Representatives from 36 countries on the governing council of ICAO have established an aviation recovery task force and aims to have its first outcomes by the end of May. ICAO says the mission of the new task force is to identify and recommend ”strategic priorities and policies” for states and industry operators in the restoration of international air transport. “In these uncertain times and exceptional circumstances, ICAO is being called upon to rescue international air transport and facilitate the resumption of operations,” said ICAO council president Salvatore Sciacchitano, addressing the first meeting of the task force. “As we know, air connectivity is critical to economic and sustainable development in every region of the world. Consequently, an effective recovery of international air transport is essential to support the post Covid-19 pandemic worldwide economic recovery,” he adds. ICAO says the new task force is composed of council members and high-level aviation industry representatives including the director generals of all major air transport industry associations. <br/>
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Once the airline industry's ugly ducklings, air freighters are now flying high as some of the only airplanes still criss-crossing the skies during the global coronavirus crisis. While these aerial juggernauts hauled freight for low margins, airlines lavished advertising on business travellers and tourists. But with these customers grounded, airlines are rushing to turn passenger planes into temporary cargo carriers. Half of air cargo normally travels in the belly of passenger jets rather than dedicated freighters. But the grounding of two-thirds of the world's fleet has led to a scramble for cargo capacity for medical supplies and other goods. Airlines saddled with the cost of unused planes are looking to modify cabin interiors to adjust to the new reality. And that is providing a surprise windfall for aircraft maintenance companies deprived of their normal trade of keeping passenger jets flying, industry executives said. Lufthansa Technik AG, Avianor, HAECO Group and Akka Technologies are among those stripping out seats or adding nets and storage devices to cabins to cram in cargo instead of tourists. "We have great demand. We have more than 40 airlines requesting a proposal," said Jens Weinreich, product manager at Lufthansa Technik, which has converted 18 cabins for various carriers and expects to modify 100 more. Story has more.<br/>
Airlines are seeking E26b in state aid to deal with the economic fallout from coronavirus, according to environmental campaigners, who accuse governments of failing to attach binding climate conditions to negotiations. Air France, which has obtained E7b in loans and loan guarantees from the French government, and Lufthansa, currently negotiating a E9b rescue package with Berlin, top the charts in the airline bailout tracker compiled by Carbon Market Watch, Greenpeace, and Transport & Environment. European governments have formally agreed E11.5b in financial aid for airlines , including a GBP600m loan from the UK Treasury and Bank of England for EasyJet. A further E14.6b is under discussion, including GBP500m Richard Branson is seeking from the British government to aid Virgin Atlantic. Some governments are seeking to attach strings to rescue plans. France’s minister for ecological transition, Élisabeth Borne, insisted Air France was not getting “a blank cheque”. The government has set “ecological commitments”, she said, including a 50% reduction in carbon emissions on domestic flights by 2024, as well as investing in more fuel-efficient planes. Campaigners claim none of the green strings agreed so far are binding, also pointing out that France has not set conditions on Air France’s non-domestic flights, which account for the majority of its emissions. “France’s green requests are a first but we had non-binding commitments for years and airline pollution ballooned,” said Andrew Murphy at Transport & Environment. <br/>
On Friday three major US airlines separately announced they were going to require their passengers to wear masks. Two days after Jet Blue became the first major airline to announce this change, these three US airlines followed suit, releasing statements explaining their new policies. Earlier this week Delta said that airline employees were now required to wear face masks and stated that passengers "were strongly encouraged" to cover their faces. Friday, Delta released a new statement, pivoting from encouraging face masks to requiring them on all passenger flights starting May 4, the same date as Jet Blue. American Airlines made similar announcements, earlier this week regarding flight attendants wearing masks, and Friday extending that requirement to passengers. "American Airlines will soon require all customers traveling to wear a face covering (or mask) while on board the aircraft starting May 11," their statement read. "This new requirement is part of the airline's ongoing commitment to prioritizing customer and team member well-being in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic." Also Friday, Frontier Airlines announced its increased protections. "Frontier Airlines will begin requiring that passengers wear a face covering over their nose and mouth at the airline's ticket counters, gate areas and onboard Frontier aircraft, effective May 8, 2020. Face coverings have been required for Frontier flight crews since April 13."<br/>
