Recent COVID-19 lockdowns mean Ryanair will fly fewer passengers than planned this winter, but vaccines should mean a “very impressive” summer and a return to pre-pandemic passenger numbers by autumn, CE Michael O’Leary said. Europe’s biggest low-cost airline expects to fly just 30% of pre-pandemic capacity during its Christmas season this year, but that should climb to 60-80% from the spring as the first COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out. “By the time we get to the end of the summer into winter 2021 we expect to be back to pretty much close to all of our 2019 schedules,” O’Leary said. “We’ve got to get our hotels, restaurants, tourist facilities, beaches open for summer ‘21 because I think the numbers will be very impressive as people holiday within Europe rather than going longer haul next summer.” O’Leary called for support from European governments, in particular in scrapping passenger taxes and allowing pre-departure COVID-19 testing to replace quarantines for more travellers. Britain this week announced plans to allow travellers from countries with high levels of COVID-19 to end their quarantine on receipt of a negative test taken at least five days after arrival - an improvement from an earlier 14-day quarantine. But O’Leary dismissed the move as a “fig leaf”, saying travel would only take off once quarantines were dropped. He said he saw no risk that travellers within the European Union might be required to show proof they had received a vaccine, due to EU free-movement rights. Australia’s Qantas said on Tuesday international travellers should have a COVID-19 vaccination before they fly. “I doubt it will be applicable to short-haul,” O’Leary said.<br/>
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Ryanair has warned that it could permanently reduce some services locally and base more of its operations outside the State if action isn’t taken to protect the aviation sector. The Irish carrier, which recently closed its bases in Cork and Shannon until April due to the Covid-19 crisis, has called on the Government to do more to ensure the overall survival of air travel in Ireland. Eddie Wilson, CE of Ryanair, the airline group’s biggest subsidiary, said the Government needs to look beyond day-to-day Covid-19 figures to consider not just what is happening now but also the longer-term implications arising from the crisis. The airline has previously threatened withdrawal of services due to a failure to act on recommendations from the aviation recovery taskforce, which was convened earlier this year. It has also been frustrated at the State’s delayed adoption of the EU traffic light system for international travel and by its recommendation that Irish people don’t travel home for Christmas.<br/>
Low-cost carrier Wizz Air is seeking a bigger foothold at London Gatwick, but its ambitions may be hampered if regulators extend a freeze on airport slots in response to the coronavirus crisis, CE Jozsef Varadi said. Varadi criticised the suspension of EU rules governing the competitive allocation of airport take-off and landing rights. “It is one of the airports we’re talking to, but I have no idea what’s going to happen to these slots,” Varadi said of Gatwick, the UK’s second aviation hub after Heathrow. “First I would like to see the regulator take position on that.” Well-funded budget carriers are in positioned to dominate an eventual recovery powered by medium-haul leisure travel. Like his Ryanair rival Michael O’Leary, Varadi expects a fare-cutting frenzy. “The market will have to be re-stimulated,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of competition, there’s going to be price wars.” Under normal slot rules, airlines that fail to use 80% of their take-off and landing rights have to cede some of the slots to competitors. Brussels suspended the “use-it-or-lose-it” principle this year so that grounded airlines could keep slots. The waiver has been prolonged once despite Wizz’s objections, and traditional carriers are pressing for another extension beyond March.<br/>
Wizz Air announced a COVID-19 testing partnership to allow its British passengers to take cheaper tests, as a negative coronavirus certificate starts to re-open travel markets. Wizz Air, whose primary market is in eastern Europe but increasingly serves western Europe, said on Tuesday that its passengers could pay $114 for a test before or after flying. A negative test is a pre-requisite for some travel abroad and a rule change in England announced earlier on Tuesday means that a negative test after five days of quarantine means people do not need to spend 14 days in isolation. That price is offered through a deal between the airline and partner, Confirm Testing, and is cheaper than the cost without the Wizz discount. <br/>
