IATA has sounded the alarm about the varying pace of the traffic recovery, as cargo and domestic continue to rebound strongly while international travel remains stifled by border restrictions. “It’s not where we want to be… and it’s not where we need to be,” IATA director general Willie Walsh says about the limited progress being made with international travel. He adds that clear successes in the rollout of vaccines should result in the dismantling of travel restrictions and the winding-down of many testing requirements. Despite this, Walsh notes: “The recovery has definitely started in the second half [of 2021]. We’ve got to take positives from that.” While progress in some areas, such as transatlantic, are disappointing, “we are at a point where it’s reasonable to be optimistic in most markets”. Figures released by IATA for June show total demand for air travel, as measured in revenue passenger-kilometres, down 60% in the month, a marginal improvement from May. Within this, international travel was down 85% compared with two years ago. Domestic traffic was down by just 22% versus pre-crisis levels. Walsh comments that without the restrictions placed on internal flights in India, this figure would be “significantly ahead”.<br/>
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Air travel consumer groups want Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to take a harder stance on US airlines. During a virtual meeting Tuesday, the groups asked the DoT to ensure that airline vouchers, which soared into the billions of dollars after the Covid pandemic roiled air travel, never expire, participants said. They also sought that the department crack down on airline seat selection fees, barring the practice altogether for families traveling with younger children. “In keeping with the Administration’s and the Secretary’s commitment to strengthening rights of consumers the Secretary will meet with consumer groups,” the DOT said. Participants said they were encouraged that Buttigieg agreed to meet with them. The consumer groups’ somewhat optimistic tone comes after President Joe Biden’s executive order earlier this month directed the DoT to propose rules that would require airlines to refund baggage fees for delayed luggage or other charges when services aren’t provided. “We’re definitely seeing an openness to talk,” said Paul Hudson, founder of the nonprofit group Flyers Rights, who was in the meeting. “Talking the talk is one thing. Walking the walk is another.” During the pandemic, airlines scrapped ticket change fees and also extended the expiration of vouchers for travelers who couldn’t fly because of Covid, some into 2022. The consumer groups want those not to expire and to be used for other potential travelers.<br/>
US and EU travelers who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will soon be allowed to visit England without having to quarantine, the UK government announced Wednesday. The measure comes after the UK government on July 19 also removed quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated English residents if they had visited so-called amber list countries with less severe Covid-19 situations. Both announcements provide fresh relief to airlines and the wider tourism sector, which has been severely hit by Covid restrictions. The European travel and leisure sector traded higher on Wednesday supported by the recent decisions. EasyJet and the parent company of British Airways were up by more than 4% during afternoon deals in London. UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps said via Twitter that the quarantine exemption would be introduced from Monday. It comes at a time when the United States is reversing some of its social restrictions. Shapps said the changes would apply to fully vaccinated people with a US or European approved shot. Those travelling would still need to do the usual pre-departure test before arrival and take a PCR test on day two of returning to England.<br/>
"Help!" yelled a flight attendant as she grabbed a knife-wielding man and wrestled to pin the knife against her hip. "I need help!" Then the struggle stopped. "Alright, let's do it again," the instructor said. "Reset!" The knife was made of rubber. The man was a fellow flight attendant. They struggled not in a life-or-death brawl inside a cramped airplane cabin, but instead practiced at a padded gymnasium with their federal air marshal instructors. The eight flight attendants in this Miami-area class were among hundreds the TSA plans to train this summer and fall in self-defense skills. It is restarting the half-day course first developed in 2004 that was recently put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. The skills include how to strike, stomp and subdue a violent attacker -- a scenario these flight attendants said they hope to never encounter. Amid the return to air travel this year, the number of unruly and violent passengers is spiking. More than 100 incidents were reported to the FAA in the last week -- for a total of more than 3,600 so far this year. Flight attendants are taught a set of de-escalation techniques to handle difficult passengers -- the ones who won't stow a tray table or who insist an oversize suitcase fit in the bin last time. But they say the defiance and violence that accompanies this return to travel is testing those skills. "You get on a plane full of people and some of them are not very happy and you just never know what's going to happen," said Carrie, a flight attendant who took the class as she returns to work after a pandemic-related leave of absence.<br/>
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region that have sought to eliminate Covid-19 entirely are beginning to accept that such an approach is not sustainable, in the view of IATA DG Willie Walsh.“The problem we see in Asia-Pacific at the moment is a very slow recognition of the failure of a ’zero-Covid’ approach,” Walsh said. For airlines, the problems is that while ’zero-Covid’ countries have often succeeded at keeping deaths from the disease at relatively low levels, it is unclear how they can transition back to allowing international travel, particularly as many are seeing relatively low vaccination rates. Walsh cites Australia as an example of the ‘zero-Covid’ approach being flawed, with the former IAG chief suggesting lockdowns there are an overreaction to case rates that would be the envy of most countries. Those lockdowns recently brought a domestic air travel revival to a halt and raised concern that months may pass before non-essential international travel resumes. “I’m not a scientist, but everything I’ve read and everything I’ve listened to from the scientists says… we’re going to have to learn to live with [this virus],” Walsh states.<br/>
