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Three global airline alliances are urging governments to put into practice common guidelines for passenger testing and digital health pass technology, to help people start flying again. Oneworld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam said testing could be part of an overall approach to restart international travel, by reducing reliance on the “blunt instrument” of quarantines aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus. New testing guidelines from the UN’s International Civil Aviation Authority could “pave the way for a framework of trust to be established between countries,” Star Alliance CEO Jeffrey Goh said in the joint statement on the oneworld.com website. Oneworld CEO Rob Gurney and SkyTeam CEO Kristin Colvile joined in the statement. The alliances — representing 58 member airlines — cited recent tests of the CommonPass digital health pass, which uses a smartphone app to securely verify that passengers have complied with health requirements, whether these be a test or a future vaccine. Airlines and their industry group, the IATA, have urged the use of commonly agreed testing procedures instead of quarantines. So far there have been different approaches to, and experiments with, testing requirements, with quarantines and travel restrictions remaining in use — and international air travel down 92% on pre-COVID-19 levels.<br/>

Asiana Airlines' main creditor said Friday it was considering a deal for the debt-ridden carrier to be sold to the parent company of rival Korean Air Lines. Shares in Asiana, which is saddled with some $11.5b in debt and saw talks to another group collapse in September due to the coronavirus pandemic, surged more than 10% on the news, valuing it at just under $900m. Hanjin Group, the owner of South Korea’s top airline Korean Air, has been in talks with main creditor Korea Development Bank (KDB) and will submit a letter of intent to the bank as early as next week, the Korea Economic Daily reported. KDB said a purchase by Hanjin Group was one option under consideration but did not say what the other options were. Asiana declined to comment while Hanjin Group said nothing has been decided. “The sale itself is a good news for Asiana Airlines ... Korean Air will likely benefit from the country’s No. 2 full service carrier dropping out of competition, while the integration may bring positive outcomes for South Korea’s aviation industry,” said Lee Han-joon, an analyst at KTB Investment & Securities. Lee said Asiana might need to find other buyers for two budget carriers, Air Busan and Air Seoul, as Korean Air has its own budget affiliate Jin Air.<br/>

Avianca Holdings said Thursday it has won the support of a large number of institutional investors and existing lenders, meaning it will no longer need the Colombian government’s participation as part of its restructuring process. Avianca, Latin America’s second-largest airline, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York in May. A US bankruptcy court approved a proposed financing plan of over $2b to help the carrier exit Chapter 11 restructuring in October. The airline was expecting $370m in credit from the Colombian government. The move was suspended following a judicial ruling, which Avianca initially looked to appeal. “Avianca has the financial flexibility at this stage to support its operations and continue its restructuring without participation of the Colombian government,” the company said. The decision by Colombia’s government to offer the loan to the airline provoked fierce criticism from opposition politicians and unions.<br/>

Panama’s Copa Airlines said Thursday that it would resume flights to Venezuela on Nov. 24 following an eight-month suspension because of measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Copa Airlines will initially operate three flights a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from Panama to Caracas but is waiting to receive authorization for other destinations, it said.<br/>

Singapore Airlines plans to raise as much as S$850m via the sale of convertible bonds as it seeks to increase liquidity amid a pandemic that’s wiped out travel demand. The funds will be used for operating cash flow, to service debt and for capital expenditure, Singapore’s flagship carrier said in an exchange filing Thursday. The pricing of the convertible notes is expected shortly. Singapore Airlines said Monday that it planned to raise additional liquidity in the debt capital markets and through a sales and lease-back deal after reporting its biggest quarterly net loss. The airline has already raised S$11.3b through a rights offering and loans, and is cutting 20% of its workforce. <br/>

THAI is walking on the edge of financial solvency, as its Q3 results exposed cash reserves shrinking rapidly amid the spread of the coronavirus. The national flag carrier of Thailand's net loss for the quarter ending September was at 21.5b baht ($709m). The loss widened 4.6 times from 4.6b baht in the same period last year. In the nine months through September, it recorded a net loss of 49.5b baht. "The COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect the world's aviation industry," said acting president Chansin Treenuchagron. "In the third quarter of 2020, there were slight signs of recovery from domestic travel. However, the figures presented a much lower number than normal levels." Operating revenues decreased by 92% year-on-year to 3.7b baht in the period. Reducing operating expenses by 60% did not make up for the lower revenue. The deterioration of Thai's financial condition became clearer with the third quarter financial results. Total shareholder equity was at minus 39.9b baht as of September. Shareholder equity had been wiped out in the quarter ending June and had fallen to minus 28b baht. The airline's ratio of shareholder equity to total assets was down to minus 13.4%. The ratio is an indicator of how financially stable the company may be in the long run. It also shows how much shareholders might receive if the company goes bust. <br/>

Air New Zealand’s planes are estimated to be worth $574m less than what they were before the coronavirus pandemic, aviation analysts say. Forsyth Barr analysts Andy Bowley and Scott Anderson recently analysed the book value decline of Air NZ’s planes based on their understanding of its fleet mix and estimated pre-Covid-19 value. In their most recent research note Bowley and Anderson said on average Air NZ’s planes are estimated to be worth 11% less than before the crisis, using estimates by international aviation analytics company Cirium. Prior to the pandemic the fleet was estimated to be worth about $5.3b, it said. Due to coronavirus-related border restrictions and a massive fall in passenger demand, airlines around the world have been grounding and retiring aircraft and putting large numbers into storage. Air NZ’s 777 fleets have gradually been sent to overseas desert storage and it is unclear if they will return to these shores. The grounding of its Boeing 777-200ER fleet alone resulted in a $338m aircraft impairment charge, the airline said in August.<br/>