Airlines face dismal winter as pickup fails to take off

Airlines face a long, hard winter after a much hoped for rebound from the coronavirus crisis failed to materialise, prompting savage cost-cutting programmes and fresh calls for government support. "We are in a race against time. The key thing is to have the cash... we need to move quickly, very quickly," said Stephane Albernhe, managing partner at Archery Strategy Consulting. Airline revenues plunged 80% in the first six months of the year, according to the IATA, but they still had fixed costs to cover - crew, maintenance, fuel, airport levies and now aircraft storage. After a slight recovery in July as coronavirus curbs were eased, traffic fell again last month while bookings for the winter season - which begins on Oct 25 - are down 78 per cent compared with a year earlier, promising more hardship to come. One of the biggest disappointments has been the absence of highly lucrative business-class travellers who prefer now to rely on tele-conferencing rather than run the risk of catching the virus. Repeated efforts to reassure passengers that air travel is safe have failed to make much of a difference while government restrictions, including quarantines of up to 14 days for returning passengers in many countries, have only added to the pressures on the battered airline companies. "The risk of contracting Covid-19 during air travel is really very, very low," said Dr David Powell, medical consultant for IATA. The industry as a whole is hoping that the introduction of airport testing systems will restore passenger confidence and reduce if not completely remove the need for damaging quarantine regimes. There are already trial systems in place in several major airports around the world and, last Friday, France announced it would introduce quick, antigen-based testing by the end of the month.<br/>