Star Alliance has partnered with technology company Amadeus to provide access to a touchless journey experience for frequent flyers. The partnership will benefit passengers enrolled in Star Alliance Biometrics or in Amadeus Traveler ID. The identity data exchange and verification solution Traveler ID connects a traveller’s digital ID to any online and biometric portal. Amadeus EVP Airlines central and eastern Europe Monika Wiederhold said: “The Traveler ID solution is agnostic, meaning that all types of travel companies can work with us for a variety of digital identity needs, from enrolling travellers to organising the collaboration of multiple providers to orchestrate the end-to-end identity verification process.” By creating a more touchless journey for travellers, this move will help in reducing the need for passengers to fill in identification details on multiple occasions. In the future, these travellers will also be able to use their Traveler ID to access airports that have deployed the Star Alliance Biometrics solution. In both programmes, data privacy regulations will be followed strictly.<br/>
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United Tuesday said it has started transporting coronavirus vaccines within the US in the bellies of its passenger aircraft, as carriers’ role in distributing doses expands. Hours after the US approved the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine for emergency use late Friday, logistics giants and passenger airlines began mobilizing distribution around the US, a feat that requires close monitoring of temperature since the vaccine must be stored at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature-controlled packages will have GPS tracking and other monitoring, shipping company executives said last week, while the FAA said planes carrying vaccines will get priority treatment. United’s first domestic passenger flights carrying the vaccine went out after federal regulators approved the vaccine, a United Airlines spokeswoman said. United Parcel Service and FedEx, partners in the Trump administration’s vaccine production and distribution initiative Operation Warp Speed, routinely turn to commercial airlines to fly packages and other goods their networks can’t handle. “We’re now continuing to meet with our partners to try to lay out a more scheduled flow of the vaccines,” said Chris Busch Monday. United declined to disclose the routing of the vaccines because it could violate agreements with customers like FedEx or UPS.<br/>
Air Canada said on Tuesday it looks to raise about C$850m in a share offering, after it warned of more cash burn in the fourth quarter as spiking COVID-19 cases do more harm to air travel and the airline’s liquidity. The airline industry is still losing billions of dollars every month due to weak travel demand, exacerbated by recent coronavirus travel advisories that have discouraged holiday travel. United, Delta and American Airlines also raised their cash burn expectations earlier this month. Air Canada expects average net cash burn of between C$14m and C$16m per day in Q4, compared with its prior estimate of C$12m to C$14m. The company said it intends to grant underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares in the offering, the proceeds of which will be used to bolster working capital. <br/>
Shareholders of Transat approved a reduced takeover bid from Air Canada, despite the last-minute revelation of a competing offer. Transat investors voted 91% in favor of the revised C$5-per-share bid, which includes the option to take Air Canada shares instead of cash. The outcome was announced less than two hours after Transat said it received an approach from another potential buyer that its board rejected. “In late November 2020 Transat received an unsolicited proposal from a private investor, who is not actively involved in the airline and tourism industries,” the company said in a release Tuesday. The board considered it, but unanimously determined it didn’t represent a “superior proposal.” It didn’t name the investor. Canada’s regulators still must approve the deal, while the EU’s antitrust commission has until Feb. 9 to conclude its review. Another offer would provide support to Transat’s share price under a scenario where the deal is blocked by regulators, according to Desjardins Securities analyst Benoit Poirier. He cited WestJet Airlines as a potential buyer.<br/>
November saw a 97.7% year-on-year fall in overall passenger carriage for the Singapore Airlines Group, with demand for air travel still "weak" amid border controls and travel restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. Announcing its November operating results, the SIA group said on Tuesday that passenger carriage for SIA declined 97.3% year-on-year in November, while passenger carriage for Silkair fell 98.7% year-on-year. November saw a 97.7% year-on-year fall in overall passenger carriage for the SIA Group, with demand for air travel still "weak" amid border controls and travel restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. SIA added four cities to its network - Brunei, Fukuoka, New York and Shenzhen - to bring its total to 36 cities. SilkAir added Kathmandu to its list of destinations. Cargo capacity and traffic were more than 20% higher in November than in October, with all route regions continuing to record year-on-year increases in cargo load factor. “Cargo load factor was 22.4 percentage points higher year-on-year as the capacity contraction of 49.8% year-on-year outpaced the 32% decline in cargo traffic (measured in freight tonne-kilometres),” said the SIA Group. The air travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong has been deferred "beyond December" amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in the Chinese city. An exact start date will be reviewed later this month.<br/>