Iran will send the black boxes from a downed Ukrainian airliner to Ukraine, Iran’s minister of Roads and Urban Development, Mohammad Eslami, said on Wednesday, according to the Tasnim news agency. The Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot down on Jan. 8 by an Iranian ground-to-air missile, killing 176 people in what Tehran termed a “disastrous mistake”. Ukraine initially lacked the technical capability to read the boxes but now says it has that ability, Eslami said. He said "the Americans" may have provided Ukraine with the necessary software and documents to read the black boxes of the 737-800 airliner made by US-based Boeing. The reading of the boxes will take place in coordination with the United Nations' ICAO. “The necessary coordination is in this way that the reading of the black box be done in the country of Ukraine in the presence of representatives of ICAO,” Eslami said. “And if the conditions aren’t provided then at that time the reading will take place together in France.” The fate of the cockpit voice and data "black box" recorders has been the subject of an international standoff eclipsed by the coronavirus crisis, which Iran says has also contributed to delays in a probe by Iran’s Air Accident Investigation Board.<br/>
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LATAM Airlines Group said Wednesday its Argentine subsidiary will cease operations indefinitely, cancelling all domestic flights, its first major cutback since filing for bankruptcy protection. The announcement fell short of saying the company, Latin America's largest airline, will entirely wind down its subsidiary, although it is unclear if it will ever resume operations. A LATAM spokesman said the subsidiary will begin a government process in Argentina before it can lay off 1,715 employees. The airline said it will not fly domestically in Argentina but will maintain international flights, managed by other subsidiaries. LATAM blamed the decision in part on Argentina's government, which has imposed one of the world's toughest travel bans, drawing an outcry from the industry. LATAM said "local industry actors" in Argentina had been difficult to deal with and "made it impossible to foresee a viable and sustainable long-term project." LATAM's competitors have accused Argentina's government of blindsiding them. A source at Argentina's transport ministry, which regulates air traffic, argued nothing had been decided yet. "We have to wait for LATAM to meet with the labor ministry," the source said.<br/>
Southwest said Wednesday it has enough cash to carry on business for the next two years, up from its prior forecast of 20 months, as travel demand gradually picks up. The company’s assessment is based on current cash and short-term investments of $13.9b and an expected average daily cash burn of about $20m in June. “The company has continued to experience a modest improvement in passenger demand and bookings in June 2020—primarily leisure-driven demand,” Southwest said. The airline said current estimates regarding operating revenues, capacity and load factor in June have improved over previous estimations for the month. Southwest now expects operating revenue to decrease in the range of 70% to 75% year-over-year, and both passenger capacity and load factor to fall 40% to 50% compared to last year. The company also anticipates continued improvement in July, with higher revenue and more seats filled on flights. However, the company announced Tuesday that is planning to keep middle seats open through at least Sep. 30 to help prevent the coronavirus from spreading. <br/>
Wizz Air has continued its post-crisis base expansion by disclosing plans to open a single-aircraft operation from St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport. The new St Petersburg base, the airline’s first in Russia, will begin in mid-September with the launch of five new routes. It will be the airline’s 32nd base - and the fifth Wizz has announced in the past three weeks - as it steps up its post-crisis network plans Wizz will base one Airbus A320 at St Petersburg and launch new routes from the airport serving the Scandinavian capitals of Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, as well Malta and Salzburg in Austria. ”Wizz Air has a long-term strategic interest in the Russian market and we are looking forward to welcoming passengers on board our young and reliable fleet,” says airline CE Jozsef Varadi. St Petersburg, from which Wizz operated flights to Budapest and London Luton prior to the coronavirus crisis, is one of the three Russian destinations Wizz serves, alongside Moscow Vnukovo and Kazan.<br/>
Airlines are eager to fly internationally again as soon as bilateral agreements between countries with low coronavirus risk are settled, as the aviation industry continues to struggle with unprecedented financial stagnation. Santisuk Klongchaiya, CE of Thai AirAsia (TAA), said the airline is ready to resume international flights once "travel bubbles" are successfully created and the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) gives its stamp of approval to let international flights resume. He said he agrees with the government's plan to stimulate domestic travel to kick-start the overall economy. TAA is planning to add more routes to leisure destinations after the airline resumed four flights a day from Bangkok to Phuket. "Most travel now is for business purposes," Santisuk said. "When the leisure market comes back at a faster speed in July, we will offer special airfares to respond to upcoming demand and to compete with other airlines." TAA aims to carry 11m passengers this year, a massive reduction from 22.15m in 2019. In May, TAA's load factor closed at 80% from 120-seat capacity under social distancing practices. The airline operated at 15% of total capacity with up to seven aircraft. On the subject of long-awaited soft loans, Santisuk said that while TAA's liquidity is sufficient, state financial aid would help support operations.<br/>