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Canada and families of the victims of a downed Ukrainian jetliner are pressing Iran for additional answers, after an announcement by Tehran on Sunday provided "limited and selected information." The announcement by the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization marked the first official report on the contents of the cockpit voice and data recordings, which were sent to France for analysis in July. Iran's Revolutionary Guard has said it accidentally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 on Jan. 8, mistaking it for a missile at a time when tensions were high between Iran and the United States. Tehran said the analysis shows the plane was hit by two missiles 25 seconds apart and that passengers were still alive for some time after the impact of the first blast. "This preliminary report only provides limited and selected information regarding this tragic event," Canada's Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Sunday night. "The report only mentions what transpired after the first missile strike but not the second." They asked why the missiles were launched and why Iran's air space was open. An association representing families of the plane's victims dismissed the report in a statement that said they needed to know why a second missile was fired at the aircraft.<br/>

Virgin Atlantic has warned it will “run out of money altogether” by the final week of September if creditors do not agree to a GBP1.2b bailout package Tuesday. The rescue deal, which includes proposing creditors accept a 20% chop in the money the airline will pay them back, will be voted on at the High Court. Some 170 parties to whom the Sir Richard Branson-owned carrier owes payments must also agree to receive their cash back in staggered instalments. The airline “remains confident” that the complex refinancing package will be approved. The Independent has approached the airline for additional comment. As well as appealing to creditors to accept less money, Virgin Atlantic has also shut down its Gatwick base and announced it is canning 3,150 jobs – around a third of all employees – to cut costs. The brand’s owners are stumping up GBP600m to help keep the airline afloat, while GBP170m in financing is being fronted by US hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management.<br/>

Virgin Atlantic said Monday that it would introduce a free insurance policy for all new and existing flight bookings, pledging to cover up to GBP3,000 in expenses if a customer is denied boarding or has to quarantine due to a potential coronavirus infection. The move, which the airline said would “provide additional peace of mind” to customers, comes as the aviation industry confronts an unprecedented crisis in coronavirus, and underlines the extent to which airlines are trying to coax customers to make bookings. New analysis suggests that 85% of all airline routes across the world face some kind of travel restrictions. And 93% of routes in the highly industrialised G20 countries are subject to restrictions, according to a note from Swiss financial services firm UBS. The new Virgin Atlantic insurance policy will apply to all bookings up until 31 March 2021, and will also offer comprehensive cover if a customer or travel companion becomes ill with coronavirus. Emergency medical costs, and associated expenses such as transport, accommodation, and repatriation — up to a total of GBP500,000 — will be included, the airline said. The insurance policy will be fulfilled by Allianz Assistance, it said.<br/>

Unsecured creditors of Virgin Australia Holdings will lose almost all their money under a A$3.5b ($2.5b) deal to sell the collapsed airline to private equity firm Bain Capital. The average return to those creditors will be between 9% and 13%, and even less if the proposed agreement is voted down, administrator Deloitte said in a report Tuesday. Shareholders including marquee names such as Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways are getting nothing. Priority creditors and employees will be repaid in full, according to the report. Virgin Australia failed in April under A$6.84b of debt as coronavirus-related travel restrictions took their toll. With creditors due to vote on Bain’s takeover proposal next week, the report reveals for the first time the expected hit to lenders. Their losses reflect Virgin’s financial frailty when it went under, as well as the cost of resurrecting an airline during an aviation crisis that shows little sign of relenting. Some 6,500 unsecured Virgin bondholders were owed A$1.9b, the report showed. Two of them, Broad Peak Investment Advisers and Tor Investment Management, last week scrapped their own rescue plan for the airline.<br/>

ExpressJet Airlines will shutter operations at the end of next month after passenger demand sharply declined due to the coronavirus, and United decided to consolidate its regional flying with another carrier. Atlanta-based ExpressJet, which flies exclusively on behalf of United as United Express, says on 24 August that it will cease operations on 30 September and lay off most of its workforce. The company has no other airline customers. The 30 September date also coincides with the day that the US government’s financial assistance for airlines ends. “On July 30, United Airlines selected CommutAir as its sole ERJ-145 operator, and asked ExpressJet Airlines to wind-down flying as a United Express regional carrier,” the airline says. “Due to the uncertainty of airline passenger travel as a result of the continuing pandemic, all ExpressJet flying for United Airlines will end on September 30, 2020. In addition, with the termination of the CARES Act payroll support funding at that time, ExpressJet also will terminate or furlough most of its workforce on September 30, 2020, other than limited staff needed in connection with the wind-down of operations and the review of future business opportunities.” <br/>

Budget carrier Scoot has modified one of its planes to carry only cargo from this month. Scoot removed all the seats of one of its A320ceo, doubling the aircraft's cargo-carrying capacity to nearly 20 tonnes. "With many passenger aircraft sitting idle due to the pandemic, Scoot started operating cargo charters to carry essential supplies as an alternative revenue stream," said Scoot's CE Campbell Wilson Monday. The modified aircraft's first flight took off from Fuzhou in China for Singapore's Changi Airport last Saturday carrying a total of 13 tonnes of cargo - mostly essential items. Although Scoot has operated more than 200 cargo charters to and from 10 cities such as Perth in Australia and Hangzhou in China since March, this is the first time the carrier has removed all seats on a passenger plane so it can transport cargo. Scoot is one of the first airlines in the region to operate a cargo chartered flight with a modified aircraft. The modifications on the A320 plane took four days to complete and to put in place safety precautions, such as installing placards to demarcate areas where cargo can be placed and adding fire extinguishers.<br/>