general

As Europe races to set up a digital health pass scheme to save the holiday season from the pandemic, technical and political obstacles are showing just how big a challenge the world faces in building such systems, people involved in the effort say. Developers are grappling with issues ranging from the practical - such as what to accept as proof of being COVID-19 free - to the philosophical, including debates over discrimination and personal privacy. Southern countries that depend on tourism like Spain, Greece and Portugal are clamouring for a quick rollout of the promised EU "digital green pass", saying their economies will not withstand the loss of another summer season. The EU Commission plans to award a contract this month for a central system for verifying the digital passes, which will use QR codes that can be scanned into a smartphone app. It will also provide a template to help member countries develop their own apps - though some have already readied their own versions. The gateway is supposed to launch in June after testing in May. But the bloc's less tourism-reliant northern states warn launching a viable solution so quickly will be a stretch, especially given the number of stakeholders in the 27-nation bloc. "It's an aggressive timeline and it requires cooperation," said Mats Snall, the head of Sweden's digital vaccine passport initiative.<br/>

Boarding passengers seated at the back of the aircraft first -- a Covid-era change by Delta and others to cut the risk of infection -- actually increases the chance of catching the virus by 50%, a scientific study showed. So-called back-to-front boarding is also twice as risky as letting passengers on at random, even though it does reduce exposure between seated passengers and those walking down the plane, according to the study published Wednesday in the Royal Society Open Science journal. The higher risk comes from closer contact between passengers in the same rows clustering in the aisle as they stow their luggage. Delta adopted back-to-front boarding to “minimize contact with other customers,” according to its website, though the U.S. airline only boards 10 passengers at a time. The change was among several across the industry -- including blocking out middle seats --- to persuade passengers it is safe to get back on a plane. Scientists from institutions including the University of West Florida and Florida State University simulated 16,000 possible passenger movements for the study. “The new policies do not improve on the old ones in any situation,” they said. The risk of virus exposure could be reduced by stopping people using overhead storage bins, and by boarding passengers in window seats before those in aisle seats, according to the study.<br/>

UK leisure carrier Jet2 expects to post a group loss of between GBP375-385m for the 12 months ended 31 March 2021, a year in which its activities have been heavily curtailed by pandemic travel restrictions. The projected loss compares with group profit of £264.2 million for the previous financial year. Jet2 has suspended flights and holidays since the third coronavirus lockdown began in the UK at the start of 2021. Earlier this month, frustrated at a lack of clarity in the UK Government’s proposed ‘traffic light’ framework for opening up destinations, Jet2 further extended its flight suspension until 23 June. ”Unsurprisingly given the short-term uncertainty, customers are booking significantly closer to departure for Summer 21,” the airline notes in its trading update today. ”However, we continue to be encouraged by the volume of customer bookings for both Winter 21/22 and for Summer 22, for which package holiday bookings are displaying a materially higher mix of the total.”<br/>

Regulators have blocked a “disproportionate” push by Heathrow’s owners to claw back £2.6bn of pandemic losses, and instead said the airport can recoup around a tenth of that figure through raising its landing fees. The Civil Aviation Authority said the UK’s busiest airport can raise GBP300m by increasing its landing fees by the equivalent of about 30p per passenger from 2022 to help offset a collapse in revenue since the start of the pandemic. The 2021 landing fee is GBP21.08. The charges, already some of the highest in the world, are typically passed straight to consumers through higher ticket prices. Both the airport and airlines, who have been in a protracted dispute over landing fees, were disappointed by the ruling. Heathrow lost GBP2b last year as passenger numbers fell to their lowest level since the 1970s. The airport was overtaken by Paris’s Charles de Gaulle as Europe’s busiest as travel restrictions ripped through the aviation industry. “The decision we have announced today will incentivise and allow Heathrow to maintain investment, service quality and be proactive in supporting any potential surge in consumer demand later this year,” said Paul Smith, a CAA director.  Heathrow’s owners had sought permission to claw back GBP2.6b, a proposal the regulator said was “disproportionate and not in the interests of consumers”.<br/>

