SIA will temporarily cut flights across its global network in the three months to May, it said Tuesday, as a coronavirus epidemic hits demand for services to the Asian city state, as well as through the key transit hub. Key affected destinations include Frankfurt, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Paris, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo, the airline said on its website. "Singapore Airlines and SilkAir will temporarily reduce services across our network due to weak demand as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak," the carrier said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and make further adjustments as necessary." The cuts follow major reductions already announced in services to mainland China and Hong Kong.<br/>
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Air India's disinvestment will not face any problems this time as the interest shown by prospective buyers has been reassuring, aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Monday. He said the govt wants Air India to keep flying as a brand for years to come. The minister also assured the employees at Air India that their requirements would be foremost in the airline and factored in whatever arrangement is decided with the successor. In the Preliminary Information Memorandum issued a few weeks ago for Air India's stake sale, the govt had stated that the brand name would have to kept as it is by the future owner. "Somebody asks what will happen to the staff. The staff will be required by whoever will be the new entity. There has been no recruitment for how many years. There is no surplus staff," Puri said. <br/>
Venezuelan authorities suspended a Portuguese airline Monday days after it carried opposition leader Juan Guaidó and his uncle home from an international tour aimed at ousting president Nicolás Maduro. Guaidó's flight to Caracas on TAP Air Portugal ended his 3-week tour through Europe and into the Trump White House. Venezuelan authorities arrested Guaidó's uncle upon landing, accusing him of trying to bring a small amount of explosives into the nation. VP Delcy Rodríguez said the carrier's flights into and out of the country had been suspended for 90 days, hours of the transportation minister said they had opened an investigation into “serious violation” of local regulations. The EU recognises Guaido as Venezuela's interim president until fresh elections can be held. <br/>
China’s three largest airlines began the year with falling traffic, amid the growing spread of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country and around the world. In traffic figures released for January, Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines all carried fewer passengers, and recorded drops in passenger load factors. Regional routes on each of the carriers bore the brunt of falling traffic figures, many notching double-digit decreases for the period. Air China carried 9.2m passengers for the month, a 4.1% drop year-on-year. Its regional network saw passenger numbers tumble 18.7% — the largest change across the carrier’s network. The only bright spot was its international network, which saw a marginal 0.9% rise in passengers carried. <br/>
The business rescue practitioners of South African Airways will be forging ahead with their plan to restructure the cash-strapped airline after the Labour Court in Johannesburg Friday dismissed an application by workers’ unions to halt job cuts earmarked in the rescue plan. Judge Graham Moshoana dismissed the application by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the South African Cabin Crew Association to halt looming job cuts. Judge Moshoana said the unions’ bid against the SAA rescuers was dismissed because the cancellation of 11 domestic and international flights did not mean workers would be dismissed. He said the troubled carrier had not indicated the intention to start Section 189 consultations, meaning the unions had no reasonable grounds to anticipate retrenchments. <br/>