Virgin Atlantic has declared itself bankrupt and is seeking protection from creditors in the US, according to a court filing in New York on Tuesday. The airline is seeking the protection under chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, which allows a foreign debtor to shield assets in the country. The announcement comes little more than a month after Virgin Atlantic announced it had secured funding to survive for another 18 months. Virgin Atlantic flies only long-haul international routes and suspended flights in April due to the coronavirus pandemic. The bankruptcy is the second from a Virgin Group airline this year. Virgin Australia, the country’s second largest airline, went into administration in April, owing $6.8b to more than 12,000 creditors. Virgin Atlantic’s filing in the US bankruptcy court in the southern district of New York said it has negotiated a deal with stakeholders “for a consensual recapitalization” that will get debt off its balance sheet and “immediately position it for sustainable long-term growth”. On Tuesday the airline also filed a proceeding in the high court in London, where Virgin Atlantic obtained approval on Tuesday to convene meetings of affected creditors to vote on the plan on 25 August. A Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said the restructuring plan was before the UK court “to secure approval from all relevant creditors before implementation”.<br/>
unaligned
Virgin Australia will sack 3000 employees, or about a third of its workforce, retire its budget Tigerair brand and offload its long-haul international jets as part of a re-launch under its new owner Bain Capital. Australia's number two airline, which went into voluntary administration in April owing $6.8b, released its relaunch plan on Wednesday. The moves were designed to make it a "stronger, more profitable and competitive" carrier, it said in a statement. Virgin said it will strip its fleet of 132 aircraft back to just its Boeing 737s, of which it has 79, and its regional and charter Fokker 100s and Airbus A320s. It will offload its long-haul Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s, Tigerair A320 and ATR turboprops. Virgin's budget Tigerair brand will be retired but Virgin will maintain its air operating certificate to give it the option of relaunching a new ultra-low cost arm in the future. While long-haul international flying was an "important part" of the airline's future, services to Los Angeles and Tokyo will remain suspended until global travel demand recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Virgin said. Customers will still be able to book international flights with code share partners. Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah said that domestic and short-haul international travel demand was likely to take at least three years to recover, “with the chance it could be longer”. “Which means as a business, we must make changes to ensure the Virgin Australia Group is successful in this new world”, he said. <br/>
EasyJet has announced it will increase the number of flights scheduled due to high demand, despite the continuing uncertainty caused by coronavirus. Johan Lundgren, CEO of the airline, said the increase in capacity will start over the next two months. He said: “I am really encouraged that we have seen higher than expected levels of demand with a load factor of 84% in July with destinations like Faro and Nice remaining popular with customers. Our bookings for the remainder of the summer are performing better than expected and as a result we have decided to expand our schedule over the fourth quarter [July to September] to fly 40 per cent of capacity. This increased flying will allow us to connect even more customers to family or friends and to take the breaks they have worked hard for.” The airline had previously only expected to operate at 30% of its normal capacity. Lundgren made the comments as part of the company's latest trading update, released on 4 August. Easyjet grounded its entire fleet on 30 March due to the global impact of coronavirus.<br/>
July traffic figures released today show Wizz Air operated more than 70% of its planned capacity, while Europe’s biggest low-cost operator Ryanair saw its first significant return of passengers since the global pandemic began. Ryanair carried 4.4m passengers in July, as the pan-European budget carrier partially restored its network. The figure, though, remains 70% down on the same month of last year. The carrier flew around 40% of its planned July schedule with a load factor of 72%. The 4.4m passengers in July compares with the 14.8m Ryanair handled in the same month of last year. But it marks a 10-fold increase on the 400,000 passengers it handled in June, and is the highest figure it has reported in four months. Central European budget operator Wizz Air, which also published July traffic data today, carried 1.8m passengers for the month. That figure is 53% down on the same month in 2019. The July figure compares with just over 500,000 passengers carried by Wizz in June, and surpasses the 1.75 million the carrier handled in March. Expanding Wizz had been growing passenger traffic at a rate of over 20% at the start of the year. Wizz says it operated 74% of its planned capacity in July and achieved a load factor of 61%. While Ryanair only stepped up its capacity in July, Wizz was already flying around 25% of its capacity in June.<br/>
