Canada is facing industry calls to extend financial aid to smaller airlines, after offering a C$5.9b lifeline to Air Canada, as new COVID-19 variants loom ahead of the vital summer travel season. The timing of Monday's deal, which saw the Canadian government take a 6% equity stake in Air Canada, was partly designed to secure "access to air travel when it returns," as the country's vaccine rollout ramps up this summer, a source familiar with the discussions said. But with the spread of new variants threatening to overtake the pace of vaccination, early hopes for a relaxation of Canada's strict travel requirements ahead of summer are fading. Fears of a delayed recovery, along with the Air Canada deal, has upset the "level playing field" for air service, with smaller carriers asking for financial support. "We want everyone to have access to the same programs," said John McKenna, chief executive of the Air Transport Association of Canada, which represents smaller carriers.<br/>
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Germany’s airline industry and main rail company said Thursday they aim to encourage more people to switch from planes to trains for domestic routes, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The German Aviation Association and Deutsche Bahn signed an agreement to offer more high-speed rail connections on routes currently served by short-haul flights. The two sides said they expect more than 20% of plane passengers, or about 4.3m people a year, could choose to travel by train instead. This could cut a sixth of the carbon dioxide emissions currently generated by domestic air travel, they said.<br/>
Portugal's border service, steeped in scandal after a Ukrainian man was beaten to death while in its custody at Lisbon airport, will be abolished on Thursday, the government said. Ihor Homeniuk died at the airport's detention facility in March 2020 after arriving without the right documentation and refusing to board a deportation flight. Three officers were charged with his murder, but pleaded not guilty in their trial which began in February. Rights advocates say Homeniuk's case exposed a record of abuse within the SEF border agency, and some see its abolition as an attempt to stave off mounting criticism of the authorities after the incident. The government said SEF's functions, such as border checks and human trafficking investigations, will be divided between other police forces, while a new administrative body, the Asylum and Foreigners Service (SEA), has been created.<br/>
French nationals and companies in Pakistan were advised by their embassy Thursday to temporarily leave after violent anti-France protests paralysed large parts of the country. Anti-French sentiment has been simmering for months in Pakistan since the government of President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for a satirical magazine's right to republish cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed -- deemed blasphemous by many Muslims. On Thursday the Pakistan government banned an extremist political party whose leader had called for a march on the capital to demand the expulsion of the French ambassador. Saad Rizvi, leader of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), was detained hours after the Tuesday call, bringing thousands of his supporters onto the streets in cities across the country. "Due to the serious threats to French interests in Pakistan, French nationals and French companies are advised to temporarily leave the country," the embassy said in an email Thursday to French citizens. "The departures will be carried out by existing commercial airlines."<br/>
Airlines, lessors and other financiers laid out $59b for the purchase of new commercial aircraft in 2020 – a full 40% less funding than was available in 2019. That is according to Boeing’s latest aircraft finance report, which puts financial figures behind 2020’s decline in aircraft deliveries. The report also shows that North American customers accounted for a much larger share of funding for Boeing jets than in previous years. That development reflects a pandemic-flattened year in which US airlines – which secured sizeable government financial aid - received an outsized portion the new aircraft. Boeing’s 2020 deliveries also suffered from the 737 Max’s grounding, which US regulators lifted in November, and 787 quality issues that led Boeing to halt 787 deliveries after October. The $59b that went toward new-aircraft deliveries in 2020 is down from $98bin 2019. It is less even than the $62b that funded new aircraft one decade earlier, in 2010, according to the report, called “Current Aircraft Finance Market Outlook 2021”.<br/>