United said Tuesday it has raised an extra $2b in financing while slashing its 2020 capital expenditures by more than a third in an effort to prepare for a prolonged slump in travel demand due to COVID-19. The measures come on top of previous announcements from United regarding capacity cuts and suspended earnings forecasts and will bring the airline’s total liquidity to $8b for 2020, while adjusted capex will fall to $4.5b from $7b previously forecast for the full-year. The airline said it is now withdrawing guidance for Q1 and expects to record a loss for the period.<br/>
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Hong Kong Airlines has turned to Air China and other parties for a strategic lifeline to reverse its financial woes, amid an impasse with a consortium of white knights after nearly nine months of fruitless negotiations, said three sources familiar with the matter. Air China is among the parties in talks to begin due diligence on Hong Kong Airlines, the sources said. An earlier takeover bid by Citic Group, Wuxi Communications Industry Group and the family of Hong Kong’s former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen failed to make headway because of a disagreement over pricing, the sources said. “Hong Kong Airlines is here to stay and committed to sustaining our long-term growth,” the airline said, adding that as a private company, it does not disclose its financial activities, or comment on rumours and speculation. “We are always open to strong strategic investors.” The emergence of several new white knights is the latest twist in the story of Hong Kong Airlines’ journey back to financial health, as the stricken carrier had to lay off 10% of its staff and put its ground crew on a three-day work week to cut cost. The airline, which flies passengers and cargo to 48 destinations, has been operating on the brink of collapse for months.<br/>
Air Canada said Tuesday it will suspend its service to and from Italy, as the country imposed a nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus. “Due to Italian government regulations and ongoing health and safety concerns, Air Canada will suspend its service between Canada and Italy as of March 11,” the airline said. Affected customers will be notified and offered travel options, including a full refund, the airline said. Air Canada said the last flight to Rome will depart Toronto on the evening of March 10 and the return flight from Rome to Montreal will be on March 11, it said. Air Canada’s current service to Italy consists of once daily flights from Canada to Rome on alternate days from Toronto and Montreal.<br/>
Lufthansa has sharply criticised the planned acquisition of German leisure airline Condor by Polska Grupa Lotnicza, the parent of Polish flag carrier LOT, labelling it an example of “dubious” state intervention that “distorts competition”. In January, PGL disclosed that it would become Condor’s sole shareholder and intended to build up the Frankfurt-based airline as LOT’s leisure-focused leisure sister carrier. Government-owned PGL acknowledged that Condor’s acquisition was being financed by the Polish state. Lufthansa describes LOT as one of several European airlines that “no longer have a sustainable business model [and] have been kept flying by governments. “Poland has helped its state airline back on its feet several times,” the German airline group said. Lufthansa said a “one-off crisis intervention” by a government to rescue an airline from collapse “makes sense”. The group sees “substantial reasons for politicians to come to the rescue of companies in certain situations”, but warned: “It becomes problematic when state interventions become the rule.”<br/>