The British government will on Wednesday announce plans for limited hotel quarantine for Britons returning from 30 high-risk countries covered by a travel ban, the Times reported on Wednesday. These countries include South America, Portugal, Cape Verde and South Africa, the report added. Separately, Johnson has rejected calls by interior minister Priti Patel for a temporary closure of borders, the newspaper reported, adding Patel had pushed for a travel ban to stop potentially vaccine resistant strains of coronavirus being imported into the country. Johnson has said he was looking at the option of introducing quarantine hotels for those coming to Britain to prevent the risk of “vaccine-busting” new coronavirus variants entering the country.<br/>
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A row over health risks from Heathrow passport queues broke out on Tuesday as Priti Patel said the crowding was the result of increased checking of passengers for Covid test results. The Home Secretary was challenged by MPs over crowds at Heathrow over the weekend as some 10,000 arrivals a day crammed into the immigration hall in which Border Force had introduced checks of incoming passengers' pre-departure tests and locator forms. Yvette Cooper, who chairs the home affairs committee, said the crowds, with passengers struggling to socially distance, were unsafe and "the very opposite of quarantine". Patel responded: "The fact of the matter is those queues materialised because of the compliance checks that Border Force had put in place." The Home Secretary said Border Force was working with Heathrow to maintain social distancing as officials sought to check 100 per cent of passengers arriving to ensure they had negative results from pre-departure tests and locator forms to confirm where they would be quarantining. Data shows more than one in five non-EU arrivals were having to queue for more than 45 minutes during December.<br/>
The bosses of airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet criticised on Tuesday a possible plan for mandatory quarantine in hotels for some or all arrivals to Britain and called for a support package. The government is due to announce soon whether it will bring in such measures, the country’s coronavirus vaccination minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Tuesday as he warned the public not to book summer vacations. Writing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, airline and travel company executives pointed to existing steps taken to curtail the virus, including bans from some high-risk nations and a quarantine period at home. “Policy should be based on evidence, and we have seen no compelling scientific evidence that introducing a policy potentially of blanket quarantine in hotels, is necessary in addition to measures only recently introduced,” they wrote.<br/>
Germany is considering closing its skies almost completely to international air traffic to slow the spread of more infectious strains of coronavirus, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Tuesday. "The danger from the numerous virus mutations forces us to consider drastic measures," Seehofer told Bild newspaper. "That includes significantly stricter border checks, especially at the borders of high-risk areas, but also reducing air travel to Germany to almost zero, as Israel is currently doing," he added. Chancellor Angela Merkel, addressing a meeting of lawmakers from her conservative CDU/CSU bloc, said citizens had a right to expect that the government would take "certain precautions at border", participants said. "Everyone understands that now is not the time to travel," she was quoted as saying. The German Travel Association (DRV), however, objected to restricting travel more.<br/>
Recovery prospects for Europe’s coronavirus-stricken airlines are slipping from bad to worse, as a British minister warned on Tuesday against booking summer holidays and Germany mulled a drastic new clampdown on travel even within the EU. UK consumers should “absolutely” hold off from booking holidays, said Nadhim Zahawi, the minister responsible for vaccinations. “There’s still 37,000 people in hospital with COVID at the moment - it’s far too early for us to even speculate about the summer.” Airline shares, which had gained ground since November’s vaccine breakthroughs, have come under pressure this week amid concern that new coronavirus variants and resulting lockdowns now threaten the all-important summer season. While major carriers have secured liquidity to survive the slump for many more months, analysts say, the latest setbacks mean some may need fresh funds to survive the following winter - tough at the best of times - and weaker airlines may fail. Mounting restrictions and testing demands threaten more “stress and friction” throughout the summer, as well as “a more truncated recovery in demand than investors currently envisage”, Citi analyst Mark Manduca warned in a note. The travel outlook for the Easter break - this year falling in early April - already seems almost hopeless. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told party lawmakers on Tuesday that “no tourist travel should be taking place”, as her government weighed tougher measures.<br/>
Flights across European airspace in 2020 generated a fall in CO2 emissions that was largely in line with declining flight numbers, according to data released by Eurocontrol. The air traffic management organisation notes, however, that there was “considerable variation” in the emissions reductions by country, driven by factors such as fleet make-up – including aircraft age and, therefore, efficiency – flight distances, the mix of market segments served and the decline in flights driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. Overall, CO2 emissions were down 57% on 2019 levels, in a network that saw flight numbers 55% lower. In terms of individual countries, Eurocontrol highlights Belgium’s relatively small CO2 emissions decline of 30% – against flights falling by around 50% – as an example of the impact of cargo services. Freight flights increased from 11% to 25% of services departing Belgium in 2020 versus 2019. “Cargo flights use larger aircraft and fly further than the Belgian average, and therefore generate above-average CO2 emissions,” Eurocontrol states. “A second reason was that, due to short-haul cancellations, the average scheduled flight was much longer than in 2019, so emitted more CO2.”<br/>
