The days of cheap air travel will be over if airlines are forced to introduce physical distancing measures on planes because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry has warned. IATA DG Alexandre de Juniac said that if govts ordered airlines to adopt physical distancing onboard aircraft, at least a third of seats would remain empty and airlines would have to raise their ticket prices by at least 50% or go bust. “Either you fly at the same price, selling the ticket at the same average price as before, and you lose enormous amounts of money so it’s impossible to fly for any airline, particularly low cost; or you increase ticket prices by at least 50% and you are able to fly with a minimum profit. So it means that if social distancing is imposed, cheap travel is over.” <br/>
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Italian firm Aviointeriors believes it could begin delivering within as little as 6 months a new seat designed to encourage passengers to feel safe flying again once coronavirus restrictions are lifted. In addition, a second, less complex retrofit concept could arrive within 2 months, the company says. Aviointeriors’ main proposal, called “Janus”, is a new design which sees the centre seat in a row of 3 reversed “to ensure the maximum isolation between passengers seated next to each other”. An additional clear plastic screen provides further protection. CE Paolo Drago says that although reconfiguration of the cabin would involve a degree of complexity, the Janus design also offers extra privacy for passengers once fears of the coronavirus recede. <br/>
Faltering consumer confidence will slow the recovery of air travel once coronavirus restrictions end, IATA warned Tuesday, citing bleak new survey data. More airlines are likely to fall into administration without swifter govt support, IATA predicted, and fuel hedging will prevent many from benefiting from cheap oil. Demand upturn has been tepid in China and absent in Australia even after new COVID-19 cases have dwindled. "Once market travel restrictions and lockdowns are relaxed, there's still an issue about whether there will be demand from passengers to come back and fly," IATA said. Some 40% of air travellers plan to wait at least 6 months before resuming their habitual flying, according to an IATA-commissioned survey published Tuesday, and 69% say they will do so only after their personal finances stabilise. <br/>
Airbus has started capitalising on communications technology and amended logistical procedures to enable delivery of aircraft remotely, allowing it to continue handing over jets to customers despite the restrictive measures imposed by the coronavirus crisis. Pegasus Airlines has received 3 Airbus A320neo-family jets through the remote process – dubbed ‘e-Delivery’ by the airframer – which combines a delegated technical acceptance completion with an electronic transfer-of-title, before the aircraft is picked up for ferry, either by the customer or a third party. “Business continuity is not just a buzz-word,” Airbus head of contracts delivery Alain Vilanove said. “It’s a reality to Airbus.” Vilanove says the airframer had been using the electronic transfer-of-title capability for some 45-50 deliveries over the past year. <br/>
US industries including airlines, pharmaceutical firms and Big Tech boosted their lobbying in the first 3 months of 2020 as the coronavirus went from a regional concern to a worldwide pandemic that prompted govts to spend trillions of dollars in aid. A4A spent nearly US$2m in Q1, up more than 50% from almost $1.3m in the same period a year earlier, and secured financial assistance as demand for air travel plunged, according to lobbying disclosures filed with Congress Monday. The airlines had sought $58b in aid for passenger and cargo carriers from Congress, and with supportive messages from president Donald Trump, the industry eventually secured $50b in loans and payroll assistance for passenger carriers and $8b for cargo carriers as part of the $2.2t stimulus package. <br/>
US president Donald Trump has announced plans to temporarily halt all immigration to the US, as the country grapples with the coronavirus epidemic. It is unclear what, if any, immediate impact the move will have on international airlines, which are largely unable to fly to the country at the moment due to Covid-19-related travel restrictions and border closures. In a message posted to Twitter Monday, the president wrote that he would sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the country. He said he was taking the step “in light of the attack from the invisible enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs” of American citizens. No further details have been disclosed as to how or when the suspension would take effect. <br/>