The CDC is not recommending a Covid-19 testing requirement before domestic air travel, the CDC says. Federal officials said this week that they had been considering a testing requirement. "At this time, CDC is not recommending required point of departure testing for domestic travel," according to a CDC statement Friday. "As part of our close monitoring of the pandemic, in particular the continued spread of variants, we will continue to review public health options for containing and mitigating spread of COVID-19 in the travel space." The CDC added that it does not recommend that people travel at this time. "If someone must travel, they should get tested with a viral test 1-3 days before the trip," the agency said. "After travel, getting tested with a viral test 3-5 days post-travel and staying home and self-quarantining for 7 days, even if test results are negative, is a recommended public health measure to reduce risk." The guidance comes after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday that the Department of Transportation and the CDC were considering requiring a negative Covid-19 test for any passengers on domestic flights. The White House met with airline executives on Friday amid industry uproar over the possibility of testing domestic travelers for the coronavirus.<br/>
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Trade body ACI Europe is calling for further financial support for European airports as they struggle for survival after a year in which passenger volumes fell back to levels last seen 25 years ago. Fresh data published by ACI Europe today shows a 70% fall in passenger numbers last year – a decline of 1.72b. ACI Europe DG Olivier Jankovec says: “With just 728m passengers in 2020 compared to 2.4b passengers in the previous year, Europe’s airports were back to their traffic levels of 1995. ”No industry can on its own withstand such a shock. While some states have taken steps to financially support their airports, only E2.2b has so far been earmarked for that purpose in Europe. This is less than 8% of the revenues airports lost last year. With further decreases in traffic over the past weeks and no recovery in sight, more needs to be done,” he states. ”Without more financial support, investments in decarbonisation, digitalisation and SESAR are at risk.”<br/>
Like many countries around the world, Denmark is desperate to reopen the parts of its economy frozen by the pandemic. The kingdom of under six million people has become one of the most efficient vaccination distributors in Europe and aims to have offered its whole population a jab by June. But before that target is reached, there's pressure for life to get back to normal for Danes already inoculated and to open up borders for Covid-immune travelers from overseas. Morten Bødskov, Denmark's acting finance minister, last week raised the prospect of a so-called coronavirus passport being introduced by the end of the month. "Denmark is still hard hit by the corona pandemic," he said. "But there are parts of Danish society that need to move forward, and a business community that needs to be able to travel." The government has since indicated that a February deadline might be ambitious, but the relatively small Scandinavian country could still become the world's first to formally embrace the technology to open its borders in this controversial way. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod says the move is vital to keep Denmark ahead of the game -- even if the country is under a lockdown until February 28. "We have more than 800,000 jobs in Denmark that are linked to trading with the world so this is fundamental" he says. As one of the world's most digitized countries, Denmark is ideally placed to become a testing ground for this new technology, drawing on public and private collaboration, says Kofod. "This is fundamental because if we want to start to export again and trading again, see business people meet again, things like the corona passport are fundamental to making that happen," he says.<br/>
British cargo, charter and leasing airlines say they are losing contracts and business to EU rivals after the Brexit deal failed to ensure a promised level playing field. The carriers say they are severely disadvantaged under the new post-Brexit regime because the rules and practices Britain has unilaterally adopted allow greater freedom and flexibility for EU-owned airlines to fly in the UK than UK carriers have in Europe. Permits are now required for foreign carriers to fly ad hoc flights between the UK and mainland Europe, which EU airlines have been able to obtain faster than British rivals and therefore are winning more business. The impact is being felt by small UK airlines that provide back-up passenger services and cargo flights at short notice, with the firms involved warning that the Brexit discrepancies could put them out of business. At least five of the carriers – Titan Airways, Jota Aviation, Loganair, CargoLogicAir and Air Tanker – are set to join forces with the planned launch of a campaign to save UK aviation jobs, which will demand reciprocal rights for UK airlines. Alistair Wilson, the managing director of Titan, said the detail of the deal meant UK carriers faced greater restrictions providing aircraft and crew for other airlines, known as wet-leasing. EU carriers can operate most wet-lease flights in the UK under the system, while UK operators say they are only able to do so now in exceptional circumstances in the EU. “This is an area of business many UK carriers and UK aviation jobs rely on,” Wilson said. “We lost a contract we had operated for the past 12 months requiring a UK-based aircraft and crew to fly cargo between the UK and Germany. The airline was forced to wet-lease from an EU carrier, even though the contract required UK-based aircraft, crew and engineers. This is EU law still presiding over business based in the UK.”<br/>
