Finnair’s traffic was down 85.8% in August

Finnair has reported its traffic in August:

The COVID-19 pandemic impact remained clearly visible in the August traffic figures, cargo demand still strong

In August, Finnair carried 193,000 passengers, which is 85.8% less than in the corresponding period of 2019 but 32.9% more than in July 2020.

The overall capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) decreased in August by 84.1% year-on-year. Finnair operated 116 daily flights (cargo-only included) on average which was 31.8% compared to August 2019. The differences between capacity figures are explained by the shorter operated flights on average and by smaller operated aircraft compared to August 2019. Finnair’s traffic measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) decreased by 92.4%. The Passenger Load Factor (PLF) decreased by 45.1% points to 41.7%. The COVID-19 impact, including the strict travel restrictions imposed by Finland, still affected all passenger traffic figures and was visible especially in the North Atlantic figures as there were no related scheduled flights in August.

The ASK decline in Asian traffic was 86.6%. The North Atlantic capacity decreased by 100.0%. In European traffic, the ASKs were down by 78.7%. The ASKs in domestic traffic decreased by 62.5%.

RPKs decreased in Asian traffic by 96.4%, in North Atlantic traffic by 100.0%, in European traffic by 86.4% and in domestic traffic by 64.6%.

The PLF was 24.3% in Asian traffic but it was supported by the cargo operations and very high cargo load factor. The PLF was 52.8% in European traffic and 62.8% in domestic traffic, whereas there was no PLF figure in North Atlantic traffic due to zero passenger flights in August.

Passenger numbers decreased in Asian traffic by 96.4%, in North Atlantic traffic by 100.0%, in European traffic by 84.9% and in domestic traffic by 69.5%.

Available scheduled cargo tonne kilometres decreased by 86.8% year-on-year and revenue scheduled cargo tonne kilometres decreased by 81.4%, both due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on scheduled flights. However, cargo related available tonne kilometres decreased by 78.4% and revenue tonne kilometres decreased by 70.5% and they included also the cargo-only flights mainly operated between Europe and Asia as well as Europe and North America. The total cargo tonnes were up by 13.7% from July 2020 mostly due to strong demand related to the scheduled cargo capacity. As a result, the cargo load factor was still clearly higher than in the corresponding period of 2019.

In August, 96.0% of all Finnair flights arrived on schedule (76.9%).

SAS’ total number of passengers was down 74% in August

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS issued this report:

Total number of passengers and capacity in August decreased by 74% and 73% respectively, versus the same period last year. However, August also recorded a small increase of 12 000 passengers compared to July this year.

SAS’ traffic continues to be negatively impacted by COVID-19. In August, total capacity was down by 73.4% compared to the same period last year and number of passengers decreased by 2.1 million. Demand has recovered somewhat better within Scandinavia than in other parts of our network and SAS has deployed its capacity accordingly.

“During fall we aim to increase the number of flights and re-open more routes, in line with the re-bounce in demand. Primarily we’ll resume domestic traffic in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but also re-open 18 routes to key European destinations. Furthermore, we aim to resume flights to Asia and once again offer flights across all three continents where we normally operate,” says Rickard Gustafson, CEO SAS.

airBaltic resumes flights to nine destinations from Riga

airBaltic has made this announcement:

airBaltic has announced that as of today (September 7) it has resumed flights between Riga and nine additional destinations. In total, airBaltic now connects Riga with 35 destinations across Europe.

As of today, airBaltic has resumed flights from Riga to Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Gothenburg, Lisbon, Prague, Reykjavik, Vienna and Zurich.

Emirates brings back Amman, Lagos and Abuja to its route network

Emirates has announced it will resume passenger services to Amman, Jordan from September 8, 2020. The resumption of flights to the Jordanian capital takes the number of destinations Emirates serves in the Gulf and Middle East to eight cities, as the airline gradually resumes operations with the safety of its customers, crew and communities as its top priority.

Flights from Dubai to Amman will operate as a daily service on the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER

Emirates has also announced it will resume passenger services to Lagos (September 7, 2020) and Abuja (September 9, 2020) in Nigeria. The resumption of flights to both Nigerian cities takes Emirates’ African network to 13 destinations, as the airline works hard to help its customers travel safely and confidently, implementing industry-leading health and safety measures at all points of the travel journey.

Flights to Lagos will operate four times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Flights to/from Abuja will operate as a daily service.

