Easyjet resumes flights with social distancing measures in place June 15, 2020 Easyjet took to the skies for the first time in 11 weeks, as it resumed domestic flights with social distancing measures in place. The budget airline will relaunch 310 flights across its European network, as its first flight took off from London Gatwick at 7am this morning for Glasgow. The majority of flights this month [...]
DEBATE: Should the government take equity stakes in struggling businesses to help support them? August 21, 2020 Should the government take equity stakes in struggling businesses to help support them? Leigh Webb, associate director and head of private equity sponsor coverage at finnCap Group, says YES. While I agree that, on the whole, government ownership is far less effective than using equity or capital markets when bailing out companies, this is not [...]
Flybe looks for another tax delay, weeks after government saves airline January 26, 2020 Flybe is said to have implored airports to give it more time to find millions of pounds it owes them in unpaid landing fees. Europe’s biggest regional airline held crisis talks with airports including Birmingham, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton, according to reports. It is said to be in a race against time to plug a [...]
Foreign Office to bring 3,000 stranded UK nationals back from India April 10, 2020 The Foreign Office has chartered 12 more flights to bring around 3,000 UK nationals back from India as repatriation efforts continue in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The new flights come in addition to seven that have already been set up, meaning a total number of 5,000 UK citizens will be brought home from [...]
Corporate travel firms call for business air bridges to avoid quarantine June 10, 2020 The UK’s business travel sector has called on the government to create industry-specific air bridges to European business hubs in order to sidestep the current 14-day quarantine plan. In a letter to home secretary Priti Patel and transport secretary Grant Shapps, Clive Wratten, chief executive of the Business Travel Association, proposed three pilot travel corridors [...]
Exclusive: Heathrow warns of 25,000 job losses amid quarantine travel row June 7, 2020 Heathrow Airport’s chief executive has warned that 25,000 jobs may be lost at the airport if the government’s quarantine rules are not relaxed, or air bridges not established, within the next two weeks. Those losses would largely come from airline redundancies but speaking to City A.M.’s City View podcast, John Holland-Kaye also said a decision [...]
Hotel quarantine: What do the new rules mean for arrivals travelling to London? February 11, 2021 Hotel quarantine: What do the new rules mean for arrivals travelling to the UK border?
Government considering ‘air bridges’ to countries with similar Covid-19 infection rate May 18, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed that the government is considering “air bridges” between the UK and other countries with a low coronavirus infection rate, potentially cutting out the need to quarantine all arrivals. Last weekend Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that all incoming travellers to the UK would have to be quarantined for 14 [...]
Air France-KLM posts €815m loss as coronavirus crushes demand May 7, 2020 Air France-KLM this morning reported an €815m (£713.9m) loss for the first quarter on the back of the total collapse in flight demand caused by coronavirus. Revenue fell 15.5 per cent to €5bn in the first quarter, with its net loss widening to €1.8bn from €324m. The Franco-Dutch airline said that the plunge would continue [...]
Easyjet boss warns that more jobs could be lost due to quarantine plans June 8, 2020 Easyjet’s chief executive Johan Lundgren has warned that the budget airline may be forced into making more job cuts due to the government’s new quarantine rules. The blanket restrictions, which came into effect today, mean that almost all incoming passengers to England must quarantine for 14 days. When asked whether it could lead to more [...]