News

The coronavirus has a huge global impact, including on aviation. Due to thousands of cancelled flights, many airlines are hit hard financially. This tumultuous period has resulted in various bankruptcies.

After months of self-quarantining and travel restrictions in Great Britain, its largest flight carrier, British Airways, announced that it is reinstating flights in- and outside of Europe. As restrictions to several far destinations are being lifted at the end of this month, more flights will be added to the schedule of British Airways.

The effect of the corona crisis and travel restrictions is clearly noticeable. Jobs at easyJet and other major air carriers are vanishing in mass layoffs.

Ryanair has threatened to close two regional bases in Ireland if pilots in Ireland do not accept a large pay cut. As a result, 120 pilots at Shannon and Cork airport are at risk of losing their jobs.

This news item has been updated on July 8 2020.

After more than fifteen months of improvements to the Boeing 737 MAX, the airplane is finally allowed to perform test flights according to the American aviation authority, FAA. It may take months before the infamous plane is ready to operate commercial flights again.

On Thursday, June 18 2020, Level Europe filed for bankruptcy. All flights of the Austrian budget airline have been discontinued immediately.

London Heathrow Airport says it is forced to cut its jobs now passenger numbers have bottomed out. Following the implementation of the government’s quarantine police, Heathrow is expecting little improvement in terms of passenger numbers in the near future.

A two-week quarantine period for anyone arriving in the UK is enforced from Monday June 8 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Passengers arriving in the UK will be asked to provide an address where they will self-isolate for 14 days, including UK nationals.

The personal data of nine million easyJet customers has been captured by hackers, including thousands of credit card numbers. In a statement the airlines speaks of an attack from a “highly sophisticated source”.