general

United and Delta airlines have recently begun boarding flights from the rear to the front in a bid to minimize close contacts between passengers that could spread Covid-19. Yet new research shows it may do just the opposite: US scientists have found boarding planes starting with the back rows increases the time spent by people clustering in aisles to load bags in overhead bins before taking their seats. Boarding procedure is just one example of how airlines are struggling to make flying safe during the pandemic, and lure back passengers. Carriers are also instituting inconsistent policies on leaving middle seats vacant that aren’t backed by science. There are huge gaps in data and research, and the Trump administration has declined to set health-related rules for airlines. “There is an abundance of expert opinions and there is a scarcity of good data,” said Byron Jones, an engineering professor at Kansas State University, one of the small coterie of researchers specializing in cabin air safety. US airlines say they’ve been consulting with disease specialists while rushing to respond to an outbreak that’s prompted billions of dollars in losses. They’ve added increasingly stringent protections in recent months, a trade group said, from extensive disinfection programs to tighter enforcement of now-universal face-mask requirements. Airline chiefs have issued sweeping reassurances to the public, seeking to get people flying again. The US DoT and other agencies in July released guidelines for lowering risks, called Runway to Recovery. Story has more.<br/>

This could be the final boarding call for the $200 ticket-change fee that has enraged so many US airline travellers over the past decade. Delta and American Airlines said Monday that they are dropping the fee on most tickets for domestic flights, copying United’s move one day earlier. Southwest didn’t levy change fees to start with, so Monday's announcements mean that the four biggest US carriers will have roughly similar policies. Wolfe Research airline analyst Hunter Keay said he believes Delta and United were considering dropping change fees even before the pandemic because they were seen as too punitive. “This is another example of a crisis accelerating forward thinking ideas,” Keay said, adding that United could have gone further and dropped change fees on international itineraries too. Delta and American said they have permanently eliminated change fees for all domestic flights for premium and most economy fares except the lowest fare, called basic economy. American is also dropping the fee on trips to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. American said it will let all passengers fly standby for earlier same-day flights without charge beginning Oct. 1. United is making that change on Jan. 1.<br/>

UK cabin crew are unable to force passengers into wearing face masks, tourist industry bosses have warned, after an outbreak on a Tui flight where travellers were "disregarding the rules". Travel chiefs have cautioned that there is likely to be a rise in the number of coronavirus outbreaks on planes after 16 cases were linked to the flight from Zante, Greece to Cardiff, Wales. Steve Freudmann, chairman of the Institute of Travel and Tourism, said that a change in the rules was now necessary because the current measures meant there is "very little" cabin crew can do to get passengers to wear face masks. "The general consensus in the travel industry is that it's very unfair on tour operators and airlines in asking them to become enforcers," he said. Unlike with shops and public transport, there is currently no law mandating that passengers wear face coverings on flights. However, the introduction of such a law is something that the ITT would like to see. "Until there's a law, there's very little they [cabin crew] can do," he said. "They either have to help us by passing some form of legislation, and if they don't, then I think the outbreaks we've seen this weekend probably will become more frequent."<br/>

A senior public health figure has made extraordinary revelations about the system for tracking and tracing travellers arriving in the UK. After 16 cases of coronavirus were linked to TUI flight 6215 from Zante in Greece to Cardiff on Tuesday 25 August, Public Health Wales has decided to go public in order to trace all 193 passengers and crew on board. Everyone arriving in the UK is required to complete a “passenger locator form” (PLF) providing all their contact details – as well as the flight number and arrival time. Dr Gwen Lowe, consultant in communicable disease control with Public Health Wales, said that some of the travellers will not be contacted until a week after the flight. She said: “We have around 16 cases that are linked to people who took that flight back from Zante. “Of those 16 cases, we know that seven of them were infectious, or potentially infectious, whilst actually on the flight. Those seven people come from three separate groups of individuals who travelled separately, had separate travel arrangements, but caught that flight together. Story has more.<br/>

Heathrow Airport in the UK has trialled three rapid point of care Covid-19 tests which may prevent the implementation of blanket quarantine rules and facilitate the recovery of the aviation sector. The trials were conducted on airport staff and currently, the findings are being evaluated. One of the tests, where Heathrow worked with I-Abra to trial their Virolens testing device, claims to provide the results in as little as 30 seconds. A machine learning holographic microscope, the device is designed to identify if a person is carrying the disease. In the other two tests, the airport worked with Geneme and Mologic. These two tests are expected to provide results in 30 and ten minutes, respectively. The participants were given the option to choose any of the three solutions. Also, they underwent a government-approved privately provided PCR test to enable the comparision of the two results. The results of the trials are only advisory. The initiative will also help in determining if such tests can be conducted on passengers outside of a laboratory setting. Following the evaluation, Heathrow will share the data with the government.<br/>

