Portugal’s government has formally notified the EC of its intent to grant interim support to TAP. The support is designed to guarantee the airline’s liquidity until a restructuring programme is approved. Up to E463m in aid within the scope of the restructuring can be notified, according to the government. The government says the support, if approved, will reduce cash requirements for the year. It adds that the aid will enable a “more immediate” response to TAP’s needs.<br/>
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Singapore Airlines will “progressively” return four remaining Boeing 737 Max aircraft to Singapore from storage in Australia, as a cabin retrofit programme gets underway for the type. The carrier disclosed this following the completion of a test flight of a SIA 737 Max from Singapore — apparently its first such flight from the city state since its grounding two years ago. On 11 March, the 737 Max 8 registered 9V-MBA took off on a test flight from Singapore. Data from flight tracking site FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft, operating flight MI8880, flew for more than an hour, heading eastwards over the South China Sea, before returning back. It performed a go-around towards the end of the flight and then came in to land at around 12.40 local time. SIA says: “This was a post-modification test flight, conducted after the installation of a communications antenna related to the aircraft’s cabin retrofit programme.” 9V-MBA was the first 737 Max 8 to be delivered to SilkAir, SIA’s regional brand that is being integrated into mainline operations. The aircraft returned to Singapore from storage in Alice Springs in late-December. SIA says there are now two 737 Max aircraft already back in Singapore, and it would be returning the rest “progressively”.<br/>
Thousands of passengers who had flights cancelled last year by Thai Airways will have to wait another three months to discover whether they will be refunded or have lost their money. The airline has faced financial problems since last spring, leaving a trail of passengers who had flights cancelled waiting for refunds. Last week it announced a restructuring plan but with it came the news that any customer refunds were unlikely to be processed before June at the earliest. Some passengers have been waiting almost a year to get their money back from the Thai national carrier, which continues to take new bookings. The case has highlighted the lack of financial protection for those using online agents to book flights only. Customers who had booked flights and accommodation from an agent were protected by the package holiday rules, as were those who bought flights directly from the Thai Airways website and paid by credit card. However, those who used an online travel agent to book flights but organised their accommodation separately will have to claim on their travel insurance – and will be successful only if they bought one of the 50% of policies that pay out in such circumstances. Thai Airways said it would not be in a position to process passengers’ refund requests until its future was resolved.<br/>
Thai Airways International is gauging market interest for two of its Airbus A380s. The flag carrier issued on 11 March a request for indication of interest in the Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered superjumbo pair, which were manufactured in 2013 and have clocked up 30,645 and 29,639 flight hours, respectively. Both aircraft have 12 seats in first class, 60 seats in business class and 435 seats in economy class. They are located at U-Tapao International airport. Thai Airways has six A380s in its fleet, all fitted with Trent 900 powerplants. All six aircraft are managed by the airline and none are leased. Thai Airways said on 11 March that its request for indication of interest in MSNs 125 and 131 is “part of a market survey being conducted by Thai to identify potential bidders who may be interested in buying the used passenger aircraft and does not intend to and should not be treated as a formal offer to sell the aircraft by Thai”. Thai Airways says interested parties should submit their proposals “as soon as possible and in any event” by 25 March.<br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) may stop allocating additional routes to eight airlines including THAI if they cannot provide convincing business rehabilitation plans, according to an official source. As a result, these airlines might have to begin limiting sales in advance to protect the rights of passengers, said the official at the Ministry of Transport. THAI is among eight airlines classified by the Civil Aviation Commission (CAC) as being in critical condition, according to an official 2019 annual industry financial report, which was discussed by the CAC at its meeting on Thursday. The report covered only commercial airlines registered in Thailand. Other seven carriers are: Thai Smile Airways, Nok Air, AirAsia X, VietJet Air, Thai Lion Air, Asia Atlantic Airlines and City Airways.<br/>
Air New Zealand has resumed quarantine-free flights to Sydney and Melbourne on Friday following a border update from the Australian government. However, quarantine-free flights to Brisbane remain suspended until March 20 at the request of the Queensland government. The airline is operating three Auckland-Sydney services and two Auckland-Melbourne services on Friday in order to clear the backlog created by New Zealand's recent alert level changes, Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said. The airline will also be resuming flights between Sydney and Norfolk Island from March 19. "Because aircrew are currently unable to operate domestic services in Queensland without completing a 14-day quarantine period, this will impact our ability to operate between Brisbane and Norfolk Island while the restrictions on Queensland travel remain in place," Geraghty said Friday. "We are pleased to be able to connect our customers with these Australian destinations once again and look forward to resuming quarantine-free flights to Brisbane in due course."<br/>
The upheaval of Air New Zealand's executive continues with chief digital officer Jennifer Sepull leaving the airline this week. She has been at the airline for two years and joins seven other executives who have left or during the past 12 months or are leaving this year. Staff were told today she had been considering a move from the airline but after experiencing the loss of family members in the United States she had brought the move forward. Sepull moved from the United States to New Zealand to take up the chief digital officer role in May 2019. The airline's chief executive Greg Foran said she had led the digital team through the toughest period the airline has experienced while delivering on some major programmes of work. Foran said the airline has commenced a global search for a successor to drive the digital strategy. She will be leaving the airline this week but will provide transition support to Foran until October.<br/>
Pakistani Aviation Minister Ghulam Surur Khan discussed Thursday with the Egyptian Ambassador to Pakistan Tariq Dahroug ways to strengthen and develop bilateral relations. The meeting took place in Islamabad, where the two sides agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of aviation, according to the official Pakistan News Agency. Minister Surur Khan said that starting flights powered by EgyptAir between the cities of Karachi and Cairo is being considered between the two countries. He added that these flights “will contribute to strengthening bilateral trade and economic relations.”<br/>