SYDNEY - Qantas said that Australian state border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic had cost it A$100 million ($71 million) in earnings in the first quarter and would have a negative impact in the second quarter as well. The airline is running less than 30% of its normal domestic capacity.

LONDON - British Airways-owner IAG reported a 1.3 billion euro (1.2 billion pounds) loss in the third quarter as coronavirus restrictions continue to depress travel, forcing it to further downgrade its capacity outlook for the rest of the year - the airline group will hold short at 30 percent of normal capacity.

LISBON - British airline Easyjet confirmend plans to open a new base in Faro, the main city in Portugal's popular Algarve tourist region, which has been hammered by the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline hopes 2021 will be its "first year of recovery" from a steep 2020 loss.

LONDON - Rapid outbound Covid-19 testing for passengers has been launched at London's Heathrow Airport, designed to return results in an hour, in an effort to re-open restricted routes and boost traffic for beleaguered airlines. Inbound testing is pending government approval.

HONG KONG - Cathay Pacific Airways will cut around 6,000 jobs, or 18% of its workforce, and axe regional brand Cathay Dragon to help it weather the coronavirus pandemic, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday, citing sources. Cathay Pacific declined to comment on the news.

EXETER - Regional airline Flybe will be sold to a firm affiliated with investment adviser Cyrus Capital and may start flying again from 2021, its joint administrators said on Monday, months after the British firm became one of the first pandemic casualties. The airline will restart "smaller than before" under the Flybe brand.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened more than 1 million airline passengers on Sunday for the first time since March. The number, 1.03 million, is still about 60% lower than the same day last year, but marks a dramatic rise from air travel collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

PARIS - British Airways' new boss appealed to Britain and the United States on Monday to back pre-flight COVID-19 testing with quarantine-free transatlantic travel corridors - the British aviation sector is getting increasingly frustrated with a lack of support and action from international governments.

MUMBAI - Jet Airways would be acquired by an investor consortium under a multi-million dollar resolution plan approved by the carrier’s creditors on Saturday. The Indian carrier is prepared for "starting afresh" with a slow ramp-up and gradual capacity increase through 2021.

HONG KONG - Cathay Pacific saidd on Monday it expects to operate less than 50% of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity in 2021 as it nears completion of a strategic review that could lead to major job losses. The airline plans to operate around 10% of its pre-pandemic capacity for the remainder of 2020.

SYDNEY - Hundreds of New Zealand plane passengers started arriving in Sydney on Friday as part of a new trans-Tasman travel bubble amid a rapidly falling growth rate in cases at the epicentre of Australia's coronavirus outbreak. The flight marks a tentative re-opening to international tourism.

LONDON - Britain's transport minister said on Wednesday that his coronavirus testing plans would get more people flying in the months ahead, sounding an optimistic note at a time when travel companies are struggling to survive. The Government is working to finalize an aviation recovery strategy.

PARIS - Emirates boss Tim Clark expects a dynamic recovery in air travel demand to begin "sooner rather than later", he told an online forum on Wednesday, describing the industry's coronavirus crisis as a glitch from which the Gulf carrier can fully recover.

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia Airlines is struggling to make payments owed to creditors and lessors. The national airline, which restructured after two crashes in 2014, has a new plan involving discounts from creditors, but unlike last time the cash-strapped government is unwilling to bail it out.

LONDON - Norwegian Air is considering laying off staff at its base at Gatwick Airport, a spokesman said, as the struggling budget airline steps up its cost-cutting drive to survive the industry’s worst crisis. The move could affect 259 cabin crew and pilots, just under a quarter of the 1,142 staff.

LONDON - Airlines group IAG named Aer Lingus boss Sean Doyle as the new chief executive of British Airways, replacing Alex Cruz in the top job. The leadership shuffle is one of a number of management changes announced by IAG's new chief executive Luis Gallego after a month in the job.

PARIS - Airbus reached the highest number of monthly deliveries of passenger planes so far this year in September, but logged no new sales as crisis-hit airlines continue to bleed cash. The company is looking to end 2020 with a total of 500 aircraft deliveries, according to Airbus insiders.

MILAN  - Italy has approved the creation of a new company to house the assets of troubled airline Alitalia as the government presses ahead with a plan to nationalise the company. The nationalisation plan, which was delayed by political infighting, will now need to be approved by the European Commission.

SORIA - FlyBy, a pilot training provider based in Spain, accepts 30 new cadets previously released from a British flight school in Portugal. Amid a difficult job market for pilots, FlyBy invests in second flight training base in northern Spain - and remains upbeat for an eventual industry rebound.

WASHINGTON - The prospects for quick federal aid for U.S. airlines remained uncertain on Thursday with mixed signals about the state of negotiations over standalone legislation for the struggling sector and a larger Covid-19 economic relief bill to cover other industries and people hit by the crisis.