Airlines are poised to reduce their emissions and reap huge fuel savings on transatlantic flights in the coming weeks as air traffic controllers experiment with giving pilots free rein to chart their own paths across skies that have been cleared out by the pandemic. For decades, planes going between Europe and North America — one of the busiest routes globally before the pandemic with around 1,700 flights a day — have followed a handful of designated paths, forming what is essentially an invisible high altitude road network. But reduced traffic is allowing air traffic controllers to throw out the old rules. NATS and NAV Canada, which are responsible for UK and Canadian airspace, say they won't designate specific routes on days when traffic allows, letting airlines select paths "based entirely on optimum route, speed and trajectory." The experiment, which does not have a set end date, wouldn't have been possible until recently. But improvements to the satellite systems used to monitor North Atlantic air traffic mean that controllers now have real-time data on planes over the ocean. That change, coupled with the collapse in daily transatlantic flights to just 500, means NATS can take off the guardrails. "The dramatic fall in traffic we've seen across the Atlantic has given us a window of opportunity to do things differently, and to introduce things more quickly than otherwise might have been possible," NATS said. The tests could help deliver cost savings to airlines while reducing harmful emissions. "Our hope is that analysis of these flights, together with other tabletop exercises, will give us the evidence base we need to decide on the value of more permanent changes," said NATS. <br/>
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The CEs of major US airlines are scheduled to meet virtually on Friday with the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator to discuss a number of travel-related issues, three people briefed on the matter said Wednesday. The meeting with coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients and other administration officials involved in COVID-19 issues comes as airlines, aviation unions and other industry groups have strongly objected to the possibility of requiring predeparture COVID-19 testing before domestic flights. The White House declined to comment, and major airlines declined or did not respond to requests for comment. Southwest CE Gary Kelly and the leaders of the airline’s unions urged President Joe Biden in a letter not to mandate COVID-19 testing, saying it would put “jobs at risk.” “Such a mandate would be counterproductive, costly, and have serious unintended consequences,” said the letter, which was dated Tuesday but released on Wednesday.<br/>
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps' call for people to stop making summer holiday plans has been branded "puerile and nonsensical" by a senior travel industry professional. "We're talking about the end of May or June, which is a long way off," said Sue Ockwell of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO). Shapps said there was too much uncertainty because of Covid. But Ockwell said booking breaks gave hope to holidaymakers and the industry. "It's something for people to look forward to and to keep travel companies going," she said. Earlier, Shapps said: "Please don't go ahead and book holidays. I simply don't know the answer to the question of where we'll be up to this summer. It's too early to give that information. The best advice to people is: do nothing at this stage." PM Boris Johnson later said it was "just too early for people to be certain about what we'll be able to do this summer".<br/>
Airlines in China carried fewer passengers in January, amid a resurgence of local coronavirus cases that threaten to upend recovery momentum. In its monthly data released on 9 February, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) discloses that the country’s carriers flew 30.2m passengers in the month, a 60% drop year on year. Some 348,000 flights were mounted during the period, the bulk of them domestic services, the CAAC adds. The sharp fall in passenger numbers comes in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year holidays, traditionally a peak travel period in China. Lunar New Year falls on 12 February this year, but pre-holiday travel usually begins in the weeks before. This year’s travel period began on 28 January and spans 40 days, states the CAAC. China has discouraged non-essential travel during the Lunar New Year period, in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. Among various measures rolled out, those who wish to travel during the period will have to present a negative nucleic acid test result seven days before returning home.<br/>
Aircraft lessor and MRO provider Dubai Aerospace Enterprise enjoyed a “home-run year” in 2020, CE Firoz Tarapore has asserted, as its diversified customer base and strong liquidity position softened the impact of the pandemic. Pre-tax profits to end-December 2020 declined to $250m from $413m in 2019, on the back of weaker earnings from its leasing business. Revenue fell to $1.3b from $1.4b, while total assets declined to $12.7b from $13.5b. Despite these declines, Tarapore describes the year as “pretty terrific” given the wider challenges faced by the sector, noting that the company increased the number of aircraft on its books and entered into a “very large number of lease transactions” with customers. While leasing rates fell, so did DAE’s cost of finance, offsetting part of the decline. “When we look at the deal, we look at returns, not headline rates… Returns are OK and have not contracted as much as headline lease rates have done,” Tarapore said during a Wednesday results call.<br/>