LONDON - Ryanair and airport operator MAG are suing the UK Government over "unacceptable" travel restrictions. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's traffic light system continues to choke off air travel recovery, Ryanair said. To prevent further spreading of a new Covid-19 string, Downing Street so far rejects any adjustments to its policy.

LONDON - Wizz Air announced its first ever UK domestic services with flights from Cardiff and Sheffield to Jersey. Starting July 9th the new routes focus on holiday demand and will be operated Mondays and Fridays. Wizz Air UK will open a base in Cardiff - the latest in its network - this week.

DUBLIN - Hit hard by the Corona crisis, Irish regional airline Stobart Air ceased all its flight operations Friday. The airline will enter liquidation proceedings, its owner Esken said in a statement. A sale attempt had recently failed. The airline with 480 employees operated wet-lease flights for Aer Lingus.

LONDON - The UK Civil Aviation Authority has published passenger numbers for the first quarter of 2021. Overall, 3.4 million passengers flew in and out of the UK between January and March this year, across 80,625 flights. This represents a 94 percent fall in passenger numbers compared to the same period in 2019.

LONDON - The British traffic light system faces an industry wide backlash. Airlines, airports and tour operators feel "stuck with a system not fit for purpose" that cannot be scrutinized or challenged. While British tourists were forced to end their summer vacations early, other countries continue to reopen travel.

LONDON -  IAG reported a 1.14 billion euro loss for the first three months of 2021 on 20 percent of normal capacity. The airline group will maintain its tight capacity management until summer budgeting only a small increase to 25 percent for the April-June quarter as travel restrictions hit demand.

LONDON - The crisis erased a third of the revenue of Virgin Atlantic. The airline takes steep restructuring steps after posting a loss of 911 million pounds for 2020. Virgin Atlantic hopes to have all its fleet back up in the air by October or November this year, chief executive Shai Weiss said.

LONDON - Heathrow Airport tried to pass on its pandemic losses to airlines - the controversial request to increase charges by up to ten percent to recover 2.6 billion pounds over the next few year was rejected by British aviation regulator CAA Tuesday. Yet, neither the airport nor airlines are happy with the decision.

LONDON - British Airways sees "room for optimism" that transatlantic flights might open up in the coming weeks. Chief executive Sean Doyle expects demand for flights between the UK and United States return quickly as soon as Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted on both sides of the pond.

LONDON - Ryanair expects to break even this year followed by a dynamic recovery in 2022. The airline already sees demand returning with an upswing in bookings through April. In an interview with the "Financial Times" Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary showed confidence in the business travel segment after the crisis.

SYDNEY - The opening of a quarantine-free travel zone between Australia and New Zealand spurred instant demand for flights Monday. Hundreds of passengers crowded terminals to catch a Qantas or Air New Zealand flight marking and end to months of travel restrictions between the countries.

LONDON - Flybe returns to British skies this summer under new ownership. Thyme Opco - a shell company of former Flybe investor Cyrus Capital - snapped the assets of the regional airline that filed for bankruptcy and grounded its fleet in March 2020. According to administrator EY the sale has been completed Wednesday.

MANCHESTER - Jet2 cancels holidays until June 24 citing planning uncertainties as the British travel restart plan fails to convince airlines and tour operators. Easyjet and Jet2 see a financial burden for families as mandatory PCR tests after holidays might inflate travel costs.

LONDON - London City Airport (LCY) has welcomed the restoration of key regional routes, with flights to resume shortly to Edinburgh, Glasgow - both with British Airways -and Dundee with Loganair, re-establishing important domestic connectivity and tourism links between Scotland and the heart of London.

CHICAGO - United Airlines started to accept applications for its "Aviate" flight school program after a Covid-19 delay this week. The airline embarks on an ambitious plan to train 5,000 new pilots for its cockpits by the year 2030 and will enroll the first 100 students in 2021.

LONDON - Airlines will fight attempts by suppliers and airports, including Heathrow Airport, to cover pandemic losses by raising charges, the new head of industry body IATA Willie Walsh said on Wednesday, as he promised "strong and aggressive" resistance to such moves.

DUBAI - Qatar Airways called for countries to safely reopen borders on Tuesday, with its chief executive warning that more airlines would need state aid this year to avoid going bust. Akbar al-Baker said that Qatar Airways, one of the Gulf's biggest carriers, would emerge from the coronavirus crisis as a top global airline.

LONDON - British Airways and Virgin Atlantic expect international travel from Britain to resume on May 17 despite the government warning it is too soon to say whether holidays can go ahead this year. The UK government has said it will provide more details on restarting foreign travel this week.

LONDON  - The chief executive Easyjet criticised some of the government's plans to restart travel, saying Covid-19 tests should not be required for passengers travelling to low-risk destinations. According to Johan Lundgren, costs of tests in some cases exceed ticket prices of the LCC.

LONDON - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out plans to reopen the economy and eventually relaunch international travel on Monday when he updates the coronavirus roadmap, aided by one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the world. Astra and Pfizer shots might fuel airline recovery in the summer.