Airlines worldwide could lose €235bn in revenue this year from the coronavirus pandemic, threatening the survival of the industry, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Shares in Aer Lingus owner IAG plunged 9% and Ryanair fell more than 1% as the crisis for international airlines, in the wake of the spread of the Covid-19 virus, deepened.

Australia and Taiwan have joined the growing number of governments offering financial aid to airlines, while authorities in Europe rushed to agree steps to rescue carriers which have had to park planes and cut jobs as the coronavirus pandemic puts the brake on travel.

The coronavirus epidemic could rob passenger airlines of up to $113bn (€100bn) in revenues this year, an industry body warned.

A subsidiary of Airbus, the world’s largest planemaker, is preparing to launch a financial product aimed at helping its airline customers hedge against risks to revenue.

Aviation executives are increasingly worried that a widening split between the US and Europe will extend the grounding of Boeing’s 737-Max jet, sowing confusion and fear as regulators work to approve the resumption of commercial flights after two deadly crashes.

Airlines and regulators are gathering in Montreal to discuss a safe and co-ordinated return of Boeing’s grounded 737 Max jets to the skies, following two deadly crashes.

Investors in global stocks and Irish shares, in particular, will learn this week whether the growing fears over escalating trade wars will send markets reeling again.

Global airlines are meeting under a storm pattern of trade tensions, rising oil prices and a two-month-old grounding of the Boeing Co 737 Max jetliner — threatening to put a halt to five years of strong profits in the cut-throat air travel industry.

Ireland is tied with Canada, Belgium and Switzerland for the number of countries passport-holders can enter visa-free.

Growing tension over international trade could damage the airline industry and the world economy, global airlines and aviation executives have warned.

Talks between Air Berlin and bidders Lufthansa and EasyJet are reportedly at risk of falling apart.

The operator of Cork and Dublin Airports has hit back at claims by an airline organisation that passengers across Europe are being “denied the full benefits of air travel” due to airport charges.

Airlines with high exposure to the UK have taken a bashing due to worries by investors about the threat to the airline membership of the single European aviation market following the Brexit vote.

Airlines are opposed to screening passengers just before they enter an airport, with such steps — widely proposed after the March 22 bombings in Brussels — likely to increase waiting times and prove ineffective in preventing attacks, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said at its annual conference in Dublin yesterday.

The Transport Minister has urged the US authorities to put consumers first and clear the first Cork to US flights for take-off.

Ireland is considered the birthplace of aircraft leasing and is recognised as the number one location globally in the sector.

Irish airports and airspace will handle over one million flights by the end of this year — but Cork and Shannon airports have both suffered significant drops in traffic.

A centre that will be able to track aircraft in distress from space will be based at an Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) facility in Co Clare.

The overarching problem with tracking planes is the vast expanse of Earth devoid of radar cover — with as much as 80% of the world a blind spot to surveillance, writes Justin Bachman.

The world’s second busiest international air route is right on our doorstep, according to figures released yesterday by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

London-Dublin is now the world’s second-busiest international air route.

The risk to passenger planes flying over war zones following the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 will be discussed at a special meeting of world aviation chiefs today.

Lufthansa says it is working hard in a difficult market to recoup earnings lost through strikes as it reported a narrower first-quarter loss yesterday.

One hundred years of commercial airline flight will be marked tomorrow with a re-enactment of the very first fare-paying journey.

The development of a cargo hub at Shannon Airport will be key to not only supporting companies across the west of Ireland but in accessing major emerging markets such as China, a global aviation conference in Limerick heard yesterday.

A Boeing 737 airliner crashed in the Russian city of Kazan yesterday, killing all 50 people on board and spotlighting the poor safety record of regional airlines that ply internal routes across the world’s largest nation.

Shares in Dublin continued their positive momentum yesterday as speculation mounted across Europe that Spain is close to requesting a bailout despite advice from German officials to Madrid to hold off.

The International Air Transport Association raised its 2012 global airline profit forecast 37% as carriers slow capacity growth to cope with higher fuel prices and waning travel demand.

Cormac McCarthy, a central figure in Ireland’s banking bust, has ridden back into town as the second-in-command at Paddy Power Plc, one of the great Irish success stories of recent years, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

Aer Lingus have reported smaller losses in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2011.

Cork travel company TravelAgent.ie is celebrating 12 years in business with the with the launch of its new online venture, BookHotels.ie