German charter airline Condor has asked the European Court of Justice to stop larger rival Lufthansa from cancelling an agreement between the two firms as a condition of a state rescue package it received last year. Lufthansa declined to comment. The airline was granted a E9b government bailout last June that came with conditions to preserve competition including the transfer to rivals of some take-off and landing slots at German airports. Condor has been complaining that Lufthansa abused its market dominance when it cancelled an agreement last year that allows Condor passengers to use Lufthansa feeder flights as part of their journey to holiday destinations.<br/>
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Air Canada’s CE and a top union official on Friday expressed confidence Ottawa would provide an aid package for airlines after the carrier reported its biggest annual loss in at least 19 years due to COVID-19. Air Canada shares were up 4.5% in afternoon trade. It reported a net loss for 2020 of C$4.65b compared with a 2019 profit of C$1.48b. Airlines have been among the hardest hit by the epidemic as people stay home. Canada’s largest carrier, which last year cut over half its workforce, or 20,000 jobs, and other airlines are negotiating with the Liberal government on an aid package. “I am very encouraged by the constructive nature of discussions that we have had ... I am more optimistic on this front for the first time,” Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu said, a day after Canada approved the carrier’s purchase of rival Transat. Jerry Dias, president of the Unifor private sector trade union, said he was confident an aid deal would happen.<br/>
Portugal may have to provide more than the E500m it budgeted for ailing airline TAP this year due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, its finance minister said. Asked how much more the Portuguese government expects to spend on TAP this year, Joao Leao told Sunday’s Jornal de Negocios: “That is still being analysed”. “The situation of TAP is very demanding ... that amount may have to be reconsidered because at the moment the pandemic is having a much stronger impact than expected,” Leao said. In December, a government plan to rescue TAP proposed 2,000 job cuts by 2022 and pay cuts of up to 25%, while the airline would need around 2 billion euros in extra funds with state guarantees to cover its financing needs until 2024. The redundancies may be lower if the European Union accepts an agreement in principle last week between the leaders of 15 unions and TAP’s board. However, if the EU executive rejects Lisbon’s proposal, TAP would have to immediately repay a E1.2b rescue loan agreed in June, which could lead to its insolvency.<br/>
South Africa has identified three equity partners for the country’s bankrupt state airline and will make a decision on which one to pick in “the next month or so,” according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. The interim board of South African Airways is engaging with the candidates before the government makes its recommendation, the minister said Friday. He also expects the national power utility’s 464b rand ($31.6b) of debt to become “a thing of the past” in the next three to five years. The search for a private-sector entity to help steer SAA to safety is key to the minister’s plan to revive the airline, which has been in administration for more than a year and hasn’t flown commercially since March. The carrier is also in a legal dispute with unions over back-pay settlements to workers, while demand for air travel has slowed to a trickle amid the Covid-19 pandemic. <br/>
Ethiopian Airlines’ decision to temporarily convert 25 passenger aircraft for cargo operations has helped it to become “cash positive” during the Covid-19 crisis, according to the carrier’s CE Tewolde Gebremariam. Gebremariam notes that combined with Ethiopian’s uniquely strong financial performance in the region over the past decade, its “quick decision” to focus more capacity on cargo operations in the early days of the crisis has paid off. “We have a very strong cash flow,” he states. “We are still managing our cash flow within our internal resources, without any bailout money and without any borrowing for liquidity purposes, and without any lay-offs or salary reductions.” Therefore, while the return of more passenger operations will be the catalyst for a full recovery, the state-owned carrier is “at least in a better position than the rest of our peers” in Africa. Ethiopian’s decision to convert more aircraft for freight operations – by removing some or all of the seats from passenger cabins – came as it recognised two important factors in the early days of the crisis, Gebremariam explains: less bellyhold capacity in the market with passenger aircraft out of action and the increased demand for the transport of “PPE and other medical equipment” related to Covid-19. Favourable fuel prices have also been important.<br/>
Air New Zealand has made changes to its domestic services following Sunday evening's decision by the government to place the Auckland region into COVID-19 alert level 3 and the rest of Aotearoa into alert level 2. The airline is asking customers travelling to and from Auckland to check they are eligible to travel under the new restrictions. Customers travelling from other regions can transit through Auckland on their way to other alert level 2 regions. Food and beverage service onboard domestic flights had already been suspended in response to the latest coronavirus community cases and this suspension will remain in place until further notice. Water is available by request on all flights. Air NZ's Auckland lounges and valet parking services closed as of Monday morning and due to capacity restrictions under alert level 2, the maximum number of people able to access the airline's lounges in other regions is capped at 100. While the country is at elevated alert levels, Air NZ will be taking extra precautions to keep its staff and customers safe. The airline says its frontline staff and cabin crew will be wearing masks and gloves, and customers are required to continue to wear face coverings onboard.<br/>