British Airways has been forced to cut flight schedules further as it struggles to hire staff quickly enough to meet renewed demand for travel after culling nearly 10,000 jobs during the pandemic, raising concerns the carrier could miss out on a bumper summer for European airlines. The airline is cutting 10% of its flight schedules between March and October, just as its parent IAG and other leading European groups Air France-KLM and Lufthansa predict a strong travel revival this summer. BA CE Sean Doyle said the airline had cut the equivalent of 8,000 round trips, three-quarters on short-haul routes, in a blow to the carrier just as passengers flood back with the easing of travel restrictions. The hiring problem means IAG now expects flying schedules to rise to 80% of pre-pandemic levels this year, down from 85% forecast in February. This includes restoring almost all its normal capacity on transatlantic routes this summer. “The rebuild is challenging . . . the US carriers had similar rebuild problems earlier in the process, we see problems in Europe and the UK industry getting the system back up and running,” said Doyle. The carrier plans to hire 6,000 staff this year after the cuts during the pandemic. More than 20,000 people have applied for a job at the airline, but like other parts of the industry it is facing significant delays because government security vetting procedures are dealing with an unusually large number of cases. The Cabinet Office said it was prioritising vetting applications from the aviation industry, but added: “It is for the aviation industry to manage resourcing at airports and staff absences, especially at busy times of the year.” <br/>
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Japan Airlines said Friday that it expects the recovery of international flights to remain at only 45% of their pre-COVID level for this fiscal year, despite the Japanese government's plans to resume accepting foreign tourists. "I believe that we are now in a phase of strong recovery; there may be some waves, but not as big as last year," said JAL President Yuji Akasaka, who announced on Friday that the company will return to profitability this fiscal year for the first time in three years. The company now expects a net profit of 45b yen ($345m) for this fiscal year on revenue of 1.39t yen, double the level of the previous year, as domestic travel recovers from a two-year slump. However, it does not anticipate much recovery in international flights. JAL made its assumption based on a forecast by the IATA, and said the recovery for April-June will be 25% of the pre-COVID level. The recovery for July-September will be 45%, October-December will be 55%, and the last three months of fiscal 2022 will be 65%, it said. Japanese government will make a final decision on lifting the ban on tourist visas in two weeks, when the number of infections during the Japan's Golden Week extended holiday will be known. Starting with group tours is an option under consideration, since they are easier for travel agencies and others to manage. In a speech in London on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, "We will further ease our border control measures to ensure smooth entry into the country on par with other Group of Seven industrialized nations." One method that has also been under consideration is to increase the maximum number of visitors to Japan from the current 10,000 per day to 20,000 for the time being. Still, Akasaka said, "we are anxious that the recovery to 45% will not be reached, since 30,000 people is the prerequisite in the first half of the year."<br/>
Qantas Airways is making every seat on more than 1,700 flights purchasable with air miles, allowing customers to burn through a mountain of loyalty points built up during the pandemic. Passengers will be able to use points on all flights in August on more than 30 routes in Australia, Qantas said Monday. The almost 130,000 seats will be available on mostly regional routes from cities including Melbourne and Sydney. Airlines normally set aside only a certain number of seats for points redemptions, and offering every seat on so many flights is unusual. So-called points planes have emerged since Covid-19 as a way to tap pent-up travel demand among frequent flyers who accumulated air miles while stuck on the ground.<br/>