Troubled Mexican airline Interjet resumed flights Wednesday and pledged to pay back wages owed its employees, after the carrier suspended flights for three days, citing cash flow and maintenance issues. Interjet has said it has suffered because of a drop-off in revenues due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company pledged to pay back wages “as soon as possible.” The government consumer protection agency issued an alert Tuesday warning about “the risk of establishing commercial relationships” with the airline, noting “repeated failure to comply” with its responsibilities. The agency said the carrier “for the last several months has faced various problems in operating its business.” The agency said Interjet had been plagued by “the suspension of various international routes, failures to pay employees, the suspension of its license to operate international air service to Canada and tax liens on its bank accounts, assets and brands.” The company pledged to bring its tax payments up to date “by the end of the year.” The agency said it had registered 1,542 complaints so far this year on Interjet, mainly regarding flight cancellations. In April, the agency cited Interjet for not having enough planes to meet its obligations.<br/>
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Brazilian airline Gol lost R1.7b ($301m) in Q3 but sees signs of industry improvement, as leisure passengers return to air travel. Revenue during the period fell 74%, to R875m, executives say during the company’s earnings call on 4 November. But Q3 revenue was more than double Gol’s revenue in the second quarter, a period when airlines drew down schedules in response to suddenly declining travel demand. The low-cost carrier transported 2.6m passengers during the quarter that ended on 30 September, a 73% drop from the same period in 2019, but three times as many as in Q2. “These promising third-quarter results reflect the return of passengers to the skies in Brazil and our confidence in Gol’s competitive advantages,” says chief executive Paulo Kakinoff on 4 November. “The number of customers flying with us tripled in Q3 compared to the previous quarter, which is a remarkable rebound given the challenging market environment.” In July, CFO Richard Lark said the airline was looking at the third quarter as a “bridge to a new normal”. Now, it seems Gol is finding that normal, at least with leisure travellers. “If we look at the [leisure] segment only, we have recovered 100% of pre-Covid demand,” Kakinoff says. “What is missing is the business travellers.”<br/>
As another four-week stretch of lockdown begins in England, Britain's biggest budget airline has grounded hundreds of flights rather than operating near-empty aircraft. The easyJet cancellations include the longest flight on its network, from Sharm El Sheikh to Manchester. But the airline’s email to holidaymakers in the Egyptian resort failed to make clear their entitlement to be routed home on other airlines. The email talks of “the three options that are available to you”. The first is: “Switch to another flight for free. You can change onto any easyJet flight yourself via Manage Bookings.” The second is to accept an easyJet voucher, and the third to get a cash refund. Matthew Buffey, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority said: “Passengers who have seen their flights cancelled should be offered the choice of reimbursement for cancelled flights, alternate travel arrangements under comparable conditions at the earliest opportunity which includes flights on other airlines, or a new flight at a later date at the passenger's convenience. We also expect airlines to proactively provide passengers with information about their rights when flights are cancelled.” An easyJet spokesperson said: “We are operating our planned schedule up to and including Thursday 5 November and as advised in the email between then and Sunday 8 November we will continue to operate some flights to ensure all customers who need to return to the UK can do so.<br/>
Dubai’s Emirates airline is asking some pilots to take a year of unpaid leave as it seeks to cut costs due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The aviation industry is enduring its worst crisis after the pandemic crippled most flights, forcing airlines around the world to layoff employees. “We can confirm that we’ve offered some of our pilots unpaid leave for 12 months, with the possibility of an early recall back to duty depending on how quickly demand rebounds and our operational requirements,” an Emirates spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Most Emirates’ employees are foreigners, meaning they are not eligible for government benefits in the United Arab Emirates where the airline is headquartered and operates from. Emirates would continue to provide accommodation, medical cover and other allowances to those on unpaid leave, the spokeswoman said.<br/>
Malindo Air has launched a retrenchment exercise ranging from termination to a year’s unpaid leave for 2,647 employees, the human resources ministry said on Wednesday, as the coronavirus pandemic batters the aviation industry. Reeling from a slump in demand in the wake of travel curbs, the Malaysian arm of Indonesia’s Lion Air had already ordered a 50% pay cut and unpaid leave for staff in March. “The ministry... has conducted discussions with Malindo Air’s management on Nov. 3 to ensure the rights of the affected workers are protected and appropriate assistance is given,” said Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan. The plan unveiled on Sunday gave 439 employees notice of a year’s unpaid leave, with the possibility of being hired again when the economy recovers, he added. A voluntary separation scheme was rolled out for 347 more, while the rest received termination notices, along with the payment of minimum compensation under employment law. Affected workers will get additional unemployment benefits and are eligible for government training and job hiring programmes, Saravanan added.<br/>
