Coronavirus

Luis Gallego, formerly the head of Iberia, has taken over as CEO of parent company International Airlines Group (IAG), after the retirement of Willie Walsh, who had led the group and been instrumental in its development since its creation in 2011.

AIRBUS delivered 39 aircraft (three A320ceo Family; 32 A320neo Family; two A330s; two A350s) in August vs 42 (three A220s; nine A320ceo; 19 A320neo

A proposal by the European Commission (EC) to simplify information about COVID-related travel threats runs the risk of doing the opposite.

International and domestic commercial routes to and from Argentina could restart in October, according to the country’s transport minister.

EMIRATES says it has returned >US$1.4b in COVID-19-related travel refunds, representing 90% of the airline’s backlog.

LUNAJETS, Switzerland is projecting severe downturn in private jet market from September 2020 as a back-to-reality moment.

MORGAN STANLEY says bottom-up analysis of 800 airlines shows that 80% of the OEM pre-COVID-19 orderbook is for growth and 20% for replacement; it sees

US DOT reports 18 US airlines carried 21.4m pax in July, down 73% vs July 2019, but up 30% from 16.5m in June 2020.

JETBLUE AIRWAYS sold 13 V2500-powered A320-200s to TrueAero, TX, and leased them back.

The FAA has taken the next steps in standing up grant programs to help aspiring pilots, engineers and aviation maintenance technicians, outlining plans to begin collecting applications for the first round of grants in November.

PORTER AIRLINES further pushed back its return-to-service date to November 12, from previously announced target of Oct 7.

While many airlines around the world are waiting anxiously for international borders to reopen, the immediate concern for Australian carriers is closer to home.

UNITED AIRLINES says it plans to fly 34% of its full schedule in September 2020 (vs September 2019) and 40% in October.

ALITALIA received EC approval for €199.45m in State aid (as direct grant) for damages suffered due to COVID-19 outbreak.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC completed previously announced £1.2b private-only solvent recapitalization, including £600m from Virgin Group and Delta, £450m of

TAP Air Portugal has accessed €499 million ($590 million) from an EU-approved financing agreement with the Portuguese government.

The European Commission (EC) is hoping to rollout a simple color-coded map showing risk levels to overcome the current patchwork of COVID-19 travel restrictions and better-inform the traveling public.

France will focus on investing in hydrogen technology as part of a broader post-COVID-19 economic relaunch plan with the government planning to have a hydrogen-powered aircraft ready for 2035.

UK aerospace and trade association ADS is again warning of the dangers of a no-deal Brexit after it emerged that the British government plans to renege on elements of the Withdrawal Agreement it previously struck with the EU.

AirAsia is hoping to raise MYR2.5 billion ($602 million) by the end of the year while the fate of its Japanese operation is unclear after it was put under review.

Ask the Editors: Given current high production rates, it is unlikely there will be a shortage of widebody capacity.

Brussels Airlines has had to scale back its plans to restore flights in the light of Europe’s stuttering recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two major UAE carriers announced diverging approaches to the future of staff salaries Sept. 6.

The Icelandic parliament has agreed to guarantee up to 90% of a $120 million credit facility for Icelandair to help the airline weather the COVID-19 crisis.

The European Commission has approved a €199 million ($236 million) grant from the Italian government to Alitalia, aimed at offsetting losses caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, although two earlier state-aid investigations are continuing.