Tag: corona virus crisis

LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America’s largest air carrier, has sought bankruptcy court protection in New York after the Covid-19 pandemic grounded flights across the region. The Chapter 11 petition allows LATAM to keep operating while the Chilean carrier works out a plan to pay creditors and turn around the business. LATAM, whose shareholders include Chile’s Cueto family and Delta Air Lines Inc., continues to operate on a reduced schedule. The group has secured the financial support of shareholders, including the Cueto and Amaro families, which have lasting ties to LATAM, and Qatar Airways, to provide up to $900 million in ... Read more

Seychelles, the small island holiday destination in the Indian Ocean with a population of less than a hundred thousand inhabitants, is now Covid-19 and ready to welcome guests. The country, which reported a number of 11 cases in total, has announced the last infected patient tested negative for a continuous number of days and is now considered to be healed from the Covid-19 virus. The pandemic had reached Seychelles in March 2020. The number of cases on the island increased slowly during the next three weeks and reached its peak on April 6, 2020 when the 11th case was confirmed ... Read more

Dubai will begin allowing free movement and business activity to restart from tomorrow. There will be no restrictions on movement or business operations between 6 am and 11 pm, the Dubai media office said in a press release. Some retail and wholesale businesses will be allowed to reopen, subject to further sterilisation operations and social distancing measures, the media office tweeted. Those will include cinemas, indoor gyms and education and treatment centres for children. Business and tourism hub Dubai allowed malls to reopen at limited capacity during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that began on April 24. Dubai also ... Read more

The Thailand government has sold a 3.2% stake in national carrier THAI Airways. The government’s stake now stands at 47.86%, ending the airline’s days as a majority-owned state enterprise. A total of 69.2 million shares were sold to Vayupak, a mutual fund run by the Krung Thai Bank. “The Cabinet agreed the government will reduce its holding in THAI Airways to under 50%, ending the airline’s status as a state-enterprise,” Saksayam Chidchob, Thailand’s transport minister said last week. With the exception of 2016, the airline has posted losses since 2012 and carries debts of approximately $2.9 billion. In 2019, THAI ... Read more

In the biggest ever bailout package in aviation history, Lufthansa and the German government have finalised the terms of a €9 billion ($9.8 billion) rescue deal, following weeks of intense negotiations over the future of the airline. The rescue package will give the government a 20% stake in the group, which owns airlines in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. Lufthansa said in a statement that Germany’s Federal Economic Stabilization Fund, which is being used to assist companies hit by the corona virus pandemic, has approved a “stabilization package,” which the company’s executive board supports. Underscoring the trouble facing airlines, Lufthansa’s ... Read more

Any comeback by the beleaguered airline industry will extend into 2023, according to new data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA estimates that passenger traffic won’t rebound to pre-crisis levels until at least 2023. It expects that global passenger demand in 2021 will be 24% below 2019 levels and 32% lower than the forecast the association made in October 2019. The new data is based on a slower opening of economies and relaxation of travel restrictions. Lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders could return if the virus comes back strong in the fall and winter with a second wave, ... Read more

Embankments in the Sundarban delta — a UNESCO world heritage site — have been breached by the surge whipped up by cyclone Amphan which has inundated several kilometres of the islands. The sea-level rise in the delta, which is much higher than average global sea-level rise, will contribute to migration from the region. For around 40 lakh people of the Sundarbans, livelihoods like agriculture, fishing and wildlife tourism are the most predominant, apart from being migrant labourers. The Sunderbans is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers in the Bay ... Read more

Indian domestic air travel may have resumed on Monday after being grounded for two months, but with many states remaining skeptical about opening airports, over 600 flights were cancelled in just one day alone. Flights are yet to resume in large states like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and operations in airports including Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad are not in full swing yet. Many passengers reached the airports on Monday only to be told by the airline staff that their flights have been cancelled. West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh governments did not relent to the requests by the Civil Aviation ... Read more

As a result of the unprecedented crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, all the seven properties of Sinclairs Hotels at Siliguri, Darjeeling, Dooars, Kalimpong, Burdwan, Port Blair and Ooty are currently closed. The launch of the eighth property in the Sinclairs’ chain – Sinclairs Gangtok -scheduled on April 15 had to be postponed. In response to today’s needs, Sinclairs is introducing a host of changes and new initiatives to keep our guests safe and healthy. Sinclairs will now have special emphasis on hand washing hygiene to sanitizing of guestrooms and common areas so that our guests enjoy hospitality in a ... Read more

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed national carrier Air India to operate international flight service with middle seat booking. The court was hearing a petition filed by the Centre and Air India after Bombay High Court questioned why the airline was not keeping the middle seats vacant in international flights. “Air India shall be allowed to operate non-scheduled foreign flights with middle seats booking for next 10 days,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde said. After 10 days, the Supreme Court said the national carrier will have to follow the Bombay High Court’s order directing it to follow ... Read more

The Kerala government has released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for domestic airline travel. The government has asked all the returnees to register themselves on the ‘COVID-19 Jagratha’ portal after obtaining a flight ticket to get a travel permit. The travel permit will then be issued along with a QR Code on the registered mobile number and email. The same will have to be presented to the airline staff before the boarding passes are given. If more than one passenger travel on a single ticket, details of all persons need to be entered by anyone in the group using ‘add ... Read more

Indonesian hospitality startup BoboBox has secured US$11.5 million in a series A round led by Horizons Ventures and Alpha JWC Ventures. Other new and existing backers such as Kakao Investments, Sequoia Surge, and Mallorca Investments also participated in the round, according to a statement. Bobobox provides affordable hotel accommodation in the form of modular capsules. They are fitted with applications and internet-of-things systems to improve security, comfort, and affordability. With the fresh funding, the three-year-old startup plans to accelerate its product improvement by growing its tech team and strengthening its manufacturing and operating models. It also plans to extend its ... Read more

The US has imposed travel restrictions on foreign nationals who have been to Brazil in the last 14 days. Brazil has become a major coronavirus hotspot in recent times, registering the second highest number of cases globally. A White House spokeswoman said the restrictions would help ensure new cases are not brought into the US. “Today’s action will help ensure foreign nationals who have been in Brazil do not become a source of additional infections in our country,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. Brazil has recorded more than 360,000 cases, while over 22,000 people have ... Read more

A number of Air New Zealand lounges will reopen across the country today. The lounges will not be serving alcohol, but plans to introduce more food and alcohol options in the coming weeks. There will also be a maximum of 100 people allowed in the lounges at any one time. The Auckland Regional, Wellington Domestic and Christchurch Domestic lounges will open, along with nine of its regional airport lounges. This includes regional lounges in Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Nelson, Queenstown, Dunedin and Invercargill. While the lounges may be reopening, some things will be different. “In line with ... Read more

Outdoor partying is on in full swing in many parts of the United States, as people continue to take total advantage of the new found freedom. After several weeks of lockdown, citizens seem to have broken free causing a great deal of concern for health authorities. Despite several weeks of warnings from health officials to follow “social distancing” measures and wear face masks in public, Americans across the country crowded the beaches and partied in large numbers over the Memorial Day weekend. A video from a Volusia County Sheriff’s Office helicopter captured dozens of people blocking traffic near Daytona Beach, ... Read more