Deliveries of commercial aircraft over the next ten years will be 30% lower than previously forecast, Aviation Week Network said in a video conference. The prediction spans regional jets to widebody planes, and the latter will be hardest-hit, Aviation Week analyst Dan Williams said on the call. Aviation Week now sees just under 16,000 jets delivered between 2021 and 2030. The new forecast for widebody aircraft is for just over 2,500 jets to be delivered, down from an earlier prediction of about 4,300, a decline of more than 40%. Operators around the world will likely retire most twin-aisle jets with four engines, barring younger Boeing Co. 747-8I models and some Airbus SE A380s that airlines like Emirates will continue to fly. Nico Buchholz, an advisor to the company, said fuel and noise emissions will also play a role and airlines may think twice about paying for a major check that may be upcoming, or about refurbishing a cabin.<br/>
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Airlines further lowered their European traffic outlook on Thursday, as persistent travel restrictions and concerns about a second wave of COVID-19 dent recovery prospects for the sector. The warning from the IATA came as European states are imposing or considering new restrictions in response to fresh virus outbreaks. European passenger numbers are now expected to decline by 60% in 2020, IATA said, putting some 7m aviation and tourism jobs at risk. In June it had predicted a 6-7m jobs impacted, with passenger demand down more than 50%. "It is desperately worrying to see a further decline in prospects for air travel this year," IATA VP Rafael Schvartzman said. European flights and passenger traffic have picked up in recent weeks but still fallen short of the rebound airlines had been counting on in the crucial summer season.<br/>
China’s aviation regulator said on Thursday that passenger numbers in July fell 34.1% from a year earlier. That marked a recovery from a year-on-year decline of 42.4% in June. By August 12, there was a total of 93 Chinese and foreign airlines allowed to operate 187 international routes, connecting China to 50 countries, Wu Shijie, an official with Civil Aviation Administration of China, told an online briefing.<br/>
The US administration has suspended all private charter flights between the United States and Cuba, to increase economic pressure on Havana. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that "the Castro regime uses tourism and travel funds to finance its abuses and interference in Venezuela". Last October the US banned regular scheduled flights to all cities in communist-run Cuba except Havana. Tourism to Cuba has already been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Hardline policies towards Cuba and its regional ally Venezuela are welcomed by conservative Cuban-American groups in Florida, a key battleground state which Donald Trump hopes to win in the November presidential election. The suspension of charter flights comes into force on 13 October, the birthday of the late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Authorised US charter flights to Cuba for medical emergency purposes or for search and rescue will still be permitted.<br/>
Britain on Thursday said it will reimpose quarantine for travellers from France and the Netherlands, prompting Paris to quickly announce a "reciprocal measure". The UK government declared the change, which will likely spark a mass exodus among the estimated half a million British holidaymakers currently in France, after a rise in coronavirus cases there. "Data shows we need to remove France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks & Caicos & Aruba from our list of coronavirus Travel Corridors to keep infection rates DOWN," transport minister Grant Shapps wrote on Twitter. "If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days." French junior minister for European affairs Clement Beaune said that it was "a British decision we regret and which will lead to a reciprocal measure". France "hoped for a return to normal as soon as possible," Beaune said on Twitter. On Thursday France recorded 2,669 new coronavirus infections, its highest daily number since May. Britain had initially imposed a blanket quarantine on all visitors arriving in the country, but later carved out "travel corridors", which exempted travellers arriving from certain countries from having to self-isolate. But it reintroduced the quarantine for travellers arriving from Spain in late July, catching airlines by surprise -- as well as thousands of Britons leaving for their holidays.<br/>
Dozens of holidaymakers have been barred from boarding flights from the UK to Greece because of confusing red tape caused by the coronavirus. In July the Greek government announced that all passengers must submit a personal locator form including their travel and contact details 48 hours before departure. They are then emailed a QR code, which must be downloaded and presented at check-in. The details are used for contact tracing in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak and arrivals who fail to comply face a E500 fine. However, delays in receiving the code and differing interpretations of the rules by airlines have led to passengers being turned away at the airport. Some travellers claim that their airline did not inform them of the new requirements or that minor form-filling errors cost them their holiday. Conflicting advice on official websites has caused many passengers to fall foul of the rules. The Greek government website initially stated that all passengers over 18 had to fill out separate forms; this month the advice was changed to allow households to fill out a single form and the deadline was changed to 24 hours before departure. However, a confusing layout has left some passengers unclear how to add more than two names to the online form and some airlines are still insisting that each adult must submit separate forms. Carriers face steep fines if they transport passengers with inadequate documents.<br/>
London City airport is halting its expansion plans following a collapse in business travel by Square Mile bankers. The Docklands airport will pause a GBP480m programme to boost passenger capacity once construction on eight new stands for aircraft and a taxiway parallel to the runway is finished at the end of the year. It comes after the Covid pandemic sent demand for business travel plummeting. City is favoured by finance executives because of its proximity to central London and Canary Wharf, and has been particularly hard hit. The airport shut down in March when coronavirus was at its most intense and did not reopen until June 21. Passenger numbers are yet to recover. Bosses warned that improvements in aviation have been slower than expected, with demand still well below normal levels. Matching the record 5.1m passengers who travelled through the airport last year will take longer than initially hoped, they said. Once completed at the end of the year, the modifications currently being built will allow City to handle 45 take-off and landings an hour as well as modern aircraft such as the Airbus A220.<br/>
Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupted again Thursday with a string of blasts that sent plumes of ash 2km into the sky, triggering a flight warning and fears of lava flows. The activity marked at least the eighth time that the rumbling volcano on Sumatra island has erupted in less than a week, although there were no injures or major damage reported. Authorities issued a warning to planes flying near the volcano which last saw a deadly eruption in 2016. "There is potential for more eruptions and airlines are aked to be on alert," said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Raditya Jati. The crater's alert status remained at the second-highest level. Jati said authorities had marked a 5km no-go-zone around Sinabung and warned of possible lava flows. On Monday, Sinabung belched a tower of smoke and ash some 5km high, coating local communities in a thick layer of debris, after eruptions at the weekend.<br/>