Stobart Group has entered a tender to secure a long-term flying agreement with Aer Lingus beyond 2022 as part of its effort to dispose of regional carrier Stobart Air before the end of March 2021. The group bought back regional carrier Stobart Air and lessor Propius earlier in 2020 from the administrators of Connect Airways, just a year after the units had been acquired by the consortium – in which Stobart held a 30% stake. The move was aimed at mitigating its financial exposure – which dates back to 2017 – and Stobart subsequently began looking at the potential disposal of the regional carrier. In September it confirmed it was in “early stage” discussions with a number of parties including Falko Regional Aircraft over the possible sale of Stobart Air and Propius. The Irish Independent recently reported these talks had stalled, partly because Aer Lingus had put the contract for the regional service out to tender. Regional specialist Stobart Air has operated franchise flights for Aer Lingus since 2010 and has a contract until the end of 2022. In releasing its interim results Wednesday, Stobart highlights that continued quarantine restrictions in Ireland and the related hit on travel demand means most of Stobart Air’s fleet is grounded. This has placed significant cash strain on the business because of ongoing aircraft lease agreements. The total cash burn for Stobart Air and Propius since acquisition is around GBP14.7m, it says.<br/>
Dubai’s budget carrier flydubai said Wednesday that it would start flying twice daily to Tel Aviv later this month, becoming the first Emirati airline to announce regular service after a US-brokered deal to normalise relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Direct flights on flydubai between Dubai and Tel Aviv, two of the region’s financial hubs, will begin Nov 26, the carrier said, the result of a bilateral transport pact signed last month. The carrier said the 14 weekly flights would significantly boost commercial ties between the countries and open up a crucial new hub for Israelis traveling to the Far East and Africa, shaving several hours off journey times. “The start of scheduled flights will contribute to economic development and create further opportunities for investment in pursuit of our shared interests and values,” said Ghaith Al Gaith, CEO of flydubai. <br/>
Oman’s Civil Aviation Authority has given permission to Air Arabia Abu Dhabi to operate bi-weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Muscat, starting from November 16. This will add to the list of destinations that Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, the newly formed venture between Etihad and Air Arabia, can fly to. Last month, the budget carrier announced the introduction of a new service to Nepal’s capital city Kathmandu with direct flights from Abu Dhabi. Before that, the airline launched flight services to Dhaka and Chattogram in Bangladesh.<br/>
Nok Airlines obtained court approval to proceed with a debt rehabilitation plan as it weathers a slump in passenger demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. The nation’s Central Bankruptcy Court said Nok Air should submit its plan by Q1 next year, the company said in an exchange filing Wednesday. Nok Air’s liabilities were 34.8b baht at the end of June and it had negative shareholders’ equity of 5.9b baht, according to an August exchange filing. Current assets only accounted for about 28% of total assets. The low-cost carrier is based out of Bangkok and flies various short-haul routes to China, Vietnam and other parts of Thailand. It had initially lodged an application with the Central Bankruptcy Court back in July.<br/>
StarLux Airlines said Tuesday that it is ready to begin operating flights from Taiwan to Tokyo and Osaka next month. CEO Glenn Chai said that the airline will offer two round-trip flights each week from Taoyuan International Airport, which serves Taipei, to Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture and to Kansai Airport in Osaka Prefecture. It will also begin operating twice-weekly services to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport from next month, he said. Chai said the timing is right as Japan has gradually opened its borders and restarted short-term business travel. “We hope to fill more seats if Japan further loosens its travel restrictions next month,” he added. Founded in May 2018, the carrier began operations on Jan. 23 this year, offering daily flights from Taiwan to Macao, Penang in Malaysia, and Danang in Vietnam. The original plan of Taiwan’s seventh airline was to fly routes in Southeast and Northeast Asia and gradually expand its trans-oceanic routes to North America. However, it canceled most of its flights in February, suspended operations completely in March and stopped hiring new employees as the COVID-19 pandemic spread.<br/>
After President Donald Trump falsely claimed an election victory early Wednesday while votes are still being counted, Ryanair joked about the claim, likening it to travelers exiting a still-airborne plane – in other words, not a good idea. "Trump declaring victory this early is like disembarking before the plane has landed," the airline tweeted Wednesday, adding: "we don't recommend." The election jokes didn't stop there: Ryanair also referred to rapper and independent candidate Kanye West as "the type of President that would clap every time Air Force One lands." The European airline is one of many in the travel industry that have struggled amid the coronavirus pandemic. It has resumed some flights, though the UK announced beginning Thursday it will ban nonessential travel in a second COVID-19 shutdown. <br/>