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In a bid to survive, airlines are desperately trying to convince a wary public that measures like mandatory face masks and hospital-grade air filters make sitting in a plane safer than many other indoor settings during the coronavirus pandemic. It isn’t working. Surveys indicate that instead of growing comfortable with air travel, more people are becoming skeptical about it. In the US, airline bookings have stalled in the past month after slowly rising — a reaction to a new surge of reported virus infections. Globally, air travel is down more than 85% from a year ago, according to industry figures. The implications for the airline industry are grave. Several leading carriers already have filed for bankruptcy protection, and if the hoped-for recovery is delayed much longer, the list will grow. The four largest US airlines lost a combined $10b from April through June. Their CEOs say they will survive, but they have lowered their expectations for a rebound. “We were all hoping that by the fall the virus might run its course,” said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly. “Obviously, that has proven to be dead wrong.” The IATA predicts carriers will lose $84b this year, making it the worst year in the industry’s history. The group says traffic won’t fully recover until 2024.<br/>

Airlines and airports will ask a UN-led task force meeting on Tuesday to recommend countries accept a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of travel as an alternative to quarantines that have decimated demand for travel. The industry wants the task force to make the recommendation for passengers traveling from countries with high COVID-19 infection rates when it meets on Tuesday to review guidelines for international travel amid the pandemic. "A test prior to departure could reduce the risk of importation by up to 90%, enabling air travel to be opened up between a large number of countries without a quarantine requirement," said the proposal from Airports Council International (ACI) and airline trade group IATA. The push for testing comes as the industry's hopes for a recovery were dealt a blow last week when Britain reintroduced quarantines on travelers from France and the Netherlands. Airlines are forecasting a 55% decline in 2020 air traffic, according to IATA, which reported 85% of surveyed travelers expressed concerns about quarantine. "We don't support across-the-board mandatory testing," IATA medical adviser Dr David Powell said. "But if there are situations where there is a higher risk in the country of origin and it can avoid the need for quarantine, then we certainly support that and advocate for that concept." The proposal calls for the use of PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) tests conducted outside of airports.<br/>

An international trade group representing airports is the latest organisation to call for widespread coronavirus testing to replace quarantine measures in order to encourage passengers to begin travelling again. Airports Council International (ACI) World last week called on governments to introduce consistent protocols for testing as an alternative to “broad-brush” quarantine requirements, which remain effective in many parts of the world. These measures are extending potential travellers’ uncertainty about once again booking a flight. The organisation says it will request the ICAO develop a plan to “align risk-based, practical measures to allow the aviation industry to restart in a coordinated manner, while providing reassurance to travellers... Unilateral national measures, especially a quarantine requirement, is damaging to both the industry and passenger confidence,” said ACI World director general Luis Felipe de Oliveira. “Unnecessary quarantine measures are particularly harmful to passenger confidence as international air travellers have no assurance that, if they make flight arrangements, they will be able to return to their place of departure to continue their daily lives.”<br/>

Nigeria's aviation minister has said the country will reopen its airports for international flights from August 29, introducing protocols to minimise the risk of coronavirus infection. Home to some 200m people, Africa's most populous country has registered 49,068 confirmed coronavirus cases and 975 related deaths. Some 36,500 people have recovered so far. Nigeria's airports have been shut down since March 23 to all but essential international flights as part of the country's efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said Monday the resumption of international flights would begin with the megacity of Lagos and the capital, Abuja. "Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course," he wrote earlier on Twitter. At a briefing in Abuja, he said four flights would begin landing daily in Lagos and four in Abuja. Nigeria resumed domestic flights on July 8, and Sirika said there had been no confirmed coronavirus transmissions on flights.<br/>

An additional $187m will be pumped into Singapore's hard-hit aviation sector, as part of efforts to extend aid under the enhanced aviation support package till March next year. This will provide cost relief for airlines, ground handlers, cargo agents and airport tenants in a sector that has borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic, Deputy PM Heng Swee Keat said in a ministerial statement Monday. It will also help local carriers regain air connectivity to the world. Heng unveiled this as part of a strategy to further support the hardest-hit sectors - aerospace, aviation and tourism. The move will help these sectors retain core capabilities and position them for an eventual recovery, he said. "These sectors are important parts of our economy, and they are multipliers for other sectors." In particular, the Republic's position as a global business node depends on its connectivity as an air hub, he stressed. The Changi air hub and its adjacent industries contribute to more than 5% of the country's GDP and employ over 190,000 people. The extended financial relief for airlines, ground handlers, cargo agents and other partners at Changi Airport and Seletar Airport would be provided through landing, parking and rental rebates. Story has details.<br/>