The US government is urging Americans not to travel abroad after new restrictions went into effect Tuesday requiring all passengers traveling by air to present negative Covid-19 tests taken within three calendar days of departure or proof of recovery from the virus within the last 90 days. "Seriously reconsider going overseas right now," acting Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Ian Brownlee said Tuesday. "US citizens who choose to go abroad, whether it's for a holiday or a genuine emergency, everyone needs to be prepared to be potentially seriously disrupted in their trips. If you cannot easily access a Covid-19 test, or if you test positive, you will end up overseas for much longer than you planned... If that happens, you will be responsible for covering your own lodging and medical costs during that time." The CDC director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Marty Cetron, said on the same call that the "bottom-line message is this is really not a time for people to be engaging in discretionary travel, and that all travel should be postponed until we get a better handle on getting this virus under control, and accelerating our vaccination strategies."<br/>
The Biden administration is “actively looking” at expanding mandatory COVID-19 testing to travelers on US domestic flights, a senior CDC official said Tuesday. Dr. Marty Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC, was asked about whether new domestic travel testing requirements might be employed. Cetron replied that there were “conversations that are ongoing and looking at what the types and locations of testing might be... We’re actively looking at it.” Last week, President Joe Biden directed US agencies to make recommendations to “impose additional public health measures for domestic travel” and to consider new requirements for people crossing land borders.<br/>
One flight attendant needed medical attention for a crippling migraine brought on by confronting a passenger who refused to wear a mask. The day after the siege on Capitol Hill, passengers on a shuttle bus with a Black flight attendant assailed her with racial slurs, according to a union for flight attendants. Aviation safety officials have received dozens of confidential complaints in the past year from attendants trying to enforce mask safety rules. The reports, filed in the Aviation Safety Reporting System database, at times describe a chaotic, unhinged workplace where passengers regularly abuse airline employees.The coronavirus pandemic and political divisions of the past year have caused fear, economic pain, and social and family rifts around the country, but for airline workers, and flight attendants in particular, the unease and tension have often converged in a tiny cabin space. The tension is at a level flight attendants have not seen before, said Paul Hartshorn Jr, a veteran attendant and a spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants union. “I think we’re pretty well trained on how to handle a disruptive passenger,” said Hartshorn, 46. “What we’re not trained to do and what we shouldn’t be dealing with is large groups of passengers inciting a riot with another group of passengers.”<br/>
Security screeners confiscated guns at airport checkpoints at a record pace last year although the total number of guns dropped along with the steep plunge in travelers because of the pandemic. The TSA said Tuesday that screeners found 3,257 firearms on passengers or in their carry-on bags in 2020, or about 10 for every million travelers. About 83% of the guns were loaded. The rate was double that in 2019, when screeners found 5 guns for every million passengers. However, with 500m more travelers screened in 2019, TSA officers found a record 4,432 guns that year. Screeners found 220 guns at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, followed by 176 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, 126 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, 126 at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport, and 104 at Denver International Airport. Federal law prohibits passengers other than certain law enforcement officers from bringing guns or ammunition into the cabin. Federal law allows passengers to put guns in checked bags that go into the cargo hold if they are unloaded and in a locked case. Airlines don't have to permit guns even in checked bags. <br/>
To limit the spread of COVID-19, China's government has discouraged travel in what is normally the busiest time of the year. Those who are going anyway must present a nucleic acid test with negative results taken in the seven days before returning home. As a result, airline bookings made as of Jan. 19 for Lunar New Year travel have plunged 73.7% compared with the holiday period in 2019, according to data from travel analytics firm ForwardKeys provided to Reuters. ForwardKeys did not provide 2020 data, saying the early days of the COVID outbreak distorted the numbers. Bookings had been down 57.3% from 2019 as of Jan. 1, with the situation deteriorating due to outbreaks leading to tighter restrictions. Beijing has reported new COVID-19 cases for 11 consecutive days and nationwide case numbers, while tiny by the standards of most Western countries, are at 10-month highs.<br/>
Chinese airline passengers who bought tickets for flights between Jan. 28 and March 8 can request a full refund, the Civil Aviation Administration said on Tuesday, as rising COVID-19 cases curtail travel during the upcoming holiday season. China’s government has discouraged travel during the peak Lunar New Year season to prevent the spread of COVID-19. People leaving from larger metropolitan areas are also reluctant to travel for fear of nervous reactions from the residents of outlying cities and towns. Increased testing requirements are also a factor for skipping the traditional trips back to home towns during the holiday period, which will occur starting on Feb. 12 this year.<br/>
