Star Alliance and its CEO Jeffrey Goh are pleased to have been featured in the APR2021 edition of Business Focus Magazine. Entitled “Frictionless Flight”, the article provides a retrospective on the development of the Alliance and its focus on improving the customer experience, as well as efforts over the past year to not only contribute to a safer travel experience, but also to provide a roadmap to the future of air travel.<br/>
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United has shifted the majority of its $9b junk-debt sale to leveraged loans, the latest company to seek more flexible financing in the floating-rate assets. The size of the bonds shrunk to $4b total, split evenly between five- and eight-year maturities, according to people familiar with the matter. The term loan due 2028 has now grown to $5 billion, up from $3.5b, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private transaction. United’s loan has more restrictions than usual since it can’t be repaid for one year unless investors are compensated for missed future interest payments, but the bonds can’t be repaid for the entire length of the maturity without a similarly costly fee. Leveraged loans have seen fierce demand from funds that have taken in cash for 13 consecutive weeks, the longest streak since 2018, as well as from collateralized loan obligations, the biggest buyers of the risky debt, following record issuance. Loan prices have also been rising, hovering near the highest level in more than two years, as investors turn to floating-rate products for higher returns amid rising Treasury yields.<br/>
Air Canada Wednesday joined rival WestJet in extending a three-month suspension of sun-destination flights to the Caribbean and Mexico, as the country wrestles with a surge in dangerous virus variants. Canadian carriers agreed in January to suspend operations to sun destinations until April 30 due to concerns over the virus spreading during spring break trips. The country’s largest carrier said it will extend the suspensions through the end of May, an Air Canada spokeswoman said by email. The airline would continue operating some essential flights carrying cargo to Mexico City, Barbados and Kingston, while coming back with temporary foreign workers and Canadians abroad on return trips. Onex Corp-owned WestJet said on Tuesday it would extend its sun-flight suspensions until June 4. Canada is due to import enough vaccine doses to ensure every person can receive a shot by the end of June, but the spread of new virus variants risks overtaking the pace of vaccination.<br/>
Avianca Holdings plans to raise $1.8b to repay debt and provide new financing as the Colombian airline eyes an exit from the bankruptcy reorganization it was forced into last year during the pandemic-driven travel collapse. The air carrier retained Seabury Securities LLC to help raise the exit financing, likely a combination of debt and equity, the company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday. Avianca said it will repay $1.4b in bankruptcy loans and have around $1b in liquidity when it emerges from the reorganization at some point this year. Avianca was Latin America’s second-largest airline before the Covid-19 pandemic slowed air travel to a trickle last year, leading it to file for Chapter 11 protection in a New York court in May. Latam Airlines Group and Mexico’s Grupo Aeromexico also were forced into bankruptcy as the region suffered one of the world’s sharpest drops in flights. In addition to the $1.4b in loans it plans to refinance, Avianca raised $900m from a group of investors including United, hedge fund Citadel Advisors and Salvadoran air mogul Roberto Kriete. The company is negotiating final terms to convert that tranche into equity as it builds its new capital structure. It’s “still not possible to know” whether the value of existing shares will be diluted, according to the filing.<br/>
Ryanair Holdings lost three more court challenges to Covid-19 bailouts for rival carriers after a European Union court said support for Finnair Oyj and SAS didn’t break the bloc’s state-aid rules. In two cases concerning SAS, the EU General Court ruled Wednesday that Swedish and Danish aid “does not amount to unlawful discrimination.” In a third case, the judges said a E600m ($718m) loan guarantee for Finnair is also in line with EU law. Ryanair, which earlier this month warned that it will struggle to return to profit this year, has filed more than a dozen lawsuits contesting EU approvals for pandemic aid doled out by governments to carriers including Lufthansa and Air France-KLM. The Irish low-cost carrier argues that the aid for selected airlines creates an unfair advantage and will help rivals to emerge stronger, slash fares and swallow up others. The company lost its first two cases in February, when EU judges ruled that French and Swedish state support was appropriate for tackling serious disturbances to the countries’ economies caused by the pandemic. Ryanair has argued that French and Swedish programs mainly benefited Air France-KLM and SAS. It’s appealing the decisions at the EU’s top court.<br/>
Japanese airline group ANA Holdings will launch a drone delivery service in the fiscal year through March 2023, using a vehicle developed by a German startup to carry daily necessities and medicines to Japan's remote islands and mountainous regions, Nikkei has learned. ANA is preparing the service as the Japanese government takes steps toward relaxing drone regulations sometime in the same fiscal year. It will be the first time for a domestic airline to start a drone transportation service. ANA's German supplier is Hessen-based Wingcopter. The startup's drone has recorded a top speed of 240 kph and can travel up to 120 km, more than 10 times farther than general-purpose drones. ANA expects the service to transport daily necessities to remote islands as well as medicines and relief goods to disaster zones. It has been testing drone transportation on remote islands since 2018 and plans to deploy its airline expertise in flight route design and aircraft safety management.<br/>