Dubai’s government has put 7.3b dirhams ($2b) into Emirates since the coronavirus pandemic brought global air travel to a near halt in March and said it’s prepared to send more help to its flagship airline. The state indicated earlier in the year it was committed to providing financial support to the world’s largest long-haul carrier, and a bond prospectus seen by Bloomberg shows the extent of the aid provided over the past five months. “Any further support will be subject to the airline’s requirements and will depend on the impact and duration of the ongoing Covid-19 situation,” according to the document. Emirates was particularly hard hit by the pandemic because its business model is built around the biggest category of jets carrying passengers between all corners of the globe. Long-haul travel is widely expected by the industry to be the slowest to recover from the crisis as passengers shy away from lengthy journeys and virus hotspots. Emirates resumed some regular passenger flights on May 21 after suspending most trips for almost two months. The airline expects to increase its network to 80 destinations in September, COO Adel Al Redha said earlier this month, with service to all destinations by 2021.<br/>
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On board a packed airliner taking US and Israeli delegates to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, passengers were welcomed in Arabic as well as English and Hebrew, a gesture marking the historic first Israeli direct flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi. The El Al Boeing 737 made aviation history by cutting straight over Saudi territory en route to the UAE capital, where Israeli and Emirati officials will hold US-brokered normalisation talks on Monday. “Wishing us all salaam, peace and shalom, have a safe flight,” the pilot, Captain Tal Becker, said on the intercom, in Arabic, English and Hebrew, using all three languages to also announce the flight number and destination. Passengers received swag bags filled with coronavirus protection gear — disinfectant gel and wipes — and some donned face masks emblazoned with the Israeli and Emirati flags. A spokesman for El Al said the plane was equipped with a C-Music anti-missile system on its rear carriage — standard for the 737s in the carrier’s fleet.<br/>
Aer Lingus may shift transatlantic services from Shannon to the UK as it continues to grapple with Government Covid-19 travel restrictions. The Irish airline has two Airbus A321 long-range craft based at Shannon, normally used to fly from there to Boston, New York and London Heathrow, but which have been grounded since March. It emerged at the weekend that Edinburgh and Manchester are among six UK regional airports now bidding have to these craft based with them to provide flights to the US. Both are understood to have expressed interest a deal to take the craft some weeks ago, although neither yet has an agreement with the Irish carrier. Four other UK airports are in the running. While local sources have not named them, they are all said to be regional gateways. Any service is likely to begin in 2021 and run for an initial three years. Aer Lingus pilots and crew would staff the flights.<br/>
Emirates and flydubai have announced that customers of both airlines can once again access a wider range of travel options around the world, connecting seamlessly and safely through Dubai. Following the resumption of passenger flights to global destinations, the two Dubai-based airlines have revived their strategic partnership to offer customers increased connectivity, convenience and travel flexibility. Emirates customers can now travel on codeshare flights to over 30 destinations on flydubai, while flydubai customers have over 70 destinations they can travel to on Emirates. <br/>