Indonesia has imposed capacity limits on domestic flights as part of a raft of measures that includes restrictions on children travelling. The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation states in a 27 July notice that effective immediately, capacity on all scheduled domestic flights will be capped at 70%. This is to allow for social distancing on board aircraft, it adds. The latest measures come as Indonesia extended restrictions across the country until early August. Existing measures for travellers from Bali and Java, where capital city Jakarta is located, have been extended to other islands and provinces, including Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan. This means that travellers from these areas will need to present a negative coronavirus test result, and have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Those not from the areas with tightened restrictions will need to present a negative coronavirus test. As with its previous announcement, the agency did not impose an outright ban on flights, but urged travellers to defer non-essential travel. <br/>
Boeing reported its first quarterly profit in almost two years on Wednesday, boosted by a surge in deliveries of commercial jetliners as airlines began recovering from a pandemic slump and higher sales in the company’s other divisions. The plane manufacturer snapped six consecutive quarters of losses, swinging to a profit of $567m for the second quarter from a net loss of $2.96b in the quarter a year ago as air travel was plunging early in the pandemic. Revenue rose 44% to nearly $17b from $11.8b a year earlier, beating analyst estimates of $16.54b. “While we still have a ways to go before a full rebound, it is encouraging to see the commercial market improving, enabled by continued vaccine distribution and increasing travel demand, particularly in domestic markets,” CEO Dave Calhoun said in an employee memo Wednesday. “Going forward, we will closely monitor case rates, vaccine distribution, travel protocols and global trade as key indicators for recovery.”<br/>
March 17 was a bittersweet day for aviation geeks. With the departure of flight MSN 272 from Toulouse, production of the A380 — the world’s biggest passenger aircraft — came to an end. After 15 years, one of the boldest experiments in aviation had been scuppered — not by Covid-19, but by the development of smaller, more efficient aircraft capable of carrying passengers non-stop to their long-haul destinations. Yet as the aviation industry races against the climate clock to bring down carbon emissions, there may still be a case to bring back a new version of the superjumbo. Before the pandemic forced airlines to slash routes and ground fleets, there were few in the industry who questioned aviation’s growth model. Low-cost airlines had made air travel accessible to millions. As new single-aisle aircraft took passengers longer distances, carriers were able to connect more cities with direct flights. This “point-to-point” model offered convenience to passengers and prosperity to regional airports. According to Iata, the number of direct city pairs doubled over the past two decades. ACI Europe, an airports body, estimated that between 2005 and 2017, the number of flights at regional airports grew twice as fast as at major European hubs. But can the world afford the convenience of allowing direct flights to multiply unchecked, when aviation emissions are expected to increase by up to four times 2015 levels by 2050, depending on the scenario, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization? Story has more.<br/>
A bumpy recovery among global airlines has given an unexpected early boost to one corner of the market: demand for aircraft paint. It’s come roaring back as production of new jets rises and pandemic-idled old ones change operators. At Akzo Nobel NV, the world’s biggest supplier of plane coatings, sales across the product range were back to pre-pandemic levels during the second quarter. “This was a surprise to us,” CE Officer Thierry Vanlancker said. “We thought this was only going to be in 2023.” The drivers are two-fold. Airbus and Boeing have been scaling up output, with deliveries surging 70% to 453 new aircraft in the first half from a year earlier. Ownership turmoil has also played a role, and every time a plane changes hands, it needs to be repainted. While airline failures have dropped off sharply since last year, new carriers are still being created, according to aviation consultancy IBA. The upstarts are picking up leased jets from companies that are defunct, struggling or otherwise slimming down their fleets. Established players like Delta have also gone shopping for used planes. This month, the US major added almost 30 Boeing 737-900s that were part of Indonesian carrier Lion Mentari Lion Airlines’ fleet. It also leased seven Airbus A350-900 twin-aisle jets let go by Chile’s Latam Airlines Group, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Since January, airlines have returned 790 planes to lessors, while 609 new and used planes have been placed with customers, according to IBA data. Struggling operators will continue to dispose of leased jets, IBA said, while lessors will stop deferring new-plane deliveries as their cash positions improve.<br/>
Airbus is set to deliver more than 600 jets this year after a strong first half driven in part by deals that allow some carriers to delay accounting for new planes on their balance sheets, industry sources said. The financial structures are part of a raft of innovations and compromise deals thrashed out by the European planemaker as it tries to keep cash rolling in during the pandemic. Most analysts expect the recent delivery trend to contribute to solid first-half results on Thursday. Airbus has predicted full-year deliveries at least equivalent to last year’s total of 566, down 34% from 2019. In this year’s first half, Airbus delivered 297 aircraft after a surge in June, putting it on course to exceed full-year targets given its pattern of speeding deliveries late in the year, according to industry sources and some analysts. Internally, the planemaker is provisionally aiming for more than 600 deliveries this year, several sources said. Deliveries are vital for aerospace companies because they mark the point at which the bulk of a jet’s value - ranging from $40m or more - reaches the manufacturer’s coffers and help defray huge development costs.<br/>