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Korean Air will resume flights to Guam in August as it expects pent-up demand for the tourism spot that welcomes inoculated travelers without a quarantine, company officials said Monday. Korean Air will provide one flight a week on the Incheon-Guam route beginning Aug. 5 following permission from the transport ministry, a company spokesperson said. "The flight schedule can be adjusted depending on the number of vaccinated people and travel demand," the spokesperson said, noting online tickets are currently available. US territories like Guam and Saipan currently allow travelers vaccinated with Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen and AstraZeneca shots to forgo quarantine upon their arrival. Korean Air's Guam route has been suspended for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with most of the international routes operated by local airlines. The full-service carrier has been also mulling opening flights to popular tourism spots in the coming months as the nation's vaccination drive is gaining steam and the government is preparing to sign a quarantine-free "travel bubble" agreement with Guam, Saipan, Singapore and other nations.<br/>

Kenya Airways' head said the government should step in to repay $750m of state-guaranteed debt to help the East African carrier emerge from the Covid-19 crisis that has battered the industry. The airline is scheduled to resume repayments of the sovereign-backed debt next month, following a moratorium negotiated with lenders following the grounding of most international travel a year ago, CEO Allan Kilavuka said Friday. “The bigger discussion though is how do you actually restructure that debt,” he said in Nairobi. “For us to do that we need government support, because as you know they have guaranteed quite a lot of our debt. There is a discussion around that.” The government, which holds a 48.9% stake in Kenya Airways, is in the process of fully nationalizing the company under a proposed law that will have units including the Kenya Airports Authority put under a holding entity. The carrier awarded London-based Steer Group a contract to review its turnaround strategy after years of losses were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Kenya Airways plans to grow the passenger revenue it generates from charter flights fivefold to 10% by the end of this year, and has began a new unit to operate drones, Kilavuka said. “The good thing with charters is that the margins are better and they are more predictable,” he said. “We have noticed that business people are now more careful about travel so some of them would prefer to do charters.” Kenya Airways has also began piloting unmanned aerial vehicles through a unit known as Fahari Aviation, to cater for surveillance and emergency response among other uses, Kilavuka said.<br/>