Eva Airways Corp said Sunday its cabin crew’s strike will end Tuesday after it reached an agreement with the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU). The company estimated in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange the strike - the longest ever for Taiwan’s aviation industry - had cost T$3.02 billion ($97m) in lost revenue as of July 7. A total of 681 flights between June 20 and July 7 were been cancelled due to the strike, affecting nearly 300,000 passengers, the airline said, adding the TFAU agreed not to stage another strike for three years as part of the deal. Eva Airways reported T$179.9b in revenue and a net profit of T$6.55b for 2018. “As the strike has finally come to an end, EVA will gradually resume scheduled flights by the end of July and will make necessary adjustments to its service operation in August depending on the number of cabin crew able to work and passengers’ travel demand,” the firm said in a separate statement. Eva Air operates flights to many places around Asia as well as to North America and Europe.<br/>
star
India will revive plans to sell Air India after an attempt to partially exit the loss-making carrier failed to find a single buyer last year. The high-profile divestment would be part of PM Narendra Modi’s efforts to raise 1.05t rupees ($15.3b) selling stakes in state-run companies, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her maiden budget speech on Friday. The administration will also look to sell other state-run companies or merge some of them, she said. “Strategic disinvestment would continue to remain a priority,” said Sitharaman, the first woman to hold the position. “The government would not only re-initiate the process of strategic disinvestment of Air India, but would offer more Central Public Sector Enterprises for strategic participation by the private sector.” Air India, which is surviving on a 300-billion-rupee taxpayer-funded bailout, has failed to maintain its market dominance as a slew of carriers started to offer ultra-cheap, on-time flights more than a decade ago. The airline has total debts of $8.4b and posted losses of more than 76b rupees last year, according to provisional estimates.<br/>
Fifteen Kenyan families of people killed in a plane crash in Ethiopia in March on Friday rejected a proposal by Boeing to compensate them, saying they will pursue their claims in court. "So far our clients have rejected negotiations outside court," Lawyer Irungu Kangata said. He said Boeing has twice tried to initiate settlement negotiations with them in June. Kangata said they are not pursuing compensation from Ethiopian Airways. Boeing faces dozens of lawsuits over two crashes of their 737 Max jets. Relatives of passengers on a Lion Air 737 Max that crashed off the coast of Indonesia agreed to try to settle through mediation, but families of passengers killed in an Ethiopian Airlines crash are waiting until more is known about the accidents. Boeing said Wednesday it will provide $100m over several years to help families and communities affected by two crashes of its 737 Max planes that together killed 346 people. Boeing said the offer is separate from any compensation that may result from the lawsuits against the company.<br/>
After an extensive market research and customer feedback, Singapore Airlines has committed $36.8m to upgrade its SilverKris, and Krisflyer Gold Lounges at Changi Airport’s Terminal 3. The lounges opened in 2008 when Terminal 3 started operations, and the facelift will create an overall 30% increase in space and customer capacity. SIA engaged US hospitality designers Hirsch Bedner Associates. The project will be carried out in four phases beginning August 2019 and going through mid-2021. The revamp comes timely as competition for high-yield passengers intensifies in the region. <br/>