comply fully with WHO and national Government guidance and travel bans. The situation is changing on a daily basis, and all passengers on flights affected by travel bans or cancellations, are receiving emails and are being offered flight transfers, full refunds or travel credits.

Ryanair apologises sincerely to all customers for these schedule disruptions, which are caused by national Government restrictions and the latest decision of the Italian Government to lock down the entire country to combat the Covid-19 virus.

HNA Group Rises After Company Asks Chinese Government for Help

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 2 (Reuters) – Shares in HNA Group-controlled companies rose on Monday after the Chinese aviation and tourism conglomerate said it had asked the government to help it resolve liquidity risk caused by the coronavirus outbreak which has put heavy pressure on the airline industry. 

HNA directly owns or holds stakes in a number of local Chinese carriers, which have suffered in recent weeks from widespread flight cancellations and plummeting demand. 

Hainan Airlines Holding Co Ltd, the flagship of HNA Group Co Ltd, rose by over 3% by 0400 GMT, while HNA Technology Investments Holdings Ltd surged nearly 40%. 

Other units such as HNA Investment Group Co Ltd and HNA Technology Co Ltd also saw their prices climb. 

HNA Group said on Saturday it had asked the Hainan provincial government to lead a working group as it was not able to deal with the liquidity risk itself. 

The group had acknowledged liquidity issues before the coronavirus outbreak started. In December, Chairman Chen Feng said HNA had faced cash flow shortage that forced it to delay salary payments. 

Its Saturday announcement has driven heavy discussion in China on whether there will be a carving up of its assets. 

Two weeks ago, HNA-related shares likewise rose on a media report that said China’s government planned to take over the debt-laden conglomerate. 

“The implementation of a government acquisition would be challenging as HNA’s structure is complex,” Warut Promboon, head of credit research at Bondcritic, said on Monday. “Overall, it is credit positive. HNA has grown too fast and is too big that it needs to be broken down. The restructuring will be best under the state support.”

Airbus Posts Strong January Orders, Delivers 31 Jets

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus <EADSY> posted its biggest January order haul in at least 15 years on Thursday as it booked a major leasing order that has been in the pipeline for several months, and carried out 31 aircraft deliveries.

The European planemaker said it had taken orders for 296 aircraft in January, including the recently finalised order for 102 planes from Air Lease Corp <AL> as well as 100 jets from U.S. low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines <SAVE>. After cancellations, it started the year with 274 net orders.

Cancellations included 20 single-aisle jets from Colombia’s Avianca, balanced by 20 orders for broadly similar aircraft from leasing company BOC Aviation in what some industry sources have described as a swap to ease their financing. Neither firm was available for comment.

Lufthansa <LHA.DE> canceled two A350 wide-body jets.

Rival Boeing, whose sales and deliveries have been affected by the grounding of its 737 MAX, has yet to post January data.

Airbus said on Thursday its deliveries from an overseas assembly plant in China had been halted amid the coronavirus outbreak. Airbus has joined other local companies in extending a routine shutdown planned for Chinese New Year, due to the impact of the health scare on its supply chains and logistics.

Airbus is expected to give targets next week and barring a worsening of the coronavirus crisis could shoot for record deliveries of at least 900 jets in 2020 as Boeing remains on a backfoot due to the MAX grounding, industry analysts say.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Airbus is pictured at the aircraft builder’s headquarters of Airbus in Colomiers near Toulouse
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