Spain’s Amadeus will integrate IBM’s digital health pass into its Traveler ID platform in a bid to simplify the verification of passengers’ health credentials during the boarding process, the companies said Thursday. The aviation, tourism, and tech sectors have deepened their collaboration since the pandemic began, with a host of new digital applications and products springing up in response to a global patchwork of restrictions and requisites to travel. IBM’s system - which uses encyryption and blockchain technologies to authenticate diagnostic tests such as antigen or PCR - assigns passengers a QR code which indicates whether they are fit to fly, rather than needing boarding-gate attendants to hand-verify the details of each traveller’s test. “This approach helps airlines feel confident the health credentials added are valid and takes the expectation off of gate agents to verify health documents,” said Greg Land, head of IBM’s travel and transportation sector, said. “It also protects individual privacy since only a QR code that reflects the individuals’ status – e.g. ‘ready to fly’ – is displayed when scanned.” By integrating IBM’s Digital Health Pass into its Traveler ID system, Amadeus hopes to reassure passengers about the safety of their medical data, which the booking group says will neither be stored nor tracked - a concern shared by many would-be travellers.<br/>
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Rising concern about the fast-spreading delta variant of COVID-19 is creating turbulence for the stocks of big travel companies, but airline executives say they don’t see any slowdown in ticket sales, maybe because a high percentage of their best customers are fully vaccinated. “We haven't seen any impact at all on bookings, which continue to just get stronger and stronger every week,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said Wednesday. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the same thing last week, although he added that variants were continuing to hobble international travel by delaying the opening of borders. More than 2 million people a day, mostly summer vacationers, are packing US airports. That is a turnaround from the lockdown summer of 2020. The travel recovery took hold earlier this year as vaccinations rose and infection cases fell. Now variants are fueling a tripling in new reported cases of COVID-19 in the US over the past two weeks — although just a fraction of the January peak — and driving outbreaks in other countries. United said its cancellation rate has not changed in the last few weeks, although it remains higher than before the pandemic. It could be due to the millions of Americans — particularly those who travel — who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Even if travelers are unmoved by the headlines, investors have been spooked. They worry that the rise of variants could lead governments to reimpose travel restrictions that might short-circuit the travel recovery.<br/>
Israel’s aviation industry is in danger of collapse, airline company heads told the country’s coronavirus airport commissioner Wednesday. A solution to allow air travel, despite fears of new coronavirus variants and rising case numbers, must be found quickly, the airline heads told Maj.-Gen. Roni Numa ahead of the coronavirus cabinet’s meeting scheduled for Thursday. Numa met with the heads of El Al, Israir, and Arkia and international carriers in order to hear their feedback and ask for solutions ahead of Thursday’s meeting, his spokesman said. In addition, the CEOs sent a letter to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calling on him to recognize the seriousness of the situation for the industry and its workers.<br/>
After nine coronavirus cases were confirmed among employees at Nanjing airport the eastern Chinese city cut more than 300 flights on Wednesday. More than 100 flights were already cancelled a day earlier, authorities reported. Mass testing was taking place in four areas close to the airport. Anyone who wants to leave the city of 8 million people must show a negative coronavirus test. The airport infections were registered during routine testing and the employees went into quarantine. Further workers were then tested. China has largely kept the virus under control since its initial outbreak in early 2020 and has only had limited local outbreaks since. <br/>
A group of seven Thai airlines are seeking a combined 5b baht ($152.16m) in low interest loans from the Thai government to help weather the effects of the coronavirus crisis, the Thai Airlines Association said Wednesday. The seven airlines had initially requested $770m in soft loans, but had not received government support. “We have reduced the request from last year and the 5 billion baht will only cover employment and doesn’t include leases, jet fuel and other expenses,” Thai Airlines Association president Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth told reporters. The latest request was around a fifth of the amount the group had previously sought. Thai government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri said all pandemic relief proposals from any business in Thailand would be considered and assessed for viability. Commercial flights to and from Thailand have been banned since last year, leading local airlines to focus on domestic travel to make up for losses. Thailand’s aviation regulator last week stopped domestic flights to and from Bangkok as new causes surged. 