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 This page is no longer updated but remains a source for looking back on the events our industry weathered during our toughest times.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
APAC 03 Apr 2020 Qantas Qantas switches off inflight WiFi, movies, TV shows to save cash
APAC 17 Apr 2020 Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines pax down 63% in Mar-2020, load factor declines to 55.7%
APAC 19 Mar 2020 Government New Zealand and Australia close borders to foreigners
APAC 25 Mar 2020 COVID-19 Beijing tightens quarantine rules for overseas travelers as China reports two-fold increase in new coronavirus cases
APAC 23 Apr 2020 Government China's Domestic Business Travel Slowly Waking Up
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
APAC 11 May 2020 Cathay Pacific Struggling Cathay Pacific hints at further job losses with pilots now in the firing line
APAC 18 May 2020 Virgin Australia Meet The 4 Companies Shortlisted For Virgin Australia
APAC 25 May 2020 Air New Zealand Air New Zealand sees annual underlying loss due to coronavirus
APAC 03 Jun 2020 Vietnam Airlines Vietnam Airlines Grows Domestic Network After Full Restoration Of Flights
APAC 05 Jul 2020 ANA Japan’s ANA and JAL secure $1.6bn in export-credit guarantees
APAC 15 Aug 2020 Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Group Sees Just 23.4% Of Seats Filled In July
APAC 19 Aug 2020 Qantas Qantas Airways expects domestic group market share to increase to 70%
APAC 21 Aug 2020 Qantas Qantas CEO: U.S. Flights Won’t Resume Until 2021 End
APAC 04 Sep 2020 Government Australia Extends Outbound Travel Ban Until Mid-December
APAC 12 Sep 2020 Government How coronavirus has made travel in China a whole lot harder for foreigners
APAC 28 Sep 2020 Hong Kong Airlines Hong Kong Airlines Seeks To Cut Flight Attendant Salaries
APAC 09 Oct 2020 Government Japan Could Be About To Reopen The Door To International Travel
APAC 20 Oct 2020 Air New Zealand Air New Zealand offers 'mystery breaks' to lure travelers back
APAC 24 Oct 2020 Government India Seeks To Further Ease Travel Restrictions
APAC 14 Dec 2020 COVID-19 Thailand now open to the whole world
APAC 09 Apr 2020 Qantas Qantas CEO Moots Potential One Year Flight Suspension
APAC 21 Apr 2020 Virgin Australia Virgin Australia Is Latest Airline to Collapse Because of Coronavirus
APAC 31 Mar 2020 Travelsky Travelsky Puts On a Brave Face as Chinese Flight Demand Slowly Rebounds
APAC 17 May 2020 China Southern Airlines China Southern Sees Continued Rebound In Domestic Travel
APAC 29 May 2020 Virgin Australia Virgin Australia Bids To Narrow To Just 2 Parties
APAC 02 Jun 2020 Virgin Australia Bain and Branson-linked Cyrus final two in race to buy Virgin
APAC 17 Aug 2020 ANA All Nippon Airways reports 70% domestic pax decline, intl down 96% during 2020 Obon period
APAC 16 Sep 2020 Air New Zealand Air New Zealand considers laying off hundreds more cabin crew
APAC 02 Oct 2020 Qantas Qantas begins cancelling international flights until March 2021
APAC 11 Oct 2020 Government Australia in travel talks with Japan, Korea as coronavirus cases ease
APAC 15 Oct 2020 Virgin Australia Confirmed: Virgin Australia CEO Is Leaving The Airline
APAC 22 Oct 2020 Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific to cut workforce by 24%, slay Cathay Dragon
APAC 23 Mar 2020 Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines cuts 96% of capacity, grounds 138 planes as countries tighten border controls
APAC 03 Apr 2020 Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines To Resume Operations On Select Routes
APAC 13 Apr 2020 EVA Air EVA Air pax down 78% in Mar-2020
APAC 18 Mar 2020 Air China Air China executive on maintaining U.S. flying: 'Somebody has to do it'
APAC 03 Apr 2020 Travelsky Travelsky Puts On a Brave Face as Chinese Flight Demand Slowly Rebounds
APAC 21 Apr 2020 Government China Could See A Wave Of Airline Mergers
APAC 12 May 2020 Government Vietnam Races Ahead of Other Southeast Asian Countries in Tourism Reopening
APAC 29 May 2020 ANA ANA Holdings undertakes $3.3 billion debt financing
APAC 11 Jun 2020 Government Japan to let in 250 business travelers a day under close watch
APAC 15 Jul 2020 Industry COVID-19 disrupts Asia-Pacific airline fleet strategies
APAC 21 Jul 2020 Government Passengers Now Need a Negative Covid Test Certificate Before Flying to China
APAC 12 Aug 2020 Cathay Pacific Cathay plunges to record HK$8.7 billion loss in ‘most challenging’ first half
APAC 18 Oct 2020 Qantas Qantas to exit joint venture with Vietnam Airlines: report
APAC 16 Nov 2020 Thai Airways Thai Airways Selling Everything From Cutlery To Boeing 747s In Bid To Raise Funds
APAC 07 Dec 2020 All Nippon Airways Japan's ANA sets share price for new issues at 2,286 yen per share
APAC 23 Mar 2020 Industry Pacific Islands Are Losing All Air Services Amid Route Suspensions
APAC 31 Mar 2020 Government Indonesia Bans Foreign Arrivals