oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance support calls for governments to implement recommendations for slot relief measures for Northern Summer 2021 issued by the Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB), comprising Airports Council International (ACI World), IATA, and the Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG). As the pandemic continues to impact air travel, the three global alliances believe WASB’s proposals deliver a balanced, global approach to preserve international connectivity, maintain consumer choice and aid future industry recovery. The alliances support WASB’s three core recommendations that take into account the differing impact on airlines and varying airport business models. oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance urge governments to enact these recommendations by the end of 2020. Release includes specifics. “Travel restrictions around the world continue to create uncertainty that dampens air travel demand, undermining the hard work done to assure customers of hygiene and health safety when they travel, and negatively affecting airline scheduling and fleet utilization plans”, emphasized Jeffrey Goh, CEO of Star Alliance. “Governments and authorities must continue to provide layers of support to ensure the sustained recovery of a global air travel industry that makes critical social and economic contributions. The recommendations of the Group to provide relief on the usage of slots are important measures to this end.”<br/>
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An emergency medical technician said he has COVID-19 symptoms after performing CPR on a man infected with the coronavirus who later died after going into cardiac arrest during a United flight. Tony Aldapa, a Navy veteran, said his training kicked in when he saw the passenger needed medical help during the Dec. 14 flight from Orlando, Florida, to Los Angeles. He knew the potential health risks of performing CPR on someone he didn’t know but didn’t flinch and started chest compressions on the man, whose wife told Aldapa he had virus symptoms, KNBC-TV reported. An autopsy found the 69-year-old Los Angeles man died of acute respiratory failure and confirmed he was infected with COVID-19, according to a report from the coroner of Jefferson Parish in Louisiana that listed the death as natural. Aldapa said he had planned to get the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday because he is a licensed EMT and an emergency room worker. Instead, he is awaiting results from a coronavirus test. Aldapa, along with another EMT and ICU nurse, took turns doing CPR on the man, who has not been identified. The group did not do mouth-to-mouth but had rotated a resuscitator and oxygen mask to help the man breathe while doing chest compressions for 45 minutes.<br/>
Lufthansa will airlift fresh produce to Britain on Wednesday amid fears of shortages over the festive season, even as France prepares to reopen the main truck-ferry route with its neighbor. The German airline will fly 80 metric tons of food to Doncaster-Sheffield airport in northern England using a Boeing 777F freighter, a spokesman said Tuesday. While the EU called for the resumption of transport to the UK, the key port of Dover remained snarled with trucks unable to cross to Calais for a second day. France, which severed the link after a faster-spreading strain of Covid-19 emerged in Britain, told the EU the route should reopen by midnight, according to people familiar with the matter. Lufthansa said the emergency flight will carry unspecified “perishable goods” from Frankfurt, a major European hub for food distribution that has strong connections to producers in Italy, France and Spain, as well as the Netherlands, where food is grown under glass to extend the growing season. The carrier said it’s working with multiple freight-forwarding specialists, which it declined to name. The head of Britain’s Food and Drink Federation, Ian Wright, said that if the port crisis wasn’t resolved there would be shortages of foodstuffs sourced from outside the UK, such as citrus fruits and some green vegetables.<br/>
European regulators have cleared the Polish government’s request to provide national carrier LOT Polish Airlines with around PLN2.9b ($787m) in financial support under the temporary easing of state aid rules. The aid comprises a PLN1.8b subsidised loan and a capital injection of PLN1.1b. European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager says: ”With these measures, Poland will contribute approximately E650m to help the airline weather the current coronavirus crisis. The decision ensures that the state is sufficiently remunerated for the risk taxpayers assume, and that the support comes with strings attached, including a dividend ban as well as further measures to limit distortions of competition” The Commission notes that LOT suffered substantial losses due to the coronavirus outbreak and the related travel restrictions imposed to limit its spread, conditions which continue to deteriorate the airline’s financial health. ”As a result, LOT is currently facing a risk of default and insolvency,” the Commission says. “The aid measures intend to restore LOT’s equity and liquidity position, in order to ensure the continuation of the air transport services in Poland that LOT provides.” The subsidised loan will be granted before 30 June 2021 and will last for up to six years. <br/>
The first Boeing 737 MAX delivery for a non-US customer since the type’s ungrounding is Copa Airlines. The Panamanian carrier, which is gearing up for MAX flights, added its seventh Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft on Tuesday. This plane is a significant part of the airline’s future fleet plans. The plane is the seventh 737 MAX aircraft to enter Copa’s fleet. The aircraft, which was sitting idle in Seattle for quite some time due to the global grounding, is now on its way to Panama, where the carrier will fly the aircraft near and far. The aircraft departed Boeing Field in Seattle en route to San Jose, Costa Rica. According to Copa, the MAX 9 has a range of 3,000 nautical miles, and getting to Costa Rica is right at the edge of that.<br/>
SIA has started trials of a new service which will allow for quicker verification of Covid-19 test results, potentially paving the way for the introduction of vaccine passports. Rather than check health certificates manually for their authenticity, immigration staff will be able to scan a QR code using an app that was developed by a Temasek-linked technology company. This will in turn shorten the time needed for travellers to clear immigration and improve their travel experience amid the ongoing pandemic, said the carrier on Wednesday. The new service can also be used to verify the Covid-19 vaccination statuses of travellers and potentially act as a vaccine passport of sorts, ahead of the expected introduction of vaccine-related travel rules by aviation authorities worldwide. SIA worked with the IATA on the new service as part of a push to introduce industry-wide standards in the reopening of borders. The airline's acting senior vice-president for marketing planning JoAnn Tan said: "Covid-19 tests and vaccinations will be an integral part of air travel for the foreseeable future. We are offering a digital solution that allows the easy and secure verification of this information, and supports the industry's safe and calibrated recovery from this pandemic."<br/>
Air New Zealand has announced it’s set to operate 2,600 flights this week carrying 170,000 customers in another sign of the country’s domestic aviation resurgence. In particular, the airline will operate 420 flights alone on Christmas Eve, which is set to be its busiest day. The country dropped social distancing on 9 June and returned to relatively normal lives, despite a short lockdown in Auckland later in August. Air New Zealand is still operating slightly fewer flights than 2019, though, when it scheduled 600 on its busiest day.<br/>