Hawaiian Airlines, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, eliminated change fees on its flights from September 3. With this move, the carrier joins the club of Delta, American Airlines and United. The action is aimed at attracting passengers on flights as the ongoing pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the airline’s top line due to lackluster passenger revenues stemming from feeble air-travel demand. The cancellation of change fees implies that passengers can reschedule domestic and international flights without incurring additional cost. Specifically, this facility is enjoyed by passengers who bought tickets or redeemed HawaiianMiles for travel in the Main Cabin, Extra Comfort or First/Premium Cabin Class seats. Additionally, passengers travelling in the carrier’s lowest fare class — Main Cabin Basic — are able to alter flights without bearing any cost through Dec 31, 2020 per the airline’s COVID waiver scheme. The carrier introduced a host of safety measures for passengers on board. These include filling out a health acknowledgment form indicating that the respective flyer does not have any COVID-19 symptoms and will wear a mask during the flight. <br/>
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Ryanair Holdings is readying its first euro-bond sale since 2017, testing investor appetite for high-grade airline debt amid coronavirus travel upheavals. Europe’s biggest discount carrier will speak to investors on Monday about a potential five-year bond of at least E500m, according to a person familiar with the matter. CFO Neil Sorahan will lead the call. The Irish carrier recently signalled plans for a bond sale as it seeks to pare debt-repayment risks over the next 12 months, as well as positioning itself to potentially profit from the shrinkage or failure of rivals due to virus travel disruptions. The airline, which sold E400m of new stock last week, has held onto investment-grade ratings during the virus turmoil in contrast to competitors. Ryanair has E2.45b of bonds outstanding, including an E850m note coming due in June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The carrier is rated BBB, two steps above junk, at both S&P and Fitch. Both assessors have flagged ratings risks.<br/>
AirAsia Group is looking to raise as much as 2.5b ringgit ($602m) by year-end, and is also reviewing its business in Japan as the airline seeks to weather the COVID-19 crisis, its CE said Monday. Group CEO Tony Fernandes said that the group, Malaysia's flagship budget airline, could raise up to 1.5b ringgit from bank loans and another 1b ringgit from investors. The investors it is talking to include private equity players, strategic partners and conglomerates, both local and foreign, he said. "It's progressing quite well and I see no reason why that won't be met. But I can't add too much more to that," he said. Fernandes also said the group was evaluating its operations in Japan, the smallest of its foreign offshoots, although its joint venture with Tata Sons in India remained "as is". "I think Japan is something we have to really think hard about. If we had tonnes of cash, then it's something we would probably continue. I think we will have decisions on Japan very soon," he said, declining to elaborate.<br/>
Emirates has returned over Dh5b to customers in COVID-19 related travel refunds, thus clearing 90% of its refund backlog. The Dubai airline continues to make "strong and steady progress on its commitment to complete pending refunds", the airline said. More than 1.4 million refund requests have been done since March, representing 90% of the airline's backlog, the company said. This includes all requests received from customers around the world up until the end of June, save for a few cases which require further manual review, it added. “We understand that from our customers' standpoint, each pending refund request is one too many," said Tim Clark, President of Emirates airline. "We are committed to honouring refunds and are trying our utmost to clear the massive and unprecedented backlog that was caused by the pandemic.”<br/>