Air Baltic is to temporarily suspend flights from March 17 until April 14 following the Latvian govt’s decision to suspend international air traffic as part of measures to counter the coronavirus crisis. Latvia’s govt stepped up its action to counter the spread of the virus. That includes measures suspending international travel from March 17 to all but Latvian nationals and residents returning to the country, or foreign nationals seeking to leave the country. Against this backdrop, Air Baltic has announced it will temporarily suspend flights. The suspension applies to Air Baltic’s Estonian operations in addition to its Latvian flights. <br/>
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UK leisure carrier Jet2 has cancelled all services to mainland Spain, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands with immediate effect. Multiple Jet2 aircraft en route to Spanish resorts Saturday have abandoned their original flight plans and instead turned around to head back to the UK. Spain is an important market for Jet2, which operates from several UK airports to around 14 Spanish destinations. But the Spanish govt has taken steps to limit the spread of the coronavirus including closing restaurants, bars and shops, and banning certain sports activities. Jet2 has also temporarily suspended services to Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Austria and the Czech Republic. <br/>
Norwegian is asking the govt in Oslo for an immediate bailout as it struggles to cope with the coronavirus outbreak that is decimating travel demand. “We’re in a very demanding situation at the moment,” states CE Jacob Schram. “We need exact measures to strengthen our liquidity in the short term immediately.” While the carrier welcomes a move to suspend some taxes levied on airlines such as passenger fees, “it is crucial for us that the govt will work on solutions for a phase 2. We are asking for these solutions to come quickly,” Schram says. Norwegian is willing to take “all measures necessary” to reduce its losses, he continues, “no matter how painful they are.” Market turmoil means that Norwegian is unable to turn to investors to raise equity or issue debt in order to secure new liquidity. <br/>
El Al is facing industrial action from its personnel towards the end of this month, heaping pressure on the airline as it battles to deal with the coronavirus impact. The airline says it received March 12 formal notification of a labour dispute and possible strike from March 27 onwards. It follows the collapse of negotiations with the trade union organisation Histadrut, which has confirmed its declaration of the dispute. “The grounds for the dispute is the impasse in negotiations between Histadrut and the [airline’s] management regarding steps to be take due to the coronavirus outbreak crisis,” it adds. Histadrut claims El Al has shown “lack of good faith” by rejecting proposals put forward from the organisation and its work council on behalf of its staff. <br/>