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United will become the first US airline to offer coronavirus testing to some of its passengers. In a pilot testing program that the airline plans to extend to other destinations, United will offer testing for Hawaii-bound passengers beginning October 15 out of San Francisco. The testing will help passengers avoid an otherwise mandatory 14-day quarantine in Hawaii. United said it will use a rapid, 15-minute test from health technology company Abbott, and will also offer customers a mail-in option from clinical testing company Color that can be completed in the days before departure. The normally tourism-driven island state is currently seeing 70% fewer flights, 91% less TSA checkpoint traffic, and 94% less travel into the state compared to usual, according to numbers from Airlines for America. United's move corresponds with Hawaii's announcement of a pre-travel testing program beginning on October 15. The new rules would allow visitors to avoid the previously mandatory 14-day quarantine "if they are tested no earlier than 72 hours before their flight arrives with an FDA-approved nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT)," according to the state's announcement. United plans to expand customer testing to other destinations and US airports later this year, according to the airline's announcement.<br/>

United executive chairman Oscar Munoz says that a vaccine which will protect travellers against the coronavirus will be key to the industry’s recovery. Speaking Thursday, Munoz says that the industry will experience little business improvement until an immunization is deemed safe and is globally available. Absent that, a testing regime that delivers rapid, reliable results is the next best thing. “Nobody knows how long this will last,” he says. “Until a vaccine is brought forward and operationalized and distributed widely we will still see demand suffering.” But until that happens – expected to be in early-to-mid 2021 – coronavirus testing should be ramped up, Munoz says. Earlier today the Chicago-based carrier launched an initiative offering customers travelling from the carrier’s west-coast hub San Francisco International airport to Hawaii the opportunity to test out of the islands’ 14-day mandatory quarantine requirement beginning on 15 October. “You have to be creative and one of the things we have been pushing is the concept of the rapid test,” Munoz says. This type of testing will “ensure that the passengers are indeed covid-free and there is no need for quarantine.”<br/>

It's not every day that an airline reschedules a flight following a customer's complaint — but United is making an exception. United representative Robert Einhorn confirmed that the airline changed the departure time for one of its Tel Aviv flights after a customer expressed concern about missing the flight due to her religious obligations for Yom Kippur. "After some coordination with the network team and the TLV airport authorities, the adjustment has been made," Einhorn said, adding that the Monday night departure was pushed back from 8:05 p.m. to 10:50 p.m. "The customer was very happy and sent a follow-up thank you note to the leadership team," he added. The flight blog DansDeals first reported the news, noting that the customer, whom the outlet identifies as Miriam W., was planning to fly from Newark, New Jersey, to Tel Aviv after the end of Yom Kippur on Monday night. Jews traditionally observe Yom Kippur, considered the holiest day of the Jewish year, by fasting and reflecting on sins from sundown Sunday until sundown Monday. But the sun won't set on Monday in Newark until around 7 — which doesn't give Miriam and other Jewish travelers much time to make an 8:05 flight. Rather than give up on her travel plans, however, DansDeals reports that Miriam made the airline's leadership aware of the conflict by writing directly to United's CEO Scott Kirby and executive chairman Oscar Munoz. And it turns out they listened. According to the website, Miriam got a call from United's executive offices last week, thanking her for the email and assuring her that the flight would be rescheduled.<br/>

Lufthansa says it will test the practice of offering on-the-spot coronavirus tests before boarding intercontinental flights in an attempt to find a way to get long-haul passengers flying again. The airline said Thursday it was working with partners in the pharmaceutical industry to obtain an accurate test that could provide results within 15 minutes for 10 euros ($12). The tests on some routes to the US are to begin in October and the practice will depend on government approval. The company said the routes to the US had not been decided yet. “We are in contact with various airports in North America,” the company said in a statement. One option is to make the tests a requirement for everyone boarding that flight. The proposal is in line with calls by the IATA industry association to use testing as an alternative to quarantines to restore confidence in flying and get air travel moving again. The tests would be a way around the different quarantine requirements, such as Germany’s rule that arrivals from areas designated as high-risk must quarantine for 14 days. Those rules, while they can help contain the spread of the virus, are a major deterrent to air travel, industry representatives say.<br/>

ANA Holdings unit All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines said Thursday they will soon resume flights linking Narita International Airport near Tokyo and the southern China city of Guangzhou. Chinese authorities have allowed the two Japanese airlines to fly between Narita and Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, until late October. ANA will resume the service next Wednesday and JAL on Oct. 2, both planning to offer one round-trip flight a week. Demand for business trips to Guangzhou from Japan is high as the Chinese city hosts many Japanese companies. ANA will also reopen a route next Wednesday from Narita to Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong Province, with one round-trip flight offered per week.<br/>

Air New Zealand said Friday it had begun to draw down on a NZ$900m (US$589.95m) government debt facility that would give it time to review its capital structure and complete a capital raising by June 2021. The airline said the New Zealand government had reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining a majority shareholding and its board was in constructive talks with the government about its capital structure and funding. New Zealand is due to hold a national election on Oct. 17, with polls showing incumbent PM Jacinda Ardern is on track to win. The airline had last month said it would need to draw down on the government loan to help it weather the severe loss in revenue during the coronavirus pandemic after it reported its first annual loss in nearly two decades. Along with interest rates of 7-9%, the loan gives the government the right to seek repayment through a capital raising after six months or convert the loan to equity. The loan also gives the government security over many of Air New Zealand’s aircraft, complicating its ability to get commercial funding until the loan is retired, CFO Jeff McDowall said last month.<br/>

Air NZ’s five-year sponsorship deal with the All Blacks is coming to an end and discussions are underway about what the future holds for the long-time partners. Air New Zealand’s relationship with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) dates back to at least the mid-1990s when the national carrier had naming rights to the National Provincial Championship. Over the years the All Blacks have featured heavily in Air NZ’s marketing, from All Black-themed safety videos to aircraft being painted in distinctive “all black” livery. There’s even close ties at a top management level, with Air New NZ chairwoman Dame Therese Walsh being a former chief financial officer at NZR. But with coronavirus wiping out much of Air New Zealand’s revenue, the airline is having to cut costs across the business, and that includes its marketing budget. An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said its five-year sponsorship contract with NZR was due to finish at the end of the year, and discussions between the two organisations were currently underway. The All Blacks have many tiers of sponsors. Adidas is the principal partner and AIG is its major global partner. It has five global partners, one of which is Air New Zealand. The others are beer brand Steinlager, watch brand Tudor, jeans brand Replay and supplements business Healthspan. It also has regional partners, competition partners, women's rugby partners, "other competition" partners and supporters.<br/>

THAI is opening up its Airbus and Boeing flight simulators to the public, seeking a fresh revenue source amid the travel slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Customers can get into a mock cockpit of an Airbus A380, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 737-400 starting next month, said the flagship carrier, which is coping with a debt restructuring under bankruptcy court. Prices start at US$381 for two people for half an hour. The 60-year-old carrier is facing one of its biggest challenges as travel restrictions pummel Thailand's tourism industry. The company is restructuring about 350b baht of debt after receiving court approval on Sept 14. The carrier earlier this month transformed its cafeteria into an airline-themed eatery complete with plane seats and trays, as well as spare parts made into tables and furniture. Cabin-crew volunteers, many of whom have not worked for months since the lockdown, are serving customers.<br/>