Air Canada is to ground its flights to Bermuda for more than a month. The airline said its Toronto to Bermuda service would be suspended after its January 8 flight until February 12 because of a massive slump in business caused by the coronavirus. A spokeswoman for Air Canada said: “Air Canada currently operates one flight weekly to Bermuda from Toronto. Reflecting current market conditions, this flight will be temporarily suspended …” The spokeswoman clarified today: “The last flight will operate January 8, 2021 before the resumption of service in February.” WestJet, also Canadian, confirmed that its suspension of many international flights, including the service from Toronto to Bermuda, would remain in force.<br/>
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The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) will further tighten measures to ensure the safety and well-being of air crew, following the confirmations of an SIA cabin crew member and a pilot who tested positive for COVID-19 on 27 and 29 December respectively. With immediate effect, air crew on layovers at overseas destinations will have to further minimise their contact with locals. For example, food delivered through room service should be left outside the room at the door instead of being handed over. Currently, these air crew are already observing protocols such as wearing masks, observing safe distancing, and remaining in their crew accommodation at all times. The airline must also arrange for dedicated transport to ferry the crew between the airport and the crew accommodation. There will also be more PCR tests for the air crew. Those who layover in high-risk destinations will be required to undergo PCR tests on arrival, as well as on the third and seventh day following their return to Singapore. The air crew will be required to self-isolate until they receive a negative result from their seventh-day PCR test. In addition, crew travelling to and from the UK have been required to don full personal protective equipment, including N95 masks, face shields, protective gowns and gloves since 24 December. Crew travelling to and from South Africa will also start doing so for flights with immediate effect. Story has more.<br/>
SIA has flown the first of its six SilkAir Boeing 737-8 Max planes back to Changi Airport, indicating that these planes could return to commercial use in the near future. The planes had been grounded since March last year and were subsequently flown to the Alice Springs plane storage facility in Australia. The grounding followed two fatal accidents involving the aircraft in less than five months. But after more than a year away from Singapore, the first returning Boeing 737 Max landed at Changi Airport yesterday afternoon, according to flight trackers. SIA said Wednesday that it has received approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to fly the planes back to Singapore. But approval for commercial flights is yet to be granted. SIA did not elaborate on why it decided to recall the planes from Alice Springs and what routes the planes will be deployed to.<br/>
Passenger flights between the UK and India would remain suspended till January 7 and they will resume in a "strictly regulated" manner thereafter, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. The Civil Aviation Ministry had last week suspended all flights between the European country and India from December 23 to December 31 as a mutated variant of the coronavirus was detected there. Puri's announcement has come following a recommendation by the Union Health Ministry to extend the suspension of India-UK flights till January 7. Puri said on Twitter: "Decision has been taken to extend the temporary suspension of flights to & from the UK till 7 January 2021. Thereafter strictly regulated resumption will take place for which details will be announced shortly." After January 7, 2021, strictly regulated resumption of limited number of India-UK flights may be considered and the specifics of such a mechanism may be worked out by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in consultation with the Ministry of Health. Twenty people in India have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.<br/>
South Africa’s political opposition is urging the country’s finance minister, Tito Mboweni, to abandon the R10b ($680m) funding plan to restructure South African Airways and plough the capital into a vaccination programme. The Democratic Alliance has written to Mboweni claiming that the government should “divert” the SAA allocation to procuring vaccines against the coronavirus outbreak. According to the Democratic Alliance the R10b funding package could acquire some 23m doses of the vaccine, enough for 40% of the country’s population. It has accused the main governing party, the ANC, of “skewed” fiscal priorities, claiming that the vaccine funding has come from the Solidarity Fund – a rapid-response organisation established to combat the pandemic, funded by donations which have amounted to some R3.2b. “Why is the ANC choosing an airline for the elite over a vaccine for the many?” the opposition queries, adding that it has also written to parliament’s appropriations committee asking for public hearings on whether South African citizens want the SAA budget re-allocated. While the government is still intending to press ahead with a restructuring of SAA in 2021, it has been attempting to resolve conflict among unions over unpaid salaries as well as a dispute with cockpit crew representatives over conditions of employment in the new carrier.<br/>
On the same day that American Airlines resumed commercial operations with the Boeing 737 MAX in the US, another carrier did the same. Copa Airlines resumed operations with its MAX fleet, flying from Panama City to San Jose, Costa Rica. The airline pushed forward the resume of operations with the Boeing 737 MAX. Originally, Copa was expected to operate the MAX on January 4. The Panamanian airline followed Aeromexico’s steps, which also pushed forward (by three days) the resume of operations of the MAX. But Copa went even further and went under the radar as the public eye was on American Airlines flight 718. It was a surprise for everyone in Latin America to see flight CM806 operated with a Boeing 737 MAX 9. According to FlightRadar24.com, flight CM806 departed from Panama City at 10:55 local time. Copa used its MAX HP-9906CMP. The airline currently has seven MAX after becoming the first non-US carrier to receive a new aircraft after the grounding.<br/>
Air China chairman Cai Jianjiang has resigned his position, to be replaced by the airline’s vice chairman and president, Song Zhiyong. The company’s board accepted Cai’s resignation letter on 29 December, according to a stock exchange filing. In addition to resigning his role as chairman, Cai also stepped down from several committees. “Mr. Cai Jianjiang has confirmed that he has no disagreement with the board and the company and that he is not aware of any matter relating to his resignation that needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the company,” says the airline. “The Board wishes to take this opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to Mr. Cai Jianjiang for his significant contribution to the company during his tenure as senior management, director and chairman of the company.” Cai has been Air China’s chairman February 2014. His replacement, Song, has a background as a pilot and has served in a number of executive roles in China’s airline sector. <br/>