EasyJet grounds entire fleet while Loganair bailout looms

Budget airline EasyJet has become the latest carrier to suspend operations entirely because of the coronavirus.

In a statement on Monday, the airline said that it is grounding all 334 of its planes in Europe as a result of travel restrictions across the region, adding that it cannot be sure when flights will resume.

The airline said that it operated the last of 650 “rescue flights” on Sunday to repatriate 45,000 customers, but could not continue to fly “as a result of the unprecedented travel restrictions imposed by governments in response to the coronavirus pandemic.”

A passenger walks past an information board announcing flight cancellations at Arlanda international airport outside Stockholm, with the airport being unusually empty due to concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus on March 16, 2020. (Photo by Fredrik SANDBERG / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP) / Sweden OUT (Photo by FREDRIK SANDBERG/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images)

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It said it will continue to work with governments to operate additional rescue flights if requested.

EasyJet operates about 2,000 flights a day on more than 1,000 routes across 36 countries, mostly in Europe. “At this stage there can be no certainty of the date for restarting commercial flights,” the company said, adding that it will depend on regulations and demand.

The airline’s 4,000 UK cabin crew will be furloughed for two months starting April 1 and will be paid 80% of their average wage by the government, it added. EasyJet employs 9,000 people in the United Kingdom. A spokesperson said it is in talks with the Britain’s pilots union “on the arrangements for pilots.”

Nationwide lockdowns and flight bans across most of the world have virtually shut down the aviation industry, leaving many airlines at risk of bankruptcy unless governments provide bailouts.

The United Kingdom’s biggest regional airline, Scotland-based Loganair, said on Monday that it plans to approach the UK government for financial aid shortly.

“The government has made it clear that it is open to requests for support from individual airlines and whilst Loganair has not yet taken up this invite, we fully expect to join other UK airlines in doing so in the coming days,” CEO Jonathan Hinkles said in a statement.

Ryanair keeps limited schedule

Ryanair, (RYAAY) the largest low-cost airline in Europe, said Monday that over 90% of its aircraft would be grounded over the coming weeks, and that it would be running a limited flight schedule through at least April 9.

“We are working with EU governments to try to keep some minimum flight links open for emergency reasons, even though the passenger loads on these flights will be very low,” the Irish carrier said in a statement.

According to the International Air Transport Association, global airlines could be facing a cash shortfall of $200 billion this year. IATA said last week that European carriers could lose $76 billion in revenue and see passenger demand cut in half relative to 2019. US airlines, meanwhile, will receive tens of billion of dollars in support as part of the country’s $2 trillion stimulus package.

EasyJet said that it is in talks with lenders “who recognize our strength of balance sheet and business model.” The carrier will make use of a coronavirus emergency financing facility made available by the UK government to support large corporates, but has no plans to ask the government for “bespoke support.”

Grounding aircraft will remove significant cost, it added. Further action by the government will be needed to support recovery in the future, such as temporarily removing passenger duty and air traffic control charges, EasyJet said.