general

The United States is preparing for long lines and delays on Monday when restrictions are lifted on non-US citizen international travelers who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, a senior official said Friday. President Joe Biden's administration "expects pent-up demand for travel, which means longer than normal wait times for travelers," the official said. The government was boosting staffing to pre-pandemic levels but "long lines are expected in the initial days." The US on Monday is lifting travel restrictions for fully vaccinated air travelers from 33 countries and at its land borders with Mexico and Canada, ending the historic entry bans to address the spread of COVID-19 for much of the world's population. The official said land border traffic has been about 70% of 2019 levels on the Southwest border and 30% of 2019 levels on the Northern border. US Customs and Border Protection "will continue to adjust its resources to meet traffic workload demands and ensure operational security, while balancing its trade facilitation and national security mission," the official said. Travelers should familiarize themselves with the new guidelines and have their documentation ready in advance, the official said. Delta CE Ed Bastian has also said travelers should be prepared for long lines initially from Monday.<br/>

Airline reservations to the United States took off immediately after the White House announced that the country would reopen to all vaccinated international voyagers starting next week, compelling a welcome - if challenging - industry pivot. The long-awaited US move to welcome back international travellers - which takes effect on Monday - follows 18 months of restrictions for 33 countries during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic that separated families, impeded business travel and frustrated tourists. Big carriers are scrambling to meet the sudden surge in demand, adding flights, swopping in bigger planes for smaller ones and redoubling efforts to hire and retain staff. Just after the White House announcement, British Airways saw a 900% jump in searches for flights and holiday packages to key US destinations compared with the week before. The day after the announcement, American Airlines garnered a 66% jump in flight reservations to Britain, 40% to Europe and 74% to Brazil. Airlines are planning for a modest pullback in January and February after a strong holiday season, but anticipate strong demand in the spring that will intensify in the summer, traditionally the busiest season.<br/>

Fresh from losing billions of dollars from bad oil-price hedges because of Covid, many of the world’s airlines are once again trying to protect themselves from soaring fuel costs. European carriers including Lufthansa Group, Air France-KLM and Ryanair have said in recent days that they fixed at least half of their fuel bills for parts of next year. Others from further afield like Southwest, Alaska Air and Turkish Airlines have all boosted their hedge positions in recent months. Not every company in the airline industry hedges against higher oil prices, but those that did racked up losses of almost $5b at one stage during the pandemic because they effectively forward-purchased millions of tons of fuel they didn’t need. Their return signals confidence about future demand to travel. For the oil market, it also means a large consumer is back and bidding for barrels in the future again, easing a liquidity vacuum that built up late last year. “We continue to see significant opportunities to buy fuel forward,” Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair said on a call with analysts. “We’ve hedged our fuel requirements with a mix of jet swaps and caps.” Carriers are coming back to the market as they have eaten through the hedges they placed before the pandemic, just as capacity picks up again and fuel prices rally to near their highest level in seven years. Still, while they’ve returned, the way they are hedging has changed compared with the pre-Covid era. Where in the past they would sell put options to cheapen the cost of their hedges, now they are favoring swaps that give a less risky exposure to price moves. Also, while airline capacity is still down, they are also hedging a smaller portion of their fuel bills, meaning they are less insured against a surge, but equally less at risk of another demand implosion. The hedges also tend to be shorter-term than they used to be.<br/>

A group of current and former Boeing directors has agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit over a pair of fatal crashes that led to the global grounding of the company’s 737 Max jetliner for nearly two years. Under the proposed settlement, announced Friday, Boeing would make safety and oversight changes, including the creation of an ombudsman program through which employees would be able to raise workplace concerns. The company would also add a board member with expertise in aviation, engineering or product safety oversight, and the defendants would pay $237.5m to Boeing — benefiting the shareholders — through the directors’ insurers. The directors being sued denied any wrongdoing. The lawsuit was filed in a Delaware court last year by the New York State comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, who oversees the pension fund for state employees, and by the Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado. They accused Boeing’s board of failing to adequately oversee the company, allowing lapses that led to crashes of the Max in Indonesia and Ethiopia, killing 346 people. “This settlement will send an important message that directors cannot shortchange public safety and other mission-critical risks,” DiNapoli said. Aviation authorities around the world banned the Max from flight in March 2019 until late last year, when the FAA approved it again. Since then, the plane has carried out tens of thousands of flights without incident. The episode cost Boeing billions of dollars, damaged its reputation and attracted scrutiny from lawmakers. Boeing said it had taken steps to improve aviation safety since the two crashes, including a number of organizational changes and other reforms. This year, the company also added two new board members with significant aviation experience: Lt. Gen. Stayce Harris, an experienced pilot, and David Joyce, the former CE of the engine maker GE Aviation. “Today’s proposed settlement builds on those actions with additional oversight and governance reforms that will further advance safety and quality in the work that we do,” the company said.<br/>

Kuwait’s DGCA has announced plans to spend nearly $8.2b on 14 strategic projects aimed at developing the country's main airport, said a report. The key projects include a new terminal, T-2 that is being built at an estimated cost of $5b at Kuwait International Airport that can accommodate 25m passengers per annum in addition to a third runway and a control tower, reported the Arabic language daily Al Anba, citing the DGCA officials. Limak Construction, a part of leading Turkish conglomerate Limak Group, is the main contractor on the terminal project, which was designed by Foster + Partners. Gulf Construction had in June reported that work was moving at a steady pace on T2 despite the Covid situation with 40% of the project completed. On completion, the T2 project will be one of the most advanced and eco-friendly airports in the world and an iconic gateway to Kuwait, it stated. The other key projects include an aircraft catering building and security services project. This investment will help transform the airport into an active regional centre for air transport, passengers and cargo, the report added.<br/>

Vietnam plans to restart international commercial flights with 15 countries from January next year, its aviation authority said on Friday, eyeing a full resumption by July. Vietnam imposed tight border controls at the start of the pandemic to keep out COVID-19, with some initial success, but that dealt a blow to its burgeoning tourism sector, which accounts for about 10% of gross domestic product. Foreign arrivals to Vietnam fell to 3.8m last year down from 18m in 2019, when tourism revenue was $31b, equivalent to 12% of GDP. The resumption plan will be over four phases, the first possibly this quarter, focusing mostly on repatriating Vietnamese stranded by the pandemic and international tourists on government-approved trips to specific destinations. "From January next year, Vietnam will resume regular flights with 15 markets, eyeing four flights per week for each end," the civil aviation authority said. It said those would be increased to seven weekly and quarantine would be waived for travellers holding vaccine passports. The plan, which is pending government approval, came as other Asian countries gradually ease international travel curbs, including nearby Thailand, which reopened more locations this week. <br/>

Sydney Airport Holdings said on Monday it has agreed to accept a A$23.6b (US$17.5b) takeover bid from an infrastructure investor group in one of Australia’s biggest buyouts. The company said in a statement here it unanimously recommended the buyout offer from Sydney Aviation Alliance, comprised of Australian investors IFM Investors, QSuper, AustralianSuper and US-based Global Infrastructure Partners. The deal to buy Australia’s largest and only listed airport operator comes as the country this month eased its international border restrictions for the first since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. A scheme implementation deed had been made on Monday and a scheme meeting would take place in January, the company said. It follows a sweetened offer by SAA here of A$8.75 a share in September - 6% higher than its first approach at A$8.25 - which convinced the company's board to give the consortium access to due diligence. “The Sydney Airport Boards believe the outcome reflects appropriate long-term value for the airport, and unanimously recommend the proposal,” Chairman David Gonski said.<br/>