The Big Three US airlines are unlikely to dismantle the regional carrier model any time soon, so long as they rely on massive hubs to generate profits. This outlook is from the CEO of ExpressJet Airlines, one of the largest regional carriers in America, and one which plans to shut down this year. ExpressJet is the fourth US regional airline to collapse since the Covid-19 pandemic decimated air travel. Through a subsidiary, United owns 49.9% of the airline, which it acquired from SkyWest in late 2018 to bolster its regional flying. United has decided to end its flights with ExpressJet as part of the carrier’s broader, pandemic-induced retrenchment. At one time, the regional airline—formerly Continental Express—was among the world’s top 10 by fleet size, with more than 400 aircraft. It also operated as an independent and charter carrier at various points in its history. But those days are over. “It’s a proud old company that’s had more life than a cat,” CEO Subodh Karnik said Monday, pledging an orderly transition for the airline’s 131 Embraer SA 145 jets and the “mountain of parts” it has subleased from United. “If there are airlines that have to have hubs, there is no way that the small-airline model is going to die.”<br/>
Mexican airline Interjet said on Tuesday it would increase the frequency of its domestic flights by 88%, including boosting travel options to popular tourist destinations. The low-cost carrier said in a statement it would increase flights to popular beach resort areas such as Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos, as well as to cities such as Monterrey, Tijuana, Merida, and Guadalajara. Interjet, one of Mexico’s three biggest airlines with a portfolio of more than 50 routes, said it will enforce health and safety measures and also offer its passengers free rapid COVID-19 tests and N95 masks. <br/>
Emirates airline will resume passenger services to Kuwait’s capital from August 5. Flights from Dubai to Kuwait City will operate as a daily service, and will deploy a Boeing 777-300ER. The airline, which is also resuming flights to Lisbon, Portugal on August 16, now has a passenger network of 70 destinations, which is over half its pre-pandemic network. Flights from Dubai to Lisbon will operate three times a week. These flights too will have a Boeing 777-300ER. Emirates has been slowly restarting its Middle East routes. In an earlier announcement, the airline said it plans to resume its Iraq flights (Baghdad and Basra) from August 10.<br/>
Nigeria's largest airline Air Peace said Tuesday it had laid off a number of pilots and cut salaries in order to cope with the impact of the coronavirus on its operations. The private carrier did not disclose the number of pilots affected, but industry sources put the figure at around 70. Air Peace serves cities in Nigeria as well as elsewhere in West Africa and in the Middle East. The group said it had "taken a very painful but rightful decision... to terminate the employment of some of its pilots" due to "the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations and financial health." "This decision was taken for the greater good of the company and its almost 3000 workforce," including the affected pilots, it said. "Anything short of what we have done may lead to the collapse of an airline as could be seen in some places worldwide during this period. Therefore, we decided to review the salaries being paid to all staff." Many other airlines in other parts of the world have taken similar measures to stay afloat.<br/>
AirAsia is gearing up for the resumption of flights between Malaysia and Singapore, including the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route, following the decision to implement the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL). This would be followed by other international destinations, subject to approval from the authorities, the low-cost carrier said Tuesday. AirAsia will begin by launching daily flights between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and one weekly flight each between Singapore and Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Ipoh. These flights were scheduled for the week of Aug 17, subject to further announcements by the governments, it said. AirAsia said it welcomed the decision by the Malaysian and Singapore governments to open up cross-border travel for essential business and official purposes between both countries through the RGL scheme. AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the airline was thoroughly committed towards resuming air connectivity and thus reviving economic activities in the region. "The RGL might only be the first step but certainly is most important as both countries start to revive the economy,” he said. The RGL scheme requires eligible travellers to abide by the prevailing COVID-19 prevention and public health measures mutually agreed on by both countries, which include undergoing PCR swab tests.<br/>
Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has secured landing slots at London Heathrow Airport, effective 1 September. The slots fall under the “bubble arrangement” between India and the UK, and are effective until 23 October, says SpiceJet. The carrier adds that the slots will remain effective when regular operations resume, and that it is in discussions to secure slots for the winter schedule. Amid the coronavirus pandemic New Delhi has suspended all international flights until 31 August, apart from a small number of flights that fall under “travel bubbles” formed with select countries. “I am pleased and excited to share that SpiceJet has secured slots at London Heathrow Airport to operate flights effective September 1, 2020,” says SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh. “London is one of the busiest long-haul destinations from India and this is a huge milestone for SpiceJet. Providing non-stop connectivity from India to different parts of the world, which in turn strengthens our own airport hubs, is a dream that we have long cherished and this is a small step in that direction. The identical arrival/departure slots that we have secured at Heathrow should suit the convenience of our passengers perfectly.”<br/>