Climate campaigners have launched a formal legal challenge against the government’s green recovery plans, claiming they are inadequate and “clearly unlawful” in light of the UK’s obligations to reduce emissions. Plan B, the pressure group that successfully challenged the UK government over its plans to expand Heathrow, sent a “pre-action” letter to the prime minister and the chancellor on Tuesday, saying the government was missing an historic opportunity to avoid catastrophe. Tim Crosland, the director of Plan B, said: “The government can either follow the scientific and economic advice and take a decisive step towards a cleaner, fairer and more sustainable economy, creating vast number of new jobs – or it can ignore that advice by prioritising its corporate sponsors and locking us into the path to climate breakdown and a future that is grim beyond words. “It seems that Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings are set on choosing the second option, but we can’t let that happen.” The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, set out GBP3b of “green spending” this month, focusing on improving energy efficiency in homes and public buildings. The plan was widely criticised by green groups. Plan B points out the sum was dwarfed by the billions committed to airlines and carmakers and funding for fossil fuels in the recovery programme. It was also only a fraction of the money allocated to “green recovery programmes” in other European countries. Tuesday’s letter is the next stage in the legal challenge which started at the beginning of the month. <br/>
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Air travel may have resumed in some corners of the planet, although for some airlines it was too late. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a tumultuous period for aviation, with 23 airlines collapsing due to the international travel restrictions introduced to curb the spread of the disease. In the UK, the FCO advised against travel in mid-March and only lifted this restriction, for a limited number of countries, in late June. The IATA last month predicted global losses could reach billions of dollars, as global air traffic remains at only around one third of pre-pandemic levels. And for some, the financial burden of the pandemic has been too great. The biggest losses have included Flybe, a UK domestic airline that operated since 1979, and Virgin Australia, which came into existence 20 years ago. Some other big players are showing signs of struggle. The American airline industry is “likely” to lose a carrier to this pandemic, according to Boeing president and CE David Calhoun. Story looks at all 23 airlines that have collapsed since the emergence of Covid-19.<br/>
US and European airlines wrote to the White House and EU on Tuesday, urging co-ordinated coronavirus testing to restore transatlantic flights. The CEs of United, Lufthansa, American Airlines and IAG, which owns British Airways, called on US VP Mike Pence and EU commissioner for home affairs Ylva Johansson to act as the industry struggles to recover from the effects of the pandemic. The airlines said they wanted US and European governments to adopt a co-ordinated Covid-19 testing programme for transatlantic flights, in order to “enhance safety and build confidence in critical transatlantic passenger air services”. “In addition to all the significant and unprecedented actions that governments and airlines are taking to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, a co-ordinated Covid-19 testing programme could be key to providing confidence to permit services to resume without quarantine requirements or other entry restrictions,” the letter said. The intervention comes as airlines tentatively restart flying after entire fleets were grounded during lockdown. IAG CE Willie Walsh, who cosigned the letter, has said BA is “fighting for its survival” with passenger numbers set to take several years to fully recover. Airlines UK, which represents the industry, said it supported proposals for a testing regime. “Testing has to be safe, quick, accurate and cost-effective but we need to start looking at how it could be used to open up countries like the US, which is such a vital market for the UK,” it said. <br/>
Passengers of China-bound flights must provide negative Covid-19 test results before boarding, China's aviation authority said yesterday, as the government looks to further reduce the risk of imported coronavirus cases amid increased international travel. The CAAC said on its website that nucleic acid tests should be conducted at facilities designated or recognised by Chinese embassies in host countries, and the embassies will carefully assess the testing capacity of host countries and formulate travel procedures when testing conditions are met, it added. The announcement comes as countries struggle with testing capacity and speed. In parts of the US, receipt of test results can take up to two weeks, while in some other countries, nucleic acid tests are reserved for people who have come in close contact with Covid-19 patients or who have symptoms of the potentially fatal disease. In the past month, the CAAC has allowed more foreign airlines to resume services to China and add flights to the country as the economy recovers.<br/>
Regional “air bridges” are being considered by the Government to allow travel to countries such as Portugal and the US and stop entire nations being subject to UK quarantine rules. The Department for Transport has told industry they are an option to create travel corridors with low-risk regions. Ministers are also exploring plans to test passengers for Covid-19 before or on arrival at UK airports to open travel with major trade partners like the US. They are expected to be part of the second review of quarantine, due on Monday, when Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, will reveal if more destinations will be added to the 74 countries and territories exempt from the 14-day quarantine. Portugal, which remains banned, has seen its cases reduce to 135 a day, the least since May 11. The Algarve, Madeira and the Azores are virtually clear but outbreaks in Lisbon have pushed its national rate to 45.57 cases per 100,000, above the rate for a national air bridge. Spain has been hit by outbreaks in Catalonia, Aragon and the Basque country pushing cases to 4,581, the highest since April and a national rate of 27.39 cases per 100,000. “Regional air bridges are an option for countries with localised outbreaks,” said a source. “The US is a major issue. If you judge it nationally, the absence of travel could go on for months, which is where individual testing of arrivals could work.” <br/>
So gravely has the coronavirus pandemic hit UK airports that collectively they lost over GBP10,000 per minute for four months in a row. That future is calculated by the Airport Operators Association (AOA), which calculates the combined loss between March and June at almost GBP2b. The group predicts UK airports will lose a further GBP2b during the last six months of 2020. The Covid-19 crisis brought international aviation to a near-standstill, in what the AOA CE, Karen Dee, calls “the worst four months in the history of commercial aviation”. Some airports closed altogether, while the busiest – Heathrow – lost 95% of its normal passenger throughput in June compared with a year earlier. Gatwick and Heathrow have both halved the number of terminals they are using, while Heathrow has temporarily closed its southern runway. The AOA’s figures cover airports only, not the indirect impact on the businesses and communities around UK airport sites. “Such losses undermines the ability of airport business to power the future prosperity of their local economies, forgoing crucial investment projects and, unfortunately, causing job losses,” says the AOA. levels of activity. Financial relief measures are still desperately needed.”<br/>
The FAA said Tuesday it plans to issue a proposed airworthiness directive for the Boeing 737 Max in the “near future” to address changes made since the plane was grounded in March 2019 after two fatal crashes killed 346 people. An official briefed on the matter said that the FAA is unlikely to unground the 737 Max before sometime in October. Boeing did not immediately comment but has said previously it expects to resume deliveries before Sept. 30 following regulatory approval. The FAA said the public will have 45 days to comment on “proposed design changes and crew procedures to mitigate the safety issues identified during the investigations that followed the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents.” The FAA noted that there are still a number of key steps before the plane can resume commercial service.<br/>
Vietnam’s government will delay approving the establishment of any new airlines in the country until 2022 to give the country’s aviation industry some breathing room to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The transport ministry has proposed to focus on the recovery of the local aviation sector in the short term and says the establishment of new airlines will be considered “after the recovery of the aviation market”, which it expects to happen in 2022, according to a post on VGP News, the government’s online news portal. On 13 July, the CE of Vietnam Airlines said the company would need liquidity support before the end of August and has lost D50t ($2.2b) in revenue this year. The move to restrict new market entrants had been expected. <br/>