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The number of daily passenger flights in China has rebounded to 80% of pre-coronavirus levels, China's aviation regulator said on Friday, as the aviation industry recovers from the plunge in travel demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 23, Chinese airlines operated 13,059 passenger flights, the CAAC said. Daily passenger traffic was nearly 70% of the level seen last year, with load factors, a measure of how well airlines are filling available seats, averaging 73.57%. The global aviation industry is closely watching capacity in China as a harbinger of demand recovery trends. Even as China reported fresh COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country, domestic travel demand was robust, as travel restrictions eased and airfares remained cheap.<br/>

Russia plans to resume some international flights from Aug. 1, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Friday, but the list of destinations will initially be limited to Tanzania, Turkey and the United Kingdom. International flights were grounded on March 30 after the imposition of lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 800,000 people in Russia. Shares of Russia's top airline Aeroflot rose by nearly 3% after the announcement of a partial resumption. Golikova said the decreasing number of infections allowed Russia to resume international flights from airports in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don.<br/>

Hawaii prepared for the onslaught of Hurricane Douglas on Sunday, with predictions of high winds, rain and storm surge. Douglas weakened Saturday to a Category 1 hurricane as it approached Hawaii, but officials warned people should not be lulled into complacency. “Douglas is continuing a gradual, slow, weakening trend, which in itself is good news, but the bad news is that this hurricane is going to come very close to the islands even as it’s weakening,” said Robert Ballard, the science and operations officer at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. “And we do expect significant impacts as it makes its point of closest approach or possible landfall as it comes through.” Hawaiian Airlines cancelled all Sunday flights between Hawaii and the US mainland and also between the other islands.<br/>

Airline regulators are expected to this week launch a crackdown on carriers which have failed to refund families for flights cancelled due to coronavirus, as the industry reels from new restrictions over Spain. The Civil Aviation Authority is understood to have drawn up a list of the worst culprits, with millions of customers still owed billions of pounds after being told they could not fly. Enforcement action could end up with airlines being banned from operating in the UK. An announcement has been pencilled in over the coming days, although this timetable may slip as the watchdog grapples with the impact of a fresh two-week quarantine for arrivals from Spanish airports. Airlines’ failure to hand out refunds has sparked fury from passengers who have been forced to axe holidays. The CAA has now whittled down the list of firms facing action to a handful of carriers. It remains unclear which companies could be subject to a sanction.<br/>

Often criticised for a slow response to the coronavirus, the British government moved quickly this weekend to impose a quarantine on anyone arriving from Spain, after a spike in Covid-19 cases there. But this time speed brought disarray to thousands of Britons, blindsiding those who have already gone to Spain and embarrassing Britain’s transportation secretary, Grant Shapps. He is responsible for aviation policy but learned of the quarantine while on his own vacation. In Spain. The abrupt decision means that Shapps, like others who left Britain assuming that they could return without restrictions will be required to isolate themselves for 14 days. Many who were about to depart Britain have been forced to rethink their plans. Some flights to Spain were cancelled. And even those planning to head elsewhere were reminded that quarantine rules can change overnight. Britain’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said the decision had been made after a review of data received on Friday that showed a large jump in Spanish cases. The government moved only recently to lift restrictions on those hoping for summer vacations abroad. Now the Foreign Office urges Britons to avoid all nonessential travel to mainland Spain, though it says it is “not advising those already traveling in Spain to leave at this time.” As a result, Britain’s biggest tour operator, Tui, said it was canceling all its vacations to mainland Spain until Aug. 9, though several airlines, including British Airways, were still offering flights. Airline officials expressed the frustration of a devastated sector, however.<br/>

EasyJet and British Airways told customers on Saturday they did not plan to cancel flights over the coming days, after Britain’s government advised against all non-essential travel to mainland Spain due to COVID-19. Earlier on Saturday TUI, Europe’s largest tour operator, said it was cancelling all holiday departures scheduled for Sunday. “Our flights are currently expected to operate normally,” BA told one customer on Twitter. An EasyJet customer service representative told another customer: “We plan to operate our full schedule in the coming days."<br/>

Morocco will stop people entering and leaving some of its biggest cities from midnight to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, the interior and health Ministries said Sunday. The cities to be locked down include the economic powerhouse of Casablanca as well as Tangier, Marrakech, Fez and Meknes. The country eased a nationwide lockdown a month ago, though international flights are still suspended except special flights by national airlines carrying Moroccans or foreign residents. On Sunday, the health ministry said 633 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, one of the biggest daily rises so far, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 20,278, with 313 deaths and 16,438 recoveries.<br/>