170 aircraft belonging to the seven airlines have been grounded, and collectively they have been incurring employment expenses of around 900m baht a month, the association said. “We have asked employees to take leave without pay as much as we can. Now we want to maintain employment for the 20,000 industry workers,” Puttipong, who is also CE of Bangkok Airways, said, adding that some airlines could undergo downsizing without the loans. The industry group includes, Bangkok Airways, budget carrier Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Thai VietJet, Thai LionAir, Nok Air Pcl, and Thai Smile, a unit of the flag carrier Thai Airways.<br/>
Brisbane Airport’s CEO has said international airlines “may well leave Australia behind” as vaccinated nations begin to remove COVID restrictions now. “As an island nation a mid to long-haul flight from most of its trading partners, Australia is uniquely reliant on aviation,” said Gert-Jan de Graaff. “Whilst we have managed through the last 18 months of this crisis with airlines and airports prepared to maintain air connections at great financial loss, this is simply not sustainable.” The significant intervention on Wednesday came as the airport revealed passenger numbers during the last financial year dipped to their lowest level since 1994, failing to crack 8 million. It comes with more than half of the country now in lockdown, including NSW, Victoria and SA as the vaccine rollout lags behind countries such as the US, UK and much of the EU. “It is essential that all levels of government recognise that as other parts of the globe normalise, the highly competitive international aviation sector may well leave Australia behind,” warned de Graaff. “Policies must be put in place to ensure Australia’s connectivity to the world is protected.<br/>
Most air travellers are confident about the safety of air travel and support mask-wearing in the near-term, said the IATA in its latest passenger survey conducted in June. However, a majority are also frustrated with the “hassle factor” around Covid-19 protocols, including confusion and uncertainty about travel rules, testing requirements, and excessive test costs. The survey of 4,700 travellers in 11 markets around the world shows that: 85% believe aircraft are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected; and 65% agree the air on an aircraft is as clean as an operating room Among those who have travelled since June 2020, 86% felt safe onboard owing to Covid-19 measures; 89% believe protective measures are well implemented; and 90% believe airline personnel do a good job of enforcing the measures Passengers strongly support mask wearing onboard (83%) and strict enforcement of mask rules (86%), but a majority also believe the mask requirement should be ended as soon as possible.<br/>
Airbus on Wednesday delivered the first A350 widebody jet from its Tianjin final assembly line to China Eastern Airlines, further bolstering its industrial footprint in China relative to rival Boeing. The work conducted in Tianjin on the jet includes cabin installation, painting, production flight test, and aircraft delivery, Airbus said. Foreign media were not allowed to attend the delivery event in Tianjin. Airbus has been more aggressive than Boeing in moving parts of its manufacturingprocess to China in the hope of increasing its share of sales in the world's biggest market for new planes. Airbus expects to deliver this year a total of five A350s from Tianjin. In 2008, Tianjin became the company's first final assembly line for the A320 narrowbody jet outside Europe, and in 2017 it became a completion and delivery facility for the A330. Boeing waited until December, 2018 to open its first completion plant in China at Zhoushan for the 737 MAX. But, the model was grounded three months later following a second fatal crash and its return to service has yet to be approved by China's aviation regulator. Airbus has been gaining market share in China as the domestic travel market has rebounded to pre-COVID levels, while Boeing is still grappling with Chinese scrutiny over the 737 MAX and a dearth of orders amid broader US-China tensions. <br/>
Brazilian airframer Embraer delivered 34 jets during Q2 2021, double the number it delivered in the same period during coronavirus-plagued 2020. Of the aircraft delivered in the three months ended in June, 14 were commercial aircraft and 20 were executive jets, the Sao Jose dos Campos- headquartered company says on 21 July. The Brazilian airframer handed over just 17 jets in Q2 2020 – four commercial and 13 executive jets. Included in the Q2 deliveries were seven E175s and seven new-generation E195-E2s. During the period, Switzerland’s Helvetic Airways received the first of four new E195-E2 aircraft. Embraer says the carrier has ordered 12 E2s to support its fleet renewal initiative: eight E190-E2s (already in service) and four E195-E2s (converted from the original E190-E2 order). The airline also holds purchase rights for an additional 12 aircraft, the company adds.<br/>