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United said Tuesday that it would return to Kennedy International Airport in February, a move that could intensify competition between large airlines once the pandemic is brought under control. Starting Feb. 1, the airline will operate four daily flights out of Terminal 7 at JFK, two to San Francisco and two to Los Angeles. The flights will use the airline’s Boeing 767-300ER planes, which used to ferry passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. The planes can carry nearly 170 travelers and will include 46 business class seats each. The country’s four major airlines have in recent years concentrated their operations at their biggest airports, which some experts refer to as fortress hubs. That means United, American Airlines, Delta and Southwest often do not compete extensively at many airports. But that might be changing somewhat now. Last month, Southwest announced plans to expand from smaller airports serving Chicago and Houston to those city’s larger airports, O’Hare International and George Bush Intercontinental. O’Hare is a big hub for United and American and Intercontinental is dominated by United. United left Kennedy in October 2015 after failing to make a profit there for seven years, amid intense competition. United had been operating six daily flights from Kennedy to Los Angeles and seven to San Francisco. By bringing those flights to Newark, United said at the time that it could better serve customers on the West Coast with connections to Europe. "I have been waiting a long time to say this — United Airlines is back at JFK,” said the airline’s CE, Scott Kirby. “Come early next year, we will be serving all three major New York City area airports with a best-in-class product to provide our customers unmatched transcontinental service from New York City and the West Coast.”<br/>

BA and Lufthansa have become the first two airlines in the world to be given a Covid-19 safety rating. Skytrax, which rates airlines and airports around the globe according to strict criteria, has now introduced a new branch, the Covid-19 Airline Safety Ratings, which analyses carriers’ policies when it comes to stopping the spread of coronavirus. Both airlines received a four-star rating (out of a potential five stars). They were assessed on the effectiveness and consistency of the hygiene and safety measures they’ve put in place and potential risk to passengers across the airport and cabin environment. BA’s rating was based on its operations at Heathrow Terminal Five, while Lufthansa was judged on flights from Terminal 1 at Frankfurt Airport. To attain four stars, an airline must achieve a high standard of cleanliness onboard its aircraft, using techniques such as UV sanitisation and mass disinfectant treatments. Onboard catering should be adapted too, with reduced contact delivery and enhanced food safety measures. In the airport areas manned by the airline, contactless technology and enforcement of social distancing during check-in, boarding and on arrival are rewarded by the ratings scheme. As part of its audit, Skytrax uses ATP testing – a process of rapidly measuring actively growing microorganisms – to measure contamination on high-touch surfaces in the airport and the aircraft cabin. The company has consulted the IATA Health Safety Standards Checklist, the ICAO CART Take-off guidance and recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to come up with its own checklist and safety ratings system.<br/>

In response to high demand from investors, Germany’s Lufthansa on Tuesday increased the volume of a bond offering and adjusted the conditions in its own favour. Germany’s flagship carrier lifted an offering of 2025 senior unsecured convertible bonds, which it had announced earlier on Tuesday, to up to E600m from E525m. The airline, which is reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on travel, said it planned to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. It lowered the coupon to between 2.00% and 2.25% per annum from 2.25% and 2.75%, still payable semi-annually in arrears. The bonds will be convertible into new and or existing shares and will be offered through an accelerated bookbuilding process to institutional investors.<br/>

Air Canada shares surged more than 28% Monday as news of a potential COVID-19 vaccine and government assistance for the industry eclipsed dismal third-quarter results brought about by global pandemic lockdowns. The Montreal-based airline said it lost $685m, or $2.31 per diluted share, in the three months ending Sept. 30, during what is normally its most profitable quarter. “I think there are a lot of people who are very, very hesitant to make any travel arrangements now, based on these restrictions and quarantines,” said CE Calin Rovinescu on a conference call with financial analysts on Monday. “Even if they feel safe to travel … they can’t justify coming back and taking two weeks at home in quarantine.” During the same period last year, Air Canada had a profit of $636m, or $2.35 per diluted share. Third-quarter sales fell 86% from a year ago, down to $757m from $4.77b. The company says it hopes to save $3b between now and 2023 by cutting the number of planes in its hangars. It plans to retire 79 older aircraft, defer the purchase of 18 Airbus planes and 16 Boeing planes, and cancel its plans to buy 10 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 12 Airbus A220s. However, it will still receive five new Airbus A220s this winter. The cost-cutting measures come as Air Canada plans to cut its Q4 capacity by approximately 75% compared with Q4 2019.<br/>

Hong Kong and Singapore will start an air travel bubble that will replace quarantine with Covid-19 testing from Nov. 22, officials said Wednesday. There will be several flights a week on Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways from that date, rising to daily from Dec. 7. A maximum of 200 people will be permitted on each flight and details of the arrangement, released nearly a month after the two Asian hubs first announced they’d reopen their borders to one another, will be reviewed after one month. Singapore Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung said at a news briefing that this was the first travel bubble of its type and may be used as a template for other countries, if successful. The travel bubble will help ensure a brighter future for the city-state’s Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines, he said. Travel bubbles are seen as key to reopening borders ahead of the rollout of an effective and internationally recognized vaccine. But they’ve been hard to put into practice as the coronavirus continues to spread or flare again in much of the world. Even the Singapore-Hong Kong arrangement comes with a long list of requirements and some restrictions. Ong said the waiting time for a Covid test would likely be about four hours and fares would be a commercial decision for the two airlines. “I suspect travelers might well be quite careful in the beginning before they gradually become more confident,” Ong said. “I suspect that many Singaoreans and Hong Kongers will take a wait-and-see attitude until after awhile you can do one test less perhaps.” Flying on the travel bubble between the two cities will also require a degree of paperwork. <br/>