Safety regulators issued an emergency order directing airlines to inspect and if necessary replace a critical engine part on popular Boeing 737 jets after four reports of engines shutting down during flights. The FAA said Friday that its order affected about 2,000 twin-engine passenger jets in the US. The FAA said operators must inspect any 737 that has been parked for at least seven days or been flown fewer than 11 times since being returned to service. That's because of reports that certain engine valves can become stuck in the open position. Corrosion of the valves on both engines could lead to a complete loss of power without the ability to restart the engines, forcing pilots to land somewhere other than an airport, the FAA said in the order, dated Thursday. Boeing said that with planes being stored or used less often during the coronavirus pandemic, “the valve can be more susceptible to corrosion.” The company said it is providing inspection and parts-replacement help to airplane owners. The FAA did not provide details about the four cases of engine shutdowns. The emergency order applies to versions of the 737 called the NG and Classic, the latter of which are no longer in production but remain in some airline fleets. The directive does not apply to the newer Boeing 737 Max.<br/>

“A heady mix of politics, kerosene and cocktails.” That is how one aerospace veteran describes the industry’s summer trade fair at Farnborough, in the south-east of England, where every two years the global industry gathers to strike billion dollar deals on civil and military aircraft. Only this year, there was no kerosene, no cocktails and no deals. For the first time in Farnborough air show’s 72-year history, the skies over Hampshire’s most famous airfield were silent after the event was cancelled in March because of the constraints imposed by coronavirus.  Instead of a display of the latest fast jets and commercial aircraft, the show was replaced by five days of pre-recorded webinars and presentations and rebranded Farnborough Connect. It is believed to be the first global air show to be carried out entirely online, and the first in Farnborough’s recent history where Airbus and Boeing, who together dominate the commercial aerospace market, could not play the tit-for-tat game of “our orders are bigger than yours”.  Given the unprecedented downturn in aviation owing to the pandemic, it is unlikely that any orders would have been secured this year in any case. Airlines, which have seen passenger numbers collapse, are scaling fleets back so radically that the industry estimates the market for aircraft could be 30-50% smaller for the next few years. Yet, even without the excitement of billions of dollars in orders being placed after all-night negotiating sessions, many who attended the virtual air show were full of praise for the event. Story has more.<br/>

Boeing is preparing to delay its all-new 777X jet by several months or up to a year, three people familiar with the matter said, as the COVID-19 crisis exacerbates a drop in demand for the industry’s largest jetliners. An announcement of the delay could come as early as next week when Boeing announces earnings, one of the people said. A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on changes to the 777X timeline. He said it was continuing 777X flight tests and “working closely with our customers around the world as they continue to adapt to the evolving COVID-19 situation.” Boeing has been working to get the 777X, a larger version of the 777 mini-jumbo, into the hands of airline customers in 2021. <br/>

Airbus has said it is taking the last step to end 16 years of bitter litigation with the US at the WTO over subsidies that the White House said disadvantaged Boeing. The manufacturer Friday said it will end a system of financial support from France and Spain that the WTO had deemed illegal and unfair to Boeing. The Trump administration used the case as justification to slap tariffs on EU exports worth $7.5b. Airbus has discussed the litigation in recent months with representatives of the Scotch whisky trade whose single malt exports were targeted, as well as French wine producers and Spanish olive growers. “After 16 years of litigation at the World Trade Organization, this is the final step to stop the long-standing dispute and removes any justification for US tariffs,” Airbus said. The EU’s trade commissioner, Phil Hogan, said: “Unjustified tariffs on European products are not acceptable and, arising from the compliance in the Airbus case, we insist that the United States lifts these unjustified tariffs immediately.” Boeing faces a parallel ruling from the WTO, due in September, that will determine how harshly the EU can retaliate over aid from the US to its aerospace champion.<br/>

In April, John Matthews’ private jet business, AirX, went into a terrifying nosedive. After coronavirus lockdowns, monthly charter requests fell from almost E100m to just E200,000. “There was pretty much nothing. Terrifying may be an understatement,” said Matthews, chairman of the Malta-based private jet operator. His company faced a grave threat to its survival from the spread of travel restrictions across the world.  But since then, a rebound in demand has given hope to Matthews and his competitors. Although their sector styles itself as “business aviation”, little of the new demand has come from corporate travel, which is still largely frozen after conferences were cancelled and meetings migrated online. Instead, it is an influx of leisure customers — unable to travel commercially or unwilling to risk mixing with crowds — that has helped pick up the slack and allowed the private jet market to avoid the worst of the crisis afflicting large airlines. June figures for the commercial sector are yet to be published but airline trade body IATA expects them to be grim. In May, commercial passenger demand was down 91.3% compared with a year ago. By contrast, private flights dropped 70% year on year in April but were down only 28% in June, said aviation business monitoring group WingX. The recovery has continued into the first three weeks of July, with global private aviation down just 19% from its pre-Covid levels as more European countries lifted travel restrictions. NetJets, one of the biggest private jet companies and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, said demand was back to 85% of normal flying levels by late June after dropping to 20% in late April.<br/>