unaligned

Ryanair has cut its annual passenger target to 50m, a reduction of 10m, as Europe’s biggest carrier expects the winter travel market to be a “write-off”. Ryanair’s previous forecast in July was that it would carry 60m passengers in the year to the end of March 2021. That was a 20m reduction on May’s forecast of 80m, with rising coronavirus case numbers and changing travel restrictions wreaking havoc on customer confidence. “We are guiding now for about 50m passengers for the full year to the end of March,” said CE Michael O’Leary. “I think the winter of 2020 will essentially be a write-off.” O’Leary expects to operate at about 5m passengers per month through the winter, with pricing set to be “aggressively down” to entice travellers. He said Ryanair was looking at closing more bases and withdrawing capacity from countries that do not have the coronavirus pandemic under control. On Tuesday, easyJet said it would cut flights after the UK government announced more quarantine measures. Just over a month after expanding its flight schedule to 1,000 flights a day after better than expected demand as travel restrictions were eased, the airline expects to fly slightly less than the 40% of planned capacity in the fourth quarter of the year. EasyJet’s flight schedule is likely to be reduced by 2%. “We know our customers are as frustrated as we are with unpredictable travel and quarantine restrictions,” said Johan Lundgren, the CE of easyJet.<br/>

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary lashed out at governments over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying an ineffective response to the crisis had added to the difficulties of struggling airlines. Leaders in the UK and Ireland are focused on the wrong data with the daily coronavirus case rate and should put more effort toward test-and-trace programs to get the economy moving, the outspoken airline chief said Tuesday. He also slammed British quarantine measures and the “chopping and changing of requirements” in London. “It’s largely political mismanagement,” O’Leary said. “The Germans and the Italians are much more effective.” Airline hopes for a summer rebound were dashed by rising virus cases and shifting restrictions, often brought about with little notice. It’s disrupted trips and dimmed the public’s appetite to go abroad. Ryanair and other carriers have pulled back on schedules and are resorting to more cost cuts and fundraising to get through the quieter winter season. “The government’s got to come up with some measures here to give the airlines and the airline industry a break this winter,” O’Leary said, repeating an industry call for lower UK passenger duties.<br/>

Virgin Australia Holdings said Wednesday it is returning a third of its fleet of Boeing Co 737 planes to lessors and financiers as part of a turnaround plan under new owner Bain Capital. It has renegotiated financing terms for 56 of the 85 737s it held before it entered voluntary administration in April, a Virgin spokeswoman said, with the others to exit its fleet. "Once demand returns, it remains our goal to grow our fleet to 75 Boeing 737 aircraft," the spokeswoman said. Creditors last week voted in favour of the purchase by US private equity group Bain, paving the way for a strategic overhaul of Australia's second-biggest airline. Under Bain's business plan, Virgin plans to cut a third of its workforce and ditch its widebody planes to focus on being a domestic and short-haul international 737 operator competing against Qantas.<br/>

Virgin Australia is set to cut flight routes across regional Australia as part of its rebuilding project. The company, newly owned by Bain Capital, will halt travel to destinations such as Uluru and Port Macquarie, as well as one flight to Nuku'alofa in Tonga. "With the changes to simplifying our fleet and ongoing subdued customer demand, we have been required to make some adjustments to our network," a Virgin Australia spokesperson said. "We have made the decision to withdraw services from (Uluru), Albury, Tamworth, Hervey Bay, Mildura and Cloncurry for the foreseeable future. We remain committed to regional Australia and plan to continue flying to 20 regional destinations across Australia. We will continue to review our network as travel restrictions ease and demand returns." The spokesperson said Virgin would contact people with existing bookings, but ticket-holders who had booked through a travel agent would need to contact them directly. <br/>

A Peach Aviation plane had to make an unscheduled landing midway through its flight after a male passenger refused to wear a face mask. Before the plane’s takeoff from Kushiro Airport in Hokkaido, northern Japan, at 12:30 p.m. Monday, staff members asked the man to wear a mask to prevent the potential spread of the novel coronavirus, sources familiar with the incident said Tuesday. But the passenger refused the request. He continued refusing to follow the request for wearing a mask after the departure. The passenger began shouting after flight attendants handed him a warning notice, prompting the plane to make an unplanned stop at Niigata Airport in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, the sources said. The passenger was removed from the flight at the airport to ensure safety, the sources said. The plane reached its intended destination, Kansai International Airport in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka, two hours and 15 minutes later than scheduled due to the incident.<br/>

A conflict between a WestJet flight crew and a family of four ended in the cancellation of a flight to Toronto earlier this week. It started when the family was asked to help their children, aged three and 19 months put on their masks. WestJet’s mask policy all people over the age of two must wear a mask on its flights. The father said they tried to comply, but his 19-month-old had never worn a mask and became agitated and vomited in it. He said that’s when crews called Calgary police to help take the family off the flight, which was eventually cancelled. Last month, WestJet announced a zero-tolerance policy on all its flights, meaning all guests are required to wear masks. Penalties for not complying could include a 12-month ban on all WestJet flights. “Masks are mandated by our regulator and the vast majority of our guests are happy to keep themselves and each other safe by complying,” said WestJet CEO Ed Sims.<br/>

Easyjet has apologised after one of its pilots insisted a man with chronic asthma wear a face covering on a plane. A man named Nick, who wanted to keep his last name anonymous, said he was "ambushed" into wearing a face mask despite showing crew members that he had a medical exemption card. Easyjet asks passengers to wear a face mask at the airport, at the gate when boarding the plane and throughout the duration of the flight. But Nick says he has serious breathing issues and the "sensation is stifling" when he wears anything around his face. "It's like a steel belt around my chest," he said. Nick filmed the moment a crew member rejected his exemption card on his journey from Jersey to Gatwick. Nick said his exemption card was accepted on his outbound flight in August but issues arose on the return flight. "The staff came to speak to me around six times," he said. "The 30-minute delay was seen as my fault and each visit whipped up more hostility among the passengers. Story has more. "We are sorry that this new policy was not recognised by the crew on this occasion and if [Nick] was unhappy with how this was handled onboard however we cannot tolerate disruptive behaviour towards our crew," the carrier said.<br/>

Wizz Air said it will delay the Oct. 1 launch of its new airline in Abu Dhabi if a ban on foreign visitors isn’t relaxed soon. The deadline for a go-decision is fast approaching, and it’s likely that flights will be pushed back by a few weeks because of the health-related restrictions, Wizz CEO Jozsef Varadi said. “We have one aircraft already there and another arriving in the next few days, but really we need Abu Dhabi to open up so that people can actually fly,” he said by phone from Budapest, where Wizz is based. Flights to Abu Dhabi are currently limited by the government to returning local residents, and then only if they’ve recently tested negative for Covid-19, with people also required to self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival. That’s stifling interest from the tourists who are expected to account for the bulk of demand at the new carrier, Varadi said. Wizz announced plans to expand its low-cost model to the Middle East in December. It teamed with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ to create the venture. Varadi confirmed launch destinations of Athens, Alexandria in Egypt, Larnaca on the island of Cyprus, Odessa in Ukraine, the Armenian capital Yerevan, and Kutaisi, Georgia. He said the plan remains to expand to six Airbus A321neo aircraft within six months once the venture is running.<br/>