From generous discounts to flexible schedules, airlines are doing all they can to nudge pandemic-weary travellers towards the skies again. Last week Emirates launched a global sale on its economy and business class seats for flights booked between Jan 19 and Feb 2 for travel until Jun 15 to destinations such as Los Angeles, Moscow and Istanbul. The carrier is also offering "generous rebooking terms" that would allow customers to change their travel dates or extend their ticket validity for up to two years. Turkish Airlines is offering a 40% discount on all ticket types for international flights, while other airlines such as China Eastern are offering travel passes that allow for unlimited flights for a single price. "It varies from airline to airline but many are offering steep discounts amidst the worsening flying environment to get some revenue," said Shukor Yusof, who heads aviation consultancy Endau Analytics. With countries beginning to roll out COVID-19 vaccinations for their populations, some may think that it is safer to travel now, said Ngee Ann Polytechnic senior tourism lecturer Michael Chiam. Chiam expects that more travellers will take a wait-and-see approach and hold back on their travel plans until the pandemic comes under control. <br/>
General Electric Co. signaled renewed progress for CEO Larry Culp’s turnaround effort with a cash-flow outlook that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. Industrial free cash flow will be $2.5b to $4.5b this year, GE said in an earnings statement Tuesday. The midpoint of the range handily exceeded the $2.57b average of analyst estimates for the closely watched metric. GE also resumed providing an earnings forecast -- a sign that the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to abate. The outlook provides a new boost for Culp’s drive to rescue the maker of aircraft engines, power turbines and medical scanners from an epic corporate collapse. While the pandemic upended that effort early last year, GE came roaring back in Q4 to generate $4.4b in industrial free cash flow, smashing analyst estimates and more than offsetting the cash burned during the first nine months of the year. “Momentum is broadening and deepening across the company,” Culp said. “We have as much conviction as we ever have relative to those aspirational targets of high single-digit free cash yields at GE,” he said, referring to the cash-flow margins that the company has set as a longer-term target.<br/>
Rolls-Royce Holdings projected free-cash outflows of about $2.7b this year, saying new curbs on travel tied to the coronavirus will delay a recovery in long-distance flights. The shares slumped after the UK jet-engine maker said Tuesday that it expects flying hours for wide-body aircraft to reach just 55% of 2019 levels. It had previously assumed a rebound to 70% this year. The slowdown in air travel has hit long-distance flights the hardest, denting service revenue Rolls-Royce generates based on flying hours for twin-aisle jetliners equipped with its engines. Renewed curbs to fight the latest surge in virus cases are delaying a rebound, with planemaker Airbus last week slowing a ramp-up in production. With a warning coming so early in the year, “one should anticipate caution,” said Sandy Morris, an analyst at Jefferies. “The main issue is not so much flying activity as the continued impact on the airline industry and the supply chain.” <br/>
Berlin Brandenburg Airport has said that the most “realistic” timeframe for a return to 2019 passenger traffic levels is by 2025. The airport company has set 2023 as an optimistic target for hitting pre-pandemic traffic, with 2027 as a “worst case”. The Executive Board reported that on average, the new Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport served 7,500 passengers a day in the early weeks of January, only around 10% of the previous year’s level. According to estimates, traffic is likely to reach less than one-third of 2019 volumes in 2021, or around 10.7m passengers (compared to 35.6m in 2019). “Many airlines have significantly reduced their fleets, cut jobs and are repositioning themselves in the market,” said the airport company.<br/>
Thousands of travellers had their Christmas plans disrupted by flight cancellations over summer because of a shortage of credentialled ground staff, a problem the industry warns could result in months of cancellations and delays, even after borders reopen. Ground handling staff require security and safety clearances that need to be regularly renewed, but after months stood down during the pandemic many have seen their certifications lapse, while thousands more have left the industry altogether. Industry figures indicate about 13,000 passengers were affected by delays and cancellations in the lead up to Christmas caused by a shortage of ground staff, whose roles range from checking-in passengers to cleaning, and loading and moving planes around airports. The Australian Aviation Ground Handlers Industry Alliance, which represents about 90% of the sector, says it costs up to $18,000 to train and certify each worker and warned its members do not have the cashflow to rapidly train the more than 10,000 staff the sector would need to return to capacity. Glenn Rutherford, a spokesman for the alliance and the Asia Pacific vice-president of one of the industry’s largest players, Swissport, wants the government to step in with support to help subsidise the cost of training staff, which he said would otherwise take months.<br/>
The Government needs to provide roughly $600m in additional support to airlines in order to keep air links to New Zealand open while the country’s borders remain closed, an airline group says. The Board of Airlines Representatives of New Zealand (Barnz) executive director Justin Tighe-Umbers, on behalf of airlines, said it was calling for an extension of aviation support packages from the Government following comments from PM Jacinda Ardern that the border was likely to remain closed until the latter part of 2021. In April the Government directed $600m to the aviation sector to support airlines and airports and protect supply chains. “Now it was time to see another similar sized support package set up fast,” Tighe-Umbers said. New Zealand was at “severe risk” of losing what few international air links it had left, he said. Before the pandemic there were 44 direct air connections to New Zealand. Now there were about a dozen, he said. International air travel was down by 95%, he said. “Our remaining air links simply cannot survive unsupported. The Government must act to preserve them.” Tighe-Umbers said the Government had been covering costs airlines must pay for border agency and air navigation services but that had now stopped. An air cargo support scheme was the only thing keeping many airlines flying here, he said, but that was due to finish at the end of March.<br/>