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United said Tuesday that it lost $1.63b in Q2 as revenue plunged 87%, and it will operate at barely over one-third of capacity through September as the coronavirus throttles air travel. The airline burned through $40m a day from April through June but said it will trim losses to $25m a day in the third quarter by slashing costs. CEO Scott Kirby said United cut its cash-burn rate below its closest rivals by shrinking its schedule to meet lower demand and cutting costs across the company. In a statement, he said the moves "positioned United to both survive the COVID crisis and capitalize on consumer demand when it sustainably returns.” Investors will have to wait for United to provide more details about the quarter and the future outlook on Wednesday, when executives hold a call with analysts and reporters. United, which started the year with 96,000 employees, said 6,000 have volunteered to take severance packages and leave. Last week, the airline warned 36,000 employees that they could be furloughed in October, although executives said they expect the final job-loss number to be smaller. United said it began this week with $15.2b in available cash and expects to boost that to more than $18b by the end of Q3. The airline has mortgaged its MileagePlus frequent-flyer program and agreed to a $4.5b secured loan from the Treasury Department, although executives say they might not draw on the government loan. <br/>

United burnt through $40m of cash per day in Q2 but boasted on Tuesday that this was lower than other large US carriers and that it will have more in the bank to get through the rest of the year than previously expected. The company also signalled that it was trimming its plans to restore some flights in the next few months as the country battles new spikes in coronavirus, which have damped hopes for a rebound in air travel. Capacity in Q3 will be 65% of where it was in 2019, it said. “We expect United produced fewer losses and lower cash burn in the second quarter than any of our large network competitors,” CE Scott Kirby said. “We accomplished this by quickly and accurately forecasting the impact that Covid would have on passenger and cargo demand, accurately matching our schedule to that reduced demand, completing the largest debt financing deal in aviation history and cutting expenses across our business.” Calling the three months to June “the most difficult financial quarter in its 94-year history”, the Chicago-based company reported a $1.6b loss and revenues 87% lower from a year earlier. Its $1.5b in operating revenue compared with more than $11b in Q2 2019. United’s loss still exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet predicted an adjusted diluted loss per share of $8.96, while the airline reported $9.31. It cut its operating expenses by 69%compared to Q2 2019.<br/>

South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni rejected accusations from the biggest opposition party that he plans to use state funds to rescue the bankrupt national airline, saying a range of funding options that would source money from the private sector are being considered. In an answering affidavit to a case filed by the Democratic Alliance in South Africa’s High Court aimed at preventing Mboweni from using government money to meet the 10.1b rand ($611.9m) the administrators of South African Airways say is needed, the minister laid out a range of options. Those include seeking money from “strategic partners” or private equity as well as tapping pension funds and global financial institutions, he said. Mboweni went on to say that the announcement had committed government to “mobilize” funds for SAA, not provide them. “The Department of Public Enterprises media statement stops short of reflecting a commitment by government to fund the implementation of the business rescue plan,” Mboweni said. “It clearly conveys government’s position, namely that it is considering various ways within which to mobilize funding.” <br/>

Aegean Airlineshad restored 40% of its flight operations in June and expects to increase the level to 50% next month, its CE told the annual shareholders' meeting on Tuesday. Aegean more than doubled its loss in Q1 compared to the same period a year earlier, hurt by the grounding of planes as part of restrictions to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. Aegean, whose chairman has said he expects 2020 to be the worst year in its 21-year history, reiterated guidance for the second quarter, forecasting losses of E26m-28m per month for the three-month period. CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis told shareholders the airline's cash reserves stood at over E400m at the end of June, without including bank credit lines. The airline has taken delivery of five new Airbus 320neo jets and two more are expected in the coming months, part of a fleet renewal programme that includes 46 new aircraft ordered from planemaker Airbus. Executives said the carrier was seeking to delay taking delivery of some of the new aircraft as it strives to conserve cash. "The challenges we face because of COVID-19 are unprecedented. Our actions to strengthen the company's cash shield and reduce our overall costs and adjust our network to current conditions are continuing and are gradually producing results," Gerogiannis said.<br/>

Chairman of the Holding Company for Egypt Air Roshdy Zakaria said that the company will increase the number of international flights to 35 as of August 1 within the framework of the decision to resume regular international operations. On Tuesday, Zakaria said that the company will operate flights to 17 destinations in Europe instead of 16. He added that the company is currently operating regular flights to Amsterdam, Athens, Brussels, Budapest, Paris, Copenhagen, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Madrid, Munich, Milan, Vienna and Larnaca. It will operate flights to seven destinations in Africa instead of five after adding two other destinations N'Djamena in Chad and Nairobi in Kenya as of August 1, he added. The company is currently operating regular flights to Addis Ababa, Juba, Dar es-Salaam, Tunisia and Khartoum in Africa, he noted. The company is scheduled to operate flights to seven destinations in the Middle East instead of five after adding flights to Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq as of August 1, he said. It is currently operating regular flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Beirut and Bahrain in the Middle East, he said. <br/>

Air NZ's website is open for new bookings from next week following a three week freeze to ease the strain on isolation hotels although an announcement on what airlines can do from now is expected later Wednesday. Emirates' website is also showing seats available from August 2 from Dubai to Auckland.<br/>Air NZ flights from Sydney to Auckland are available from July 27 on the airlines website and prices start at $571 — one way. Brisbane to Auckland flights resume on Tuesday, July 28 (with one way fares starting at a whopping $904). These flights connect with Qatar Airways' Doha to Brisbane flights. Earlier this month the minister in charge of quarantine and isolation facilities Megan Woods said the Government and Air NZ had agreed to manage incoming bookings in the short term. This was then extended to other airlines as the Government stemmed the flow of returnees into isolation hotels. It is understood an announcement on flights will come later Wednesday. The number of people in quarantine or managed isolation yesterday was 3173. There is space for about 6000 people in 32 hotels in Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch. Airline bookings during the period from July 9 were unaffected.<br/>