Category Archives: Aviation

As per the DGCA advisory to restrict international traffic from Turkey and Malaysia, IndiGo will be cancelling its flights between Delhi-Istanbul and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur from March 18, 2020 until March 31, 2020. The airline has already cancelled flights between Bangalore-Kuala Lumpur until March 31, 2020 and Delhi-Kuala Lumpur until April 30, 2020. These are purely temporary and precautionary measures. We understand that these measures will cause inconvenience to our customers and we will be refunding the full amount to the impacted passengers.

Aviation regulator DGCA has directed all domestic and international carriers to “scrupulously” follow the fresh travel restrictions announced by the government on Monday, which cover countries from the European Union and the UK, and Turkey. With cases of coronavirus swelling in the country, the government on Monday prohibited entry of passengers from EU countries, Turkey and the UK from March 18 till March 31. “Travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the UK to India is prohibited with effect from March 18. No airline shall board a passenger from these nations with effect from 1200 GMT on March 18. The airline shall enforce it at the initial port of departure,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular. It also said the government has expanded compulsory quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days for passengers coming or transiting through Qatar, UAE, Oman and Kuwait and this will also come into effect from 1200 GMT of March 18 at the port of first departure. “Both these restrictions are temporary measures and shall be in force till March 31 and will be reviewed subsequently. “All scheduled Indian and foreign airlines engaged in international transportation to and from India, therefore, are directed to scrupulously follow above advisory and not to carry any passenger in violation thereof,” the DGCA said in the circular.

As a result of the coronavirus and the measures implemented by national authorities, the demand for air travel is virtually non-existent. SAS has therefore decided to put most of its operations on hold, starting on Monday 16 March and until the necessary conditions for commercial aviation return. To help our customers, SAS will, as far as possible, maintain a certain level of operation over the next few days to enable travelers to return from different destinations . We will be at the disposal of the authorities, at their request, to bring stranded citizens home or maintain community-critical infrastructure for as long as possible. This also means that SAS is unfortunately forced to temporarily reduce its workforce by up to 10,000 employees, corresponding to 90% of the workforce . The temporary reductions will affect all parts of SAS and will be implemented in accordance with national legislation in each country . SAS implements these measures in order to return to normal operation as soon as the situation permits.

Lufthansa Group Airlines Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Air Dolomiti are expanding their existing, comprehensive rebooking options in the interests of their customers due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the spread of the coronavirus. Customers who have tickets for cancelled and also existing Lufthansa Group Airline flights can keep this ticket without having to commit to a new flight date directly. Existing bookings will be cancelled for the time being, but the ticket and ticket value will remain unchanged and can be rebooked to a new departure date up to and including 31 December 2020. This rule applies to tickets booked up to and including 12 March 2020 and having a confirmed travel date up to and including 30 April 2020. Customers are requested to inform us of their desired rebooking by 1 June 2020. No rebooking fees will be charged. If the original fare is no longer available, the corresponding difference must be paid when the rebooking is made. In addition, customers can also rebook to another destination. With this extended goodwill arrangement, Lufthansa Group Airlines are responding to the wish of many customers to be able to have more flexibility regarding their travel plans given the current exceptional circumstances. Last week, the Lufthansa Group already introduced flexible rebooking options for its customers with regard to existing and future bookings. More information is available at lh.com. In addition, customers can contact the service hotline at any time on +49 (0) 69 86 799 799 to change their reservations.

Aeroflot has adjusted its flight schedules to destinations in Europe. From 16 March, Aeroflot will continue to operate flights from Moscow to the following destinations in Europe: Amsterdam, Athens, Belgrade, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Dublin, Geneva, Helsinki, Larnaca, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Paris, Riga, Rome, Sofia, Stockholm, Tivat and Zagreb. Aeroflot has temporarily suspended flights between Moscow and the following cities: Barcelona (21 March to 30 April) Bukhara (16 March to 30 April) Chishinau (19 March to 31 March) Copenhagen (17 March and subsequently from 21 March to 30 April) Frankfurt (19 March to 30 April) Munich (19 March to 30 April) Oslo (18 March to 30 April) Prague (20 March to 30 April) Samarkand (16 March to 30 April) Tallinn (19 March to 30 April) Tashkent (16 March to 30 April) Thessaloniki (16 March to 30 April) Vienna (20 March to 30 April) Vilnius (19 March to 30 March) Warsaw (15 March to 27 March) Zurich (19 March to 30 April) Aeroflot will continue operating the following flights to allow Russian citizens to return to Russia: Prague – SU2012/SU2013 and SU2016/2017 (16 to 19 March) Frankfurt – SU2300/2301 (16, 17, 18 March), SU2304/2305 (16, 17 March) and SU2656/2657 (18 March) Munich – SU2322/2323 (16, 17, 18 March) Barcelona – SU2638/2639 (16, 17, 18, 19, 20 March), SU2512/2513 (16, 17, 19, 20 March) and SU2514/2515 (18 March) Zurich – SU2486/2487 (16-18 March) Copenhagen – SU2658/2659 (16, 18, 19, 20 March) Oslo – SU2174/2175 (16-17 March) Chishinau – SU1844/1845 (16-18 March) Vilnius – SU2108/2109 (16-17 March) Warsaw – SU2002/2003 (16-18 March) Tallinn – SU2106/2107 (17-19 March) Vienna – SU2184/2185 (17, 18, 19 March), SU2352/2353 (17, 19 March) and SU2354/2355 (18, 19 March) Scheduled Rossiya Airlines flights operated under Aeroflot’s SU code from St Petersburg to EU destinations including Larnaca, Prague and Vienna, as well as to …

