WASHINGTON - A group of Senate Republicans on Wednesday and President Donald Trump backed extending a 25 billion Dollar payroll assistance program for U.S. airlines, after warnings that carriers may be forced to cut tens of thousands of jobs this fall without further government action.

WASHINGTON - Virgin Atlantic Airways is seeking protection from creditors in the United States under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which allows a foreign debtor to shield assets in this country, according to a court filing on Tuesday.

LONDON - British low cost airline Easyjet said it planned to fly about 40 percent of its capacity over the rest of the summer, more than originally scheduled as bookings were stronger than expected despite ongoing restrictions due to the pandemic. The airline also expects an improving financial performance.

LONDON - London City Airport and Lufthansa have announced that flights between central London and Frankfurt will resume at the start of September. The German airline will commence two flights a day between the two global financial centres from Monday 7th September in a bid to restore business travel.

LONDON - British Airways pilots accepted a 20 percent pay cut in an effort to save their jobs - the airline will now limit redundancies to one fifth of the 1,255 pilots it initally had put on notice. At the same time, Britain curbed rules for a rehiring bonus for furloughed staff at large companies.

LONDON - British Airways owner IAG plans to raise 2.75 billion euros from shareholders to repair the coronavirus-sized hole in its finances and brace for a more chaotic future. CEO Willie Walsh said the plan, backed by biggest shareholder Qatar Airways, was needed to survive the most severe crisis in aviation history.

KUALA LUMPU - Malaysia's AirAsia X fell to a net loss in its first quarter as the pandemic slowed air travel demand and continues to face severe liquidity constraints, it said in a bourse filing late Thursday. It was the airline's fourth straight quarterly loss.

LONDON - British Airways faces strike action over its plans to cut jobs, pay and conditions, the trade union representing cabin crew said, piling more pressure on the airline which has been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis and quarantine rules. The airline is pushing a fire and rehire move by early August.

PARIS - Global airlines cut their coronavirus recovery forecast, saying it would take until 2024 - a year longer than previously expected - for passenger traffic to return to pre-crisis levels. The segment of business travel might face the longest and steepest path to commercial recovery.

PARIS - Britain's surprise move to quarantine passengers arriving from Spain dealt a heavy blow to European airlines already reeling from the coronavirus crisis - and sowed new doubts about the prospects for a steady travel recovery. The decision sparked criticism among industry bodies

MANCHESTER - Budget airline Jet2.com said on Monday it would be cancelling flights from Britain to 10 destinations in Spain on Tuesday, after earlier cancelling flights to four destinations. Other airlines also adapt their schedules to tighter travel regulations. Tour operator TUI will suspend all holidays to mainland Spain.

DUBLIN - Ryanair reported on Monday an after-tax loss of 185 million euros (168.64 million pounds) for the three months to June 30 after COVID-19 reduced traffic by 99 percent, and the airline said it was impossible to say whether it might turn a profit this year.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday issued an emergency airworthiness directive for 2,000 U.S.-registered Boeing 737 NG and Classic aircraft, warning of possible corrosion on parked planes that could lead to a dual-engine failure.

HELSINKI - Finnair plunged to a second-quarter loss as the coronavirus pandemic kept most flights grounded, and said it would make a similar loss this quarter, despite an increasing number of flights. Shares in Finland's flagship airline fell 4.5% to 0.50 euros in Friday trading.

LONDON - British Airways owner IAG is set to issue shares at the end of the summer in a bid to raise up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.88 billion) to keep the business afloat and avoid a government bailout, several sources said. IAG would not comment on new plans to tap the markets.

HOUSTON - American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are rethinking the number of flights they had planned to add to their schedules for August and September as Covid-19 cases accelerated in the United States, passing 4 million on Thursday. The airlines still burn millions of cash each day.

LONDON - UK pilots' union BALPA is recommending that its 4,300 members accept British Airways' proposal of about 20 percent reduced pay and voluntary severance to limit the amount of forced job cuts, the union said on Wednesday. Hundreds of pilots will be placed in a pooling scheme.

DUBLIN - Ryanair is to close its base at Frankfurt Hahn Airport, and bases at Berlin Tegel and Duesseldorf airports are likely to shut down at the end of the summer after German pilots rejected proposed pay cuts, the Irish airline said on Tuesday.

DOHA - Qatar Airways is seeking at least $5 billion in compensation from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain for blocking it from their airspace, the state-owned carrier said on Wednesday. The airline has been banned from the airspace of the four countries since June 2017.

SYDNEY - Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce signed the carrier's last Boeing Co 747 jet at Sydney airport on Wednesday, shortly before it was due to fly to the Mojave Desert for a retirement brought forward by the coronavirus pandemic. Only a few 747-400 remain in operation in the global airliner fleet.