Virgin Atlantic completes solvent recapitalisation

Virgin Atlantic Airways has made this announcement:

Airline calls for robust passenger testing regime to open the skies

Virgin Atlantic has announced the completion of the £1.2bn private-only solvent recapitalisation of the airline and holiday business. Its Restructuring Plan has now been sanctioned by the English High Court under Part 26A of the UK Companies Act 2006, and formally recognised in the US court. This final step in the legal process paves the way for the Company to continue its efforts to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis a sustainably profitable airline.

Achieving this significant milestone puts Virgin Atlantic in a position to rebuild its balance sheet, restore customer confidence and welcome passengers back to the skies, safely, as soon as they are ready to travel. However, the devastating impact of Covid-19 on global aviation continues unabated and the airline must take further steps to ensure survival.

The solvent recapitalisation is a major step forward in securing the future of Virgin Atlantic

Now the Restructuring Plan has been formally sanctioned by the UK court and given full force and effect in the US, the airline will implement its Restructuring Plan with the support of Virgin Group and Delta, existing creditors and new private investors, keeping Virgin Atlantic flying and providing essential competition and connectivity to customers.

The Plan delivers a refinancing package worth c.£1.2bn over the next 18 months in addition to the self-help measures already taken: £280m in cost savings per year, £880m reduction in fleet capex in the next five years.
Shareholders Virgin Group and Delta are providing c.£600m in support over the life of the plan, including a £200m investment from Virgin Group and the deferral of c.£400m of shareholder payments such as brand fees and Joint Venture related costs.
The airline continues to have the support of credit card acquirers (Merchant Service Providers) Lloyd’s Cardnet, First Data and American Express.
Davidson Kempner Capital Management, a global institutional investment management firm, is providing £170m of secured financing and the airline’s largest creditors and suppliers are contributing an additional £450m by way of deferrals

Testing to relax travel restrictions and remove quarantine is vital

The outlook for transatlantic flying, which is core to Virgin Atlantic’s business, remains uncertain with US-UK travel curtailed. Until travel returns in greater numbers, survival is predicated on reducing costs further and continuing to preserve cash. On the back of the continued success of Virgin Atlantic Cargo operations, the restart of skeleton passenger operations – with flights to New York JFK, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Barbados, Shanghai, Miami and Delhi so far and Tel Aviv restarting on Sunday – has been an important achievement. While performance has been encouraging, it is imperative that every sector the airline operates is cash positive.

Transatlantic flying represents 70% of Virgin Atlantic’s network. Since 16 March it has not been possible for many British nationals to enter the US upon arrival from the UK, Ireland and the Schengen Area. Since June, travellers arriving in the U.K. from the US have been subject to 14 days quarantine. The US border closure and UK quarantine measures have been in place for far longer than originally anticipated. As the airline increases passenger operations, the opening of US borders and removal of quarantine is imperative to recovery. These travel restrictions impact on Virgin Atlantic disproportionally given its long-haul operations focussed on the transatlantic. The airline is calling for both UK and US governments to introduce robust passenger testing regimes to lift travel restrictions whilst protecting public health.

Based on current outlook, the airline is planning to a scenario in which transatlantic flying from the UK does not extend beyond current skeleton operations until the beginning of 2021. In this scenario, capacity operated across its network in Q4 2020 would be c.25% of 2019, and revenues in 2021 could be only 50% of 2019 levels.

The devastating impact of Covid-19 on global aviation continues unabated and further steps must be taken to ensure survival

The last six months have been the most challenging in Virgin Atlantic’s history. Even in the toughest times, the people of Virgin Atlantic are what sets it apart and they have made tremendous sacrifices. Unfortunately, despite actions already taken to reshape and resize the business, regrettably the airline must go further one last time with changes at scale, to ensure it emerges from this crisis.

Today it is announcing further downsizing across the business, with a planned reduction of 1,150 jobs across all functions. Working closely with unions Unite and BALPA, a company-wide consultation period of 45 days begins today.
To mitigate as many cabin crew redundancies as possible, additionally, the airline is introducing a voluntary, Company-led and financed furlough scheme for an additional 600 crew when HM Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ends at the end of October. Should HM Government extend its Scheme, the airline intends to continue to benefit from it.

