Category Archives: Aviation

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 …

In reference to the Notification of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand and Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, on practical guidelines for Air Operators relating to services to be provided in territories outside Thailand defined as disease infected zones of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak, including the Republic of Korea, the People’s Republic of China, including Macao and Hong Kong Special Administration Regions, the Italian Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran, passengers are required to present the following documents at check-in: 1. A health certificate certifying they had no sickness related to Covid-19 (Coronavirus) in the past 14 days. This health certificate must be issued 48 hours prior to flying and should be issued in English or Thai language. 2. Proof they hold a health/travel insurance with a minimum of 100,000 USD cover in Thailand. – This does not apply to nationals of Thailand. If unable to present the required documentation, boarding passes will not be issued and passengers will be denied boarding.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) will temporarily change its flight frequency to and from select cities. 1.International Flights (March 16 – 28) A total of 267 flights serving 23 routes to the following cities will be affected by the changes announced today, bringing the total number of affected flights to 2,224 serving 46 different routes. *Before the changes, ANA planned to serve a total of 67 international routes in March.

Qantas and Jetstar have introduced greater flexibility for customers wishing to change their travel plans, following increased travel restrictions being implemented by various governments around the world due to the evolving Coronavirus situation. These changes apply to all domestic and international flights for Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar (including Jetstar domestic services in New Zealand and Jetstar Asia’s flights between Darwin and Singapore). EXISTING BOOKINGS Customers with existing bookings on any domestic or international flight until 31 May 2020, who no longer wish to travel, can cancel their flight and retain the value of the booking as a travel credit voucher. This needs to be processed by 31 March 2020. Travel credit vouchers can be used for travel on any domestic or international flights. Qantas and Jetstar will waive the change fee once customers are ready to rebook. For Qantas customers, travel credit can be redeemed for travel for up to 12 months from the original booking. For Jetstar customers, travel vouchers can be redeemed in one booking only within 6 months of issue, for travel within 12 months of new booking date. Qantas Frequent Flyers who have booked classic redemption flights on Qantas, Jetstar and all partner airlines, and no longer wish to travel, will have change fees waived. NEW BOOKINGS To provide customers with greater flexibility and confidence when they book, customers who make a new domestic or international booking and later decide they no longer wish to travel, can cancel their flight and retain the value of the booking as a Qantas travel credit or Jetstar travel voucher. This applies to bookings made from 10 March 2020 until 31 March 2020 for travel before 31 May 2020. This …

Ryanair recently has announced the suspension of its full flight schedule to/from and within Italy, following the decision of the Italian Government to “lock down” the entire country to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus. These additional cuts will be implemented as follows: From 24:00hrs Weds 11 Mar until 24:00hrs Wed 8 Apr, Ryanair will suspend all Italian domestic flights. From 24:00hrs Fri 13 Mar until 24:00hrs Wed 8 Apr, Ryanair will suspend all Italian international flights.   All affected passengers have received email notices today informing them of these flight cancellations. Passengers looking for repatriation can obtain a free move to an earlier Ryanair flight operating up until midnight Fri 13  Mar. Affected passengers will be able to choose between a full refund or a travel credit that can be redeemed on Ryanair flights in the next 12 months. Ryanair continues to comply fully with WHO and national Government guidance and travel bans. The situation is changing on a daily basis, and all passengers on flights affected by travel bans or cancellations, are receiving emails and are being offered flight transfers, full refunds or travel credits. Ryanair apologises sincerely to all customers for these schedule disruptions, which are caused by national Government restrictions and the latest decision of the Italian Government to lock down the entire country to combat the Covid-19 virus.