British Airways' new boss appealed to Britain and the US Monday to back pre-flight COVID-19 testing with quarantine-free transatlantic travel corridors. “We need to work together on a testing pilot so flights can start between London and New York, traditionally one of the busiest airline routes in the world,” Sean Doyle said in his first public appearance in the job. Doyle was addressing the Airlines 2050 online conference less than a week after parent group IAG’s new CE Luis Gallego named him to lead the British carrier, replacing Alex Cruz. The former Aer Lingus CEO also echoed industry calls for a global framework of virus testing to replace quarantines blamed by the industry for exacerbating its slump. A British-US pilot programme requires both governments to waive quarantines, Doyle said. “At the moment we’re not getting any support or action and we’re not hearing from governments what they’re thinking.” British Transport Minister Grant Shapps told the same conference he would push for an agreement on new travel corridors with the US. <br/>
oneworld
Iran hosted officials from Ukraine in a second round of talks on Monday over compensation for a Kiev bound passenger plane mistakenly shot down in January, state media reported. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital's main airport on January 8. Iran admitted days later that its forces accidentally shot down the plane, killing all 176 people on board, after firing two missiles amid heightened US-Iran tensions. State news agency IRNA said the talks were held at the foreign ministry in Tehran and that they would continue until Wednesday. The first round of negotiations were held in Kiev in July, with the Ukrainian authorities saying they were "cautiously optimistic" about the process. Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Yevgeniy Yenin, who headed the delegation, met with Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday, after meeting with his deputy Mohsen Baharvand earlier in the day. Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne "is actively working with his international partners to ensure a thorough and credible investigation," his spokeswoman Syrine Khoury said on Monday.<br/>
The impact of the coronavirus crisis means American Airlines sometimes feels more like ”a $2-3b start-up company” than one of the world’s largest and longest-established operators, according Rhett Workman, the carrier’s managing director for Europe and Asia-Pacific. ”You find humour in some of what’s happening,” Workman says of that unprecedented financial transition during today’s Airlines 2050 conference, having seen the carrier achieve revenue of around $45b in 2019. He states that American is ”looking for solid ground and where you can deploy your assets most efficiently” amid an extremely challenging operating environment. On the transatlantic, for example, American “had roughly 70-75 flights a day” last summer, but is operating “under 10” now. At London Heathrow airport, the airline is at around 25% capacity year-on-year in combination with partner BA, “with most load factors below 50%”. ”This is really going to test our mettle,” Workman says, calling for the industry to ”come together and really focus on testing, as that is the most immediate way forward to create some life in our business.” Workman highlights the importance of cargo flights as a lifeline not just for the carrier, but “for so many businesses connected to our industry”.<br/>
Qatar Airways does not expect to use its Airbus A380s for at least the next two years, its CE said Monday, longer than a previous projection for the superjumbos to possibly return to service in 2021. The state-owned airline has parked its 10 A380s due to the devastating impact of the coronavirus crisis on travel demand. “We don’t think we are going to operate our A380s for at least the next couple of years,” Akbar al-Baker said. He had said in June the jets would remain parked until at least the middle of next year. The Gulf carrier plans to start retiring its A380s from 2024 when its oldest superjumbo reaches ten years of service. The A380s would return once the airline saw the growth rate of 2019, before the pandemic struck, Baker said. The 100 destinations to which the airline is currently flying is 25 fewer than planned due to a new wave of infections in Europe and travel restrictions, he said. Baker criticised rivals operating the A380 as “foolish”, saying there was insufficient demand and so prices would be driven down.<br/>
Governments and regulatory bodies must resist the adoption of protectionist measures such as ’travel bubbles’ that reduce the opportunities for international airlines to serve markets, in the view of Qatar Airways CE Akbar Al Baker ”Already there are calls to limit the ability of international airlines to freely carry passengers between destinations,” Al Baker states. He believes that the much-discussed concept of “countries creating bubbles” – where air travel is opened up between two countries through intergovernmental agreements – ”is just another way of protecting home carriers at the cost of international free travel and open skies”. Al Baker suggests that although “advocates of such an approach” often base their arguments on the need to protect jobs or maintain labour standards, ”what they are really asking is for governments to stop passengers from making their own choice”. “This is never a successful strategy,” Al Baker says. “The aviation industry has to become more responsive to consumer demand, not less.” Such developments are particularly concerning for Qatar Airways, which has a business model based on its ability to serve markets across the world via connections at its Hamad International airport hub. Indeed, noting that progress made in recent decades on liberalising international air travel is “still far from enough”, Al Baker expresses concern that ”we might witness more protectionism in the post-Covid 19 era”, with passengers ultimately “paying the price”. <br/>
Qatar Airways has taken its support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month to new heights by 'drawing' a symbolic pink ribbon in the sky above Doha. Flight QR9901 undertook a special route to create the ribbon image, which was able be viewed in real time on popular flight tracking sites. The 'Think Pink' flight was exclusively operated by women – from the ground operations, technical support and dispatch teams to the flight deck and cabin crew. QR9901 took off from Hamad International Airport on Saturday and returned 65 minutes later after completing its special flight. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was loaded with specially invited female passengers who were given a 'Think Pink' service that included an announcement from the captain, pink-themed food and beverages along with Qatar Airways 'Think Pink' wristbands and limited edition pink BRICs amenity kits. The airline's CEO Akbar Al Baker said: "Qatar Airways is a very strong supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all the incredibly hard work that goes into research and development to help beat breast cancer. Together we hope to reach as many people as possible, and help save lives."<br/>
Cathay Pacific hopes a recovery in travel demand will allow it to operate closer to 50% of its pre-pandemic capacity later next year, provided there’s an effective Covid-19 vaccine widely adopted in its key markets. The Hong Kong-based carrier expects to operate at about 10% of typical capacity for the rest of 2020 and well below a quarter in the first half of 2021, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said Monday as the airline released another bleak set of monthly passenger figures. “Among the multiple scenarios studied, this one is already the most optimistic that we can responsibly adopt at this moment,” Lam said of the capacity forecasts. The airline and its Cathay Dragon unit flew just 47,061 passengers in September, down 98.1% from a year earlier. The two operated 1,283 flights during the month, compared with 19,292 in September 2019. The duo’s passenger load factor was only 24.9%. The two airlines carried 109,453 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a decrease of 36.6%. Cathay is expected to unveil details of a strategic review soon, with some reports suggesting job cuts could be announced as early as this week. <br/>
Royal Jordanian Airlines has named chairman Said Darwazeh as its interim chief executive, after previous head Stefan Pichler retired having spent over three years in the top post. It has yet to appoint a permanent successor after the carrier’s contract with Pichler ended on 30 September. The airline credits him with increasing the company’s operating profit substantially, to JD43.8m ($61.8m) last year, after he shaped and implemented an “ambitious” turnaround plan. “We are proud about the significant progress our national carrier has achieved in the last three [pre-coronavirus] years,” says Darwazeh. Pichler took over the management of the carrier at the beginning of June 2017, the latest in a series of senior airline and travel leadership appointments which included Thomas Cook, Air Berlin, Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways and Fiji Airways. He says he was “truly honoured” to work for the Amman-based carrier and says he received “great support” from Darwazeh and the board.<br/>