Jeffrey Goh, CEO of Star Alliance, made the following remarks following the Singapore government’s declaration of a significant step in transitioning towards COVID resilience. “The initiation next month of Vaccinated Travel Lanes, piloting Brunei and Germany arrivals is both a welcome and significant development. We commend the leadership in this initiative to establish cautious but progressive guidelines that will form the basis for reopening international travel. This has been underpinned by the high vaccination adoption rate of citizens of Singapore and the recognition of similar vaccination success in other key countries. As part of a joint statement in June, my colleagues at oneworld and SkyTeam encouraged governments to exempt fully vaccinated passengers from blanket quarantine requirements, and further that COVID-19 testing, when required, should be both easily accessible and affordable. Each step, each pilot programme, each effort to reduce the many disparate border measures presently in effect in many jurisdictions will be another proof point that a return to a globally-connected world of responsible travel and tourism is in our sights, and with it a return to economic growth and restoring cultural ties and social progress.” <br/>
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Air Canada sees a "strategic advantage" for its cargo business in Canadian hubs like Toronto as shippers seek to bypass logjams at some US gateways. Lifted by e-commerce demand, cargo-only flights emerged as a lifeline for carriers during the pandemic when commercial traffic slumped. Half of air cargo normally travels in the belly of passenger jets. While North American airlines are reducing all-cargo flights as passenger traffic rebounds, that shift is more gradual in Canada due to a slower easing of travel restrictions. Cargo remains important for Canada's largest carrier, accounting for 43% of second-quarter revenue, even as it restores passenger flights, a company executive said. "We (cargo) were a single-digit piece of the business before COVID. We hope to be a bigger part of that in the future," Jason Berry, Air Canada's vice president for cargo, said in an interview, without providing a target. Air Canada's ambition comes as international air cargo volume hit its strongest first-half growth since 2017, airline trade group IATA said. But staffing shortages and space constraints have exacerbated congestion at hubs like Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and at some US ports. U.S. railroad operator Union Pacific Corp recently warned that bottlenecks at West Coast ports have spread East, impacting some inland terminals, including Chicago. Air Canada, which trucks cargo arriving at Toronto Pearson International Airport to its facilities in Chicago and New York, could appeal to freight forwarders seeking alternatives like secondary US airports to bypass the congestion, said Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association.<br/>
Cargo proved a lifeline for Ethiopian Airlines during the pandemic, but with passenger demand returning, the carrier is reconverting its fleet of converted freighters back to passenger flights. During the depths of the pandemic, Ethiopian converted four Boeing 777-200s into freighters — known since the pandemic began as “preighters” — to fly personal protective equipment, and later, vaccines between China and Africa and onto Brazil. These preighters joined the carrier’s 10 777-200Fs and three Boeing 737-800Fs. But with passenger demand returning, Ethiopian has re-converted three of the planes back to passenger operations, with the fourth to follow in the next few weeks, said Nigusu Worku, Ethiopian’s regional director for North America. Ethiopian is not alone in returning preighters back to passenger operations. Iberia last month returned its freighters back to their original fittings. Passenger traffic is back to about 65% of 2019 levels and, based on advance bookings, Ethiopian expects traffic to be about 80% of 2019 levels by the end of the year. Business travel and tourism has all but dried up, but visiting friends and relatives — particularly by the African diaspora in North America and Europe — has remained strong. About 65% of the carrier’s traffic connects over Addis Ababa to other points in subsaharan Africa, with the Ethiopian capital being the final destination for the balance, Worku said.<br/>
A delegation of EgyptAir, led by Assistant Chairman of the national carrier's Board of Directors Hassan Mounir, inspected on Saturday Berenice International Airport to check its facilities in preparation for operating regular flights by EgyptAir. The delegation inspected ground and air services, hangars, maintenance sites, and the state-owned airlines' counters as well as its offices. It hailed the airport's massive capabilities, which are similar to the world's newest airports. The airport, located 150 km from Marsa Alam, has a runway that is 3,650 kilometers long and 45 meters wide. It also includes a 58 meter-high control tower and 47 technical, administrative and service buildings.<br/>