El Al Airlines will Monday fly Israel's first flight to the United Arab Emirates by a commercial carrier, an airline spokesman said Friday, as the countries forge ahead with a deal to normalize ties. The direct flight between Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport and the UAE's political capital of Abu Dhabi is due to carry an Israeli delegation and top aides to US President Donald Trump, who brokered the Aug. 13 accord. Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner will be among the US officials on the El Al flight departing on Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT), a US official said. A return flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, the El Al spokesman said, confirming timetable information on the Israel Airports Authority (IAI) website. IAI listed the flight number for the outbound leg as "LY 971" and the return leg as "LY 972", a nod to the UAE and Israel's respective country codes. "Next week for the first time there will be a commercial flight to Abu Dhabi. This is exactly what peace for peace looks like," Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted on Friday. There are no official air links between Israel and the UAE, and it was unclear whether El Al would be able to fly over Saudi Arabia, which has no official ties with Israel, to cut down on flight time. The exact flight route and landing time were still being worked on, the US official said.<br/>
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Wizz Air will sharply reduce weekly flights to and from Hungary from Sept. 7, the airline said, after the government announced it would ban the entry of foreigners to try to rein in the coronavirus outbreak. Hungary announced on Friday that it would close its borders to foreigners from Sept. 1 to curb a rise in infections and Hungarians returning from abroad will have to go into quarantine. Wizz Air said that it would operate 32 flights per week between Sept. 7 and 30, down from around 126 flights in the Sept. 1-6 period. On Sunday, Hungary recorded 292 new infections, the highest daily number since the start of the pandemic. Hungary has had a total of 5,961 coronavirus cases and 614 deaths. "From Sept. 7 until 30 a greater reduction in flights can be expected, and only the most popular routes will remain available for passengers," the airline said.<br/>
Norwegian Air Shuttle warned it needed another rescue package only months after the low-cost airline secured a massive debt-for-equity swap backed by Norway’s government. Europe’s third-largest low-cost airline on Friday said it had cut its pre-tax losses by half in Q2 compared with the first three months of 2020. But CE Jacob Schram cautioned that a NKr3b ($340m) loan guarantee from Norway’s government, unlocked by a NKr15bn debt-for-equity swap involving aircraft leasing companies and the carrier’s bondholders, was unlikely to be sufficient. “Given the current market conditions it is not enough to get through this prolonged crisis,” he said Friday. Norwegian’s passenger numbers collapsed by 99% in Q2. Its hopes of demand recovering over the summer have been hit by Norway’s government reimposing quarantine requirements on travellers from countries such as Germany, Spain, the UK and France. Governments worldwide are propping up airlines, but Norway’s was initially reluctant to do the same with Norwegian as it entered the crisis with one of the highest debt loads of any airline due to ill-fated expansion plans in recent years, particularly into low-cost, long-haul travel. The airline warned on Friday that it needed additional working capital by the start of 2021 to remain solvent and suggested it could be achieved through a fresh capital increase, selling or refinancing assets, or fresh loans.<br/>
Mexican airline Interjet said Sunday it will increase the number of routes and frequency of its domestic flights starting in September, including boosting travel options to the country’s northern states and popular tourist destinations. 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. In July, Interjet received a $150m capital injection to help it through a major restructuring in a bid to offset the crisis in the airline sector as the coronavirus pandemic choked global travel.<br/>
South African carrier Comair’s rescue practitioners have received a binding offer from the preferred investors for the company. As a result, the practitioners are seeking creditors’ consent for a further extension to the deadline to publish the business rescue plan for the operator. Comair, which operates as a BA franchise, has been immersed in the rescue process since May and its business plan had been due for publication on 28 August. But the company is looking to extend this deadline by a few days to 2 September. Its practitioners state that they have received a “final binding offer” and the terms of this offer must be incorporated into the plan. None of the potential investors has been identified.<br/>
Surf Air Mobility Corp., a membership-based private plane operator, has secured a $200m funding commitment from Global Emerging Markets Group for when it goes public. The Los Angeles-based company plans to go public in coming months through either a merger with a special purpose acquisition company or a direct listing, CEO Sudhin Shahani said Thursday. An IPO is also on the table, he said. A SPAC, also known as a blank-check company, raises capital from outside investors in an IPO and then often raises more money in a private placement when a target company is acquired. Surf Air’s deal with GEM is unusual because the SPAC would typically take the lead role in raising any additional funds. Surf Air might benefit from a decision Wednesday by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that will make direct listings more attractive. Companies going public on the New York Stock Exchange will be able for the first time to raise capital in what’s being called a primary floor direct listing. Surf Air can tap the first $50m of the commitment from Global Emerging Markets Group on the first day its stock begins trading publicly, Shahani said. The investment from the Luxembourg-based firm can be drawn over three years after the debut, he said. The company offers scheduled flights on its fleet of turboprop aircraft among cities in California and Texas, as well as Las Vegas and Phoenix.<br/>
AirAsia’s founder Tony Fernandes is building what he hopes will be the region’s next "super app" as he deals with the coronavirus travel downturn. He wants to rival the likes of Grab, GoJek and WeChat with an all-in-one mobile platform for food delivery, banking, shopping, payments and travel. As the airline’s boss, he has been looking at new ways to generate income while his planes are grounded. AirAsia has struggled during the pandemic and cut 30% of its staff. Fernandes said he has spent his time during the travel slump improving the AirAsia app. "The downturn was a blessing in disguise as it allowed us to focus more on it. Running an airline takes up a lot of our time but we have been given the opportunity and time to focus on our digital business." Story has more.<br/>
Emirates airline will resume passenger services to Lusaka, Zambia with two weekly flights to and from Dubai starting from September 4. This boosts the airline’s global network to 79 cities, with 9 destinations in Africa. The flights, which will be operated with a Boeing 777-300ER, will fly to the Zambian capital on Fridays and Sundays. Emirates’ flight EK 713 will depart from Dubai at 0820hrs, arriving in Lusaka at 1330hrs. The return flight, EK 714 departs Lusaka at 1530hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0025hrs the next day. The restart of services to Lusaka will offer Emirates customers in Zambia the opportunity to travel to Dubai, as well as an array of onward connections to Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and the Americas through the airline’s Dubai hub, the airline said.<br/>