Industry The latest industry news on the Coronavirus crisis

On Monday, Austria announced, that the main air traffic will be stopped. Flag-carrier Austrian Airlines afterwards decided to ground the main part of its fleet. IAG then released, that it plans to cancel at least 75 percent of all flights, while Air France grounds the A380 and KLM its 747.

The largest carrier in Europe, Ryanair also announced that it will stop flying 80% of all services. As the carrier is based on its low-cost business plan, the senior leadership will now try to reduce costs. In March the carrier said that it has a liquidity of more than four billion Euros.

Tuesday, it became clear, that 11 Boeing employees have already been tested positive with COVID-19. This has led Boeing to pressing the government for short-term grants in order to ensure the production. Then, Airbus announced the production stop for four days at the facilities in France and Spain.

Italy´s flag-carrier Alitalia has been struggling with its finances for the last years. The Coronavirus-crisis has intensified the worries of the airline. Italy now plans to nationalize Alitalia. But the government had not found an investor for years. According to news, the government has launched a 500 million € aid fund that will rehabilitate the aviation sector as a whole.

Several airports were then announcing to prepare for the worst. Austria´s airports are set to close, same with Brussels Airport, as main operating carrier Brussels Airlines will suspend all flights until Saturday. In the evening, Finland said that it wants to stop all international aircraft movements.

On Wednesday, the ILA 2020 in Berlin got cancelled. Air Dolomiti machines stayed on the ground after Austrian and Brussels had suspended its flights, too. Several airports like Hamburg, Dusseldorf or Vienna combined their terminal capacities, Air Malta then announced to have stopped all flights as well.

Yesterday, Germany extended the entry restrictions to EU countries and Carsten Spohr, CEO of Germany´s largest carrier Lufthansa, said that he expects airlines worldwide to only survive this crisis with the help of state support.

Several airlines announced the suspension of flights to Europe and Emirates for example had to send staff on unpaid leave. In Europe, TAP was the next airline to announce a major cut in its flight program. The day closed with the news that the trial operation at the new Berlin airport is at risk due to the Coronavirus.

Over the next days, new and important industry news will continue to be released. We are committed to bring to you all latest news from the aviation industry during the Coronavirus-crisis.