After weeks of lockdown, some Americans are showing the first signs of readiness to travel again. Airplanes -- the few still flying -- are growing slightly fuller, according to industry data, and the rate of people screened at airport security checkpoints has trended upwards nearly every day for the last two weeks. But the travel world is still bracing for an extended rough patch due to the coronavirus pandemic. David Calhoun, Boeing's president and CEO, said Wednesday that a "full recovery will take years, not months."<br/>American Airlines CEO Doug Parker on Wednesday warned not to expect a major increase in flying as the summer begins, and that the "recovery will be slow and demand for air travel will be suppressed for quite some time." Like the tenuous steps states are taking to re-open their economies, experts are predicting travel will make a gradual comeback. Airline industry data shows marginally more passengers are boarding planes. The average number of paying passengers on each domestic flight climbed from about 10 earlier this month to 17, according to the industry group Airlines for America, though that is partly due to airlines' aggressive efforts to cut from schedules and reduce the number of nearly empty planes flown. <br/>
A spate of domestic flight routes slowly opening up in Asia and the Pacific give clues into what the aviation industry could look like in the weeks and months ahead. China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia are among the countries set to resume or increase domestic flights as the virus wanes. That said, don't book your summer vacation just yet. Many of these flights are government subsidized and solely for the purpose of transporting cargo. Though some are open to public bookings, others will only issue tickets to emergency personnel or essential workers who need to get around. Think of these flights as a dress rehearsal for a gradual re-upping of the aviation industry. AirAsia is one of the airlines ramping up their flight schedule. They restarted domestic flights in Malaysia on April 29 and their affiliates will be adding Thailand (May 1), India (May 4), Indonesia (May 7), and the Philippines (May 16) to their roster barring any government issues. Meanwhile, Qantas has resumed some domestic flights between major cities in Australia, with the caveat that these are part of the "minimum domestic and regional network" underwritten by the national government. Currently, these flights are reserved for emergency personnel and private citizens cannot purchase tickets. In Thailand, some low-cost airlines announced they will resume domestic flights from May 1 following a temporary suspension. In Vietnam, domestic flights are being run by VietJet, Bamboo Airways and Jetstar. <br/>
As the COVID-19 pandemic severely weakens travel demand, damaged airlines are speeding up efforts to recondition unused passenger planes into cargo carriers. JAL plans to run approximately 1,200 flights between March to May to mainly East Asia, Europe and the US as international cargoes, as they were and will be suspended as passenger flights. According to the company, passengers’ luggage accounts for about 30 percent of the cargo area available on a plane when it carries the maximum number of passengers. The space remaining is typically used for carrying various merchandise. Similarly, ANA has operated more than 300 cargo flights this April to China and other countries using its passenger aircraft. Both JAL and ANA are loading freight onto carry-on luggage racks. According to the Tokyo customs authority, the volume of freight handled at Narita Airport in March was 188,000 tons — an increase of 2.3 percent from volumes in the same month last year. The number of flights operated by Narita-based Nippon Cargo Airlines increased to 475 in March, 17 of which were temporary flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai, up from 414 in March last year. “We are unable to accept all reservations, as some flights are seeing excessive demand,” explained an official at the company. <br/>
Boeing said Thursday it does not plan to seek US government support now after receiving strong interest from the bond market for a $25b public offering. The aviation giant, which has been badly hit by the devastating impact of coronavirus shutdowns on global airlines, said demand for the bond offering was "robust." "We do not plan to seek additional funding through the capital markets or the US government options at this time," according to a company statement issued Thursday, adding that it expects the bond offering to be completed on May 4. The offering includes seven tranches of bonds expiring between 2023 and 2060. A securities filing Thursday did not list interest rates for the notes. The announcement comes a day after Boeing reported a $641m loss in Q1 and said it was cutting 10% of its workforce. S&P downgraded Boeing's credit rating late Wednesday following the results, which also showed the lingering effects of the protracted grounding of its top-selling 737 MAX plane following two deadly crashes. However, Boeing's credit rating remains investment grade in S&P's rubric.<br/>