Caissa agrees to buy Tuniu shares from JD.com for $65 million
>> Tour operator group Caissa has now agreed to buy JD.com's 21.1% stake in leisure online travel company Tuniu for USD 65 million. Caissa said in May that it intended to give up the option to buy shares of Tuniu from JD.com but reserved the right of preemption in the future. Caissa stated that it decided not to close the deal because Tuniu had been losing money, which would have a negative impact on the earnings of publicly listed Caissa.
Air travel recovery slow in China
>> A renewed spike in coronavirus cases in Beijing is slowing the recovery of passenger jet operations in China, according to the latest flight tracking data from Cirium. The travel data and analytics company recorded a 0.5% decline in tracked scheduled passenger jet flights by Chinese operators for June 16, 2020, compared with June 9, 2020. Of the country’s largest carriers, Beijing-based Air China appears to be affected most. It operated approximately 730 flights on June 16, versus nearly 900 on the same day a week earlier.
Airlines benefit from Hong Kong wage subsidy scheme
>> Several airlines are to receive wage subsidies from the Hong Kong government, though the city’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways is not among the first tranche of companies to be approved for the scheme. China Airlines, China Southern and EVA Air were among some 25,500 companies receiving subsidies totalling HKD 4.8 billion under the first tranche of Hong Kong’s Employment Support Scheme. While these are all relatively small in the grand scheme of airline bailouts, airline treasury departments are under intense pressure to find cash wherever they can amid the low-demand COVID-19 environment.
Delta to resume flights between US and China June 25
>> Delta Air Lines will restart service between Seattle and Shanghai-Pudong via Seoul-Incheon on June 25, operating twice per week. Delta is the first US airline to re-connect the US and China since the temporary suspension in February due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Cathay Pacific to pull plug on passenger flights now used just for cargo
>> Cathay Pacific, the world’s fifth-largest air cargo carrier, is preparing to cancel “many” of the passenger flights it has repurposed to carry only freight, the strongest signal yet that the short-term boom in the air cargo market is weakening. Cargo revenue has been Cathay’s primary source of income for at least three months, as the collapse in air travel has seen passenger revenue dry up.
Trip.com Group offering heavy discounts to reignite travel demand
>> Trip.com Group introduced a range of initiatives in an effort to revitalize its core business after the COVID-19 pandemic brought most of the world to a standstill. The online travel giant is joining tech giants like Alibaba in offering discounts and coupons to spur traveler consumption. Trip.com Group said it is giving customers access to steep discounts of up to 60% on flexible advance reservations with more than 30,000 hotels located in upwards of 180 countries.
Hotelbeds signs distribution deal with Radisson Hotel Group
>> Spain-based bedbank Hotelbeds said it has signed a preferred agreement through which Radisson Hotel Group will distribute via Hotelbeds' network of more than 60,000 B2B travel buyers across over 140 source markets worldwide. Hotelbeds’ customers will gain access to preferential rates and availability across Radisson Hotel Group’s portfolio of over 1,100 hotels in more than 120 countries.
