Globalia president: 'We are out of money... I don't know how we will survive'
Globalia president Juan Jose Hidalgo stated Air Europa Lineas Aereas pays EUR1.1 million monthly for each of Air Europa's 16 Boeing 787s (Reportur, 17-Jun-2020). Mr Hidalgo stated: "We are out of money…We're dry… I don't know how we will survive". He added: "Jesus Christ resurrected on the third day, but tourism will take three of four years".
airBaltic bookings double since late May-2020
airBaltic reported (18-Jun-2020) the number of new reservations to and from the Baltic capital cities increased 54% in the week to 18-Jun-2020. CEO Martin Gauss stated: "Passenger interest has been growing rapidly over the last few weeks", adding: "The number of new reservations has more than doubled if we compare previous week to the last week of May". [more - original PR]
easyJet CEO would 'feel 100% safe' onboard with resumption of routes
easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said he would "feel 100% safe" while travelling onboard easyJet's initial service after the resumption of routes (Brinkwire, 15-Jun-2020). Mr Lundgren said the carrier implemented recommendations which were defined together with EASA, ICAO, the UK CAA and the company's own medical doctors and expertise. Mr Lundgren said: "We would hope and would be really looking forward to restrictions being either lifted, or air bridges put in place where it made sense to do so, allowing UK customers as well as people in the rest of Europe to be able to go on a holiday".
Malaysia Airlines CEO: 'We put back 15% capacity for domestic operations only'
Malaysia Airlines CEO Izham Ismail stated: "At this current time, we put back 15% capacity for domestic operations only. We do have some charters and repatriation flights now which will not count to the overall capacity" (New Straits Times, 16-Jun-2020). Mr Ismail added: "We have undertaken proactive steps to repurpose our wide body passenger aircraft for cargo transportation without physical modifications to support the increased demand in movements of essential cargo". He said: "We have also taken this opportunity to induce additional maintenance activities to our assets, to be ready for operations when demand improves".
IATA: Speed, scale and accuracy necessary for COVID-19 testing for air travel
IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac stated (16-Jun-2020) airlines are committed to reducing the risks of COVID-19 transmission via air travel and COVID-19 testing "could play an important role". Mr de Juniac said the testing must be implemented in line with ICAO's global restart guidance with the aim of facilitating travel, with speed, scale and accuracy the most critical performance criteria for testing to be "effectively incorporated into the travel process". It is IATA's position that COVID-19 testing should not be a necessary condition for reopening borders or resuming air services, but if it is introduced there is a need to deliver test results quickly, accurately, and at scale, and testing must be cost effective and not create an economic or logistical barrier to travel. [more - original PR]
IndiGo aims to recover to 70% of pre coronavirus capacity by the end of Mar-2021
IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta reported the LCC is operating approximately 350 frequencies per day, up from 240 frequencies on 25-May-2020 when it resumed scheduled domestic services, and representing approximately 25% of its pre coronavirus outbreak operations (Economic Times/Live Mint/Business Standard/Financial Express/Business Today, 15/16-Jun-2020). Mr Dutta said IndiGo aims to recover to 70% of its pre outbreak operations by the end of Mar-2021 and to 85% by the end of Apr-2021. He added that IndiGo hopes India's Government will revise its restrictions on scheduled domestic services to permit airlines to operate 50% of services approved for the summer 2020 schedule, up from 30% at present.
Sydney Airport CEO: Passenger journeys now a 'completely different experience'
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said passenger journeys are a "completely different experience for travellers" due to coronavirus as there is "no one here at the airport. You can't get into the airport unless you have a ticket. All of the retail shops are closed, all the food ships are closed" (ABC, 15-Jun-2020).