Shai Weiss, CEO, Virgin Atlantic commented:

“Together, we have achieved what many thought impossible and that is down to the efforts and sacrifices of so many across the Company. The completion of the private-only, solvent recapitalisation of Virgin Atlantic removes much of the uncertainty we faced and represents a major step forward in our fight for survival. We greatly appreciate the support of our shareholders, creditors and new private investors and together, we will ensure that the airline continues to provide vital connectivity and competition.

“Now we must focus our efforts on securing our long-term future, by ensuring that Virgin Atlantic not only survives but thrives as passenger demand returns. It’s clear that the introduction of passenger testing is the only way to enable the removal of travel restrictions and open up flying to key markets, while protecting public health. We will continue to work with our industry partners to press for urgent government action.

“After the sacrifices so many of our people have made, further reducing the number of people we employ is heart-breaking but essential for survival. I truly hope that as demand returns, we will see many members of our team returning to us. The unique spirit of our people, the passion we have for our customers and each other, and the drive to do things better has been tested but not broken. There will be a recovery, the timing and speed of which is uncertain. When our customers return to the skies we will be there to welcome them onboard with belief in our future. It is then that we will appreciate that everything we have done, painful to so many, was worth it.”

United strategically adds limited capacity to October cchedule

United Airlines made this announcement:

United Airlines today announced it plans to fly 40% of its full schedule in October 2020 compared to October of last year. In September, United expects to fly 34% of its full schedule.

Domestically, United plans to fly 46% of its full schedule in October 2020 compared to October of last year, compared to the 38% schedule it plans to fly domestically in September 2020. The airline also plans to resume eight routes to Hawaii, pending approval of the state’s pre-arrival COVID testing program.

Internationally, United expects to fly 33% of its schedule compared to October of 2019, which is up compared to the 29% schedule it plans to fly in September. United continues to respond to the growth in leisure travel demand by adding flights to cities in Mexico, Central America and South America.

“We continue to be data-driven and realistic in our approach to rebuilding our network,” said Ankit Gupta, United’s vice president of Domestic Network Planning. “Because October is typically a slower month for leisure travel, we’re adjusting our schedules to reflect these seasonal changes in customer demand while resuming service or adding capacity on routes where we’re seeing increased customer demand for travel.”

United is even realigning its schedule patterns with the customer in mind to match the current demand for leisure travel. In October, the airline plans to add more flights on days popular with leisure travelers looking to get a head start on long weekend getaways and will schedule fewer flights on days where demand is traditionally lower.

Domestic

Resuming or starting new service on nearly 50 routes, including 37 routes from United’s Chicago, Denver and Houston hubs.
Resuming additional service to Florida including Washington-Dulles to Sarasota and Miami, and Denver to Fort Myers.
Resuming service between Los Angeles and Eugene, Medford and Redmond/Bend in Oregon.

International

Resuming service to 14 international destinations including Bogota, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lima, Peru and Panama City, Panama.
Increasing to twice daily service between New York/Newark and Tel Aviv and resuming three-times weekly service between Washington, D.C. and Tel Aviv on October 25.
Resuming or increasing service to Cancun, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico from its hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, New York/Newark and Washington, D.C.

Finnair re-opens operations to Nanjing for September and October with a weekly frequency

Finnair has made this announcement:

Finnair has received permission from Chinese authorities to operate one weekly flight between Helsinki and Nanjing as of September 11, 2020. The route will be operated with Airbus A350-900 aircraft until October 18, 2020, and it supports cargo and passenger travel demand between Europe and China. The flight schedule is published in all Finnair sales channels.

Finnair currently offers smooth connections to 30 destinations in Europe and Finland from its Helsinki hub.

Finnair currently serves some 40 destinations in Europe and Asia, operating altogether 80-90 flights per day. Finnair constantly reviews its traffic plan and has the capability to add flights and re-open destinations at a rapid pace, as travel restrictions are removed and travel demand recovers. Long-haul flights to Asia are also supported by cargo demand.

Air France continues to invest in electric ramp equipment

Air France made this announcement:

As part of its sustainable development policy, Air France has set itself the aim of halving its CO2 emissions per passenger km by 2030. To achieve this, the airline is doing all it can to reduce its carbon footprint at every stage of its value chain, both on the ground and on board.

