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Lufthansa’s management board has accepted a more favourable set of demands from the EC in exchange for approval of a E9b government bailout, the carrier said Saturday, paving the way for its rescue. The agreement comes after the airline’s supervisory board on Wednesday rejected an initial deal with Brussels including conditions that were significantly more painful. Under the latest agreement, Lufthansa said it will be obliged to transfer up to 24 takeoff and landing slots for up to four aircraft to one rival each at the Frankfurt and Munich airports. This translates into three take-off and three landing rights per aircraft and day, it said. “For one-and-a-half years, this option is only available to new competitors at the Frankfurt and Munich airports,” Lufthansa said, initially excluding budget carrier Ryanair. “If no new competitor makes use of this option, it will be extended to existing competitors at the respective airports.” The previous deal had included forfeiting 72 slots used by 12 of 300 jets based at the Frankfurt and Munich airports, a source familiar with the matter said. The slots, to be allocated in a bidding process, can be taken over only by a European peer that has not received any substantial state aid during the pandemic, Lufthansa said. The Commision said once it has been officially notified by Germany on the aid package it will assess the issue as a matter of priority.<br/>

Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition chief, has rejected accusations that Brussels is creating “extra hurdles” for the E9b bailout of Lufthansa, after the German group’s supervisory board balked at requests to relinquish lucrative slots at its hub airports in Frankfurt and Munich. Speaking Friday, Vestager said rescue packages in which states injected large amounts of capital would be seen by investors as “a strengthening of the company”, and thus make it easier for saved businesses to raise money. “There is a high risk that if you hold market power, that you are a big impressive company and you get a lot of aid, that competition will be disturbed,” she added. On Monday, Germany agreed to support its national carrier with a capital injection of E5.7b, as well as E3b in government-backed loans, and E300m-worth of new Lufthansa shares, which would give Berlin a 20% stake in the airline. In the case of a hostile takeover attempt, Angela Merkel’s administration retains the right to increase its position to 25% plus one share, which is a blocking minority in German law. However, despite Lufthansa being weeks away from running out of cash, the company’s supervisory board refused to approve the bailout package on Wednesday, delaying the extraordinary general meeting needed to ratify the deal. The board of Europe’s second-largest airline said it needed time to assess the impact of demands from the EC that it give up some slots in Munich and Frankfurt, where it holds two-thirds of the available capacity. Vestager said slots would be at the “centre of the debate” as they are a “limited” and “valuable” resource.<br/>

Hundreds of students and other Chinese citizens stranded in America because of the Covid-19 pandemic will soon be heading home after US authorities gave the green light for two Air China flights to take off in the coming days. The Chinese embassy in Washington said Saturday that a flight from the US capital to Shenzhen had been approved for Thursday afternoon, while a second, from Houston to Tianjin on Sunday afternoon, has also been given the go-ahead by the US transport department, according to the Chinese consulate in the Texan city. Both notices reiterated an earlier warning to passengers from the Chinese mission in Washington that they may be subjected to questioning by border officials on departure, including having their phones, computers and other electronics examined. The flight approvals came after the US transport department said earlier it would begin requiring Chinese airlines to file proposed flight schedules at least 30 days in advance, in response to Beijing not yet approving US carriers’ applications to resume their services to China amid the global health crisis.<br/>

United will add back some international flying in July, saying demand has “risen modestly” in some markets after the Covid-19 pandemic all but wiped out travel. Flights will resume or increase on 40 international routes in July, United said in a statement Friday. The Chicago-based airline will serve only 27 foreign routes in June. United has said its overall schedule will be down about 75% from a year earlier in July, compared with a 90% reduction currently. The plan to increase flying reflects a modest rebound in demand for all US airlines as travel restrictions ease and economic activity picks up. Daily passenger numbers during the past seven days were only 12% of their level a year ago, according to the US Transportation Security Administration. But the average tally of 293,982 a day rose 22% from the previous week. United’s schedule in July will include flights from Washington’s Dulles airport to Brussels, London, Munich and Zurich, and from San Francisco to Tel Aviv and Delhi. The company will add five weekly flights between Chicago and Tokyo’s Haneda airport, and offer daily service between its hub in Newark, New Jersey, and Tokyo’s Narita airport. The airline also will add back flying between Houston and Latin America, and resume some service to the Caribbean from Houston and Newark. The extra flights will be added to the schedule this weekend.<br/>

