Norwegian Air's court-ordered debt reconstruction plan is now legally binding, and the airline expects to complete its financial rescue as planned on May 26, it said on Tuesday. No creditors have filed appeals against the scheme, which was overseen by courts in Norway and Ireland, and the plan is now final and binding, Norwegian said. In order to complete the rescue on time, the carrier must raise new capital in an ongoing fundraising.<br/>
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Aer Lingus is to close its cabin crew base at one of the country’s largest airports and impose cutbacks and layoffs across the company as part of a COVID-19 restructuring plan, it said on Tuesday. Aer Lingus said it had “confirmed to staff that the airline will emerge smaller from the pandemic, and there will be a requirement for redundancies”. The Irish carrier, which like British Airways and Iberia is owned by International Airlines Group, is to close its base at Shannon Airport, one of its four main domestic hubs. It will also temporarily close its base at Cork Airport and review its ground handling operations at both locations, its statement said. It said the measures were necessary after it posted a loss of E103m in the first three months of the year. “The cumulative impact of the crisis over the last 15 months means immediate actions and structural changes are required... to generate the cash required to rebuild (Aer Lingus’) financial health,” the statement said. Management has been highly critical of the government’s COVID-19 travel policies, which have advised against most non-essential travel for more than a year and which include a mandatory quarantine for travellers from the airline’s key market, the United States.<br/>
Ryanair raised E1.2b at a record low coupon rate in a five-year bond sale on Tuesday, as Europe’s largest low-cost airline took advantage of favourable market conditions to bolster its finances. The sale happened a day after the Irish carrier reported a record annual loss of E815m as a result of travel restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic. Senior executives said on Monday that conditions were good to tap capital markets, though they noted there was no urgent need to raise funds. Ryanair had E3.15b in cash at the end of March and unencumbered aircraft worth at least E7.3b, CFO Neil Sorahan said ahead of the bond issuance. Ryanair is one of the few airlines that has an investment-grade credit rating, with a BBB score from both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings. “We are pleased with the success of our latest, low-cost, unsecured bond issue,” Sorahan said in a statement. The sale was “keenly priced” at a coupon of 0.875%, he added. It received demand of E5.2b, according to two lead managers.<br/>
Emirates airline has entered an agreement with Huawei to launch 'customer-centric' initiatives, including enhanced experiences for Huawei smartphone users while booking tickets and making travel plans on the Emirates app. The two will also carry out joint promotions designed to build brand awareness for Emirates and Huawei in the other's home markets. Emirates said in a statement: "The integration into Huawei's ecosystem will allow the airline to tap into a wider target audience and Huawei phone users." The Chinese marketplace is "one of the key strategic markets for Emirates worldwide," said the airline. The MoU signed also involves further development of the Emirates app on the AppGallery. To date, the app has had more than 1m installs from AppGallery. The AppGallery is also attracting an increasing numbers of developers with 2.3m registered, a 77% increase from last year.<br/>
The vaccine rollout and pent up travel demand spell a strong comeback for airlines, said Tony Fernandes. The AirAsia Group CEO said that the vaccination programme will fuel the aviation sector’s recovery in the coming months. “Vaccines being rolled out and strong demand will fuel a V-shaped recovery in coming months, ” he said. Fernandes added that data from the IATA revealed that there will be a rapid recovery in domestic air travel by 2022. Despite the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the country and reintroduction of the movement control order, Fernandes is optimistic that the vaccine rollout will help the airline weather through the pandemic. “In Malaysia, although we are seeing a new wave, we see this as short term pain for long term gain. Things will get better and this is already proven in countries where vaccination progress is highest. Although Asean countries are already in early stages of vaccination, many country authorities are committed to meeting their targets of inoculating the majority of their citizens by the end of the year, ” he said. Fernandes added that travel bubbles will be effective in helping with post-pandemic tourism recovery.<br/>