The number of air travellers leaving Japan from Narita International Airport from May 1 to May 23 tumbled 98.7 percent from a year before amid the coronavirus pandemic, the airport operator said Thursday. The number slumped to 11,800 due mainly to entry restrictions imposed by many countries. In April, the number of takeoffs from and landings at the airport in Chiba Prefecture fell 67 percent to 7,283, according to preliminary data released by Narita International Airport Corp. A total of 141,021 passengers used the airport in the month, down 96%. International passengers decreased 98% to a record low of 69,849, surpassed by domestic flyers for the first time since the airport opened in 1978. The domestic number, however, was down 88% at 71,172.<br/>
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Myanmar reported 17 more confirmed cases of Covid-19 (coronavirus) on Saturday, bringing the number of infection to 224 in total, said a release from the Health and Sports Ministry. Meanwhile, Myanmar Times reported that, some domestic airlines in the country will be resuming operations by the end of this month. Air Thanlwin, which was temporarily suspended in April to curb the spread of Covid-19, resumed operations on Saturday. The airline will resume flights with routes based in Yangon and Mandalay flying to Sittwe, Tachileik, Myitkyina, Kengtung, Heho and Hkamti. Myanmar National Airlines and Air KBZ had resumed domestic flights since early May. Golden Myanmar Airlines, which suspended operations until May 15, resumed domestic flights the next day on May 16, to some destinations flown by majority of travellers. Mann Yadanarpon Airlines restarted its domestic flights on May 22, but only between Yangon and Sittwe. Currently, Myanmar has suspended international flights until the end of May, and domestic flights have been reduced depending on the availability of passengers. The Civil Aviation Department extended a ban on international commercial air traffic until the end of this month on May 14 to curb the spread of Covid-19.<br/>
Embraer should obtain $600m in credit lines from Brazil’s state development bank BNDES and private banks in June, government sources said Sunday. The loans will finance production to meet demand for passenger planes and executive jets, they said. A spokesman for Embraer confirmed that the company is in talks on financing proposals from the BNDES and private bank in Brazil and abroad to aimed mainly at providing working capital to cover plane exports. Embraer said it has firm orders for the years ahead worth $16b on March 31. “This shows how sound and balanced the company is in the midst of the crisis hitting the aviation sector,” one of the sources said. “No one knows what the future holds in store for commercial aviation, but with less people flying it could well be an era of smaller planes and private aircraft,” the source added, pointing to Embraer’s forte as a leading maker of regional jets. The Brazilian government has been negotiating a financial bailout for Brazil’s airlines to help them cope with the dramatic loss of business during the coronavirus pandemic.<br/>
Top Airbus executives are planning to assess additional measures that may be necessary to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter. Among the topics to be discussed at a meeting this week are production rates for the plane-maker’s top-selling A320-series narrow-body jet, said the people. While an adjustment wouldn’t necessarily entail a rate cut, Airbus slashed output by about a third in April to cope with cratered demand from airlines that have parked planes because of the virus. At the time, the planemaker said it would aim to produce 40 of the single-aisle A320s per month, and reassess once it determined whether the recovery was “V-shaped” or “L-shaped.” Almost two months later, many airlines remain grounded and short of cash, and are racing to cut jobs as the depth of the downturn sinks in. <br/>
South Africa will permit air travel from four main airports from Monday as the nation eases lockdown measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Limited domestic flights will be allowed for business purposes, and passengers must ask for authorization based on their reason for travel, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said in a televised briefing on Saturday. Flights will begin operating from OR Tambo International and Lanseria airports in Johannesburg, and from Cape Town and Durban in phase one of the plan.<br/>