Aer Lingus needs a few hundred million euros in extra liquidity due to COVID-19 disruptions and does not expect the easing of Irish travel curbs next month to provide a significant near term bounce, its new CE said Tuesday. The Irish airline, which recently announced company-wide layoffs and the closure of one of its main domestic cabin crew bases, is losing more than E1m a day, Lynne Embleton told an Irish parliamentary committee. It is in funding talks with the Irish state and its parent International Airlines Group, having already received a E150m loan from Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund last year. “We are looking to restore our liquidity to the tune of a few hundred million euros. The precise numbers depend on where we can access liquidity from, the terms of that liquidity and indeed the number of days we continue to burn cash,” she said. Embleton said the decision to close the carrier’s base at Shannon Airport, one of its four main domestic hubs, did not signal a strategic retreat from Ireland’s regions. But she said she could not give assurances there would be no more job losses.<br/>
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Aer Lingus CE Lynne Embleton insists there is no strategic retreat from the Irish regions but that restructuring is required as a result of the Covid crisis, which has inflicted around E1b in damage on the airline. Embleton, the former IAG Cargo chief executive who took the helm of the Irish carrier in April, today appeared in front of an Irish parliamentary transport committee. Her appearance was set against the backdrop of the airline’s decision in May to close its crew base at Shannon and following the hit to regional routes from the recent collapse of Stobat Air. The latter had been operating franchise flights, predominantly UK domestic routes from Belfast, on its behalf. Aer Lingus, together with British Airways regional unit BA CityFlyer, has moved to operate some of these routes in the short term. But longer-term talks are taking place with Emerald Airlines, the Irish start-up which had already won a tender to take over the franchise flights from the start of 2023. “We have stepped in to operate the majority of the Stobart routes up until at least the end of August,” says Embleton. “These are thin routes, smaller markets, they are best suited to smaller aircraft. So the suitability for these routes is for an operator with regional aircraft and that’s why we are in dialogue with Emerald. Those discussions are progressing well, but not yet concluded.”<br/>
Gulf Air has announced the launch of point to point flights beyond its Bahrain International Airport hub, allowing the airline to expand its operations to new destinations as well as extending passenger services to new markets. Gulf Air launched flights between Athens and Larnaca allowing passengers from either location to buy tickets and commute between both Mediterranean cities. Similarly, it later launched flights between Bangkok and Singapore where passengers can buy tickets to fly between both Far Eastern capitals. These flights will be available for booking and tickets will be sold on Gulf Air’s website or through travel agencies in the mentioned cities. Gulf Air’s Acting CEO Captain Waleed AlAlawi commented: “This is an exciting development for the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Now, not only we operate from and to our hub, but we will also operate from and to foreign points and give the opportunity to more passengers to experience our Arabian hospitality at a local level in their own markets.” He added: “We studied the demand between Athens and Larnaca as well as between Bangkok and Singapore to carry passengers between each city pair. This is the beginning of a wider plan to expand globally and be available and more visible to the local markets in countries that we fly to.”<br/>
Collapsed Indian airline Jet Airways moved a step closer to revival on Tuesday when a bankruptcy court gave approval to a resolution plan. The court approved a plan submitted by London-based financial advisory company Kalrock Capital and Dubai-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan to resurrect India’s oldest private airline. Its success hinges on Jet being able to reclaim the airport landing and departure slots that it had before it ceased operations two years ago. “Within 90 days . . . we should have a fair amount of clarity as to what slots are available or not available for Jet,” said Ashish Chhawchharia, a partner at Grant Thornton leading the resolution process. He added that Jet still had most of its old slots. “It’s only a couple of airports where there are some constraints, I think we should be able to find an amicable solution,” he said. Jet ran out of cash and was forced to ground all its flights in April 2019, after struggling to find an investor to bail it out. The collapse of what was once one of the country’s largest carriers left thousands of people without work and Jet pilots staged protests at airports for weeks over unpaid salaries. Founder Naresh Goyal was ousted as chair after a string of annual losses that resulted in Jet steadily losing ground to IndiGo, its younger, budget competitor, which has squeezed rivals with low prices to become India’s biggest airline.<br/>
A 14-billion-baht loan for seven local airlines has been sliced in half in an effort to retain jobs in the second half as the industry prepares for the country to reopen to foreign tourists by mid-October. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of the Airlines Association of Thailand (AAT), said the soft loan for airlines, which was proposed to the Finance Ministry last year for 12 months of operation, was chopped to cover payroll from July to December. The association submitted the proposal to state agencies, but the loan amount and conditions were not disclosed as airlines have to wait for final approval from the Export-Import Bank of Thailand (Exim Bank), Social Security Office (SSO) and Labour Ministry, he said. Puttipong said airlines hope financial aid will be delivered this year. Seven airlines are members of the association and requested soft loans. They comprise Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air, Nok Air, THAI Smile, Thai VietjetAir and Thai AirAsia X. The AAT submitted a letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last month, asking for clarification on the soft loans to protect 15,970 jobs.<br/>