British airline EasyJet will publish its full-year results on Nov. 17, said a spokesman, after the company had previously said the date was not confirmed. The airline warned in October that it would make an annual loss of as much as GBP845m for the 12 months ended in September. It had said in October it would publish results on Nov. 17, before saying on Nov.2 that the date was not confirmed. Any delay would have added to investor uncertainty, as new lockdowns across Europe deepen the crisis for airlines.<br/>
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The Treasury Department has lent $45m to an airline backed by both e-commerce giant Amazon and Apollo Global Management, a massive private equity firm that has benefited from at least one other government bailout earlier this year. The airline, Sun Country, had planned to go public this year as a way to raise large amounts of money, but those plans were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The loan, which is part of the emergency airline aid package approved in March, allows Sun Country to receive federal assistance without having to tap big backers such as Amazon and Apollo for the additional help. The airline applied for the funding through the normal Treasury process and put up its loyalty rewards program as collateral, according to Treasury. Such rewards programs generate significant cash for airlines through commissions they receive from banks when members use affiliated credit cards, said John Grant, a senior analyst with OAG. “In the wake of this unprecedented crisis, our management team has explored every possible avenue to conserve, hold, and access cash in order to ensure a sustainable business for our nearly 1,600 employees and their families while we wait for travel demand and revenue to return,” the company said. Sun Country applied for the loan in April, and it was approved in late October. The new government aid will help the company maintain cash reserves during a prolonged period of decreased demand for air travel. Funds affiliated with Apollo purchased the airline in 2017. Amazon, which reported its biggest profit ever during the pandemic, acquired a partial stake in Sun Country in 2019. “Sun Country went through the same vetting process as all other US airlines to determine our qualification for the loan and the size of the loan,” the company said. “Sun Country received less than 10% of its 2019 revenue, the smallest allocation in relation to its revenue among top airlines.”<br/>
Norwegian Air wanted to bring a low-cost business model to transatlantic flights. It's quickly running out of runway. The coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions have forced Norwegian Air to ground the vast majority of its fleet, and furlough almost all of its workers. The heavily indebted carrier's stock has collapsed, and its cash reserves are nearly exhausted. "Norwegian is dependent on additional working capital in order to continue operating through the first quarter of 2021 and beyond," the airline said Tuesday as it reported its latest financial results. One potential rescuer has already turned its back on the airline that once had ambitions to repeat Ryanair's short-haul success on longer routes. Norwegian Air said on Monday that the Norwegian government has ruled out providing it with more financial assistance, leaving the carrier in what it described as a "challenging situation." CEO Jacob Schram said that the decision "is very disappointing and feels like a slap in the face." Airlines around the world are getting significant financial support from their respective governments, he said, and Norwegian Air should receive the same because of its contribution to Norway's economy. "How anyone could come to a different conclusion is impossible to understand," said Schram. Norwegian Air was founded in 1993 but began a rapid expansion nearly a decade ago, seeking to apply the business model pioneered by Ryanair in Europe and Southwest in the United States to transatlantic flights. In 2012, it placed an order for 222 aircraft, the biggest in European aviation history. But the aggressive strategy left it with huge debts, and little room to maneuver when things went wrong. Tuesday's earnings statement shows that Norwegian Air is in significant distress. The carrier operated just 25 of its 140 planes during Q3, and passenger numbers dropped to 1m from 10.5m during the same period last year.<br/>
Ryanair expects air passenger numbers to bounce back to near normal levels by next summer, defying industry predictions that it could take years for growth to return after the pandemic. The airline’s CE, Michael O’Leary, said passenger volumes should reach 75-80% of pre-Covid levels in 2021, especially if a vaccine was developed by the spring. While he admitted winter was a “write-off”, he claimed Ryanair was poised “at the dawn of an extraordinary era of growth” with a fleet of new planes arriving, and was emerging from the pandemic with a strong balance sheet, in a position to offer low fares to stimulate travel. O’Leary said he was optimistic that Covid vaccines would be rolled out before the peak summer season in 2021. “There’s going to be an enormous snapback on travel demand … Mrs O’Leary is very keen to go back to the Algarve and I suspect she’d be there in 2.5 nanoseconds after the coronavirus restrictions are lifted. I think she’s reflective of the overwhelming majority of Europe’s population, and they will go back,” O’Leary said. “We’re going to see a surge of that intra-European tourism next year, and we need to be there to provide the capacity at low prices.” Ryanair has cut capacity for winter, but not yet as drastically as its rival easyJet. O’Leary added: “I’ve heard a lot of rubbish coming from legacy airlines that it’ll be 2035 till the volumes come back. Rubbish. Volumes will go back in 2021 or 2022 pretty quickly – they will go back because Ryanair will discount prices, hotels will discount.”<br/>
Middle East budget carrier Air Arabia Tuesday reported a Q3 loss and said it was in a strong position to weather the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The United Arab Emirates-listed airline lost 44.1m dirham ($12m) in the July - September period, compared with a 471.3m dirham profit in the same period last year. Passenger traffic fell 80% in the quarter to 665,456, while revenue fell by 80% to 294m dirhams. Air Arabia resumed a limited number of scheduled flights in the quarter after mostly operating repatriation, charter, and cargo in Q2 due to the pandemic.<br/>
Israeli carrier Arkia has revealed it is bidding to take over leisure operator Israir, one of multiple parties to have declared formal interest in acquiring the carrier. Israir is being auctioned as part of a restructuring of troubled parent company IDB Development. Arkia says it would pursue Israir “by way of a merger” adding that its offer represents a “historic opportunity” to achieve a combination in the Israeli aviation industry. It points out that the air transport sector is in “deep crisis” while Israeli operators have, in addition, had to face increasing competition from foreign carriers as a consequence of ‘open skies’ agreements. Arkia, which is controlled by the Nakash brothers, says there is a “unique one-time opportunity” to merge the airlines into a stronger platform, resulting in a “significant reduction” in management costs, improvements to the aircraft fleet, and “proper utilisation” of the two companies’ resources. Both Arkia and Israir are operators of Airbus A320-family jets, although each also uses regional types.<br/>
A passenger who flew on budget airline Jet2 last month has been fined GBP660 for allegedly threatening to urinate on and injure a member of the cabin crew who had asked him to wear a mask. The 57-year-old man pleaded guilty when he appeared in court in Manchester, UK on Monday. Christopher Tooth was flying with his 34-year-old son from Cyprus to Manchester on October 23 when the incident happened. It's reported that Tooth became abusive and aggressive towards a member of the cabin crew after his son was accused of eating one of the crew member's meals. Tooth's son was then reminded to wear a face mask, as required, for the duration of the flight. Prosecutors told the Manchester Magistrates Court that Tooth had first threatened to urinate on a crew member before leaving his seat and urinating on the door of the onboard toilet. Tooth allegedly threatened the cabin crew manager, telling them he'd "f**king drag you off this plane". Once the aircraft had landed, Tooth got out of his seat and attempted to use the bathroom again. Story has details.<br/>