Just days before the government is set to roll out mandatory pre-departure COVID-19 testing for travellers returning to Canada, the CEOs of the country's largest airlines are calling on Transport Minister Marc Garneau to delay the rollout until later this month. The heads of Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat and Sunwing — along with two major trade associations, the IATA and National Airlines Council of Canada — recently sent a letter to Garneau warning him that the federal government's timeline for implementing the testing protocol isn't feasible. The carriers are proposing that the new rules — due to take effect on Thursday — should instead kick in on January 18. "Minister, we have very serious concerns about the feasibility of successfully implementing such a significant measure in the extremely short time[frame] announced, without consultation or a coordinated plan," reads the letter to Garneau. The government announced the new testing regime last week, following multiple reports of individual Canadians — including political figures — travelling abroad for the holidays in defiance of government advisories against non-essential travel. Airlines say they weren't consulted about the new policy before it was announced. In their letter to Garneau, they argue the new rules create a "real risk that Canadians will now be stranded abroad" and say they've heard from thousands of Canadians alarmed by the possibility.<br/>
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Egypt has granted EgyptAir Holding a loan of 2b Egyptian pounds ($130m) to help the national flag carrier ride the devastating financial impact of the coronavirus disease pandemic on the sector. The Egyptian government will bear the financing of the loan until the airline can return to 80% of its pre-COVID-19 capacity. Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said the loan was part of the government’s wider support for the country’s beleaguered industrial sector. Maait pointed out that the funding for the airline was necessary in order for it to survive. “(Airlines) have incurred a total of $651b in debts,” the minister was reported as saying, adding that the sector may not fully recover from the impact of the global health crisis until 2024. Passenger airline traffic in the Middle East showed signs of improvement in October. Figures released by the IATA revealed that the number of people flying on regional airlines during the month was down 86.7% year-on-year compared to the same month in 2019, slightly better than the 89.3% drop in demand for September.<br/>
India’s government has hit another stumbling block in its years-in-the-making sale of flag carrier Air India. The timeline for the sale is now uncertain after the government decided against informing bidders today as to whether they had been shortlisted. It had previously stated that it would inform qualified interested bidders on 5 January. However, in an 11th corrigendum published on 30 December, it scrapped that plan and instead said that a transaction adviser would “directly intimate” to selected bidders “in relation to their qualification and the next steps for the proposed transaction”. It did not give a timeframe or deadline for when that would happen. The government said on 14 December, via the Twitter account of the secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, that it had received “multiple expressions of interest” in Air India, without giving details. <br/>
The grounds of a mega M&A merger between Korea’s two full-service carriers have been set after Korean Air Lines shareholders on Wednesday gave their blessing for the marriage by approving changes in the corporate mandate to acquire Asiana Airlines. Korean Air Lines announced Wednesday that 55.73 percent of its shareholders with voting rights attended the shareholders’ meeting in Seoul, of which 69.95% approved the article change to bump up maximum outstanding shares to 700m from 250m to raise capital and realign stakeholding status necessary to bring Asiana Airlines under one roof with state backing. The additions of 173.6m shares arriving by March would raise the flag carrier’s outstanding shares to 350m and fuel it with 2.5t won ($2.3b) ammunition to take over 60% in Asiana Airlines. The bulk of new issues goes to Hanjin KAL which has received funding from state lender Korea Development Bank. With stake issue resolved, Korean Air Lines would focus on winning antitrust reviews from host and overseas governments for the M&A.<br/>
HDC Hyundai Development Company, the former prospective buyer in a deal to acquire Asiana Airlines owned by Kumho Industrial, will become a new sticking point in Korean Air's planned acquisition of the air carrier, a National Assembly research report said Tuesday. The fresh claim raises issues over whether the Hyundai subsidiary's deal would have helped spur competition and should therefore be considered a viable alternative to the "mega deal" between the country's largest carrier Korean Air and its cash-strapped second-largest peer, a key point of contention for the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the country's antitrust agency, to factor in during an upcoming review. The report can become a major headache to Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull who reiterated that no risks would lay ahead during the remainder of the state lender-supervised deal. But his remark may become a major source of embarrassment in addition to his repeated failed attempts to carry the 2.5t won ($2.2b) deal given the 800 billion won in taxpayers' money spent in the form of the industry stabilization fund. Also at issue will be whether the FTC will recognize the possibility that the planned merger will solidify the standing of the two already powerful carriers given their combined slots at Incheon International Airport will far exceed 38.5%, the figure of claimed allocation maintained by Korean Air and other creditors.<br/>
Air NZ has announced its first quarantine-free flights to Queensland will begin on Thursday. Flight NZ147 will leave Auckland at 7.40am and passengers will not have to quarantine on arrival in Brisbane. It will operate similarly to existing flights to Sydney and Melbourne, with quarantine-free flights for people whose travel originates in New Zealand, and quarantine flights for people who do not meet the Safe Travel Zone criteria and who are required to quarantine on arrival in Australia. Air NZ chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said the airline had been working closely with authorities in Australia. “We currently operate five return flights per week between Auckland and Brisbane,” said Geraghty. “Three of these services will be quarantine-free flights, while the remaining two will be quarantine flights. Quarantine flights cannot be booked by people beginning their journey in New Zealand.” The airline said that before customers travelled to Australia they were required to complete the Australia Travel Declaration form stating they had been in New Zealand for the preceding 14 days. This is a one-way agreement as any travellers from Brisbane still need to quarantine in New Zealand for 14 days.<br/>