Aviation training specialists, which saw simulator sales plummet when the coronavirus pandemic brought air travel to a near halt, are getting some relief from an uptick in demand from cargo carriers and airlines gearing up for the Boeing 737 MAX’s return to service. Simulator makers Textron and CAE had bet on a sales bonanza with Boeing recommending fresh pilot training on a MAX simulator for the aircraft grounded since March 2019 following two deadly crashes, when it finally flew again. The pandemic dashed those hopes, crippling air traffic and casting doubt over the jet’s future. Now they look to business aviation, a lifting of travel restrictions, revived hopes for the MAX’s certification later this year or early next, and heavier cargo traffic to boost training and help through the simulator sales drought. TRU Flight Training Iceland, a joint venture between Icelandair and Textron’s TRU Simulation + Training, for example, is seeing continued demand from cargo pilots training on its Boeing 757 simulator, its managing director Gudmundur Orn Gunnarson said. Cargo carriers and Icelandair are now the center’s top sources of training activity, though that is roughly at half of where it was a year ago, Gunnarson said. Canada’s CAE, the world’s largest civil aviation training company, said it was in advanced discussions with airlines about doing more training after it reported a sharp drop in simulator deliveries.<br/>

Adani Enterprises is seeking a controlling stake in Mumbai’s international airport as billionaire Gautam Adani continues his aggressive push into what was until recently the world’s fastest-growing aviation market. Adani Airport Holdings will acquire the debt of GVK Airport Developers, the holding company of GVK Power & Infrastructure, according to an exchange filing Monday. Adani will also buy the 23.5% stake held in Mumbai International Airport by Airports South Africa and Bidvest Group, and then work to acquire control. It’s a high-stakes bet on an industry that’s been brought to its knees by the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak in India is only gathering pace, sickening more than 78,700 people on Sunday alone, a one-day record. And while budget carriers mushroomed across the South Asian nation as people took to the skies for the first time, poorer economies with rickety infrastructure and a reliance on natural resources have been hit much harder by Covid-19, casting doubt on the ability of consumer-led sectors to quickly bounce back. Still, the airport in Mumbai, India’s second busiest with 46m annual passengers in the 12 months through March, has been a prized possession for GVK and it’s fought hard to retain control, even attempting to buy out minority partners to ward off Adani. However high debt levels -- GVK’s airports business had obligations of 57.5b rupees ($781m) as of March 2019 -- and a string of government investigations into financial irregularities mean the group has lost much of its bargaining power.<br/>

Swissport is getting new owners in a debt-for-equity swap that includes a E500m long-term debt facility and a E300m interim facility to help keep it afloat, the airport services company said Monday. Senior secured creditors including SVP Global, Apollo Global Management, TowerBrook Capital Partners, Ares Management, Barclays Bank PLC, Cross Ocean Partners and King Street Capital Management will take ownership. HNA Group, Swissport’s debt-strapped Chinese owner until now, “will share in the value creation” contingent on a future exit valuation, Swissport said. With restructured finances, Swissport managers are now hoping to poach business from rivals made even more vulnerable due to COVID-19’s dramatic hit to airport traffic, the company said. “With much lower debt and 500 million euros additional cash injected, we will be well positioned going forward to invest into the business and accelerate growth,” CFO Peter Waller said. “We expect to see increased outsourcing of ground handling services by airlines and being able to take volumes from some financially weaker competitors.”<br/>

A new bullet-shaped aircraft that massively reduces the cost of flying is the “biggest thing to happen to both the aviation and travel industries in 50 years" according to its manufacturer. Aviation enthusiasts first spotted the Celera 500L from Otto Aviation flying over California in 2017. Immediately questions were raised over where this unusual-looking aircraft came from and who built it. Now Otto Aviation has finally gone public with the details on a new website. Far from the speculative designs we sometimes see for future supersonic jets and other aircraft, the Celera 500L has already completed 31 test flights with the full-scale prototype. Otto Aviation claims it is the "most fuel-efficient commercially viable passenger aircraft in the world". The plane, which can carry up to six passengers, is designed to compete with commercial aircraft by providing chartered flights at a cost that's comparable to flying with a regular airline. "Our goal was to create a private aircraft that would allow for direct flights between any city pair in the US at speeds and cost comparable to commercial air travel," said William Otto, the company's chairman and chief scientist. The Celera 500L has an operating cost of US$328 per hour, which is far lower than typical private jet costs, which typically cost at least US$1000 and as much as US$3000 per hour. The key to the aircraft's efficiency is its aerodynamic, bullet-like design, which maximises the smooth flow of air over the fuselage, wings, and tail surfaces. It also greatly reduces emissions, with Otto Aviation claiming carbon emissions are 80% lower than comparable private aircraft and 40% lower than modern commercial planes. The plane already surpasses the US FAA's 2031 emissions standards for new aircraft by more than 30%, Otto Aviation says.<br/>