For several years, Air France has been committed to using electric ramp equipment, and on 3 September 2020, tested the ramp handling of a Paris-Delhi flight using all-electric engines produced by French start-up CARWATT and TLD, the world leader in the construction of ramp equipment. Some of this equipment is certified by the Solar Impulse Foundation – of which Air France is a partner – for its ecological and economic value. The following equipment was used:

– for the aircraft’s air supply: a Lebrun TLD air conditioner
– for the transfer of baggage from the terminal to the aircraft, a Charlatte tractor
– for baggage loading: a CARWATT conveyor belt
– for cargo loading, a TLD wide-body TLD loader
– Finally, the aircraft was pushed back from its parking stand by a TLD wide-body tug.

Supporting innovation and mobilizing its ecosystem to develop economically and ecologically viable solutions is one of the major priorities of Air France’s sustainable development policy. The airline therefore supports the development of innovative aircraft offering alternatives to the use of fossil fuels. The partnership between Air France and CARWATT, launched in 2017, combines electrification and circular economy, with the transformation of old thermally powered baggage carousels into electric-powered carousels with second-life Li-Ion batteries. TLD, Air France’s supplier and long-time partner, is using the Air France hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle as a testing ground for the development of its engines. Air France and TLD engineers will soon be testing the self-guided aircraft approach in real-life conditions (equivalent to a “park assist” on cars) for the new electric loaders used to load cargo on board aircraft.

By the end of 2020, close to 60% of the fleet of ramp equipment used by Air France at airports where the airline operates its own equipment (Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Air France stations in mainland France) will be electric. This rate will be increased to 90% in 2025, making it possible to save 10,000 tons of CO2 emission every year. By 2030, Air France aims to make its ground operations carbon neutral.

The Paris-Delhi flight on 3 September 2020 was operated by an Air France Airbus A350, a latest-generation aircraft that consumes 25% less fuel than the equivalent aircraft of the previous generation, thanks to the incorporation of lighter materials, composites and titanium. Its noise footprint is also reduced by 40%.

Air France’s sustainable development commitments also cover fleet renewal, eco-piloting, recycling, offsetting CO2 emissions, the use of sustainable aviation fuels and mobilizing research. For more details on the Horizon 2030 plan, click here.

For fifteen consecutive years, the Air France-KLM Group has ranked first in Europe and the world in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), the main international index assessing performance in terms of sustainable development, and regained the top spot in the rankings in 2019.

Brussels Airlines accelerates process to resolve refund backlog

Brussels Airlines as made this announcement:

COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented volumes of refund request
31% of refund requests filed so far have been processed
Pending refund requests expected to be resolved by the end of October
Every customer who is entitled to a refund will be reimbursed
Brussels Airlines sincerely apologizes for the long waiting time

The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented crisis that touches nearly all industries worldwide. The aviation and tourism sector is unfortunately no exception. Since the start of the crisis, Brussels Airlines was forced to cancel on average 83% of its scheduled flight program, impacting the travel plans of three million of its passengers. The pandemic and the worldwide travel restrictions caused a three month grounding of the airline’s fleet (from March 21st until June 14th), and urged Brussels Airlines to adapt its offer to the continuously low travel demand.

As a result, Brussels Airlines had to cancel more than 36,000 flights in total since the start of the crisis, which led in that same period to more than one million calls to the airline’s service centre. For comparison, in the entire year of 2019, the Brussels Airlines service centre handled 400,000 calls. Unfortunately, despite a maximum number of service agents and the 24/7 call centre service, the airline regrets that it wasn’t able to provide its guests with the service level they are used to receive at Brussels Airlines and customers requesting a refund are facing long waiting times. In total, the airline received so far refund requests of a value of 122 million euro.

Brussels Airlines has worked on a solution to speed up the process of the refund handling and is now paying out several thousands of refunds per day. So far, 31% percent of all refund requests have been processed and the airline expects to resolve the bulk of the refund backlog by the end of October, with the exception of the more complex requests, such as bookings involving several airlines.

“We are well aware that the last weeks and months have been extremely difficult for our passengers affected by schedule changes or flight cancellations and we sincerely apologize for the inconveniences caused by overloaded call centres and delays in terms of our response time, especially for the processing of ticket refunds. But rest assured, every passenger who is entitled to a refund and who applied for it, will be reimbursed within the coming weeks”, explains Dieter Vranckx, CEO of Brussels Airlines.

