Portugal’s ailing airline TAP posted on Monday a Q1 loss of E365.1m due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global travel and the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar. “The coronavirus pandemic continued to delay the demand recovery, with an increase in cases and new travel restrictions during the first three months of 2021,” TAP said. Total operating income dropped 74% between January and March from a year ago and passenger revenue fell 83%. The airline posted a 395 million euro loss in 2020 as a whole. There were some signs of recovery in January, TAP said, but additional restrictions imposed during the following months in countries where the airline operates forced TAP to quickly adjust its capacity again. Portugal imposed a nationwide lockdown during most of the first quarter to tackle a devastating COVID-19 surge in January, keeping visitors away and most flights grounded. Some recovery is expected in the upcoming months as travel restrictions are eased due to the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and pent-up travel demand. “As such, TAP stands ready to adjust its capacity and meet an increase in demand,” the company said.<br/>
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When Brazil had too few vaccines to cope with the deadly third wave of coronavirus, Ethiopian Airlines came to the rescue. It transported 3.5m Sinovac jabs from Shanghai to São Paulo, via specialist facilities at its hub in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in April. “I feel that our efficient and timely delivery of vaccines will save millions of lives that could have been lost,” says Tewolde Gebremariam, CE. Having overseen the expansion of Africa’s largest carrier since 2011, he has not only navigated the pandemic but led its push to transport Covid vaccines across Africa and beyond. Founded in 1945 by Emperor Haile Selassie I — its headquarters building is H-shaped in his honour — the state-owned company’s hub in Addis Ababa is one of the largest and most modern African cargo terminals, able to handle 1m tonnes a year. So far, Ethiopian Airlines has carried more than 27m vaccines to 24 countries. It has a 54,000 sq m freezer facility in Addis Ababa for Covid-19 vaccines that can keep the temperature at -25C, and is developing a facility to make enough ice to keep vaccines ultra-cold when needed. While most airlines on the continent suffered badly during the pandemic, Ethiopian Airlines has kept flying by converting many of its planes to carry cargo, including big long-range passenger aircraft. “We were very creative in removing seats from the aeroplanes,” Tewolde says. The airline, which has 132 aircraft, including 12 dedicated cargo planes, has also delivered Covid-related medical equipment to nearly every country in Africa, as well as to Latin America, after refitting 25 passenger aircraft for cargo. Tewolde says cargo was a “lifesaver” after passengers “vanished overnight”.<br/>
SIA said the S$6.2b raised through convertible bonds, along with existing cash reserves, should cover its financial needs well into the year ending March 2023, according to a statement Tuesday. The carrier was responding to questions from the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) last month about whether it has considered privatization. Singapore Airlines said that privatization wasn’t a matter for it to consider because it is a shareholder action. “Given that the proceeds from the rights issue will be treated as equity in the balance sheet, this allows us to maintain a strong equity base and creates options for raising further debt financing as necessary,” the airline said. Singapore Airlines has raised S$15.4b, which includes S$8.8b from a rights offering, since April last year and cut about 20% of its workforce to reduce costs. The IATA in April widened its estimate for losses this year to about $48b as new Covid flare-ups push back the timeline for a start of international air travel. The situation is particularly dire for carriers like SIA that have no domestic market to fall back on. The carrier posted its worst annual loss at the end of March in the “toughest year in its history” as Covid continues to wreak havoc on global travel. Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore Airlines’ largest shareholder, has provided an undertaking to subscribe to its pro-rata entitlement and any remaining balance of the convertible-bond issuance, the carrier said last month.<br/>
Korean Air has cleared another milestone in its planned acquisition of compatriot Asiana Airlines, most recently with Thailand’s competition watchdog. “Thailand’s Office of Trade Competition Commission recently completed its review of the business combination with Asiana, and stated that the submission of a prerequisite business combination report was not necessary,” Korean Air says. The South Korean flag carrier adds that it is awaiting business combination approval from the regulatory bodies of its home country, the USA, the European Union, China and Japan. Korean Air states: “The airline is actively cooperating with the respective commissions and providing additional documents upon request in order to finalise the acquisition process as early as possible.” The Turkish Competition Authority was first to clear the planned merger, Korean Air disclosed in February. Korean Air says the competition commission of the Philippines, where reporting is arbitrary, also gave its approval in May.<br/>