Britain is working with London’s Heathrow Airport on a plan to use COVID-19 testing to help shorten quarantine times, in an effort to help airlines and airports kickstart travel and the wider economy. Heathrow said Wednesday that a testing area was ready to open should Britain approve a rule change and allow two tests, one on arrival and one some days later, to cut the quarantine time from the current two weeks. Under the current rules, travellers to the UK from the US, Spain, France and many other countries must self-isolate for 14 days when they arrive, deterring travel and heaping financial pressure on airlines. Britain’s health minister Matt Hancock said the government was still working with Heathrow on the plan but there were challenges in ensuring all of those infected by COVID-19 were detected. “I’m very glad that they’re making progress, but we’ve got to make sure that this is safe and secure because obviously that is absolutely top priority,” Hancock said. BA, easyJet and Ryanair have urged the government to allow quarantine to be replaced with testing, saying that Britain should follow Germany which has introduced a mandatory, free single COVID test for arrivals from high risk countries. “We believe a UK testing protocol based on the German model would stimulate significant demand whilst protecting public health,” the airlines’ CE said in a letter to the transport minister on Monday.<br/>
general
A heap of new travel restrictions has thrown Europe’s long-anticipated August break into disarray, dealing a setback to airlines and leaving some passengers on the hook for the cost of last-minute changes. In the UK, quarantine measures have been reimposed on Spain, France, Malta and the Netherlands. With infection rates rising, Croatia could be next, creating another headache for would-be travelers who are running out of time as schools reopen. Ryanair has cut back on schedules, saying the uncertainty has discouraged people from booking foreign trips. Lufthansa’s Eurowings unit said Tuesday it’ll reduce capacity to Spain, in response to a German travel warning. “Airlines are stuck in an awkward place where there’s no visibility beyond two weeks, and they’re having to ramp down and ramp up and then ramp down again, at short notice,” said Mark Manduca, an analyst with Citigroup. “Every airline is adapting as best they think they can.” An industry proposal to move the UK away from country-based quarantines is gaining momentum. The government is working on ramping up Covid-19 testing at airports, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Wednesday, a measure that could be used to ease the burden on travellers to self-isolate after arriving from overseas.<br/>
Germany’s main aviation industry group has proposed the creation of limited air-travel corridors between major U. and European hubs, a bid to crack open the nearly dormant market for trans-Atlantic flight. The pilot projects would link US airports in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and New York City-adjacent Newark, NJ, with Frankfurt and Munich in Germany, along with other major European intercontinental hubs, executives at BDL, which represents Germany’s airports and airlines, said in an online press event Wednesday. The proposal, which would require passengers to produce a negative test for Covid-19 before flying, is an effort to revive a market that’s the industry’s biggest profit producer and help major European airline groups recover from the pandemic. London-New York was the world’s top revenue-generating route with more than $1b in annual sales before governments imposed lengthy travel bans to contain the coronavirus earlier this year. Covid-19 testing exists at the German airports and could quickly be installed elsewhere, according to the BDL executives, Matthias von Randow and Peter Gerber. Lufthansa, IAG and Air France-KLM all have commercial partnerships with one of the large U.S. network airlines. However, the plan will need to involve the foreign, transport and health ministries in Germany alone, while a multitude of international authorities have to agree on which kind of test would be accepted, BDL said.<br/>
Demand for air travel within China has picked up, but airlines have had to engage in a costly battle for customers by offering all-you-can-fly tickets. Shi, a 31-year-old Shanghai resident, has visited over 10 cities on a single 3,322 yuan ($480) ticket from China Eastern. The deal allows for unlimited flights on weekends. Among the destinations Shi crossed off his list are Inner Mongolia and Gansu Province. China Eastern was the first out of the gate in June with its "Fly as You Wish" unlimited passes that are good until the end of the year. Others soon followed, including China Southern and Spring Airlines. Such packages are available from about 10 airlines as of mid-August, with the roster including both full-service operators and budget carrier. All-you-can-fly tickets are a huge gamble since the carrier essentially abandons any chance for earnings growth, according to a source at a Japanese airline. Normally, ticket prices are constantly adjusted to demand in a way that maximizes revenue. If an airline fills seats with all-you-can-fly passengers, the company will miss out on the opportunity to sell tickets at higher price points. Although Chinese airlines recognize the risks, the fear of being left behind by rivals has won out. Passenger numbers are recovering from earlier doldrums for domestic travel, but conditions are still shaky. Carriers will do whatever they can to win over regular customers.<br/>
When most air travel in the US effectively stopped in March, some private jet operators feared the worst, expecting coronavirus, along with the recession to come, would decimate their businesses. Instead, for many, the summer of 2020 has held up surprisingly well. “Business is very good, better than expected,” said Gregg Slow, president of FXAir, a charter company owned by Directional Aviation. “We had our best month in company history in June followed by second best in July, for revenue. What would normally be 8 to 10% new business is now 50 to 60% new business.” The reasons are predictable. Many consumers don’t feel comfortable flying on a commercial airplane, and while the vast majority of Americans cannot afford private jet flights, those who can increasingly are looking to them. They’d rather pay a fortune — travel by jet can cost 10 times or more the price of a domestic first class fare — than cancel their summer holiday. The big question is how long the (relatively) good times will last. Some private jet company executives say they expect demand will remain high beyond summer, in part because consumers who start flying on private jets rarely want to go back to commercial travel. <br/>
Kuwaiti aircraft leasing company Alafco said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with Airbus to delay the delivery of aircraft ordered from the planemaker. The lessor did not say how many aircraft were affected by the agreement, although according to Airbus' website it currently has 43 A320neo and 10 A321neo jets on order to be delivered. Under the agreement, advance payments to be made between now and three years' time will instead be due from 2024 onwards, Alafco said in a bourse filing. Earlier this month, Alafco said it had halved its order for 40 Boeing 737 jets after ending its legal claim over a cancelled order for the planes.<br/>
Auckland International Airport Thursday scrapped its final dividend and posted a steep fall in full-year profit, as coronavirus-related restrictions led to fewer flights. The pandemic has battered the airline and tourism industries, as stringent border controls and restriction on people’s movement to curb the spread of the virus upend demand, which has triggered a downturn for airport operators. Earlier this year, Auckland Airport scrapped its interim dividend, slashed capacity and jobs and raised cash to tide itself over the pandemic. “As we look to the 2021 financial year, we continue to face significant uncertainty on the timing of Auckland Airport’s recovery,” CE Adrian Littlewood said. New Zealand’s biggest airport operator also chose not to provide earnings forecast for 2021, citing uncertainty around recovery in international passenger numbers and ongoing curbs on people’s movement. Underlying profit after tax for the year ended June 30 fell 31.4% to NZ$188.5m from NZ$274.7m last year, but beat estimates of NZ$167.8m, according to Refinitiv IBES data.<br/>