It seems that Alitalia has yet another chance to live, with the European Commission approving its request for a €200 million bailout by the Italian state.  Alitalia Boeing 777-200ER - Image, AlitaliaThe aid, valued at €199.45 million was within EU State aid rules. The measure aims at compensating the airline for the damages suffered due to the coronavirus outbreak. Italy … [Read more...]

It seems that Embraer is changing its plans for the smallest of its updated E2 series family of jets. Embraer E175-E2 completing its first flight - Image, Embraer.  The E175-E2 will be delayed until 2023. The Brazilian airframer in their Q2 results stated: Given the current market conditions for commercial aviation as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Embraer … [Read more...]

Earlier this week, Boeing pushed out several announcements of its production of aircraft. And whilst there's a lot of noise about the end of Boeing 747 production, there's a lot more to unpack that just the Queen of the Skies. Let's look in a bit deeper. Boeing 737 MAX Programme The Boeing 737 MAX Programme is still under scrutiny post FAA testing. Boeing 737 MAX 7 … [Read more...]

KLM is preparing to make cuts to its staffing, with up to 5000 staff facing the prospect of losing their jobs. A brace of KLM Boeing 737s at their home base of Amsterdam Schiphol - Image, Economy Class and Beyond COVID-19 has not been kind to the airline, with the airline operating 10% of its original number of flights by the start of April, growing to 15% in the second … [Read more...]

After months of talking to creditors, it seems that Virgin Atlantic has reached a major milestone towards securing its future today, by announcing plans for a private-only recapitalisation of the airline. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 at London Heathrow - Image, Economy Class and Beyond The plan is based on a five-year business plan, with the support of Virgin Group, … [Read more...]

Malaysia Airlines and Japan Airlines have signed a new Joint Business Agreement, tightening their agreement on operations between Malaysia and Japan.  Malaysia Aairlines Airbus A330-300 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport - Image, Economy Class and Beyond The new joint business partnership will formally launch on 25 July 2020, where the two carriers will cooperate … [Read more...]

It seems that COVID-19 has hammered Air France hard, with over 7,500 jobs to be cut from Air France and HOP! Air France Airbus A319 taking off from Birmingham Airport - Image, Economy Class and Beyond With a drop of 95% of revenue during the crisis and the recovery being very slow due to the changing picture of COVID-19, Air France predicts that it will not see the same … [Read more...]

LEVEL Europe - the IAG Vienna short-haul airline has filed for bankruptcy, with the company ceasing trading today (18th June). The short-haul carrier based out Amsterdam and Vienna had been grounded in March 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The notice on their site is blunt - to put it nicely. LEVEL Europe had six Airbus A320 family aircraft in its fleet. This unit … [Read more...]

It seems the Lufthansa group has swallowed its pride and has chosen to accept revised conditions that the European Commission has imposed, so it can access €9 billion of German state aid. Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i taxing out of Chicago O'Hare - Image, Economy Class and Beyond. In addition to what the group will have to give up in terms of ownership as part of the bailout … [Read more...]

It seems Lufthansa and the German Government  have come to an arrangement of state aid for the airline group. And someone isn't happy unsurprisingly. Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i at Frankfurt Airport - Image, Economy Class and Beyond. The aid agreement between  Deutsche Lufthansa and the Federal Republic of Germany covers stabilization measures and loans of up to EUR 9 … [Read more...]