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Ailing airline SAS Tuesday launched a cost savings plan and said it hoped to raise new capital after posting a wider quarterly loss as it grapples with weak demand and tough competition. The group, which has been struggling for years, said it would fully transform its business, including its network, fleet, labour agreements and other cost structures, aiming to save 7.5 billion Swedish crowns ($799m) a year. "The last two years have been the most challenging in the history of the aviation industry ... SAS is now, more than ever, in need of a new start," CEO Anko van der Werff said. The "plan paves the way for undertaking a complete revitalisation of SAS' balance sheet and to substantially strengthen SAS’ liquidity position," SAS said. The airline, in which Sweden and Denmark each hold a stake of around 22%, secured a 3b crown rescue deal from the two governments in 2020 to keep afloat. It did not specify how much capital it hoped to raise this time but its CEO later told investors the firm would be able to provide more detail in April. "The success of the plan and the ability to attract potential new capital relies on SAS fully achieving the SEK 7.5 billion annual cost take-out plan which in turn depends upon SAS stakeholders’ full participation." Danish Finance Minister Nikolaj Wammen said in an email the government was monitoring SAS' development closely and declined to comment further.<br/>

Airline SAS reported on Tuesday a wider loss for its November through January quarter and said it would launch a new transformation programme across its business and look to raise new capital. The airline, which is part-owned by the governments of Sweden and Denmark, reported a fiscal first-quarter loss before tax of 2.60b Swedish crowns ($275.20m) against a year-earlier 1.92b loss. <br/>

EgyptAir announced the start of operating direct flights between Cairo and Bangkok as of June 1. The company will operate three flights to Bangkok per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, as part of the company’s plan to resume flights to several destination around the world that were suspended because of coronavirus. The coming period will witness the return of all the flights that were suspended due to the pandemic, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Holding Company for EgyptAir Amr Abul-Enein said. <br/>

South Korea's antitrust watchdog on Tuesday gave conditional approval for the merger of the country's two biggest airlines but expressed concern that their dominance in domestic and international routes would harm competition in the industry. Korea Fair Trade Commission Chair Joh Sung-wook said the agency ordered Korean Air Lines to return slots and traffic rights as well as cap fare increases for 40 domestic and international routes after merging with smaller rival Asiana Airlines. The routes include 26 international routes and 14 domestic ones such as Seoul-New York, Seoul-London, Seoul-Beijing and Busan-Nagoya. "The company will become very superior with the merger in the comprehensive management in slots and traffic rights as well as access to airport facilities," Joh said at a news conference. "In contrast, its competitors will have problems entering markets or increasing flights due to lack of slots and limited traffic rights." The KFTC said the merged company will account for 48.9% of domestic market share and hold 62% of routes to the southern island of Jeju. For international routes, it will have 10 that are exclusive and will hold more than 60% of the market share on 29 routes. The decision comes one year after KAL announced that it would buy a 63.9% stake in Asiana by acquiring 130 million new shares issued by the company. It was part of the government's reconstruction plan for the airline industry as they were struggling to survive the coronavirus pandemic. It marks the first time that the regulator reviewed a merger between South Korean full-service carriers. And it is also the first time that the commission imposed structural actions. <br/>

Singapore Airlines (SIA) will increase its flight frequency between Singapore and Brunei from March 9 to five flights weekly, from three flights weekly previously. Flights from Brunei to Singapore on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday from March 9 to March 26 are on Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL), except Mondays which will be non-VTL. However, from March 27 until the end of October, all five flights from Brunei to Singapore will be on VTL. SIA operates the Boeing 737-8 aircraft on its Brunei-Singapore route with a seating capacity of 154 passengers.<br/>

This time two years ago Air New Zealand delivered its first financial result which mentioned Covid-19. CE Greg Foran had been in the job for less than a month and in that time the airline had suspended flights to Shanghai and Seoul and reduced capacity to Hong Kong and Japan as the virus spread. The company had just posted a $101m half year profit, and said it expected to take a $35m to $75m hit because of Covid-19. A few weeks later the WHO declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic and, as countries closed their borders in an effort to keep the virus out, the global aviation industry collapsed. Air New Zealand was hit hard with revenue plummeting from $6b to $1b and its network slashed by 95%. It wrote off an entire fleet of aircraft and let go more than 4000 of its 12,000 staff. But the Crown’s 52% shareholding provided a safety net for the national carrier with the Government stepping in early on with a $900m loan, which has since grown to $2b. Forsyth Barr analysts Andy Bowley​ and Matt Noland​ said in a research note Air New Zealand would report a “significant loss” when it released its 2022 first half result on Thursday. They expect it to include a trough in passenger revenue as a result of border closures and the extended Auckland lockdown.They estimated the company would report an underlying after tax loss of $131m but said there was a higher margin of error than usual with Air New Zealand. They recently said they expected the airline’s pre-tax loss to widen to $791m for the year to June, following its $440m pre-tax loss last year. They also expect Air New Zealand’s planned capital raise will require new equity of $1b to $1.2b. For Foran, leading Air New Zealand through a pandemic is a world away from his previous role as Walmart US president. Story has more. <br/>