For international airlines, the coronavirus emergency is turning into a massacre. While the Center for Aviation (Capa), Star Alliance, Oneworld and Sky Team (the three alliances that incorporate the main giants of the sector), launch the alarm on the future of global aviation, the various companies try to organize themselves with contingency plans that respond to the restrictions imposed by the various countries and in the vast majority result in cancellations after cancellations. These include Lufthansa, EasyJet and Ryanair.
THE LUFTHANSA PLAN
“The longer this crisis lasts, the more likely it is the future of aviation cannot be guaranteed without state aid”. These are the words written by the managing director of Lufthansa Carsten Spohr who, through a note, announces the company's plan for the coming months.
Until 19 April, Lufthansa will only operate 5% of the originally planned flight schedule. Translated: 700 out of 763 aircraft will remain grounded.
“Due to the entry into force of restrictions in many countries and the collapse of demand – reads the press release – the Lufthansa group was forced to make drastic cuts to its operating programme. Air Dolomiti made its last flight for the time being yesterday and today the last scheduled flight of Austrian Airlines landed in Vienna. With the exception of special flights, Austrian Airlines will suspend its flight operations until 28 March. Brussels Airlines will not offer any scheduled flights between 21 March and 19 April." The list of blocked flights is still long: Lufthansa's long-haul flights from Munich have been suspended, while the company will continue to fly to Frankfurt. Swiss Air, on the other hand, will guarantee only 3 flights a week to Newark (USA), in addition to a very limited program of medium and short-haul flights. The “short” program has also been reduced, while only Lufthansa CityLine services will be operated from Munich. From the hubs in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich, very few European cities will be served.
“The spread of the coronavirus has put the entire global economy and also our company in an unprecedented state of emergency – continued Spohr – at the moment nobody is able to predict the consequences. We have to deal with this extraordinary situation with drastic and sometimes painful measures. At the same time, we must live up to the special responsibilities airlines have in their own countries. We are doing everything we can to bring as many passengers home as possible with special flights. In addition, we are making every effort to ensure continuity of supply lines for thousands of companies by mobilizing additional capacity for our cargo flights."
Moving from operational to financial information, Lufthansa also announced a series of measures aimed at strengthening its capital activity in presenting its accounts. For this reason the company has decided to so suspend the dividend on profits achieved in 2019. To ensure a solid financial position, the Lufthansa Group has raised additional funds of around 600 million euros over the last few weeks. In current terms, the group therefore has liquidity of approximately 4,3 billion and in addition there are unused lines of credit for approximately 800 million. Further funds are being raised and, among other things, Lufthansa will use the funds earmarked for aircraft financing for this purpose."
However, the year closed on a positive note, with an EBIT of 2 billion euros and revenues of 36,4 billion.
THE EASYJET PLAN
But Lufthansa is not the only company to have prepared an action plan. If the German company organizes itself in the short term, there are already those who have decided to look to the future, like EasyJet which is betting everything on flights for the next winter season. The company is offering tickets at a fixed fare of 36,90 (one way), taxes included, to fly from 25 October 2020 to 28 February 2021.
The booking channel has been activated and will remain available until midnight on March 24th. Furthermore, the airline will allow its customers to change, without penalty or payment of commissions, the flights that will be booked, including those that fall during the Christmas and winter holidays. Overall, there are 147 flights and 9 million seats on board. In this way easyJet aims to guarantee itself an injection of liquidity for a potential revenue of over 332 million euros.
As for the next few weeks, March 16th EasyJet has announced that the flight cancellation program is continuing and the majority of the company's flights will remain on the ground. Where possible, easyJet will continue to operate repatriation flights to help our customers get home
The European aviation industry “faces an uncertain future e there is no guarantee that airlines, with the benefits they bring to people, the economy and business, will be able to survive to what could turn into a substantial blockage of travel in the long term, with a very slow recovery perspective”.
"The future - continues EasyJet - will depend a lot on the possibility of maintaining access to liquidity, including that made available by governments throughout Europe".
RYANAIR'S PLAN
Ryanair, the most important low-cost airline in Europe, has decided to suspend almost all its flights. Starting March 18 80 percent of the planes will remain grounded, while a further tightening will come on March 24th. “From 24:00 on 24 March we expect most, if not all, of the Ryanair group flights to be grounded, with the exception of a very limited number of flights being operated to maintain essential connectivity, mainly between the UK and Ireland” , the company said.
The company will contact all passengers who will suffer cancellations, offering alternative solutions.
