Tight liquidity in Europe
A CAPA evaluation of liquidity in European airlines finds that Wizz Air has liquidity equivalent to 48 per cent of its last year revenue, or funds to cover 176 days, while Ryanair has 47 per cent (170 days). Finnair has 133, IAG 132, easyJet 113 Air France-KLM 81, Turkish 66 and Lufthansa and SAS 51, although the latter has guarantees on $300m of debt from the Danish and Swedish governments. Nordic has just 26 days of liquidity.

Airubus suspends production for safety implementation
Airbus has suspended production at its sites in France and Spain. For four days to give the planemaker time to implement ‘stringent health and safety conditions’. It says it is looking to implement home working where possible in both facilities. Reuters has reported that that Airbus would likely seek government support, should the coronavirus situation continue for an extended period.

NASA has successfully tested an advanced air-to-air photographic technology in flight, capturing the first-ever images of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft in flight. Photo taken earlier this month. Photo:NASA

Boeing puts case for State aid
Boeing has called on the US government to provide at least $60 billion in aid to the aerospace manufacturing community in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis. ‘This will be one of the most important ways for airlines, airports, suppliers and manufacturers to bridge to recovery,” Boeing said. It is arguing that liquidity support for Boeing would have far reaching benefits throughout the supply chain. Boeing has called for the aid by way of public and private liquidity, including loan guarantees. It says the long-term outlook for the aerospace industry ‘is still strong, but until global passenger traffic resumes to normal levels, these measures are needed to manage the pressure on the aviation sector and the economy as a whole.’

GECAS puts Bordeaux over trading, commercial and portfolio strategy
GECAS has appointed John Bordeaux as Chief Investment Officer, with responsibility for Aircraft Trading, Commercial Operations and Portfolio Strategy. He will take up the role from April 2020. GECAS says that having all these disciplines under one leader ‘will ensure we take a holistic view of our portfolio and buy-hold-sell decisions’. Bordeaux is currently the Global Financial Planning & Analysis Leader of GE Capital, a role he has held since May 2018. Prior to this, he has held several key roles in the company’s Finance and Capital Markets, including MD roles in GE Energy Financial Services and as Finance Leader for GE’s Global Growth Sales & Project Finance team. Bordeaux started his GE career in GECAS in 2008 as VP Transaction Advisory. He is a graduate of Loyola University in Maryland and is also a graduate of GE’s Experienced Financial Leadership Program.

ALC places two Airbus A330-200 aircraft on lease with Nordwind Airlines
Air Lease Corporation has placed two used Airbus A330-200 aircraft on long-term lease with Nordwind Airlines. Previously on long-term lease from ALC to Vietnam Airlines, these aircraft will deliver to Moscow-based Nordwind Airlines in spring. They were replaced with two new Boeing 787-10 aircraft delivered to Vietnam Airlines from ALC’s order book with Boeing in the past few weeks.Nordwind is a Russian leisure airline established in 2008 and headquartered in Moscow.

AerCap leases B787-8 aircraft to EuroAtlantic
AerCap and EuroAtlantic Airways, a provider of ACMI services as well as charter aviation services, have signed an agreement for the lease of two used Boeing 787-8 aircraft. The aircraft are scheduled to deliver in the spring of 2021, and will be the first 787s to be based in Portugal.

Jackson Square delivers two B787-9s to Air Europa
Jackson Square Aviation has delivered two new Boeing 787-9 aircraft on lease to Spanish airline Air Europa. The deliveries are part of JSA’s ongoing PDP and SLB delivery financing commitments to Air Europa, running since 2015 through to 2021, across multiple aircraft types.

MAC’s latest M90 completes maiden flight
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation has completed the maiden flight of the first Mitsubishi SpaceJet M90 in final, certifiable baseline configuration. With the completion of FTV10’s first flight, MAC is prepared to enter the final phase of certification flight-testing for the first commercial jet manufactured in Japan.

Alitalia to be nationalised?
The Italian government has indicated its may be willing to take Alitalia back into State ownership. The carrier currently has two state loans outstanding, a €300 million bridging loan and a further loan of €600 million. However, Italy’s AGI news agency has reported that the government has set up a €600 million fund to aid the aviation sector during the current crisis, part of which might be deployed as further aid for the flag carrier.