Brussels Airlines kindly asks customers who have already submitted reimbursement requests to please not call the airline on this matter, in order to keep the telephone lines open for customers who would like to travel in the near future.

Passengers holding a Brussels Airlines ticket booked before August 25th, who wish to postpone their travels or whose flight was cancelled, have maximum flexibility to use the value of their ticket later. They have the time until January 31, 2021 to contact the airline to book a new flight. The new journey can take place until 31 December of 2021. Since 25 August, all newly booked tickets remain flexible and can be changed multiple times free of charge.

Passengers whose flights were cancelled and who do not want to make use of the rebooking options can apply for a refund using the online form on the Brussels Airlines website. All information on rebooking and refund options can be found on www.brusselsairlines.com.

Norwegian August 2020 traffic figures heavily influenced by travel restrictions and drop in demand

Norwegian Air Shuttle made this announcement:

Norwegian’s traffic figures for August are heavily influenced by the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent travel restrictions and drop in demand. In August, capacity was 94% lower than last year, while the flights that were operated had a load factor of 62.1%.

From July 1 Norwegian reopened 76 routes and put an additional 15 aircraft into service, throughout the summer frequencies and routes were adjusted in accordance with variations in passenger demand linked to changing government travel restrictions and advice.

Compared to the same period last year total capacity (ASK) decreased by 94 percent while total passenger traffic (RPK) decreased by 96 percent. Load factor was 62.1 percent, down 27.9 percentage points. The total number of customers carried in August was 313,316 a decrease of 91 percent.

Norwegian on August 28, 2020 reported its results for the first half year of 2020. The figures are as expected heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with a net loss of NOK 5.3 billion. During the first half of 2020, 5.31 million customers travelled with the company; a decrease of 71 percent compared to the same period last year. Norwegian successfully converted debt, gained access to state guaranteed loans of NOK 3 billion and conducted a public offering, in addition to implementing a series of cost-reduction measures. Still, Norwegian is facing challenging times ahead.

Before COVID-19, Norwegian had guided the market of a profitable 2020 and the best summer ever. Strict government travel advice and the following drop in customer demand forced Norwegian to ground 140 aircraft and furlough or lay off approximately 8,000 employees. In the second quarter, Norwegian only operated 7-8 aircraft on domestic routes in Norway. Following a successful restructuring process, the company gained access to the Norwegian government’s loan guarantee of NOK 3 billion and an additional NOK 0.3 billion from commercial banks.

“When we entered 2020, we were expecting a positive result and the best summer ever, thanks to successful cost-saving initiatives and a more efficient operation. Then we were hit by COVID-19 and customer demand literally stopped from one day to the next, as government-imposed travel restrictions and travel advice were introduced world-wide. For the past months we have been working tirelessly to make sure that we can emerge from this crisis as a stronger company, well-positioned for future competition. Some of these measures have been painful, but totally necessary if we are to make it through at all. Creditors, bondholders and shareholders have shown us support and trust to find a way forward for the company and our customers are expressing their strong support, for which I am grateful. And not least, I am extremely proud of all our Red Nose Warriors who are keeping up a positive spirit,” said CEO Jacob Schram.

During the first six months of 2020, 5.3 million customers travelled with Norwegian, compared to 18.1 million during the same period previous year. Production (ASK) was down by 69 percent and passenger traffic (RPK) decreased by 72 percent. The load factor was 78.2 percent, a decrease of 6.5 percentage points compared to the first half of 2019. Both load factor and production are adjusted according to the government mandatory blocking of middle seats on domestic routes in Norway in the second quarter of 2020.

Punctuality was at 87.2 percent, an improvement of 7.3 percentage points compared to the first half of 2019.

Poor visibility creates uncertainty ahead

On July 1, Norwegian reopened 76 routes, put an additional 15 aircraft into service and brought more than 600 employees back to work. The market is still highly uncertain, mainly due to changing travel advice from governments across Europe. As the government changes its travel advice, demand is immediately impacted. Going forward the company will continue to adjust its route portfolio in line with demand and government travel advice.

“The COVID-19 crisis has impacted aviation and the travel industry particularly hard, and most companies need government support to survive. We see that many of our main competitors receive considerable liquidity support from their governments as aviation represents the backbone of infrastructure. We are thankful for the loan guarantee made available to us by the Norwegian government which we worked hard to obtain. However, given the current market conditions it is not enough to get through this prolonged crisis,” Schram said.