From Thursday, pilots and cabin crew from local carriers who return to the city-state will be routinely tested for COVID-19. Currently, there is no requirement for them to be tested. However, those returning from countries or regions where travellers can serve their stay-home notice at their own accommodation will be exempted from the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) Monday. These include mainland China and South Korea. The authority also noted that existing protocols have been effective in keeping aircrew members from local carriers safe as there have been no positive COVID-19 cases among them for more than three months. Such protocols taken by cabin crew and pilots from the four local carriers – Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Scoot, and Jetstar Asia – include wearing masks during flights and remaining on the aircraft when working on turnaround flights. “However, there is a need for continued vigilance and COVID-19 testing will provide added assurance for crew, their families and the general public that any imported infection can be quickly detected, and given necessary medical treatment promptly,” the CAAS added.<br/>

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel is preparing for direct flights, over Saudi Arabia, to the United Arab Emirates as part of its normalisation deal with the UAE. Israel and the UAE announced on Thursday that they will normalise diplomatic relations under a US-sponsored deal whose implementation could reshape Middle East politics from the Palestinian issue to the fight against Iran. The UAE would only be third Arab state in more than 70 years to establish relations with Israel. Netanyahu, briefed at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport on plans for expanding flight activity curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, gave no time frame for the opening of an air link with the Gulf Arab country. “We are currently working on enabling direct flights, over Saudi Arabia, between Tel Aviv and Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” Netanyahu told reporters, estimating flight time at “about three hours, just like to Rome”. Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel and its air space is closed to Israeli airliners. But in what was seen in Israel as a harbinger of warmer relations with Riyadh, Air India was allowed in 2018 to begin flying over Saudi territory on its New Delhi-Tel Aviv route. At Ben-Gurion airport, Netanyahu said he saw “tremendous scope for bilateral tourism and gigantic scope for investment” with the UAE.<br/>

Australia’s Canberra Airport has announced that it will be closed on 22 and 29 August, due to the travel bans imposed amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The airport added that it may also be closed on other Saturdays and Tuesdays in the future. On 15 and 16 April, the airport first closed due to a lack of scheduled flights from the airlines operating from Canberra. Canberra Airport Aviation head Michael Thomson stated that the airport is implementing different measures to revive domestic aviation travel to ensure that people are employed. Thomson said: “We are calling on all governments within Australian to develop a national aviation recovery plan – a plan that adheres to health authority advice and one that allows people to travel based on a risk assessment and passengers meeting pre-requisites for travel. Pre-requisites may include Covid-19 testing, heat screening, mask-wearing and any number of other measures that we shouldn’t try to guess at now. What is important is that the discussion is had between the health officials, the aviation industry, and governments for a coordinated approach – and that it happens now before it is too late. There are levels of risk for everything we do in life but in health, business, and our daily lives we manage risk and carry on – otherwise nothing would ever be achieved.”<br/>

Malaysia’s northern state of Penang has barred entry by overseas visitors seeking medical treatment until it finalises new health and safety procedures in light of the coronavirus crisis, the chief minister said on Monday. Authorities toughened curbs on movement in some parts of the island over the weekend, as new infections emerged after more than three months with no cases. The government said three Indonesian patients had arrived by special flights last Friday to be treated at private hospitals, two victims of cancer and one in need of immediate treatment. “The state government deeply regrets that it was not informed of the ‘sudden’ arrival of the patients,” Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said, announcing the ban. The state did not say if the three had tested positive for the virus. But Penang authorities were told the patients had followed all the standard operating procedures, the chief minister said. The ban will stay until the healthcare ministry finalises procedures to deal with healthcare tourism, he added.<br/>

Boeing said Monday it would offer employees a voluntary layoff package with pay and benefits for the second time this year, as the planemaker battles a coronavirus-induced slowdown in global air travel. It will be offered to employees in the commercial airplanes and services businesses as well as corporate functions, CEO Dave Calhoun wrote in a note to employees. "Unfortunately, layoffs are a hard but necessary step to align to our new reality, preserve liquidity and position ourselves for the eventual return to growth," Calhoun said in the note. "We anticipate seeing a significantly smaller marketplace over the next three years." The health crisis, which has hammered planemakers, airlines and suppliers, has added to the woes of Boeing that has been grappling with a production freeze and year-long grounding of the 737 MAX following two fatal crashes. The company doesn't have a set target at this time and was encouraging all eligible employees interested in the voluntary layoff package to apply, Boeing said. The move to extend the overall workforce reductions beyond the initial 10% target is in response to employee feedback, Calhoun said.<br/>