Ryanair has slashed its flight schedule for the coming months after Europe’s largest low-cost carrier warned bookings had “noticeably weakened” following a rise in coronavirus cases across many parts of Europe. The resurgence of the virus is deepening the crisis facing the travel industry, as new government restrictions dash any hopes of a late-summer revival in tourism. “Forward bookings have notably weakened over the last 10 days, given uncertainty over recent Covid case rates in some EU countries,” said Ryanair on Monday. In response, the airline will reduce the number of passengers it carries by 20% in September and October. The cuts will focus on countries that have seen worsening outbreaks, including France and Spain, and will mainly come from flying fewer planes on its network rather than eliminating routes altogether. Ryanair had previously guided that it hoped to run 70% of its normal schedule in September, more than some low-cost rivals including easyJet. CE Michael O’Leary has said that a second wave of Covid-19 infections in the autumn is his biggest worry, and the disruption to his airline’s business has come even sooner than feared.<br/>
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EasyJet confirmed Monday it would close three of its bases in the UK resulting in the loss of up to 670 jobs as the coronavirus pandemic continues to squeeze the travel industry. EasyJet said in May that it would need to axe 4,500 jobs across Europe to prepare for a smaller travel market due to the pandemic, and is starting that contraction by closing bases at London Stansted, London Southend and Newcastle airports. The outlook for airlines darkened last week after France joined Spain on Britain's quarantine list, deterring travel to the two most popular destinations for Britons and dashing hopes for an August recovery. Johan Lundgren, CE of easyJet, blamed "the unprecedented impact of the pandemic and related travel restrictions" for the base closures and said that Britain's quarantine measures were affecting demand. Up to 670 pilots and crew work at the three bases and many of those will lose their jobs. They will make up some of the 1,900 jobs in Britain that easyJet flagged in May would go as part of the 4,500 European total.<br/>
Jet2 is making 102 pilots redundant from its bases across the UK according to pilots’ union Balpa. The union said that it had offered the airline multiple solutions to try and save jobs, but all of them were turned down. Brian Strutton, Balpa general secretary, said: “This announcement is yet another which shows the desperate state of the British aviation sector. Despite enormous efforts to work with Jet2 to find ways of saving these jobs the airline is insisting on 102 redundancies. This will be a particular kick in the teeth as many of those who may lose their jobs have recently joined the airline after having been dismissed from Thomas Cook which went into administration last year.” Jet2 currently has bases in Leeds-Bradford, Belfast-International, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London-Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham but it’s not clear which ones will be affected at this stage. A spokesperson for the airline said: ”We are greatly distressed and deeply regret these redundancies that are entirely caused by the current situation.”<br/>
UK aviation regulators have approved a request from Pakistan International Airlines to operate Birmingham and Manchester flights using aircraft chartered from Portuguese wet-lease operator Hi Fly. The UK Civil Aviation Authority last month suspended permission for PIA to operate into the country, after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency had withdrawn the carrier’s third-country operator authorisation. That was a response to the revelation, following the crash of a PIA Airbus A320 in Karachi on 22 May, that more than 260 of 860 pilot licences issued by Pakistani regulators were fraudulent. The CAA said Monday it had approved PIA’s request to resume flights from Islamabad to Birmingham and Manchester using Hi Fly aircraft, with effect from 14 August.<br/>
Jazeera Airways, the first non-government owned airline in the Middle East, resumed its services to Istanbul, Turkey. The airline suspended its Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen flights on March 28 due to the pandemic. The carrier resumed its domestic flights on June 1st and international flights on June 12th. Jazeera Airways, which owns and operates its own terminal at Kuwait International Airport, resumed its flights to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport on Saturday. The Jazeera Airways aircraft carrying on its board 116 passengers received a warm welcome with a symbolic water cannon salute upon its arrival. Jazeera Airways will fly between Kuwait and Istanbul three times in a week on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.<br/>
The board of Vietnam Airlines has named a new CEO for subsidiary Pacific Airlines, formerly Jetstar Pacific. Dinh Van Tuan, 50, has taken from Nguyen Thuong Hoang Hai, who quit for personal reasons. Tuan was earlier the director of Vietnam Airlines’ operations center, and has served in various capacities at the carrier since 1996. Jetstar Pacific became Pacific Airlines on August 1 and got a new logo as Vietnam Airlines, which owns a 68.86% stake in it, seeks to buy another 30% stake from Australia’s Qantas. <br/>