United said Thursday it had committed to a multimillion-dollar investment in a project to remove carbon dioxide from the air through air direct-capture technology as part of a plan to be 100% “green” by 2050. The project, 1PointFive, is a partnership between Occidental Petroleum Corp subsidiary Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Rusheen Capital Management that plans to build the first US industrial-sized direct air capture plant that would permanently sequester 1m tons of CO2 each year. That is the equivalent of what 40m trees can do, but covering a land area about 3,000 times smaller, United said, adding that direct-capture technology is one of the few proven ways to correct for aircraft emissions. United declined to provide details on the investment amount. United CEO Scott Kirby said carbon capture and sequestration is the only scalable technology that removes carbon from the atmosphere and buries it in the ground. “Sequestration is a real and permanent solution,” Kirby said. Until now, the airline industry has focused primarily on the purchase of carbon offsets to reduce the environmental impact of flying.<br/>
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The Portuguese government’s draft restructuring plan for ailing flag carrier TAP projects it may need around E2b of additional state aid by 2024, while thousands of jobs will be terminated to turn the airline around, three sources said. One of the sources familiar with the document told Reuters it envisaged that TAP, which had a loss of E701m in the first nine months of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic slashed its passenger numbers by 70%, should break even in 2025. The plan still needs to be approved by the EC. If rejected, TAP would have to immediately repay a E1.2b rescue loan agreed earlier this year, which could lead to its insolvency. TAP asked for state aid in April after suspending almost all of its 2,500 weekly flights. Thursday is the deadline for the government, which holds a 72.5% stake in TAP, to send the restructuring plan to Brussels. One source with knowledge of the proposed plan said its base scenario envisaged an additional E2b in public or state-guaranteed loans until 2024.<br/>
Singapore Airlines is holding out hope for a "travel bubble" between Australia and the carrier's city-state hub, despite Qantas and other leading aviation figures warning international travel will not resume until a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available. Singapore and Hong Kong were to start the world's first, long-anticipated COVID-19 travel bubble late last month but it was delayed until next year after a spike in infections in Hong Kong. Australia has a "one-way bubble" allowing people to enter the country from New Zealand without going into quarantine while Singapore is already open to travel from Australia. But Australia has not reciprocated and still has a ban on citizens going overseas without a government exemption. SIA executive VP of commercial Lee Lik Hsin said his airline - which pre-COVID was responsible for about 8% of passenger traffic in and out of Australia, second only to Qantas - still said "bubbles" were a viable option to restart international travel."[In] the example of the Singapore-Hong Kong bubble... the governments had discussed and come to the conclusion that it was a safe way to resume mass travel, predicated under certain conditions," Lee said. "The preconditions changed because the infection rates in Hong Kong went up - that’s what’s setting the preconditions are for. As far as other countries go … we still look forward to it and we certainly hope Australians and the Australian government think the same."<br/>
EgyptAir launched a national campaign entitled "EgyptAir is safe" coinciding with the beginning of preparations to receive guests and fans of the participating teams in the World Men’s Handball Championship 2020, which is set to be held in Egypt from January 13-31, 2021. This comes in light of the directives of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to take all necessary measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, according to Pilot Rushdi Zakaria, chairman of the holding company for EgyptAir. Through this campaign, EgyptAir aims to deliver reassurance message to those attending the event from abroad, that all precautionary and preventive measures are adopted. The company affirms the commitment of all its employees aboard the aircrafts, and off-board that all measures are applied, including: preventive masks, sterilizers and hygiene tools, social distancing, wrapped meals, bags sterilized and pillows changed regularly before passengers enter the plane.<br/>