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South Africa’s government is in talks with two state agencies to try and secure the 10.5b rand ($650m) needed to restart its insolvent national airline, people familiar with the situation said. Money is being sought from the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Public Investment Corp., which oversees more than 2.1t rand of mainly state pension funds, the people said, asking not to be identified because an agreement has yet to be reached. The two firms didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The administrators of SAA said the government had again promised to find the funding that will be used to pay severance packages, among other things. “The timelines are critical for the decision on whether SAA is liquidated, wound up as a going concern or is able to continue to trade,” Louise Brugman, the administrators’ spokeswoman, said by phone from Johannesburg on Friday. “The 2020 budget said that the money for restructuring costs will be found through a reprioritization process,” Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who has been championing efforts to save SAA, said in a text message. “That will be sorted out next week.” While the DBSA, which has previously funded SAA, may provide more money, the PIC is resisting efforts to tap it for cash, citing its already significant exposure to struggling state entities, one of the people said. Ethiopian Airlines Group is in talks with SAA over providing assistance, people familiar with the situation have said previously. The Addis Ababa-based carrier is seeking control, possibly in the form of a management contract, and that may be a sticking point, the people said.<br/>

South Africa’s government is insisting that flag-carrier South African Airways will not be liquidated, and that it will detail measures relating to funding the airline in upcoming legislation. Its department of public enterprises gave the reassurance as creditors met to discuss the airline’s future, after its rescue practitioners warned that critical funding had not been delivered. The department says there are 20 unsolicited expressions of interest under evaluation from potential investors in a restructured SAA. It adds that the government will “reprioritise” funds to finalise this restructuring and implement the rescue plan developed for the airline. This measure will be part of upcoming legislation, the Adjustments Appropriation Bill, which will be put before parliament. “The national carrier will not be liquidated,” says the department. It had pleaded for “patience” after the creditors’ meeting was called, insisting that efforts to locate funding sources were continuing, adding that it remained “sympathetic and deeply mindful” of SAA employees’ situation.<br/>

Singapore Airlines pilots have agreed to further pay cuts to remain in employment, the carrier said Saturday. The city-state’s flag carrier and the Air Line Pilots Association - Singapore reached the agreement Friday and the company will implement the measures for all remaining pilots in Singapore Airlines and SilkAir with effect from Oct. 1. The deal will help to mitigate further job losses for pilots, it said. Under the agreement, salaries for re-employed captains and first officers will be cut by 60% and 50% respectively, the Straits Times reported, citing an internal circular. This includes a 10% reduction to the monthly variable component of their pay, the newspaper said. Currently employed captains will have pay reduced by as much as 28.5%, while first officers’ salaries will be cut by up to 18.5%, the newspaper said. The agreement holds until March 31, 2022, according to the Straits Times. <br/>

Hong Kong has temporarily barred Cathay Dragon’s Kuala Lumpur service and Air India from flying passengers to the financial hub after a number of passengers originating from India tested positive for Covid-19. For Air India, the ban was its second in little more than a month after its most recent flight on September 18 carried six passengers with Covid-19. On the same day, Cathay Dragon carried five passengers that had the virus, who had transited through Kuala Lumpur. Under emergency health regulations tightened on September 15, any airline that carries five Covid-19 passengers or more, or two consecutive flights with three or more diagnosed passengers, faces being banned from Hong Kong. Both airlines are barred from operating their respective services until October 3. The move means ­repatriation flights operated by Air ­India are grounded, and a Cathay Dragon transit route – Kuala Lumpur – is being shut for ­thousands of Indian citizens desperately seeking to return to Hong Kong after being stranded abroad for several months. A spokeswoman for Cathay Dragon said it was notified on Saturday night by health authorities in Hong Kong that five passengers on flight KA734 from Kuala Lumpur last Friday had the virus. “As a result of the Civil Aviation Department directive, we will suspend our passenger services between Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong until October 3,” the airline said. The five Cathay passengers flew to Malaysia on an Air India Express service before connecting to Cathay Dragon. Authorities in Hong Kong, according to Cathay, said the affected passengers’ documents complied with strict health rules. As well as sending the affected aircraft for deep cleaning, the airline said it was trying to trace people who were in close contact with the passengers on board.<br/>

A union of THAI workers is urging the company's board to incorporate its opinions in the upcoming rehabilitation plan because workers' cooperation will be critical for the carrier to recover. "We plan to create a proposal to make sure workers' rights and benefits remain protected through the rehabilitation," said Sorayuth Homsukhon, chairman of the Thai Airways International Workers' Union (TGWU). "Rehabilitation planners will not succeed, if they do not take employees at the operational level into account, or if they don't take reasonable care of their employees," wrote Yossayong Homasawin, vice chairman of the union. On Monday, the Central Bankruptcy Court gave a verdict that allows Thai Airways to enter court-supervised rehabilitation after years of money-losing management and operations forced it to abandon self-resuscitation. The court also endorsed a list of rehabilitation planners proposed by the airline, including the current board members and the consultancy EY Corporate Advisory Services. "We will be in negotiations with creditors this quarter, and a plan will be ready by the first quarter of next year," said the airline's acting president, Chansin Treenuchagron, after receiving the court decision. "The union should be involved in making the plan, given that the rehabilitation could not be accomplished by the management team alone. It needs cooperation and willingness from all the employees," wrote Yossayong. The TGWU, officially established on Aug. 4, is one of Thai Airways' four current unions. Story has more.<br/>

Nigeria is adding Emirates Airline to the list of carriers not allowed to fly into the West African country, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said. Nigerian officials held talks with European Union officials over the ban on flights by Lufthansa, Air France and KLM, the minister said on Twitter. “The meeting progressed well,” he said. Africa’s most populous country of more 200 million people barred a number of airlines as it resumed international flights on Sept. 5 following a prolonged lockdown to curb spread of the coronavirus, saying it was in retaliation for similar restrictions. Emirates can’t fly to Nigeria with effect from Sept. 21, said Sirika.<br/>

Air NZ CE Greg Foran says quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand is unlikely to resume for at least another six months, bursting hopes of a proposed "trans-Tasman bubble" opening before March next year. The airline boss also says eliminating Covid-19 was no longer a realistic goal, and that countries need to learn to live with the virus. The 59-year-old former Woolworths and Walmart executive started at Air New Zealand on February 3 this year. "I never got to experience Air New Zealand in anything but a crisis," says Foran. Air NZ has been hit especially hard because it makes two-thirds of its earnings from international flying, which will remain shut off long after domestic travel has returned. That compares to one-third at Qantas. The big question for all airlines is when they can start flying again, where to and who will want to step on board. A month ago Foran said it would take at least until 2023 for demand to recover to pre-Covid levels but now says the outlook is less certain. That's because while vaccines will likely start to roll out from the end of this year, they will not be 100 per cent effective - perhaps only 50% he says - while distributing them around the globe will take years. Even then, not everyone will get the jab. "In America... they’ve recently done a survey over there and only half the people said they’ll take the vaccine," he says. "And then of course we have reinfection rates." Australia and New Zealand's governments had both hoped to have a "trans-Tasman bubble" allowing unrestricted travel between the two countries operating by September, before second waves of infections hit Auckland and Melbourne. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison raised the idea again at Friday's national cabinet meeting but Foran says it won't be happening any time soon.<br/>