New TAP Air Portugal CE Christine Ourmieres-Widener has been in “listening mode” during her first few days in charge of the European operator, as uncertainty surrounds the business’s second tranche of state aid. “We are still waiting for the EU approval of our restructuring plan, so it’s early days,” she said 22 July. On 16 July, the EC re-approved E1.2b in state aid to TAP – delivered in the form of a rescue loan – but concurrently announced that it was investigating whether a proposed further E3.2b in restructuring aid was in line with EU rules. That followed Portugal formally notifying the Commission on 10 June 2021 that it intended to provide E3.2b in restructuring aid to TAP through the airline’s parent company, TAP SGPS. Amid that uncertainty, Ourmieres-Widener’s task at the Star Alliance carrier is “making sure the organisation has a future… to grow again and to welcome more passengers on board, safely”, she states, adding: “We have an indication of where we need to be in four or five years’ time: being a sustainable organisation, profitable… being the pride of the country.”<br/>
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An airline group says aviation businesses affected by the suspension of quarantine-free transtasman travel should be able to claim wage support. Air New Zealand said the pause is expected to have a short-term operational and financial impact on its business until such time as the bubble reopens. "The airline will respond to these changes and will provide a further update, if needed, as the situation progresses," it told the NZX. The Board of Airline representatives says the eight-week pause comes as many airline staff had been re-hired. "It's tough. This could see a lot of people put back on reduced hours and pay, or going into furlough again," board executive director Justin Tighe-Umbers said. "I'd like to see the Government offer wage assistance to those parts of the sector that are going to be hit hardest until quarantine-free travel with Australia is reinstated."<br/>
Air New Zealand is now Australia’s biggest international carrier as a result of the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble and Qantas ceasing most of its international operations. New analysis of data released by the Department of Transport reveals the Kiwi flag carrier was responsible for 49% of all international passengers arriving or departing from Australia in May – compared with just 22.6% for Qantas. The next two highest-ranking carriers were Jetstar (6.7%) and Singapore (5.7%). In total, there were 214,246 passengers leaving or arriving in the country in May 2021. The situation is a result of both Qantas and Virgin ceasing all commercial international operations other than those crossing the Tasman. Last year, Qatar Airways was at one stage the biggest, after its share of international passengers carried leapt from just 3% to 44.5% in April 2020. All the figures are compiled by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), the official source of aviation statistics.<br/>