The US CDC said it was closely following outbreaks of Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Guinea, and said the risk of Ebola to the United States was extremely low. “Out of an abundance of caution, the US government will institute public health measures for the very small number of travelers arriving from the DRC and Guinea,” the CDC said late Friday. “The Biden Administration is committed to working closely with the affected countries to end these outbreaks before they grow into epidemics,” the CDC said. Guinea started an Ebola vaccination campaign on Tuesday, the WHO said earlier in the week, as authorities race to contain the first resurgence of the virus there since the world’s worst outbreak in 2013-2016. The resurgence of the virus has alarmed governments in the region and international health organizations, concerned that a major outbreak could overwhelm health infrastructures already battling a pandemic.<br/>
general
The CEOs of American Airlines, United and Delta and other airline officials met virtually with White House officials Friday to discuss tackling aviation pollution and urge US support for greener aviation fuel. United CE Scott Kirby made clear the carrier was fully committed to confronting the climate crisis and sought White House support for “incentives for sustainable aviation fuel and carbon capture in the forthcoming economic stimulus proposal,” the airline said. White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, economic adviser Brian Deese and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took part in the meeting, including discussion of using biofuels to power air travel and reduce carbon emissions. Reuters first reported the planned meeting. US airlines and renewables companies have been lobbying the Biden administration to back a big increase in subsidies for lower-carbon aviation fuel, arguing new incentives are needed to help fight climate change and will also make their recovery from the pandemic much greener.<br/>
The FAA said late on Saturday it has approved the use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for use by pilots and air traffic controllers. The FAA announcement, which came shortly after the US FDA approved the vaccine’s use, will require recipients to wait 48 hours after receiving the vaccine before conducting safety duties like flying or controlling air traffic. <br/>
Hawaiian Airlines had the nation's top on-time performance last year with 87.5% of its flights arriving to their destinations on time, the US DoT reported. Hawaiian Airlines has led the country for 17 years after beginning its streak in 2004, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Saturday. The national average was 79%. "I couldn't be prouder of our team members for overcoming the most challenging year in our industry's history to ensure our guests continued to enjoy our leading on-time reliability," company President Peter Ingram said. Delta was second at 87.2%, followed by Spirit Airlines at 86.6%, department officials said. Allegiant Air was last among the 10 listed carriers at 71.3%.<br/>
France, Italy, Denmark and Sweden back plans to reduce the amount of permits in the EU carbon market to drive deeper CO2 cuts, supporting one of the key reforms proposed by the EC, EU documents show. But EU governments, which agreed to make the 27-nation bloc neutral in terms of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, appeared less supportive of the Commission proposal to add transport and buildings to the emissions trading market. The Commission published on Thursday EU member countries’ responses to a consultation on the policy, along with hundreds of other responses from companies, lobby groups, NGOs and citizens. The emissions trading system (ETS) is the EU’s main policy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, requiring power plants, factories and airlines operating European flights to buy increasingly costly CO2 permits when they pollute.<br/>
London’s Heathrow airport will charge departing passengers an extra GBP8.90 in an effort to claw back costs as the coronavirus crisis depresses air travel. The tariff is permitted by the UK’s aviation regulator under a protocol that allows the hub to cover costs for utilities, baggage and check-in services. Heathrow makes “zero profit” from such activities, with the fees covering operating and maintenance expenses, it said Sunday. Heathrow has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic since it relies on long-haul markets that have been all-but wiped out. The airport last week posted a GBP2 loss for 2020 after passenger numbers tumbled 73%, a decline it says has left it unable to cover the costs of providing some services. The new per-passenger levy, or Airport Cost Recovery Charge, is due to be imposed for the rest of this year and was agreed with airlines as the preferred way for Heathrow to recover its costs, according to the so-called general notice dated Feb. 4 that details the price increases. Heathrow will also charge a GBP4.44 tariff for each item of passenger luggage. That sum is lower than one flagged on Dec. 16 as a result of some baggage-related costs having been included in the passenger levy, according to the general notice.<br/>
