Thursday newspaper round-up: Norwegian Air, pay freezes, Apple

Low-cost airline Norwegian Air has filed for bankruptcy protection in Ireland, becoming the biggest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic in the aviation sector to date. The troubled carrier has asked an Irish court to carry out a process of examinership. This should protect the group’s assets while it tries to slash debt levels and find new funding as part of a restructuring. It is expected to take as long as five months. - Guardian

Seven out of 10 UK pubs and restaurants fear they will become financially unviable and forced to close next year as a result of damaging Covid-19 restrictions, a new poll has revealed. The main trade bodies representing the beleaguered sector – the British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and UKHospitality – said the new findings revealed that 72% of members expected to operate at a loss and to be unable to survive because of the collapse in trade. - Guardian

Workers are bearing the economic cost of the Covid crisis with one-fifth of companies imposing pay freezes in the three months to October despite the resurgence in GDP growth as industries reopened. In a typical year, around one in 20 workforces would find their pay packets unchanged, according to data from XpertHR, underlining the dramatic force of the pandemic on wages. - Telegraph

Apple is to halve the fees it charges small software developers for using its App Store in an apparent attempt to head off looming prosecutions in Europe and the United States. The $2 trillion company will cut its App Store sales commission next year from 30 per cent to 15 per cent for developers that make less than $1 million annual revenue through the platform. - The Times