British holiday company Jet2 has raised GBP422m through a new share issue to help it ride out the COVID-19 pandemic. With almost a year of travel restrictions having taken a heavy toll, airlines and travel companies were plunged deeper into crisis on Tuesday when Britain tightened its rules. Holidays are already banned under lockdown, but now travellers into the UK must have three COVID-19 tests - one before departure and two in the days after arrival. Desperate for travel to have restarted by this summer, the industry has said the government must urgently set out how it will lift restrictions. Jet2 said its latest fundrasing gives it sufficient liquidity to contend with what it expects to be an extended and unpredictable shutdown, adding that it is maintaining a cautious approach to the 2021 summer season.<br/>
Germany is planning a E900m bailout of the country’s airports, adding to a multibillion-euro outlay already aimed at helping the aviation sector survive the coronavirus. The government will offer Berlin-Brandenburg, Cologne-Bonn and Munich a package of loans, grants and stake purchases worth more than E400m, according to a transport ministry document, which didn’t specify the breakdown. A further 12 airports, including Lufthansa’s Frankfurt hub, will get E200m, provided the sum is matched by regional finance ministries. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, the air-traffic control authority, would receive a E300m capital injection in exchange for a stake. The packages must be agreed with local governments and other airport owners, although is unlikely to be rejected. The country’s hubs are set to lose a combined E3b across 2020 and 2021, according to the ADV airport association, whose head Ralph Beisel says terminals are “on the verge of collapse.”<br/>
The US FAA said Thursday that Costa Rica now complies with international aviation safety standards and has been granted the highest international ranking. The FAA in May 2019 had downgraded Costa Rica to Category 2, meaning its carriers could continue existing service to the US but would not be allowed to establish new service to US destinations. The new Category 1 rating is based on reassessments in 2020 and a January safety oversight meeting with Costa Rican aviation authorities.<br/>
Fighter aircraft were scrambled in response to a potential air threat yesterday morning, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) said. "Some of you might have heard us flying this morning. Our fighter aircraft were scrambled in response to a potential air threat," said RSAF in a Facebook post. The RSAF said it responds to and investigates more than 350 suspicious air threats on any given year to protect Singapore's skies. Yesterday, it scrambled its F-15SG fighter aircraft at about 11.20am in response to a suspicious aircraft. "Our airmen and women responded immediately and the aircraft took off within minutes," it said. "After investigating and ensuring that our security is not compromised, our aircraft subsequently stood down."<br/>
Embraer delivered 71 jets in Q4 2020, bringing the number of aircraft it delivered in the full year to 130, as the Brazilian airframer continued feeling the effect of the coronavirus. By comparison, the company handed over 81 jets in Q4 2019, and 198 aircraft in that year. Of the 71 aircraft delivered in the three months ended in December, 28 were commercial aircraft and 43 were executive jets, the company, headquartered in Sao Jose dos Campos, says on 12 February. “Although deliveries accelerated during the fourth quarter of 2020 relative to the three previous quarters, they were heavily impacted, mostly in commercial aviation, due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Embraer says.<br/>
Australia will impose quarantine on travellers from New Zealand following the emergence of new coronavirus cases in Auckland. The Australian Department of Health announced that all flights from New Zealand in the 72hrs from 12:01am on 15 February will be classified as “Red Zone” flights, meaning that passengers will need to undergo 14 days of supervised hotel quarantine. Given Auckland’s strong record of keeping Covid-19 under control, New Zealand travellers had been permitted to fly to Australia, although a ‘travel bubble’ between the two neighbours has remained elusive owing to outbreaks in Australia. “States will determine how to manage people who have already arrived in Australia from New Zealand and who may pose a risk of transmitting the COVID-19 virus,” says the department. Australian officials will also decide on whether to extend the bubble suspension based on case numbers in New Zealand. According to the New Zealand government’s Covid-19 web site, three new cases have emerged in the community, with Auckland placed under lockdown until midnight on Wednesday 17 February.<br/>