Finnair is cancelling all flights to the US between 19 March and 12 April due to the US Government’s travel restrictions. Finnair is also cancelling its flights to Delhi between 15 March and 14 April due to recent visa restrictions. Finnair flies from Helsinki to New York and back until 18 March, in order to fly customers home. For flights departing 14 – 18 March, restrictions on Schengen passengers going to the US will be in effect as specified by the US authorities. Finnair also flies to Los Angeles on Sunday 15 March and to Miami today, 12 March. Finnair is continuously following the impacts of the coronavirus situation. Due to the decreased transfer passenger loads caused by these cancelations, further impacts on Finnair’s narrow-body traffic in Europe are to be expected. Finnair will communicate these changes once such decisions are made. Finnair will communicate flight cancellations directly to customers who have bookings on these flights. Customers can then either seek for a full ticket refund or postpone their travel by contacting Finnair’s customer services. Unfortunately, the customer service lines are very congested at the moment, so we suggest customers who don’t have bookings for immediate departures to contact Finnair’s customer services at a later stage. In addition, Finnair is offering customers with bookings on Finnair flights full flexibility to change their travel dates without a change fee until 30 November, 2020.

Air France has taken note of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s announcement of new United States border restrictions as of 14 March 2020. Flights to and from the United States are operating as normal on 13 March 2020. From 14 to 28 March 2020 included, Air France plans to continue operations to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, San Francisco and Washington. Air France is working with its partners KLM, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic on implementing a plan to continue service to the United States for its customers beyond 28 March 2020.

In light of recent travel restrictions imposed by various governments, including Singapore and Australia, in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, AirAsia is making the following provisions available for guests who are unable to travel due to their travel history, nationalities or respective travel bans. 1. Move flight: One-time flight change to a new travel date on the same route within 90 calendar days from the original flight time without additional cost, subject to seat availability; OR 2. Credit account: Retain the value of your fare in your AirAsia BIG Loyalty account for future travel with AirAsia. The online credit account is to be redeemed for booking within 365 calendar days from the issuance date for your travel with us. The actual travel dates can be after the expiry date as long as our flight schedule is out. The above options are available for flights ticketed prior to 7 March, for flight departure until 30 April. Guests who wish to choose any of these options when making voluntary changes to their travel plans may do so via support.airasia.com.  Meanwhile, guests whose travel plans are affected by restrictions or cancellations are advised to refer to the Covid-19 Refund Request Guide. AirAsia assures that the safety and wellbeing of our guests and Allstars is our top priority. AirAsia is complying with advice and regulations from the local government, civil aviation authorities, global and local health agencies, including the World Health Organization. AirAsia is closely monitoring the public health situation and reserves the right to announce further policies according to the latest developments.

Singapore Airlines is waiving all rebooking fees for tickets issued on or before 15 March 2020, for travel up to 31 May 2020, with immediate effect. Customers can cancel their existing flight itineraries, retain the value of their tickets and rebook their travel at a later date, when they are able to firm up their new travel plans. The new flight itinerary should be completed by 31 March 2021. This new policy will allow customers the flexibility to defer their travel plans and applies to all bookings for travel up to 31 May 2020. All rebooking fees will be waived, although a fare difference may apply for the new itinerary. SIA will continue to review its waiver policy and retains the flexibility to extend the cut-off date of 31 May 2020 as it assesses the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on global air travel in the coming weeks. For all new SIA and SilkAir tickets issued from now to 31 March 2020, SIA will also waive change fees. Customers may contact us through our online form. Customers who booked their tickets directly through Singapore Airlines may also contact their local Singapore Airlines reservations teams. Customers who booked their tickets through travel agencies are advised to contact their agents for assistance. Due to the high volume of incoming requests, we seek our customers understanding that it may take longer than usual for our service agents to respond. Customers are encouraged to only contact us if their flight is departing in the next 72 hours in order for our agents to focus on and assist those with urgent flight changes. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Air New Zealand is further reducing capacity across its network as a result of the impact of Covid-19 on travel demand. The airline placed itself into a trading halt today to allow it time to more fully assess the operational and financial impacts of global travel restrictions. On its long haul network Air New Zealand will be reducing its capacity by 85 percent over the coming months and will operate a minimal schedule to allow Kiwis to return home and to keep trade corridors with Asia and North America open. Full details of this schedule will be advised in the coming days. Among the long haul network capacity reductions, the airline can advise it is suspending flights between Auckland and Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, Tokyo Narita, Honolulu, Denpasar and Taipei from 30 March to 30 June. It is also suspending its London-Los Angeles service from 20 March (ex LAX) and 21 March (ex LHR) through to 30 June. The Tasman and Pacific Island network capacity will significantly reduce between April and June. Details of these schedule changes will be announced later this week. On the Domestic network, capacity will be reduced by around 30 percent in April and May but no routes will be suspended. Customers are advised that due to the unprecedented level of schedule changes they should not contact the airline unless they are due to fly within the next 48 hours or need immediate repatriation to New Zealand or their home country. Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran says that while airlines face an unprecedented challenge, Air New Zealand is better placed than most to navigate its way through it. “The resilience of our people is exceptional and I …