A plane carrying humanitarian supplies that crashed in Somalia on Monday may have been shot down by Ethiopian troops, according to a new report from the office of the African Union Force Commander in Somalia. The report, which was leaked on Twitter, said Ethiopian troops not affiliated with the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia brought down the Kenyan-registered private plane out of fear that it was about to carry out a “suicide” attack. The Somali authorities and officials within the African Union verified the authenticity of the report, but did not confirm its findings. An investigation of the crash is still underway. The cargo flight plunged to the earth on the afternoon of May 4 in the town of Bardale, in southwestern Somalia, killing all six people aboard. The aircraft, owned by African Express Airways, was carrying supplies to assist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. It initially left the capital Mogadishu and stopped in Baidoa before heading to Bardale.<br/>
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Emirates Airline reported a 21% increase in its full-year profit in the 12 months to March 31, it reported Sunday. The airline, one of the biggest long-haul carriers in the world, said it made 1.06b dirhams (US$287.5m) in that time, up from 871m dirhams the previous year. But the coming year will be severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the airline’s chairman said. Emirates Airline and Group Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said that from February, things began changing rapidly as the coronavirus spread around the globe, halting international travel. “For the first 11 months of 2019-20, Emirates and dnata were performing strongly, and we were on track to deliver against our business targets. However, from mid-February things changed rapidly as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, causing a sudden and tremendous drop in demand for international air travel as countries closed their borders and imposed stringent travel restrictions.” The pandemic cost Emirates over 3.4b dirhams in revenues in March, the airline said. Al Maktoum does not see air travel returning to normal for at least another 18 months, and warned that the Covid-19 will have a major effect on the coming year’s performance. <br/>
Virgin Atlantic Airways will begin pitching to potential investors Monday as it seeks to avoid collapse with air travel effectively grounded and the U.K. government reluctant to provide emergency funding, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The talks follow the UK carrier’s appointment of restructuring specialist Alvarez & Marsal to develop contingency plans for a so-called pre-packaged administration should it fail to secure financial backing, according to the person. Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss will set out the company’s survival plans and strategy to 12 firms that have emerged as serious contenders for investment out of 100 originally sounded out by Houlihan Lokey, the person said. Greybull Capital, Apollo Global Management, Centerbridge Partners, and Cerberus Capital Management are among possible investors, the person said. Singapore state investment fund Temasek Holdings Pte is also reportedly on the shortlist. The carrier founded by billionaire Richard Branson has enough cash to survive through the summer but is likely to have a better idea about its viability in the next week or two, including a bid to secure about $620m in state support, according to the person. “We are exploring all available options to obtain additional external funding,” a Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said. “Discussions with a number of stakeholders continue and are constructive, meanwhile the airline remains in a stable position.”<br/>
The Israeli government will demand that El Al carries out an overhaul, including layoffs, before agreeing to throw a lifeline to the cash-strapped airline, officials said Sunday. El Al is seeking state-backed loans of $400m to help it through the coronavirus crisis, as foreigners are barred from entering the country and incoming Israelis must enter quarantine. The airline suspended passenger flights until at least the end of May while about 6,000 of its workers are on unpaid leave until June 30. However the government argues the airline's problems, including a bloated workforce, high salaries and a weak balance sheet, began well before the COVID-19 outbreak. Cabinet ministers and senior finance ministry officials drafted a plan late into Sunday that would help them feel confident the company would be able to repay a loan. The next step is to present the proposal to the airline, according to a ministry spokesman.<br/>
IndiGo, Asia’s biggest budget airline by market value, will ask some employees to take as many as five days leave a month without pay over the next three months as the coronavirus continues to take a toll on the global aviation industry. The airline will also implement a previously announced plan to cut salaries, CEO Ronojoy Dutta said in an email to employees Friday. IndiGo initially announced pay cuts in March, but then reversed the decision. Now it is going ahead with the plan, which could see salary reductions of as much as 15% for mid- and senior-level employees and up to 25% for top executives. Close to 3m jobs in aviation and related industries could be lost this year in India alone because of the pandemic, as well as more than $11 billion in revenue, according to the IATA. “As and when we resume operations, it is likely that the airline will start with a much lower capacity initially and gradually build up capacity in succeeding months,” Dutta said. The majority of employees won’t be affected by the decision on leave without pay, he said.<br/>