Lufthansa has warned that the aviation industry will be hit much harder than the rest of the global economy by the coronavirus pandemic, and that it is likely to emerge as a smaller business. “The Lufthansa Group after the crisis won’t return to the old normal status and just continue flying as usual,” said CE Carsten Spohr. “We react twice as strongly to changes in the world economy,” he added. “Lufthansa Group as a result will shrink.” The airline has grounded 700 of its 763 planes and is set to reduce its capacity by 95% as of next week. Subsidiaries Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines have stopped all regular flights, while Swiss will offer just 3 weekly flights to the US and a much reduced short-haul schedule. “We have no incoming bookings any more, hardly any,” said Spohr. <br/>
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Swiss is considering a full suspension of flights, following the lead of other carriers within Lufthansa Group, which as a whole has shed 95% of its planned capacity. The airline says it has grounded more than two-thirds of its fleet and reduced flight operations 80% in the past few weeks because of the “draconian travel restrictions and border closures”. CE Thomas Kluhr states that Swiss intends to “maintain a minimum number of routes for as long as we can, to ensure that when the crisis does abate, we can resume our services to those countries which reopen as swiftly as possible”. But the airline warns: “Should the present situation worsen even further and additional travel prohibitions be imposed, Swiss can no longer rule out suspending all its flight operations.” <br/>
Air Canada says it will gradually suspend most international flights by March 31 in response to the coronavirus pandemic while maintaining a few routes to help Canadian citizens repatriate and continue essential cargo deliveries. US president Donald Trump and Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau have announced plans to temporarily close their national borders to non-essential travel. As Canada’s largest airline, the carrier aims to work within travel restrictions issued by govts through April to continue operating a small number of international routes including across the US border from select Canadian cities. The airline will operate “a significantly reduced network” after March but says it aims to continue serving all provinces and territories of Canada. <br/>
New Zealand's govt will make a NZ$900m (US$506m) loan available to Air NZ, the airline said Friday, as the carrier grapples with the travel restrictions brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. It comes as New Zealand's central bank announced emergency measures Friday including term loans to banks, intervention in markets and an agreement with the US Federal Reserve to access up to US$30b to support the economy from the impact of coronavirus. "The measures we are implementing today provide additional support to domestic financial markets. We will ensure our operations make financial markets operate smoothly, assistant governor Christian Hawkesby said. A Term Auction Facility (TAF) will give banks the ability to access term funding, with collateralised loans available out to a term of 12 months. <br/>