Ryanair has announced it is likely to ground “most, if not all” flights sooner than expected, and it will be before the end of the month. The airline originally said it would be forced to cancel most services in April and May, but has now confirmed that schedules could be pared down to nothing by March 24. From this date, Ryanair says it expects that the vast majority if not all of Ryanair Group flights will be grounded, barring a very small number of flights to maintain essential connectivity, mostly between the UK and Ireland. The carrier added that between March 18-24, it would be cutting 80% of flights. Ryanair has asked that travellers do not contact its call centres as they are “overloaded” dealing with customer queries. <br/>
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Virgin Australia will suspend all international flights until June, and ground its entire widebody fleet, as it continues to reel from the impact of coronavirus outbreak. It will also cut domestic capacity by half until June, up from a previously announced cut of 5%. Virgin Australia states that it was cutting all international flights from March 30 owing to new travel restrictions announced by the Australian govt, as well as measures imposed by countries across the world. On the domestic front, the carrier says capacity cuts are due to weakened travel demand. It adds that it will be working through route and schedule details now, and will inform its customers in the coming week. In total, the Virgin Australia Group – which also includes Tigerair Australia – will ground 53 aircraft across its international and domestic units. <br/>
Canada’s Air Transat says it is halting sales for departures to most of its destinations in light of the global coronavirus which is massively disrupting travel around the world. “Following the Govt of Canada’s announcement that the country is closing its borders to foreign nationals, as well as similar decisions by several other countries where we operate, we will gradually suspend our flights until April 30,” Transat says. The vacation specialist says that it is currently working on a repatriation plan for guests currently stranded overseas. While sales are suspended, flights will continue “for a few more days” so that Canadians can return home. Less than a week ago, Transat reported higher Q1 earnings and said it was exploring its options on how to deal with the crisis. <br/>
Two of India’s most high-profile airlines are considering grounding planes as the coronavirus ravages travel demand, people familiar with the matter said. IndiGo has seen traffic slump as much as 30% in India, while its international flights have dried up following govt restrictions on travel, one of the people said. In addition to potential groundings, Vistara is considering delaying delivery of some of the first batch of Boeing 787 Dreamliners it has on order, another person said. Should the pair go ahead with the flight cancellations, they’d join the growing number of airlines around the world doing so as the pandemic keeps people from flying. Indian carriers had so far avoided major reductions in flights but pressure is mounting as the number of confirmed cases keeps climbing in the world’s second-most populous country. <br/>
Emirates is looking at grounding the bulk of its 115 Airbus superjumbos as the coronavirus undermines global travel demand, people familiar with the situation said. Emirates has already idled more than 20 A380s and is seeking to delay taking the last handful due for delivery. The company hasn’t made a decision on standing down the fleet, according to the people. Emirates, which also operates 155 Boeing 777 wide-bodies, has stopped serving about a quarter of its usual destinations, encouraged staff to take leave, and said March 12 that deeper cuts were under consideration. Emirates’ business model is focused on inter-continental routes, and while the spread of the virus is easing in parts of Asia, it’s accelerating in its European and North American markets. <br/>
South African regional carrier SA Express is suspending operations until further notice, in response to various pressures on the airline. While it mentions the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, SA Express indicates this is only one consideration behind its decision, attributing the suspension to “adverse recent developments”. The airline had been under substantial financial pressure and was driven into a business rescue process earlier this year. SA Express has also been grounded twice in the past 4 years by the country’s civil aviation regulator following safety concerns turned up by audits. The airline says it is suspending operations from March 18, but has not indicated when services might be restored. SA Express says it will use the suspension period to review its network and “streamline operations." <br/>
El Al has put 5,500 personnel on unpaid leave until the end of May, following the cuts to its network in the face of the coronavirus crisis. El Al employs some 6,350 staff overall. It has been holding talks with the Israeli ministry of finance regarding govt support to the carrier, either through credit or other means, to help it cope with the impact. The airline says there is no certainty over the extent of state support which might be obtained. El Al says its passenger services schedule has been “significantly reduced” and adjusted, following a fall in demand and overseas restrictions. “The company is operating a limited number of flights on some routes,” it says. As a result, it has taken action to place most of its staff on unpaid leave. The airline says this leave period will run until May 31. <br/>
Regional carrier Porter Airlines says it is shutting down all operations until June, according to a notice on the airline’s website. The carrier said Wednesday that the global coronavirus crisis is prompting the closure, which will begin at the end of operations March 20. ”Restricting activities…is what’s required to keep our team members and passengers healthy, and ultimately to end this fast-spreading pandemic. A temporary suspension of all flights allows the public health crisis to diminish and then time to restart our operations,” said CE Michael Deluce. The CE also says the airline will issue temporary layoffs and that executive team members will have their salaries cut up to 30% until flights resume. He and his father Robert Deluce, the airline’s executive chairman, will not receive any salary during this time. <br/>