The WHO and ICAO have joined forces with other UN bodies to urge that aircrew, along with seafarers, be given priority in vaccination rollouts. A joint statement from the WHO, ICAO, the ILO, the IMO and the IOM asserts that seafarers and aircrew are essential for global supply chains and play a key role in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The organisations have previously called for seafarers and aircrew to be classed as key workers and in the new statement say they are asking governments to prioritise them in national vaccination programmes. “Seafarers and aircrew need to be protected through vaccination as soon as possible, to facilitate their safe movement across borders,” runs the 25 March statement. Airlines lobby group Airlines for Europe has agreed, calling on Twitter for European governments to prioritise vaccination of essential aviation workers. According to the UN organisations, applying public health rules such as quarantines to aircrew has led to “hindered connectivity, operational complexity and significant cost”.<br/>
general
On a grey early spring morning in southern England, the airfield at Gatwick airport is eerily quiet. Rows of planes stand silent, their engines wrapped in brightly coloured covers to protect them. The only movement across an airport that can handle nearly 1,000 flights a day is a single, empty airliner being hauled across the tarmac in a sign of the devastating impact of the pandemic. But now, after a year in a state of suspended animation, the $800bn airline industry faces another big challenge as it prepares for the unprecedented logistical operation to restart mass travel once borders reopen. It cannot come soon enough for an industry forecast to burn up to $95bn this year. “Scaling up to suddenly handle a million plus more passengers a month this summer is a major operation that will take many weeks,” Gatwick’s chief executive Stewart Wingate said. With one of the two terminals closed, flights running at just 30 a day and shops empty, he wants clarity from governments to help the airport get ready. “It is vital we get as much certainty about how and when travel will return as soon as possible,” he said. Story has more.<br/>
European safety regulators are advising aircrew to wait at least 48h, and up to 72h for single-crew operations, before engaging in flight-related tasks after being vaccinated against Covid-19. The precautionary measure arises from uncertainty as to whether in-flight conditions at cruise altitudes – including lower air pressure and the hypoxic environment – might exacerbate any side-effects from the vaccination. “At this time, no evidence is available regarding the impact of in-flight conditions on the severity of the side effects, nor on the resulting impact on the performance of the crew members during their safety related tasks,” says the EASA. EASA stresses that it is not questioning “in any way” the safety of the vaccine itself, and says the “vast majority” of reported side-effects are mild.<br/>
Heathrow Airport has lodged proposals with the UK government's Global Travel Taskforce to bring in a four-tier traffic light system in a bid to ease COVID-19 restrictions sooner. Reports from several outlets on Sunday said the submission to the GTT would back hotel quarantining and tests for incoming flights from the worst-affected countries on a sliding scale. "Green" listed countries would mean all limits are eliminated, while "amber" would mean a customised three-day quarantine and testing regime. The Telegraph reported that an amber alert would apply over a "variant of concern" found in a country and the uncertainty it might pose to the UK's vaccine rollout. The majority of foreign travel in and out of the UK is currently banned, however the GTT is due to report on potential new rules at the start of April. These would come into effect in accordance with the unlocking roadmap from 17 May.<br/>
Chinese carriers will increase their domestic capacity for the summer and autumn schedules, by mounting extra flights and unveiling new domestic routes. The CAAC discloses that Chinese airlines will operate an average of around 93,000 domestic flights per week from 28 March to 30 October. This represents an increase of 10.7% year on year. Of these, a large majority — at 90,500 flights — will be passenger services, representing a 10.6% increase compared to the same period in 2020. The remaining 2,300 flights are freighter operations, a 13.2% rise year on year. The CAAC adds that 38 Chinese carriers will launch 322 new domestic routes for the period, including a significant number of flights to and from cities in China’s western regions. The authority adds that unlike previous years, the current summer/autumn season will feature new measures implemented in light of the coronavirus outbreak. These include loosening traffic rights management policies, as well as allowing its airlines to adjust capacity and frequency at short notice according to demand.<br/>
International air travel in the Asia-Pacific region remains extremely weak, although air cargo continues to prosper, says the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA). The association says that conditions worsened for the region’s airlines in February owing to new Covid-19 variants, which lead to new border control measures. During the month, preliminary figures show that the region’s airlines flew just 1.2m international passengers, a 93.7% decline from the 18.3m passengers carried in February 2019 – a month in which air travel was already slowing as the coronavirus pandemic extended beyond China, where it originated. During the month, ASKs were just 14.9% of a year earlier, and the average international passenger load factor was 24.8%. FTKs, however, rose 7.6% owing to a rise in trade activity and resilient business confidence. Still, the grounding of passenger aircraft and disruptions to container shipping pressured air freight capacity. While overall air freight capacity fell 9.2% year on year, freight load factors rose 11.1 percentage points to 71.7%.<br/>
Taiwan will open its first quarantine-free "travel bubble" next week, allowing tour groups to travel to and from the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, one of Taipei's 15 remaining diplomatic allies. After a four-day visit to Taiwan starting Sunday, Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr. will return home with a group of Taiwanese tourists on the first bubble flight. Tour groups will be able to visit both locations for up to eight days. Both Taiwan and Palau have been successful in preventing the spread of COVID-19, but have been largely closed to international visitors since March last year. Taiwan is a three-and-a-half-hour flight from Palau, an archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean that is home to about 18,000 people, clear waters and coral reefs. Taiwanese officials have said they are in discussions about possible other travel bubbles with Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. Taiwan is also working on a "sports bubble" for athletes who will compete in a baseball qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics in Taichung in June. This could enable foreign players to quarantine for five days instead of the usual 14.<br/>
International airlines have complained that they’re finding out about changes to flight caps and quarantine arrangements via the media, with flight crews in some cases halting Australian-bound planes from taking off while they watch Scott Morrison’s press conferences. The concerns have been raised in a submission to the Australian National Audit Office’s examination of Australia’s international border management during Covid, including the outbound travel ban and inbound arrival caps. In its submission, the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia – whose members include Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Emirates and United – is scathing about how the federal government communicates changes to quarantine limits and requirements for its crews. The submission warns “international aviation cannot operate in response to statements issued at a press conference or via media release”. The board also criticises the government for having “no readily available plan (or prior planning scenarios) to support the effective and orderly imposition of international travel restrictions on passengers from overseas countries or infection control measures at the airport for passengers and crew”.<br/>