Former IAG CE Willie Walsh has officially taken over as director general of IATA today, succeeding Alexandre de Juniac. Walsh was confirmed as de Juniac’s successor at the airline industry association’s AGM in November last year, only a couple of months after his retirement from IAG, which had been delayed by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Describing his passion for the airline industry, Walsh notes that IATA’s work has never been “more critical… than during the Covid-19 crisis”, and says that his goal is to ensure the association is “a forceful voice supporting the success of global air transport”. Walsh notes that IATA has been “at the forefront of efforts to restart global connectivity, including developing the IATA Travel Pass”, but also cites “less visible” work of “equal importance” to the day-to-day operation of the industry, including financial settlement systems, travel requirement verification database Timatic and “other vital services”.<br/>
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Emissions regulated by Europe’s carbon market fell by 14.4% in 2020, their biggest percentage decline yet, as pandemic restrictions stifled economic activity and grounded flights, official data examined by carbon analysts at Refinitiv showed. Around 45% of the European Union’s output of greenhouse gases is regulated by the Emissions Trading System (ETS), the bloc’s flagship instrument to tackle global warming by charging for the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO2). The Refinitiv analysts’ interpretation of European Commission data found emissions covered by the ETS totalled 1.365 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), down 14.4% on the previous year. The fall was the largest in percentage terms since the market was launched in 2005.<br/>
More than 1,000 air passengers arrived in Canada infected with COVID-19 over a recent four-week period despite obligatory pre-departure testing, according to federal data that cast doubt on any broad easing of restrictions before the summer travel season. Canada began testing international arrivals in February, requiring air travelers to spend up to three days in hotel quarantine at their own expense until results come back, a measure criticized by airlines hit hard by the pandemic. People who test negative can finish a 14-day quarantine at home. The federal policy was meant to deter people from going abroad during the traditional spring holiday season, and to screen for more contagious coronavirus variants, health officials said. Canada’s air arrival positivity rate of 1.5% over four weeks from Feb 22 to March 25 is higher than those recorded by some other countries doing similar testing at airports. Germany’s Frankfurt airport recorded a 0.4% positive test rate from 2,700 travelers over a four-week period this year, according to testing company Centogene NV. Canadian government data showed many international flights this year had passengers carrying the virus. From Feb 22 to March 25, of 70,819 travelers tested upon arrival, 1,094 were positive. The travel-related cases suggest the government will not ease its arrival quarantine policy any time soon, even as airlines hope increased testing and vaccinations will lead to improved business.<br/>
A robot armed with virus-killing ultraviolet light is being tested on Swiss airplanes, yet another idea aiming to restore passenger confidence and spare the travel industry more pandemic pain. UVeya, a Swiss start-up, is conducting the trials of the robots with Dubai-based airport services company Dnata inside Embraer jets from Helvetic Airways, a charter airline owned by Swiss billionaire Martin Ebner. Aircraft makers still must certify the devices and are studying the impact their UV light may have on interior upholstery, which could fade after many disinfections, UVeya co-founder Jodoc Elmiger said. Still, he’s hopeful robot cleaners could reduce people’s fear of flying, even as COVID-19 circulates. “This is a proven technology, it’s been used for over 50 years in hospitals and laboratories, it’s very efficient,” Elmiger said on Wednesday. “It doesn’t leave any trace or residue.”<br/>
British officials are drawing up plans for the tentative return of international travel, allowing families to book holidays and offering a desperately needed lifeline to the aviation industry. But the resurgence of the coronavirus in Europe is forcing Boris Johnson’s government to consider whether to push back the reopening of overseas travel beyond the proposed start date of May 17, people familiar with the matter said. The prime minister is due to set out the blueprint on April 5. However, officials from 10 government departments and agencies are still working on the plan because the issues are so thorny, the people said. Airlines are lobbying for flights to resume in time for them to cash in on a substantial portion of the summer season, which contributes the bulk of earnings at leisure carriers such as Ryanair and EasyJet and tour operators like TUI. Story has details.<br/>
Taiwan and Palau launched a rare holiday travel bubble on Thursday as the two diplomatic allies try to kickstart their battered tourist industries after successfully keeping infections at bay. Around 100 excited Taiwanese tourists arrived at Taoyuan international airport near Taipei on Thursday morning, checking in five hours before their afternoon flight in order to be tested for the coronavirus. The inaugural holiday flight took off around 2:45pm (0645 GMT) according to Taiwan's China Airlines. Governments across Asia-Pacific have struggled to launch reciprocal travel corridors aimed at holidaymakers. A long awaited bubble between Australia and New Zealand is still in the works. And a bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong had to be scrapped late last year after the latter witnessed a sudden spike in infections. India maintains travel corridors with more than two dozen countries but there are different restrictions and the agreements are mainly aimed at stranded nationals and those with business visas.<br/>
Virgin Australia is set to record its highest number of bookings in one day since before the pandemic began, while Qantas and Jetstar recorded 130,000 bookings in under 12 hours, following the release of the federal government’s half-price flights. But the tourism industry says the boost will not be enough to fill the void left by the end of the jobkeeper payment. About a quarter of the available subsidised flights were purchased on Thursday. It comes as the Queensland government announced an early end to the Brisbane lockdown, lifting restrictions from midday on Thursday, in order to avoid traffic chaos ahead of the Easter long weekend. More than 50,000 Qantas fares and 45,000 Jetstar fares were sold in the first 11 hours of the half-off flight program, which launched on Thursday, with Maroochydore, the Gold Coast, Cairns, Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart among the most popular destinations. By 3pm they had sold a combined 130,000 flights. Virgin Australia said it was on track to record its biggest day of bookings since the coronavirus pandemic began, recording a 600% increase in flight bookings, a 600% increase in flight searches, and a tripling of website traffic compared to last week.<br/>