Israel’s Tourism Ministry said on Tuesday it wanted to open up to vaccinated foreign tourists starting in May after a dramatic drop off in Israeli coronavirus infections, although the Health Ministry immediately suggested delaying the launch by a month. The conflicting signals reflect competing pressures among ministers who want to offer a boost to the battered economy but also need to protect the country from virus variants abroad, after Israel's own speedy vaccination campaign. Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen said Israel would start admitting small numbers of vaccinated tourist groups from May 23, expanding the quota over several weeks and opening up to tourists travelling alone by July. But the Health Ministry swiftly issued a statement recommending a delay until late June "in light of the prevalent morbidity situation globally and the discovery of new variants", reflecting worries that variants might resist vaccines. The tourism and health ministers are from rival parties in a broad coalition government. Such public differences over policy are not unusual amid Israel's fractious politics. The Health Ministry also called for banning visitors from India and six other countries facing a surge in infections. The plans need approval by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet.<br/>

The latest ban on commercial flights from India will further dent recovery prospects for the country’s airlines, still reeling from the devastation of last year. “Prior to the pandemic, India’s air travel industry was vulnerable - despite it having a huge market and all of its major airports being in expansion mode,” said John Boyd, founder of the aviation consultancy Boyd Company. “Most airlines were short on cash and suffered with weak balance-sheets.” Then came COVID-19, with India immediately grounding most of its airline services, international and domestic. Only Air India was allowed to operate, as part of the ‘Vande Bharat’ repatriation mission for Indians stuck abroad when lockdowns hit. Now, with a second infection wave sweeping the country and countries suspending flights from India, a fresh crisis is brewing for airlines. Several of them took the opportunity to launch routes to new markets – but all this may be coming to an end now. Vistara, a joint venture between India’s Tata Group and Singapore Airlines - with its business model focused so heavily on serving London’s Heathrow Airport – will be especially hurt by this latest round of travel restrictions, added Boyd. Low-cost carrier SpiceJet had signed an agreement with Avenue Capital Group in the US for the sale and lease-back of 50 new planes to be ordered by the airline. “This alliance will ensure a seamless induction of the planes in our fleet and help us plan better for the long term,” said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet, in a statement last month.<br/>

Boeing’s newly prolonged CEO Dave Calhoun will unveil the US planemaker’s results on Wednesday juggling a barrage of technical and financial challenges under the shadow of mounting political tensions between the United States and China. Analysts will be pressing Calhoun for updates on the effective re-grounding of part of the 737 MAX fleet over electrical grounding flaws, just as the US travel market is finally rebounding from the coronavirus pandemic. The grounding issue is expected to drag on longer than Boeing initially indicated, people familiar with the matter say. Boeing is also facing certification challenges on its forthcoming 777X mini-jumbo, and forensic inspections and painstaking repairs to fix defects embedded in dozens of its advanced carbon-composite 787, which halted deliveries from October until last month. One of Boeing’s biggest suppliers, engine maker General Electric, said on Tuesday aviation remained “challenged” and beset by volatility, driving its stock down as much as 4.8%. “Boeing has traded on expectations for vaccine distribution and air traffic recovery, both of which are coming through,” Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr wrote in a note earlier this month. “But there’s risk of further 787 disruption if international traffic recovery lags, and the pace of the 737 ramp is unclear.”<br/>

GE Aviation remained in the black during the first quarter of 2021, earning a $641m profit despite significant declines in revenue from engine services. That figure is up 14% from last quarter, when the Ohio engine maker earned a $564m profit, but down 36% from the GE Aviation’s $1b profit in Q1 2020.The profit decline reflects “lower volume on commercial spare part and commercial spare engine shipments, and decreased shop visits in our service agreements”, GE says. GE Aviation generated $5b in revenue during Q1, down 28% from the same period last year. Revenue from sales of engines and related equipment slipped 22% year-on-year to $1.8b, while revenue from aviation services declined 31% to $3.1b, GE reports. GE Aviation’s number of shop visits, excluding maintenance for Leap turbofans, remains depressed by about 25% year-on-year, the company says. About 27% of jets equipped with engines made by GE and joint-venture partner CFM International are still parked due to the pandemic-induced downturn, GE says.<br/>