EU state aid regulators cleared a E62m loan guarantee on Thursday from the Romanian government to airline Blue Air, saying it was in line with the bloc’s state aid rules. The package includes a E28m guarantee to compensate the carrier for damage caused by coronavirus-linked travel restrictions, and a E34m guarantee providing urgent liquidity support to help cover losses incurred since the outbreak. The EC said Blue Air was lossmaking before the pandemic, but had returned to profitability in late 2019, until the virus outbreak severely hit the aviation sector and the company incurred significant losses. It said the Romanian scheme would compensate damage directly linked to the pandemic and was dependent on Blue Air submitting a plan to become viable in the long term, and was therefore in line with the bloc’s state aid rules. <br/>
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Emirates has decided on its preferred mix of new Boeing wide-body planes, with the focus likely to be on smaller aircraft rather than jumbo jets following a slump in demand amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Dubai-based carrier has been pushing to swap more of Boeing’s behemoth 777X jets -- of which it has ordered 115 -- for 787 Dreamliners. The composition of the intake has been finalized, COO Adel Al Redha said Thursday, declining to provide details. Negotiations are ongoing about the timing of the plane deliveries, Al Redha said, with Emirates preferring to take the smaller Dreamliner sooner rather than later as it “offers better seat capacity” at a time when demand for international travel is flagging. Boeing wants to hand over the larger 777X first, the COO said, in line with an agreement made before the coronavirus tore up the plans of airlines around the world. “I think Boeing would prefer to deliver the 777s before 787 because that is a new program for them,” Al Redha said. Emirates is particularly affected by a downturn in demand for air travel as the largest long-haul carrier in the world, typically operating more than 500 flights a day and using its Dubai hub to connect travelers from Europe and the US to Africa and Asia. <br/>
Ryanair’s Spanish pilots accepted on Thursday a 20% pay cut and work practice changes, the latest deal the Irish airline has struck with trade unions in exchange for a pledge to minimise job losses. Europe’s biggest budget airline warned it would have to cut up to 3,000 jobs if it could not agree pay cuts with pilots and cabin crew after the COVID-19 crisis grounded 99% of its planes from April to June and continued to hit business thereafter. Ryanair had reached agreements with 85% of its pilots and 75% of cabin crew by the end of July, including in other major markets such as Britain, Ireland and Germany. However, it said Thursday it had failed to strike a deal with Spanish cabin crew unions USO and SITCPLA, making job losses among their members more likely.<br/>
Eurowings will offer passengers the option of paying extra to keep the middle seat vacant, throughout the entire cabin, on all flights within Europe, after carrying out a “successful” trial of the measure. Lufthansa Group’s low-cost unit says it has been testing the initiative for several weeks and it has “met with an exceptionally high level of interest”. More than 5,000 free middle seats have been sold during the trial, adds the carrier. It has therefore decided to make the option available on all seat rows and across all of its European routes. “The positive feedback during the test phase showed us very clearly that our guests often want more comfort and distance on board,” states Eurowings chief executive Jens Bischof. “Ultra-low-cost no longer works since [the Covid-19 pandemic], at least not in our home market Germany.” Charging extra to keep the middle seat free and enable passengers to feel more socially distanced on board “will become a very important product for travel in the future”, adds Bischof. Subject to availability, Eurowings passengers will be able to block the middle seat next to them for a fee starting at E18 per flight.<br/>
African budget operator Fastjet Group has obtained a commitment from its main shareholder, Solenta Aviation Holdings, to underwrite a capital raise of at least $1.5m, providing the company with much-needed funding. Fastjet Group has been struggling with dwindling cash resources as it copes with flight restrictions in Zimbabwe and South Africa. It had reserves of $1.3m in mid-August but $600,000 of this is linked to its FedAir operation and cannot be lent to any other Fastjet Group entity. Although there are signs that travel restrictions are easing, the company says it needs at least $1.5m in additional cash before November 2020. Solenta has told Fastjet’s board that it would be prepared to underwrite such a capital increase, on terms that have still to be negotiated. Fastjet Group says that, if it obtains this capital, and further funds are obtained through a legacy loan facility, and flight operations restart by December, then it expects to be able to continue operating as a going concern at least until the end of 2021 – if passenger demand returns quickly enough.<br/>