Wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus was not widespread in March, when a group of German tourists took a long flight home from Israel — but researchers were surprised to find only two passengers outside the group had been infected. In a short study published Tuesday in the US medical journal JAMA Network Open, virologists at a university hospital in Frankfurt, Germany meticulously contacted all of the passengers from the flight — none of whom had worn masks at the time — to examine the actual risk posed by the presence of travelers infected with COVID-19. On March 9, 102 passengers boarded the Tel Aviv-Frankfurt flight that lasted four hours and 40 minutes, including a group of 24 tourists. German authorities were alerted that the group had come into contact with an infected hotel manager in Israel, and decided to test the 24 tourists upon their arrival in Frankfurt. Seven of them tested positive, as did another seven later on. Four to five weeks later, researchers contacted the 78 other passengers from the flight, 90% of whom responded. The researchers asked them whom they had come into contact with and what symptoms they had, and tested several of them. They found two passengers were most likely infected during the flight: the two people sitting across the aisle from the original seven cases. A person seated in the row (seat 44K) directly ahead of two of the infected tourists (seats 45J and 45H) was not infected. Story has more.<br/>
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The United States and China have agreed to double the number of airline flights that each other's airlines can operate between the countries, from four to eight per week. The deal marks a further easing of a standoff between the world's two biggest economies over travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic. The US DoT announced the increase Tuesday, saying that China's aviation authority decided this week to permit expanded flights by United and Delta. Shortly after the announcement, United Airlines said it will go from two to four flights per week between San Francisco and Shanghai via Seoul, starting Sept. 4. The DoT said Atlanta-based Delta is also eligible to increase its two weekly flights to four. Delta did not comment immediately. Chinese airlines that already fly to the United States — Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines — will be allowed to make eight weekly round-trips instead of four, the department said. The DoT repeated its hope that China will agree to fully restore the treaty rights of US airlines to serve China, but called the most recent increase in flying “a step in the right direction."<br/>
The American Chamber of Commerce in China has secured approval to fly US executives back to China. A source from AmCham China said almost 200 people had signed up for a San Francisco to Beijing charter flight since Monday – well over the 120 needed to make it happen. The chamber said that only those who were employed by member companies who had received a letter of invitation, known as a PU letter, would be allowed on the flight. They also must obtain a valid re-entry visa. Family members will be permitted to travel with the employee, but all passengers will be required to pass a Covid-19 test before boarding and must enter quarantine upon arrival. The price of the flight operated by United is expected to be “competitive with current commercial rates”, with economy class seats starting at US$4,300 and business class seats priced starting at US$10,000. AmCham China estimates that between 5,000 and 10,000 members of the US business community are currently stuck overseas.<br/>
Algeria will allow its private sector to set up banks as well as air and sea transport companies for goods and passengers to reduce spending, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Tuesday. The move is part of wider reforms by the OPEC member to cope with financial problems caused by a sharp fall in energy export revenues, the main source of state funding for the North African country. “I see no objection to private investors creating air and sea freight and passenger transport (companies), as well as banks,” he told a meeting in Algiers to discuss a plan to revive the economy. The annual bill for goods transport services is estimated at $12.5b, he said. “It is essential to find a solution to this situation,” he told the meeting attended by government officials, businessmen and unions.<br/>
It’s difficult to tell whether Singapore Changi Airport is an entertainment complex or an airport. Changi features a three-screen movie theater, an indoor butterfly garden, a rooftop pool and inventive eateries that attract as many locals as travelers. With more than 400 shops, including Apple and Tiffany & Company (there are two), the Changi Airport would be the fourth-largest mall by the number of tenants if it were in the US. An audience that is both captive and often affluent has made airport commercial square footage some of the most lucrative in the world. But the pandemic has crushed the commercial calculus at airports, and no one is sure what comes next. The leading airport for concession and retail sales in the US is Los Angeles International, with revenue of $3,036 a square foot, according to a 2018 report from Airport Experience News. Chicago O’Hare clocks in second with $2,718 in sales a square foot. By comparison, the average mall retailer is around $325 per square foot, according to 2017 data from CoStar. But that’s all gone now, said Alan Gluck, a senior aviation consultant at ICF. “In general, sales are in the toilet,” Gluck said. For example, concession sales at San Francisco International Airport in May were down 96% from a year earlier. Duty-free concession sales were down 100%, he said, because all the stores were closed. Until passenger traffic returns, Gluck said, airport retail properties are not going to be profit centers, and even when it does return, it may be at reduced capacity.<br/>
Airport operator Stobart Group is to cut more than 100 jobs at its aviation arm after easyJet closed its bases at Stansted and Southend airports. The London-listed firm will enter a consultation process with its employees as part of a wider cost-cutting drive. Stobart owns Southend airport and was already in talks with staff about the future after hopes of a recovery in the aviation sector were snuffed out by ministers' decision to impose tough quarantine measures on countries including Spain and France. It is thought that about 100 roles could be cut at its wider aviation division, while 30 jobs, or 10pc of its workforce, are also likely to be axed as a result of the consultation with staff at Southend. It comes a day after easyJet announced plans to shut bases at London Stansted, Southend and Newcastle. EasyJet had four aircraft based at Southend, where it operated up to 81 departures per week, and seven planes at Stansted, where it had up to 210 weekly departures. <br/>
Airbus has chosen a former GE executive as the planemaker’s new sales chief in Europe in a move to strengthen its salesforce to get through the pandemic. The company confirmed that Wouter Van Wersch, who until last month was GE’s president and chief executive officer for Asia-Pacific, will take up the role. He will start on Sept. 1 and report to commercial head Christian Scherer. Van Wersch will be tasked with navigating Airbus through the aviation crisis caused by the Covid-19 outbreak while seeking to minimize the impact of lower aircraft sales and production. He’ll also be responsible for managing relationships with key customers such as Air France-KLM, EasyJet Plc and Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The appointment comes at a challenging time for Airbus, even though the company has largely managed to avoid order cancellations tied to the virus. Keeping lines of communication open with customers whose revenues continue to be affected by travel quarantines will be vital.<br/>