Pan-European budget carrier Ryanair has become the largest carrier in Europe to indicate it may suspend its services in the light of travel restrictions to counter the coronavirus pandemic. European carriers have over the past week been announcing increasingly large cuts to their services, as country’s tighten their border controls. A number have called a halt to flights altogether for the coming weeks - or will just operate a few flights to accomodate returning nationals. Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline by passenger number in 2019, had already warned it expected to park the majority of its fleet over the next week to 10 days as the impact of the coronavirus escalates, and could suspend all of its services for April and May It on 18 March says that from midnight until midnight 24 March the group will shut down operations on four-fifths of its routes. It expects that after 24 March “most if not all Ryanair Group flights will be grounded”, with the possible exception of a few key routes, mostly between the UK and Ireland. Air Malta had earlier today announced it would suspend all flights from 20 March.

Source: Cirium

South African regional carrier SA Express is suspending operations until further notice, in response to various pressures on the airline. While it mentions the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, SA Express indicates this is only one consideration behind its decision, attributing the suspension to “adverse recent developments”. The airline had been under substantial financial pressure and was driven into a business rescue process earlier this year. SA Express has also been grounded twice in the past four years by the country’s civil aviation regulator following safety concerns turned up by audits. The airline says it is suspending operations from 18 March, but has not indicated when services might be restored. All customers will be accommodated on alternative flights, it adds, while all non-critical personnel will be placed on compulsory leave. SA Express, which uses a fleet of Bombardier CRJs and Q400s, says it will use the suspension period to review its network and “streamline operations for improved efficiency”.

Source: Cirium

Trans States Airlines, which announced last month that it would be shuttering at the end of the year due to consolidation and a pilot shortage, has told its employees that it will go out of business nine months earlier, on 1 April. It could be the first US airline to fall victim to the coronavirus that has decimated the industry. “It’s difficult to articulate or even comprehend the speed at which the coronavirus has changed our industry and our world,” president of Trans States Holdings Rick Leach writes in a memo to employees on 17 March. “We received word late last night that the immediate cuts to our schedule are far deeper than we feared.” “We knew that the wind-down would be accelerated, but were confident that we could continue to fly for United for some months. Yet now, less than one month after our original announcement, we now have less than two weeks of flying remaining. It hardly seems possible,” he adds. Trans States did not respond to requests for comment on the internal memo. In late February, Trans States Airlines, which operates 46 Embraer ERJ-145 jets for United Airlines from Denver, Chicago and St. Louis, said it would be winding down operations at the end of 2020. According to Cirium fleets data, the airline provides feeder services to more than 80 cities in North America with about 240 daily flights. The Trans States memo to employees in February said United expressed a desire to “simplify the Embraer 145 programme by consolidating flying”. In addition, the company cited a pilot shortage as another reason it will cease operations. On Monday, industry group Airlines for America (A4A) asked the government for $58 billion in aid to assist airlines as they manage through the coronavirus crisis that has led to sharp declines in demand and subsequent cuts in service. All major US airlines, including United, said last week that they expect significantly lower revenue for the rest of the year.

Source: Cirium