The US State Department has lifted its blanket global travel advisory warning citizens not to travel overseas after determining that the situation around the spread of the coronavirus has improved enough globally to be able to differentiate between potential travel destinations. But the advisories do not change the fact that US citizens remain unwelcome guests in other parts of the world. The USA is currently classified as a “high-risk” country in the eyes of other nations due to widespread coronavirus infections. “With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the Department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice,” it says on Thursday. “We continue to recommend US citizens exercise caution when travelling abroad due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic.” The agency says that it continues to closely monitor health and safety conditions around the world, working in partnership with the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and will continue to advise citizens of any changes in status. <br/>
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Navigating the Roman circus of obstacles known as an international airport is likely the one thing travelers aren’t missing during the Covid-19 crisis. Now that forecasts predict tourism won’t fully recover until 2023, these transit centers are getting a rare, low-traffic chance to make many of the changes flyers have long wanted—along with upgrades they never imagined. Among them: disinfection booths, biometric security scans, automated customs and border patrol screenings, and enhanced self-check-in stations. Together, they represent the most significant overhaul of the airport experience since Sept. 11. “The traditional way we design airports has long been hamstrung in two directions,” says Matthew Johnson, who helped spearhead the ongoing $14 billion renovation of LAX in Los Angeles as an aviation principal for architecture firm Gensler. The de facto airport floor plan funnels traffic through an “X” shape, with passengers coming from various entries and converging at one congested portal—TSA—before dispersing to find their gate. This design was largely put into place after the 2001 terror attacks, when extensive security scans became emblems of personal safety. If long lines were once the price of safety, they’re downright dangerous now. “Covid-19 is going to herald a complete reversal,” says Johnson, who proposes eliminating the X all together. Airports could become like casinos, he says, coupling eye-in-the-sky surveillance with state-of-the-art sensors—as in the “smart tunnel” at Dubai International that verifies your identity by scanning your iris as you walk through it. Story looks at what’s being installed around the world, and a few ideas yet to come.<br/>
Passengers who insisted on taking their cabin baggage during an emergency evacuation at Stansted airport hindered the escape, an official accident investigation has concluded. A Laudamotion flight to Vienna was accelerating along the runway when the left engine suffered a contained failure. During the subsequent evacuation, 10 passengers were hurt. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has urged “research to determine how to prevent passengers from obstructing aircraft evacuations by retrieving carry-on baggage”. The report recommends that the EASA build in “a more realistic simulation of passenger behaviour in regard to carry-on baggage in the test criteria and procedures for the emergency demonstration”. Story has more details.<br/>
Thai airlines are preparing to send a letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha next week asking for soft loans that have been delayed in the absence of a finance minister. Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation (AAV), the largest shareholder of Thai AirAsia (TAA), said all airlines will seek a meeting with Gen Prayut to discuss the problems facing Thailand's aviation business, which is still in need of government support. Eight airlines banded together at the end of March to ask the Finance Ministry to allocate 25b baht in soft loans to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. In the past four months, there has been no follow-up as airlines have struggled with cash flow. NokScoot decided to permanently close operations. Nok Air will start a business rehabilitation plan soon. Tassapon said that while most airlines can service domestic routes, they cannot make a profit by depending on the local market alone.<br/>
Australians attempting to return home are complaining that international airlines are cancelling tickets of economy customers in order to offer more business and first-class seats, as operators look to boost profitability while complying with Australia’s strict passenger arrival caps. The accusations against several international airlines, which have been made since the caps were introduced and then tightened in July, have been denied by several operators. However the Guardian has heard several call centre staff admit to customers that despite being told their flights had been cancelled, they were still flying as scheduled, and could repurchase seats on the flight if they paid for a higher class airfare. At least one airline, Emirates, will only accept 19 economy seat bookings on flights from Dubai into Sydney, reserving more seats for business and first-class sections. The concerns over the cost of airfares for Australians comes after the new owners of Virgin Australia, Bain Capital, announced 3,000 of its 9,000 employees would lose their jobs, and its budget carrier, Tiger Air, would be discontinued, as the impact of Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on aviation. Story has full details.<br/>
Airbus delivered 49 aircraft in July, up from 36 in June as it continues to recover from a slump in deliveries during this year's coronavirus lockdowns, the company said on Thursday. The aircraft were all narrow-body jets, highlighting a dearth of demand for the industry's biggest models, which last month prompted Airbus to trim A350 production for a second time. The month's deliveries included 47 A320neo-family jets. Airbus also scored its first orders in three months as it sold two A320neos to an undisclosed customer and two A321neos to Lufthansa Technik, the modification and repairs business of Lufthansa. So far in 2020, Airbus has delivered 245 jets and sold 369, or 302 after cancellations. Airbus is boosting deliveries on a monthly basis despite the industry's worst crisis as it negotiates deals with airlines. But although deliveries are rising compared to the trough seen in April, several bankers and analysts have questioned how many of the aircraft are being placed into service as airlines struggle to save cash. Some are said to go straight to storage.<br/>