Malaysian budget airline AirAsia Group Tuesday slashed its outlook for its home market again although it expects a rebound in December. While encouraged by a resumption of domestic travel in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines during the three-month period ended September 30, AirAsia said a spike in coronavirus cases in Malaysia and subsequent curbs had led it to reduce capacity in the country in October and November. It halved its projected recovery rate in Malaysia to 31% of its pre-COVID-19 capacity by the year end, after already lowering it to 60% last month from 70-75% in August. “There is a slight setback in Malaysia but we expect this to be short-lived and to bounce strongly in December,” CEO Tony Fernandes said. In Indonesia, it now expected be at 47% of pre-crisis capacity, versus a previous projection of 45%. AirAsia India is expected to operate at up to 67% of pre-crisis capacity versus a previous projection of 65%. For the Philippines, it expects to be at 13% of pre-COVID-19 levels, and maintained that its Thai operations are expected to exceed pre-COVID-19 capacity levels. Fernandes said the company had disposed of spare engines to raise cash and is open to other potential monetisation opportunities. He said it foresees sufficient liquidity in 2021 and expects air travel to bounce back mid-next year on hopes of the formation of travel bubbles and green lanes. “We have high hopes that with the availability and accessibility of effective vaccines, AirAsia will soon paint the skies red again,” he said.<br/>
AirAsia Group is exploring options for an airline presence in IndoChina after narrowing losses in its latest financial results and optimism of strong domestic rebound in the markets it serves. In the group’s financial results for the quarter ended 30 September, AirAsia Group president for airlines Bo Lingam states: “[We] are also actively exploring opportunities for a local airline presence in IndoChina.” He did not provide further details, including where it might be based. IndoChina comprises Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. A new carrier, if created, would be the group’s sixth unit in Asia — after Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, as well as India. AirAsia Group though has just shuttered operations in Japan, as a result of what it called a “highly challenging operating market”, and said earlier in the month that it was reviewing its investment in the Indian unit. Lingam notes that the group’s carriers have seen strong domestic recovery in the third quarter of the year, and that the group is “prepared to maintain sustainable operations solely on the back of our domestic sectors into 2021”, even as it remains hopeful for international travel restrictions to be lifted. <br/>
Philippine Airlines is poised to seek court protection for its debt restructuring as the pandemic-hit flag carrier fights for survival. The company, which is cutting around 2,700 jobs, or a third of its workforce, is also looking to return around 20 of its leased aircraft to relieve a financial burden amounting to at least $1b and raise $505m "for post-restructuring liquidity requirements." These plans were disclosed by airline officials during an online town hall meeting with employees and in a separate meeting with the Department of Finance last week. The plans for a court-backed restructuring come amid deepening financial distress brought about by the COVID-19 crisis. Philippine Airlines' listed parent PAL Holdings recorded a net loss of 29b pesos ($603m) from January to September, three times larger than the 8.4b pesos loss a year ago. During the same period, revenue shrank to 45b pesos from 118b pesos due to widespread lockdowns imposed to fight the virus. PAL Holdings also declared a 24b peso capital shortfall as of end-September.<br/>
Thai Lion Air (TLA) is predicting another gloomy year for global tourism as the airline prepares for the worst possible scenario, an extended period without international tourists. "International passengers brought in much higher revenue and we long for the borders to reopen, but in reality we have to accept that precautionary measures are necessary for the country," said TLA CE Aswin Yangkirativorn. "The coronavirus vaccine may be ready, but universal access will take time." Based on the worst-case scenario, TLA's business plan for the first half of 2021 will focus on expanding its domestic networks and strengthening local demand, challenging tasks for all airlines operating in Thailand. TLA can now resume flights on 13 domestic routes, but only at 60% of the frequency of the levels seen prior to the pandemic. For example, TLA used to offer 8-9 daily flights to Chiang Mai when tourism was at its peak, but this has now been scaled back to 4-5 flights per day due to the limitations in the market, with all players competing for the same customers. In Q4, the average load factor increased to 80-85% from 70-75% in the third quarter as the high season for domestic air travel got underway.<br/>