EasyJet says bookings for this summer with its holidays arm are up 250% on last year, fuelling the airline industry's hopes of pent up demand for when lockdown restrictions ease. EasyJet CE Johan Lundgren said it offers confidence for the travel market post-coronavirus. "We know that people want to go on holiday as soon as they can," he said. May is currently proving to be the most popular month for holidays, Lundgren added. Tougher lockdown rules across Europe, the closure of air corridors, and uncertainty about travel now the UK has left the EU, have piled more pressure on the airline industry at the start of 2021. Last year airlines, including EasyJet, BA and Virgin Atlantic, announced thousands of job cuts and scrapped some routes. "We know there is pent up demand - we have seen that every time restrictions have been relaxed, and so we know that people want to go on holiday as soon as they can," Lundgren said Monday. "We have been pleased to see that some customers are making plans for their summer holidays now, with EasyJet holidays bookings for summer 21 up 250%, compared to the same time last year, and with May currently proving to be the most popular month for holiday bookings at the moment."<br/>
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Emirates airline has rolled out a COVID-19 vaccination programme for its “substantial” UAE-based workforce in coordination with Dubai Health Authority and Ministry of Health and Prevention. The inoculation drive began Monday morning (January 18), with priority being placed on the frontline aviation workforce, including cabin crew, flight deck and other operationally focused roles. Emirates is making both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccines accessible to its employees at various company-operated locations across the country. Inoculation appointments will run 12 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure as many essential aviation staff as possible can get the vaccine, said Emirates in a statement. “Like all citizens and residents, Emirates Group employees in the UAE can also opt to get vaccinated at government designated medical centres and clinics.” The Emirates Group's employee base, compared to March 31, dropped by 24% to an overall count of 81,334 as of September 30. <br/>
El Al has announced that it will resume domestic flights between the Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv and the Red Sea resort city of Eilat. This is the only domestic regular flight route in Israel, on which El Al stopped flying in November 2013 for security reasons. Since then, only Israir and Arkia airlines have been operating on the route from Tel Aviv to Israel’s southernmost city. El Al thus announced that it will temporarily resume flights on the Tel Aviv-Eilat route, as soon as the ongoing full Covid-19 lockdown in Israel ends.<br/>
Thai AirAsia will keep only one-fourth of the staff and ask the rest to take a leave-without-pay offer for four months, starting February, as the re-emerging coronavirus outbreak has dealt a heavy blow to the aviation sector. Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation, the largest shareholder of the airline, said on Monday only 25% of its workforce will be active after this month as the airline is downsizing to match real demand. He did not mention the size of the workforce, but according to the latest AAV annual report, it had 5,974 employees in 2019. “Before the Covid-19 resurgence, we had 40 planes serving domestic flights. But since the re-emerging of the outbreak, some provincial lockdowns have made it impossible for people to travel and passenger demand has dropped significantly at every airport,” said Tassapon. The budget airline has 62 aircraft, which has not been fully utilised since the first nationwide lockdown in April last year. It flies only 10 planes now due to the sluggish demand for air travel. He said the company had no layoff plans for now but it was difficult to predict when the market would recover. Tassapon said there was little hope for financial support for airlines from the government. <br/>