Japan Airlines said Wednesday it is planning to fully restart its domestic flights as early as October amid signs of a recovery in travel demand, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. JAL has already started increasing the number of domestic flights since the lifting in May of a nationwide state of emergency that saw the airline cut over 70% of the flights from its normal schedule. “We expect to recover to 80% in August and fully operate in line with our normal schedule around October,” said Shunsuke Honda, an executive officer. He said travel demand is growing since restrictions on people’s movement across prefectures were fully lifted on June 19. However with infection rates rebounding in recent weeks in Tokyo and other large cities, Honda said, “We would like to increase the number of flights or use larger aircraft so that we can avoid fully-booked flights as much as possible.<br/>
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Face masks on flights have quickly become the norm as travellers tentatively return to the skies, but Qatar Airways has taken this a step further, announcing that its passengers will be required to wear a face shield -- in addition to a face mask or face covering. The carrier says it will be issuing fliers with protection kits -- including face shields, hand sanitizer, a surgical face mask and disposable gloves -- before they board its airplanes.<br/>The face shields, which are disposable, will come in two sizes, one for adults and one for children. Infants under the age of two are exempt. The face shields are obligatory for economy class passengers, unless they're eating or drinking, the airline says. According to Qatar, those travelling in business class can wear the shield "at their own discretion, as they enjoy more space and privacy." All passengers must wear them during boarding and embarkation. "Anyone refusing to wear the face shield during the boarding process will be not allowed to travel," a Qatar Airways spokesperson said. The airline is also stepping up personal protective kit for staff. Cabin crew will wear disposable protective gowns, fitted over their uniform, plus safety glasses, gloves and a mask. Qatar says the measures come as it begins to revive routes paused in the early stages of the pandemic. It relaunched services to 11 more destinations on July 1 and plans to increase that to 65 by mid-July.<br/>
British Airways has outlined plans to restart services to a raft of destinations in July, including some long-haul routes. All of the destinations will be served at lower frequencies than those seen before the pandemic, “due to reduced demand and the impact of the global quarantine restrictions”, the airline states. By the end of the month, BA’s Americas services will include flights to Bermuda, Dallas, Miami, Seattle and Toronto. They join flights to San Francisco, which restarted in June, and destinations served throughout the crisis, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York JFK and Washington DC. Caribbean services to Barbados and Kingston will also return in July, while BA’s Asia connectivity will be boosted by Tokyo Haneda services, alongside the Hong Kong and Singapore flights it resumed in June. BA will also ramp up its short-haul network in July with services to destinations across Europe, plus a number of domestic flights.<br/>