Lufthansa’s CE said Friday that the company aims to pay back billions of euros in aid provided to help the airline through the coronavirus pandemic before Germany’s election in late September. Germany’s biggest airline received a E9b government rescue package about a year ago. The German government took a 20% stake in the company. “We were one of the first companies that was rescued by the German government,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Friday. “We also want to be one of the first companies that pays back the rescue money — hopefully, before the parliamentary election,”Spohr added. “We are on it.”<br/>
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Germany wants to exit its stake in flagship carrier Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) as soon as possible, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said on Friday. "Lufthansa must not be under state influence forever ... And we also want to minimise the influence of the state and we want the success path to mean that the state goes out again as soon as possible," he told an aviation conference. <br/>
Temasek Holdings will again take up the lion's share of SIA's mandatory convertible bonds (MCBs), with the second tranche being undersubscribed. The flag carrier received valid acceptances and excess applications for $3.76b in principal amount of the rights MCBs, representing just 60.6% of the $6.2b available under the rights issue. This included $3.43b taken up by SIA controlling shareholder Temasek and its wholly-owned subsidiary Napier Investments under their pro-rata entitlement to the MCBs in the rights issue. That made up slightly more than half of the total principal amount available. The balance $2.44b that was unsubscribed, representing 39.4% of the total amount of rights MCBs, will also be mopped up by a Temasek unit. The newly issued MCBs will be listed on the Singapore Exchange on or about June 25, and trading is expected to begin at 9am on the same day.<br/>
Thailand’s planned reopening of the resort island Phuket next month to vaccinated visitors, bypassing quarantine requirements, has met a lukewarm response, with hotel bookings indicating expected occupancy of less than 20% so far. The "Phuket Sandbox" initiative from July 1 will allow free movement on the island for tourists fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with no self-isolation on arrival. They will be given a green light to travel elsewhere in Thailand after 14 days. But there are a few tricky conditions, too, and many industry professionals have complained that uncertainty and constant rule changes are deterring bookings. The plan won't be finalised until later this month. Thai Airways is on board, with direct flights from six European cites to Phuket from July, although it anticipates only a fraction of seats being filled, with about 100 passengers in the first week, one the airline's representatives said. The government hopes the Phuket Sandbox will draw 129,000 visitors to the country in Q3 - a far cry from the average 3.3m monthly arrivals to Thailand in 2019. Typically, a quarter of Thailand's visitors go to Phuket.<br/>
Air New Zealand has announced its popular Fast Bag service has returned its regional network from Monday. The service was put on hold when domestic flying resumed after last year's nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, and frequent flyers had been calling for its return ever since. Fast Bag is a service which essentially ensures a customer's bag will be one of the first offloaded. On a regional flight, luggage is placed at the bottom of the stairs when you disembark, so you can pick it up and be on your way immediately.<br/>