Air Berlin said Thursday it has asked the German states of North-Rhine Westphalia and Berlin to consider possible loan guarantees amid signs of waning support from Etihad Airways, its biggest shareholder. Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad, which has thrown Air Berlin several life lines over the years, earlier Thursday said it had pulled out of a prospective deal to combine Air Berlin's holiday flight business Niki with tour operator TUI Group's own carrier TUIfly. Bigger rival Lufthansa, which last year agreed to lease 38 crewed planes from Air Berlin, has held talks recently with the Abu Dhabi government about taking part in salvaging the remaining Air Berlin business but said its debt was a sticking point. Air Berlin, whose losses increased to a record 782 million euros ($877 million) in 2016, is now scrambling to protect its roughly 8,000 jobs in Germany, mainly based in the two regional states of Berlin and NRW. Officials of the two states declined to comment.<br/>
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Cathay Pacific is laying off about 400 staff at its Lantau headquarters, the biggest cut in two decades, as part of its recently revealed redundancy plan, the Post learned Thursday. The layoffs are expected to be carried out by June 22, a month after the plan was announced. On May 22, the company said 600 of 3,000 head office jobs would be cut with no department spared except for frontline staff such as pilots and cabin crew. “The majority of affected employees will be informed of changes or a cessation to their role today and over the next month, with most of the restructuring completed by the end of 2017,” according to Cathay Pacific’s statement at that time. The airline is seeking HK$4b in savings over the next three years, with HK$2b targeted for this year. The 400 jobs affected are non-managerial in nature and account for 18 per cent of non-management positions. Those laid off will receive a package of 12 months salary, extended medical benefits and counselling, the company said.<br/>
Malaysia Airlines still expects to receive its first Airbus A350 XWB by the end of this year, but is no longer planning to put the widebody on Kuala Lumpur-Auckland routes, the carrier’s CEO said this week. Talking with ATW on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Cancun, MAB CEO Peter Bellew said the first A350 was supposed to be delivered in October. But the aircraft has seen some delivery delays because of supply chain issues, particularly with seats and cabin equipment. Bellew joked that he still expected a 2017 delivery, but it would probably be “just as we pop the champagne at midnight on Dec. 31.” MAB will initially put the A350 on London routes. By the end of April, the plan is to have four aircraft delivered and MAB will make a decision by end of June on new long-haul routes. Auckland was considered, but Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways now both operate to the New Zealand city. “Yields have gone to the dogs, so we are looking at Europe, the Middle East or Asia for the A350,” Bellew said. Bellew noted that load factors on its London service—currently operated with the Airbus A380—consistently averaged 80% this May versus about 40% for the same month last year. <br/>
Finnair believes it can compete with Air China in connecting Chinese passengers to Cuba when it launches Helsinki-Havana flights in December, CEO Pekka Vauramo said. Finnair, which is the midst of a period of rapid expansion, plans to launch 2X-weekly Helsinki-Havana flights with an Airbus A350-900 Dec. 1. The service will be seasonal, operating until March 23, 2018. Vauramo said Finnair is eyeing a larger market than just passengers traveling to Havana from Helsinki. “We see market connectivity from China to Cuba through Helsinki,” he said. “There is demand in China for service to Cuba.” Finnair currently operates flights from Helsinki to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Xi’an. Air China operates a weekly Beijing-Montreal-Havana routing with a Boeing 777-300ER, and has indicated it will eventually switch to a 787-9 on the route. Vauramo said Chinese passengers may view connecting to Havana via Helsinki on Finnair’s A350s as a more desirable way to travel between China and Cuba. Finnair has nine A350s in its fleet currently and is scheduled to receive two more this year, Vauramo said.<br/>