The Andrews govt has rejected Queensland's call for "all govts" to help fund embattled Virgin Australia through the coronavirus crisis. The carrier has been in a trading halt since Tuesday, has grounded almost its entire fleet, and is drowning in close to A$5b of debt. The Annastacia Palaszczuk govt in Queensland has offered Virgin a partial lifeline of $200m on the condition it restructured its debt, continued regional flights and kept its headquarters in Brisbane. "If we're going to get through this pandemic with 2 national airlines...then all govts need to come together to ensure that is the case," Queensland's State Development minister Cameron Dick said. Deputy PM Michael McCormack said that "the best solution for the airline would be a market solution". <br/>
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EasyJet is arguing that it cannot terminate its contentious Airbus order by falling back on the argument that the coronavirus outbreak is a situation beyond its control. The airline has been under fire from its founder, and key shareholder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou over the cost of retaining the order and has been coercing the management team – with threats to remove board members – to cancel the Airbus agreement by claiming ‘force majeure’. EasyJet insists it has “no ability” to terminate the contract this way. “This is standard in aircraft purchase contracts,” it says. But it adds that there would be ramifications if it pursued such a cancellation. EasyJet argues that it would become liable for “significant” compensation linked to discounts on aircraft already delivered under the same contract as those which are outstanding. <br/>
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary dismissed "mad" proposals for planes to fly with empty middle seats when coronavirus travel restrictions end, saying they would be "hopelessly ineffective" as well as unaffordable. Instead, the carrier backs the introduction of mandatory temperature checks and face masks for passengers and crew when flights resume, its CE said. O'Leary was speaking a day after Wizz Air and IATA both said they were preparing for requirements that airlines fly only two-thirds full to allow some "social distancing" on board. Vacating every third seat would not in any case maintain the required 2-metre separation between passengers, which is also impossible to enforce at other "pinch points" during journeys, O'Leary said. <br/>
Icelandair Group is preparing to issue new shares to shore up its liquidity and strengthen its financial position during the coronavirus-driven downturn. The company has yet to disclose the size of the share issue planned. But it says the intention of the offer is to ensure its “long-term competitiveness” after its flight schedule was cut by some 90% and it faces a possible “extended period of minimal revenue”. Icelandair Group adds that it want to give itself the ability to respond rapidly to changes in the market once signs of recovery emerge. As part of the financing plan the company is holding discussions with lenders, lessors and suppliers. Icelandair Group has also been holding talks with the Icelandic govt. <br/>
An Irish court has appointed an interim examiner at regional wet-lease specialist CityJet as the carrier seeks protection during the coronavirus crisis. Examinership is a process in Irish law under which companies can protect themselves from creditors while they restructure. A spokesman for the airline confirms an interim examiner has been appointed following a High Court hearing in Dublin Friday. CityJet has focused on its wet-lease business since ending scheduled passenger flights in its own right in the winter of 2018. CityJet has been operating flights for carriers including Aer Lingus and SAS. It has also been working on a planned merger with Spanish regional carrier Air Nostrum. First announced in the summer 2018, the carriers’ received EC approval for the tie-up last summer. <br/>
Norwegian Air, which is seeking creditor support for its rescue plan, has told bondholders it will overhaul its strategy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an investor. Norwegian's aggressive expansion in recent years has left it saddled with high debts and fighting to survive, a situation made worse by the slump in air travel due to the coronavirus. Last week the airline presented a rescue plan that would convert up to US$4.3b of debt into shares and raise some new equity - wiping out much of the remaining value of the company's current stock. Friday, CFO Geir Karlsen presented some information about the plan to bondholders. "They said they were assessing their strategy because the world would not be the same after this (pandemic)," asset manager Jan Petter Sissener said. <br/>
Porter Airlines will receive funds from Canada’s wage subsidy programme, allowing the carrier to pay many of the hundreds of workers it furloughed in March after grounding its fleet and suspending all operations until June. The carrier will remain grounded until June even as it returns furloughed employees to its payroll. Porter intends to return staff to active roles as operations restart, Porter’s CE Michael Deluce said Friday. Nearly all its 1,500 workers have been furloughed. “As we look ahead to restarting flights when it is appropriate to do so, we are doing everything possible to stay connected with our people,” Deluce says. Porter plans to eventually put its furloughed employees back to work “as operations restart and rebuild to previous levels”, the airline says. <br/>
Investigators have determined that an Emirates Airbus A380 descended far below the glideslope at Moscow Domodedovo after its crew entered a rapid descent, erroneously believing the jet was too high for the correct approach path. It descended to 504ft above ground – with a rate of descent of 1,600ft/min – while still some 7.4nm from the threshold of runway 14R, in darkness, before the crew executed a go-around. The A380 lost a further 109ft, dipping to just 395ft, before climbing away, the aircraft’s ground-proximity warning system having sounded ‘terrain’ and ‘pull up’ alerts. Analysis from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority found that the aircraft had effectively been descending in pursuit of an imaginary glideslope after the crew’s instruments indicated the A380 was above the correct descent path. <br/>