With its aircraft still grounded and borders closed, Thai Airways is trying to think out of the box, introducing a host of new alternative revenue streams with wheels still firmly on the ground. 

AirAsia is turning to its digital and e-commerce portfolio as an alternate revenue stream while the Malaysia-based LCC group’s network remains disrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Star Alliance members Austrian Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) are resuming scheduled services to China eight months after they were suspended following the outbreak of the coronavirus. 

United Airlines said Sept. 24 that it will start a pilot testing program for exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) for passengers traveling to Hawaii, declaring itself the first U.S. carrier to make testing available.

Danish Air Transport (DAT) plans to cut back its domestic routes in the face of continuing weak demand and what the company’s boss said was the failure of the European Commission (EC) to provide adequate financial support.

United Airlines will delay the planned furlough date of nearly 3,000 pilots until Oct. 31, in a bid to buy more time for negotiators to hammer out an agreement to keep the entire workgroup in place until summer 2021. 

IATA, which represents some 290 airlines globally, has changed plans to hold its 2020 AGM as a live event and is making it virtual for the first time in 76 years of annual meetings.

With international leisure travel still not on the horizon, high net worth Chinese travelers—and those with pent up desire to fly—are now looking to spend the “Golden Week” within China.