Sun-starved Brits are snapping up cut-price trips to Greece and Spain after the UK said it was working on a road map for restoring flights wiped out by the coronavirus crisis. Average fares for travel to the Mediterranean countries this summer are a maximum of 11% lower than in 2019, based on data for the first three days of this week, with steeper discounts available to Portugal, Italy and Turkey, according to analysis published Friday by flight search engine Skyscanner. The rush to book, unleashed after Britain unveiled plans to allow travel to resume as early as May 17, could lead to an increase in fares, depending on the pace at which airlines add seats and routes. Discount carrier EasyJet and the UK arm of tour operator TUI both reported a jump in holiday sales of at least 500% following Monday’s announcement. “We may see some price increases as demand returns,” said Hugh Aitken, Skyscanner’s VP for flights. “We expect prices to evolve as more clearer paths to recovery are charted out and network planners build in capacity and schedules to allow airlines to fly at scale.”<br/>
International passengers will be allowed to transit Thailand from Monday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has announced. The authority has also authorised an easing of some restrictions on domestic flights. International passengers have for some time been banned from transiting at Thai airports or using them to transfer to other flights as part of the government's Covid-19 containment measures, said Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob. The change to the transit/transfer flights policy was made following calls by airlines for Covid-19 relief measures, he said. The CAAT's decision to allow airlines to transit Thai airports is in line with a resolution reached by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) last Monday to relax a range of Covid-19 control measures, Saksayam said. The aviation authority has also told operators of domestic flights they can resume serving in-flight meals and drinks, as well as selling souvenirs from Thursday. However, passengers and flight attendants are still required to follow Covid-19 control protocols. These include the mandatory wearing of face masks throughout flights, except while eating or drinking.<br/>
Airbus on Friday joined a growing list of companies outlining the environmental impact of their products, as aviation aims to reshape itself after the coronavirus crisis. Major companies are under increasing pressure from investors and climate change activists to report the emissions that result when customers use their products, known as “Scope 3”. Airbus says it is the first planemaker to do so. It says it is driving aerospace toward zero-emission flying with plans for a commercial aircraft powered by hydrogen by 2035, which it reaffirmed on Friday. But environmentalist groups say that flying itself needs to be curbed to have a meaningful impact on climate change. Airbus estimated lifetime emissions for jets built in two dramatically different years: 2019, which saw record deliveries on the back of an order boom, and 2020, when the pandemic sent aviation into crisis and forced Airbus to slash output by 40%. For the 863 jets it delivered in 2019, Airbus estimated lifetime emissions of 740 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent based on an average aircraft lifespan of 22 years. That includes 130m tonnes related to the production of fuel burned in flight. In 2020, it delivered 566 aircraft with estimated lifetime emissions of 440m tonnes, including 80m for fuel. Airbus also published carbon intensity data suggesting an “average efficiency” of 66.6 grammes of CO2e per passenger-kilometre in 2019, improving to 63.5g in 2020.<br/>
Every morning, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury scans global air traffic data before checking in with carriers, suppliers, and the leasing companies that keep aircraft deliveries ticking along, even during a time of unprecedented crisis. Although the numbers make for grim reading, this meticulous approach has given Faury an unvarnished view of the aviation industry and the contours of life after the pandemic. This much is clear: Travel patterns have changed fundamentally, and so will aircraft requirements. The biggest planes serving long routes will be the last to return to the skies as carriers favor shorter trips with small aircraft that are nimble and fuel-efficient. Those trends could favor Airbus, which keeps expanding its popular A320 family of jetliners and is considering a hydrogen-powered model for smaller distances by 2035. Boeing remains restrained by the recent grounding of its top-selling 737 Max following two deadly crashes and production flaws with another cash cow, the 787 Dreamliner. It’s also trying to introduce a massive widebody airliner, the 777X, which is three years late. Airline customers have cooled on big aircraft they’ll probably struggle to fill, particularly with business travel likely to remain subdued for years. “We’re quite lucky that the change coming from the pandemic is fitting with today’s product lineup,” Faury says, referring to Airbus’s stable of jets. Story has more.<br/>
Royal Dutch Shell in Germany aims to produce aviation fuel and naphtha made from crops and renewable power and to increase to commercial scale an electrolysis plant that makes fossil-free hydrogen, as it seeks to move away from crude oil. The energy major told an online conference on Friday it had applied for subsidies to carry out the work from the EU and from German funds earmarked for decarbonisation. Fabian Ziegler, head of Shell Deutschland, said several hundred million euros should be spent per year, but he did not give a desired ratio between company and public funding. The global Shell group has set itself a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. At Wesseling, part of the Rheinland refinery, Shell plans to use green electricity and biomass to produce synthetic power-to-liquids (ptl) in a carbon-free way to replace, over the long term, conventional jet fuel and naphtha. The 100,000 tonnes/p.a. ptl plant could be built from 2023 and start producing in 2025.<br/>