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.

One of the world’s biggest airlines, Emirates, has said it is suspending all passenger flights from Wednesday.

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.

European Union and US officials have swapped information about threats involving air travel amid concern that the United States will soon broaden its ban on in-flight laptops and tablets to include planes from Europe.

Lufthansa said a slide in fares triggered by excess capacity is beginning to slow, easing the burden on earnings as fuel costs rise.

Ryanair has resurrected the idea of operating its own long-haul flights at some point, despite having seemingly killed off the notion two years ago.

Lufthansa has said it is not overly concerned with Ryanair’s aggressive growth plans for the German market and that it has the quality and competitive offering via its Eurowings subsidiary to compete with the Irish carrier.

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.

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said he is happy with the level of the company’s 15% stake in Aer Lingus and British Airways owner IAG and will not seek a seat on the company board.

The families of six crew members on a Malaysian passenger jet shot down over Ukraine have filed lawsuits against Malaysia Airlines for negligence and breach of contract.

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.

Shares in Air France-KLM fell the most since 2014, as the surprise exit of chief executive Alexandre de Juniac after just three years in the top job created a power vacuum that puts Europe’s biggest carrier at the mercy of unions implacably opposed to cost-cutting plans.

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.

The number of deaths in plane disasters increased last year despite there being fewer accidents in total, an international airline industry group said.

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.

First-class air travel is back on the menu, and healthy sales indicate there is a growing appetite for it.

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.

Irish travel software firm Datalex has opened a new office in Beijing.

Ryanair carried more than 81 million passengers last year making it the biggest airline in the world when ranked by traffic.

As planes spent a third day hunting for two large objects spotted by satellite in the southern Indian Ocean, Australian officials today said they were far from giving up on what remains the strongest lead in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.