The Virgin Australia Group has announced today that it will ground all international operations from March 30 until June 14. Domestic capacity will also be slashed by 50%. The cutbacks will see the equivilent of 53 aircraft grounded, including all 5 B777s, 1 A330 and 14 B737s on international routes. Domestically 20 B737s, 6 A320s,…
Canada and the United States have reached an unprecedented deal to close the shared border to non-essential travel, as both countries try to restrict the spread of the novel coronavirus. Canada and the United States have agreed to restrict non-essential travel across the border, as both countries try to slow the spread of the novel…
Ryanair says it expects that most if not all flights across the group will be grounded from midnight on March 24. The airline has posted details of the severely reduced schedule on the Travel Advisory page on its website. From 18 March at midnight, the airline will cut 80% of flights. From 24 March at…
A male passenger slapped a female flight attendant around the face after she appeared to hit him while he was screaming and spitting in her face. A two-minute video, posted online, begins with the furious passenger aboard the Brussels Airline flight yelling at a male flight attendant who is trying to restrain him. The passenger…
The Qantas Group has announced it is slashing international capacity by 90% and domestic capacity by 60% until the end of May. The cuts will be phased in from the end of this month with routes to be affected announced in the next several days. The move will see 150 aircraft grounded, including most of…
Chicago Midway International Airport’s air traffic control tower has been temporarily closed after three FAA technicians at the airport tested positive for the novel coronavirus. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the air traffic control tower at the airport is “temporarily closing” while crews clean facilities. A ground stop has been ordered. That ground stop…
Most of the world’s airlines will be bankrupt by the end of May due to the ongoing effects of coronavirus, experts have warned. CAPA Centre for Aviation made the dramatic prediction as countries lock down their borders in light of the spread of COVID-19 which has caused more than 170,000 infections and 6,500 deaths around…
Belgium’s Brussels airlines, a Lufthansa subsidiary, will suspend all flights as of Saturday until April 19 over coronavirus, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “Given the extraordinary circumstances caused by the worldwide coronavirus crisis, Brussels Airlines has decided to temporarily suspend its flight operations,” said the airlines, a subsidiary of Germany’s Lufthansa.
WestJet says it is suspending all commercial operations for international and transborder flights for a 30-day period. As of today, the Calgary-based airline says tickets for the period beginning March 23 will no longer be available for sale. It says in a statement online that its final commercially scheduled flight will be Sunday night. The…
Following the implementation of new measures in France and Spain to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Airbus has decided to temporarily pause production and assembly activities at its French and Spanish sites across the Company for the next four days. This will allow sufficient time to implement stringent health and safety conditions in terms of hygiene,…
Virgin Atlantic said that the airline will reduce its schedule by about 80% per day by March 26, citing the “rapid acceleration” of the impact of COVID-19 on demand. The air carrier said given restrictions to international travel, it permanently terminate its London Heathrow-to-Newark route “with immediate effect.” The cuts will lead the company to…
Norwegian has extended plans to cancel flights and temporarily lay off staff, in the face of “stagnating demand and enforced travel restrictions by authorities worldwide”. Norwegian is a major carrier on transatlantic routes from London’s Gatwick airport, but the new US restrictions have effectively curtailed these operations, and the carrier now says that it will…