Finland’s govt has provisionally agreed to provide a state guarantee of up to E600m to Finnair, although the measure still needs parliamentary consent. Finnair is state-controlled, with nearly 56% of the carrier owned by the govt. The minister for ownership steering, Tytti Tuppurainen, says the govt is a “responsible owner” and the situation is such that the state “must support” Finnair. “The company maintains the route connections that are very important for Finland’s security of supply, freight and passenger traffic, and the company has a significant impact on our economy,” she adds. The govt says Finnair is preparing for the possibility of having to borrow occupational pensions to secure additional funding if other sources of financing become unavailable. <br/>
oneworld
The federal govt is mulling further financial support for the aviation sector as Qantas, Virgin Australia and regional carriers bear the brunt of an unprecedented industry downturn due to the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic and resulting travel restrictions have thrown airlines around the world into chaos, with Qantas and Virgin cutting domestic capacity by around 60% and planning to ground their international fleets entirely. The federal govt announced an A$715m rescue package this week, consisting of waived fees and levies, however airlines have continued to push for more help, according to industry sources. With new bookings slowing to a trickle, Qantas and Virgin will have to drain their cash balances and available debt facilities to cover overhead costs until travel bans are lifted and passengers return the skies. <br/>
Cathay Pacific has extended its deep capacity cuts for another month, reducing capacity by 96% for April and May, operating a “bare skeleton” passenger flight schedule of just 15 cities. With the latest cuts, Cathay will fly 3-times-weekly to 12 points in its network to cities such as Singapore, London Heathrow, Bangkok, Vancouver, as well as Sydney. Cathay Dragon will operate thrice-weekly flights to 3 points: Beijing, Shanghai Pudong and Kuala Lumpur. Still, the carrier warned that the cuts could go further, depending on govt-imposed travel restrictions that have in recent days been growing. The carrier states: “Our ability to maintain even this skeleton schedule will depend on whether more travel restrictions are imposed by govts around the world which will further dampen passenger demand.” <br/>