The airline industry is never going to get back to the way it was before coronavirus, warned the former chief executive of BA-owner IAG, adding it will be smaller but more efficient in the future. “It’s never going to get back to the way it was,” said Willie Walsh, who retired as IAG CEO earlier this month. Looking five years ahead, Walsh forecast it would be a smaller industry and there would be fewer players. Most of the consolidation would initially come through failures, he said, as he also predicted COVID-19 would make airlines more resilient. “Most airlines are restructuring in a very positive way: they’re going to be more efficient and the cost base will be more variable, they’ll be able to respond to crises going forward,” he said. Looking at the next few months though, he said it would be “very, very tough”. Flight data shows that a hoped-for recovery in air travel in Europe has gone into reverse. Eurocontrol, Europe’s organisation for the safety of air navigation, said that European airlines such as BA and Ryanair had shown traffic declines of 4% over the last two weeks. But striking a positive note, Walsh said that airlines should take comfort from the fact that there was still demand for travel. “People are comfortable getting on-board. What they’re uncomfortable about is the uncertainty as to whether they’re going to have to quarantine when they get to their destination or when they return from their destination. That’s really what’s undermining customer confidence,” he said.<br/>
oneworld
Rugby Australia’s brittle finances suffered a major blow on Wednesday when naming sponsor Qantas announced they would be ending their 30-year association with the game at the end of this year. The Australian airline has been seeking significant cost savings across the board as it battles with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and said it had reviewed all of its sports sponsorships. Qantas, who local media reports suggest have been spending up to A$20 million a year on sports sponsorships, said they would continue to support Cricket Australia and Football Federation Australia for another year on a non-cash basis only. “While we’re dealing with this crisis and its aftermath, the cash cost of our sponsorships has to be zero,” Qantas Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Tully said. “Qantas has had a very long association with Rugby Australia and the Wallabies, and we’ve stuck with each other during difficult times. Unfortunately, this pandemic has been the undoing.” Qantas had held the naming rights for the Wallabies since 2004, except during World Cup tournaments where regulations forbid such sponsorships. An industry source familiar with the deal said it was valued at as much as A$5m ($3.57m) a year, including in-kind contributions such as flights.<br/>