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 This page is no longer updated but remains a source for looking back on the events our industry weathered during our toughest times.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
EMEA 28 Sep 2020 Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Begins UV Treatment for Aircraft
APAC 06 May 2020 Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Announces Phased Rebuilding of Network to an Initial 52* Destinations by End of May and 80* in June
EMEA 30 Jun 2020 Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Agrees On $900 Million Loan For LATAM
EMEA 06 Aug 2020 Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Adapts App for Touchless Travel
APAC 09 Jun 2020 Qantas Qantas, Virgin Australia suspend last international flights amid travel ban
APAC 07 Jul 2020 Qantas Qantas, Jetstar 'significantly reduce' flights to Melbourne after New South Wales border closure
APAC 15 Oct 2020 Qantas Qantas Won’t Fly To The United States Until At Least February
APAC 18 Sep 2020 Qantas Qantas To Look At Operating More Flights To Nowhere
APAC 18 Oct 2020 Qantas Qantas to exit joint venture with Vietnam Airlines: report
APAC 24 Jun 2020 Qantas Qantas to cut 6000 jobs as part of COVID-19 recovery plan
APAC 11 Sep 2020 Qantas Qantas to boost regional flights when state borders reopen
APAC 03 Apr 2020 Qantas Qantas switches off inflight WiFi, movies, TV shows to save cash
APAC 27 Mar 2020 Qantas Qantas shares soar on financing deal as rivals cut more capacity
APAC 17 Sep 2020 Qantas Qantas Sells Out 7 Hour Flight To Nowhere In 10 Minutes
APAC 21 Jul 2020 Qantas Qantas says government support for airlines likely needed beyond March
APAC 19 Aug 2020 Qantas Qantas says Australian state border closures hampering recovery, posts $1.4 billion loss
Asia Pacific 14 Dec 2020 Qantas Qantas no outlier in outsourcing push
APAC 24 Aug 2020 Qantas Qantas International CEO Steps Down Due To Prolonged Grounding
APAC 04 Aug 2020 Qantas Qantas Halts Melbourne Freight Activities Amid COVID Case Spike
APAC 21 Aug 2020 Qantas Qantas CEO: U.S. Flights Won’t Resume Until 2021 End
APAC 01 Sep 2020 Qantas Qantas CEO: 'We don't see demand coming back until 2023 or 2024'
APAC 02 May 2020 Qantas Qantas CEO Says Australian Domestic Market Will Remain Competitive
APAC 09 Apr 2020 Qantas Qantas CEO Moots Potential One Year Flight Suspension
APAC 22 Jun 2020 Qantas Qantas Celebrates Successful Friday Sale Results Showing Rebounding Travel Demand
APAC 02 Oct 2020 Qantas Qantas begins cancelling international flights until March 2021
APAC 19 Aug 2020 Qantas Qantas Airways expects domestic group market share to increase to 70%
North America 18 Mar 2020 Government Puerto Rico seeks to suspend all incoming flights
North America 18 Jun 2020 Government Puerto Rico Announces It Will Be Open For Travelers On July 15th
North America 01 Sep 2020 Government President Trump Will Step In To Help Airlines
North America 16 Mar 2020 Government President Trump considering domestic restrictions, adds U.K. to ban
APAC 18 Sep 2020 Government Pre-travel testing a go: Trans-Pacific visitors to get scanned starting Oct. 15
North America 01 Aug 2020 Hawaiian Airlines Potentially 2,000 Hawaiian Airlines Employees at Risk of Involuntary Furlough
North America 16 Mar 2020 Air Canada Postponed launches of new routes
EMEA 15 Apr 2020 Air Portugal Portuguese Prime Minister Suggests TAP Air Portugal Nationalization
EMEA 08 Oct 2020 Air Portugal Portuguese government completes TAP stake increase
EMEA 22 Apr 2020 Government Poland could give citizens money for domestic travel
North America 24 Mar 2020 Industry Plans to virtually shut down U.S. passenger flights are in the works
EMEA 06 Jul 2020 British Airways Pilots' union has reached outline deal with British Airways in fight to save jobs
APAC 26 Apr 2020 Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines suspends all services until 15-May-2020
APAC 21 Jul 2020 Government Passengers Now Need a Negative Covid Test Certificate Before Flying to China
APAC 29 Apr 2020 IATA Passenger Demand Plunges in March as Travel Restrictions Take Hold
APAC 03 Aug 2020 Government Pandemic’s second wave: risk to Japanese domestic aviation revival
EMEA 14 Oct 2020 Government Pandemic Delays Israel-UAE Direct Flights Until 2021
Latin America 27 Apr 2020 COPA Panama's Copa Airlines warns it may lack the cash to keep operations afloat
Latin America 21 Aug 2020 Government Panama suspends international flights for another month
Latin America 18 Oct 2020 Government Panama offers COVID-19 tests to international travelers
APAC 23 Mar 2020 Industry Pacific Islands Are Losing All Air Services Amid Route Suspensions
Global 20 Mar 2020 COVID-19 Oxford Economics predicts rapid economic recovery post-Covid-19
North America 20 Mar 2020 Air Canada Over 5,000 layoffs
Global 24 Apr 2020 Industry Over 100 million jobs losses in the Travel & Tourism sector and alerts G20 countries to the scale of the crisis