Gabonese gov't pushes ahead with new national carrier plans

Air France (AF, Paris CDG) will have to "drastically" reduce the amount of domestic flying in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic after it has received state loan guarantees, French Environment Minister Elisabeth Borne told Inter radio channel.

The French government has been adamant about attaching environmental strings to the bailout for its flag carrier. Air France, which is set to receive EUR7 billion euros (USD7.7 billion) in loans either directly from the state or backed by it, has pledged to cut its domestic carbon emissions by half through 2024.

Borne did not elaborate on the conditions for the cuts in domestic capacity.

France has a well-developed network of high-speed rail, including direct connections to several airports (including Paris CDG). The carrier had already been selling TGV Air combined tickets before the pandemic covering short-haul routes to 14 cities in France as well as to Brussels.

According to the ch-aviation capacities module, for the week starting September 21, 2020, Air France plans to sell 423,585 seats on its domestic flights, which amounts...

Gabon Airlines (GY, Libreville) is officially in liquidation after a Libreville court issued a directive to dispose of the defunct carrier's assets, the Gabonese Review has reported. As the official successor to Air Gabon (GN, Libreville) and its still-borne Royal Air Maroc-aligned successor, Air Gabon International (Libreville), Gabon Airlines was founded in 2007 by private investors, banks and insurers with its CEO Christian Bongo Ondimba, a son of former Gabonese strongman Omar Bongo. Initial operations between Libreville and Paris CDG took place on 11 April 2007 using a B767-200(ER) and an A340-300, CS-TQM (c/n 117) on lease from Hi Fly (5K, Beja). However, difficulties were soon encountered with the airline posting significant losses over the following four years. Flights ceased in 2011 while in 2012, the carrier lost its Air Operators Certificate. Among the assets that have since been disposed of include the 767-200(ER), TR-LHP (msn 21877), which had been grounded in Addis Ababa since 2007 over an unpaid debt to Ethiopian Airlines (ET,...