COVID-19 News Roundup

Tracking the impact of the pandemic on travel

COVID-19 News Roundup

When the pandemic was first declared in March 2020, ATPCO understood the value of keeping track of industry-related news in the quickly changing environment. We tracked aviation news and developments from the start of the pandemic through December 2020. This page is no longer updated but remains a source for looking back on the events our industry weathered during our toughest times. We are now looking forward to recovery and a post-recovery world.

   
Region Date Organization Summary
Global 21 Apr 2020 IATA Inflight social distancing will kill short-haul LCC travel: IATA
Global 05 May 2020 IATA IATA Calls for Passenger Face Covering and Crew Masks Opposes Onboard Social Distancing
Global 19 May 2020 IATA IATA Outlines Layered Approach for Industry Re-Start
Global 20 May 2020 Industry Travel’s Reopening: A Global Timeline From the Skift Team
Global 02 Jun 2020 Government Industry Bodies Lobby Congress for Covid-19 Liability Shields
Global 09 Jun 2020 IATA IATA: Industry Losses to Top $84 Billion in 2020
Global 18 Jun 2020 Industry Many frequent flyers won’t be back for a while
Global 13 Jul 2020 Industry OAG: Global Air Capacity Crosses 50M Seat Threshold This Week
Global 19 Sep 2020 Industry How Should The Airline Refund System Change?
Global 16 Nov 2020 COVID-19 What travel companies can do now to prepare for recovery
EMEA 24 Mar 2020 British Airways BA Franchise Comair To Suspend All Services
EMEA 27 Mar 2020 South African Airways South African Airways Suspends all Flights
EMEA 31 Mar 2020 Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Is Burning Through Cash and Will Have to Seek Government Support
EMEA 03 Apr 2020 Lufthansa Lufthansa puts 87,000 workers on reduced hours
EMEA 13 Apr 2020 Lufthansa LHG permanently retires 9% of Lufthansa branded fleet
EMEA 17 Apr 2020 Iceland Air Icelandair plans new share issue to prop up financial position
EMEA 15 Apr 2020 Skyscanner Skyscanner sees uptick in interest for late-2020 flights
EMEA 16 Mar 2020 Government UK airlines call for multibillion bailout
EMEA 26 Apr 2020 Air France Air France-KLM Sees Traffic at 70% by Year-End If All Feel Safe
EMEA 04 May 2020 Air France EU clears 7 billion euros in state aid for Air France
EMEA 07 May 2020 British Airways BRITISH AIRWAYS SAYS NO ‘MEANINGFUL’ RETURN TO SERVICE BEFORE JULY
EMEA 11 May 2020 Air France Air France boosts its passenger Covid measures
EMEA 18 May 2020 Government Germany hopes to end global travel warning in June, but no return to normal
EMEA 21 May 2020 Lufthansa Lufthansa Nears Rescue, Making Germany Its Top Shareholder
EMEA 24 May 2020 KLM KLM To Introduce Voluntary Resignation Scheme From June 1st
EMEA 29 May 2020 Lufthansa German official sees Lufthansa bailout in reach, demands fairness
EMEA 28 May 2020 EasyJet EasyJet plans up to 4,500 job cuts
EMEA 01 Jun 2020 British Airways British Airways workers told to accept pay cuts of up to 60% or face the sack
EMEA 18 Jun 2020 Government Denmark will reopen to most European nations except Portugal, much of Sweden
EMEA 20 Jun 2020 KLM KLM Plans to Steadily Increase Flights Through End of Summer
EMEA 22 Jun 2020 Government France Takes Aim at Budget Carriers With Ban on Short Routes
EMEA 26 Jun 2020 Lufthansa Lufthansa Shareholders Agree to $10.1 Billion Government Bailout
EMEA 01 Jul 2020 Air France Air France plans to cut 6,500 jobs by 2022
EMEA 30 Jun 2020 Air Portugal TAP Air Portugal to cut more aircraft as losses mount
EMEA 16 Jul 2020 South African Airways SAA To Receive Even More Government Cash To Realise Rescue Plan
EMEA 19 Jul 2020 Air France Air France Starts To Reinstate Inflight Meal Services
EMEA 27 Jul 2020 Air Portugal TAP Air Portugal to reach 40% of pre-Covid network in September
EMEA 30 Jul 2020 Aeroflot Aeroflot revenue falls 85% in Q2, all hopes on domestic flights
EMEA 06 Aug 2020 Lufthansa Lufthansa Predicts Slow Recovery as It Reports €1.7B Q2 Loss
EMEA 19 Aug 2020 Lufthansa Lufthansa subsidiaries to get vital financial injection
EMEA 19 Aug 2020 Government Finland returns travel restrictions for several countries
EMEA 01 Sep 2020 Finnair Finnair planning 1,000 redundancies and further temporary layoffs
EMEA 04 Sep 2020 South African Airways Ethiopian Airlines in rescue talks with South African Airways -CEO
EMEA 09 Sep 2020 Oman Air Oman Air to resume scheduled flights from October
EMEA 15 Sep 2020 Government Ireland delays relaxing strict COVID-19 travel restrictions until October
EMEA 23 Sep 2020 Lufthansa Lufthansa to start pre-flight "rapid COVID testing" next month
EMEA 22 Sep 2020 Industry UK-Spain Corridor Has Lost 1/3 Of Its Capacity Since August
EMEA 03 Oct 2020 KLM KLM Has Submitted Its Restructuring Plan To Dutch Government
EMEA 30 Sep 2020 South African Airways South African Airways Suspends Operations Once More
EMEA 23 Oct 2020 Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines Trials Rapid Pre-Departure COVID Tests In Vienna