German cruise line AIDA to partly restart in August

German cruise line AIDA Cruises will put three of its 13 ships back into operation from August.

The line, which is part of Carnival Corporation, has been out of operation since mid-March when several European countries implemented emergency lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid-19.

One of AIDA's ships will sail from Hamburg on 5 August, another will leave Rostock-Warnemunde on 12 August and a third from Kiel on 16 August. The first voyages will have adjusted passenger capacity to maintain social distancing and will not call at other ports.

AIDA Cruises said it looks to resume international voyages when European ports open for cruise ships. The cruise line has suspended voyages in the US and Canada for the rest of the year.

Cruise lines have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic as travel restrictions have kept passengers away. Carnival, the world's biggest cruise line, made a loss of $2.4bn in the second quarter and said it was unable to predict when its operations would return to normal. Carnival used 3.3mn t of bunker fuels in the year to 30 November, at a cost of $1.56bn.

By Erik Hoffmann