United on Friday said it’s planning to cut 13 of its 67 officers in an effort to save money as the coronavirus continues to keep a lid on travel demand. The carrier, like its competitors American and Delta, is offering voluntary separation options and other packages to thousands of employees. Layoffs or cuts to pay rates are prohibited through Sept. 30 under the terms of $25b in federal aid for the airline industry, though some carriers have cut workers’ schedules. The executives’ departures are effective Oct. 1. “While there are glimmers of good news in our July schedule — we expect to be down about 75% versus 90% right now — travel demand is still a very long way from where it was at the end of last year and the financial impact on our business remains severe,” United said. The cuts to the officer-level jobs include those working on the airline’s network, regional hubs and in community engagement. United declined to say how much money the resulting reorganization will save the company. United’s new CEO, Scott Kirby, who took the reins last week, told a webcast investor conference on Thursday that filing for bankruptcy is not “even remotely” in the cards for the airline, calling it “the dumbest question possible.”<br/>

South African Airways’ rescue practitioners are seeking an extension to the deadline for publishing a business plan for the troubled flag-carrier. Under South African legislation a business plan is normally required within 25 days of a company entering business rescue, but extensions can be granted if necessary. SAA, however, has spent nearly six months in the rescue process, after the rescuers sought three separate extensions – of 70 days, 32 days and 70 days – with the intention of publishing the plan on 29 May. But practitioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana state that South Africa has been in a state of lockdown since 26 March, before which the rescuers were in the “advance stages” of drawing up a draft plan to restructure SAA. “Unfortunately, the draft plan for a restructured airline, which was near complete, could not be finalised,” they say, owing to the impact of the coronavirus crisis which “nullified all the assumptions” on income projection. <br/>

Aviation regulator Director-General of Aviation (DGCA) has launched an investigation into a "serious lapse" after an Air India flight from Delhi to Moscow on Saturday returned midway after its pilot was found COVID-19 infected. In its initial probe, the DGCA has found that this was a 'serious lapse' by the state run-carrier Air India. "This was a serious lapse and the regulator has asked Air India (AI) to file a full report of the incident, and DGCA official is investigating the incident," a DGCA source told ANI. The Airbus A320NEO plane, which had departed from New Delhi as a ferry flight (no passengers) for Moscow to bring back stranded Indians was instructed to return to the national capital after it was airborne for 2 hours and 30 minutes. The flight had had crossed Pakistan, Afghanistan and was on its way north from Bukhara in Uzbekistan and about to cross Uzbekistan airspace when the crew received information that one of the non-operating pilots was COVID-19 positive. The flight AI-1945 returned to Delhi at about 12.30 pm and the crew has been quarantined as per norms.<br/>

With passengers nervous about commercial aviation in the age of coronavirus, Air Canada is deploying special A319 aircraft fitted with only 58 seats on commuter air routes. The “Jetz” fleet carriers barely one-third of the maximum 156 capacity, and less than half the typical Air Canada configuration. The Canadian airline has a fleet of three bespoke jets that normally charters out to sports teams, touring rock artistes and industry. Starting on Monday 1 June, the A319s will be flying normal scheduled services – operating peak-time flights on Air Canada’s key business routes connecting Toronto with both Ottawa and Montreal. The configuration has been dubbed “Covid class”. Passengers will have little time to appreciate it, with a journey time of an hour from Toronto to Ottawa (226 miles away) and 74 minutes to Montreal (316 miles). The airline says: “While our favourite sports teams are on hiatus, we’re bringing our special fleet of Air Canada Jetz Airbus A319 aircraft to you.” At the airport, travellers will be able to avoid too much contact with other passengers thanks to a “prime gate location,” reducing walking distances, and with boarding beginning only 25 minutes before departure. On board, there are two seats rather than three on either side of the aisle, and the “seat pitch” is up to 49 inches – giving much more space than a normal flight.<br/>