Memorial Day has long been understood as the unofficial start of the US summer, but during the pandemic, it has also come with canceled events, bans on large gatherings and news of lagging vaccination rates. This holiday weekend, however, during one of the country’s traditionally busiest travel periods, more than 39m Americans are expected to take to the skies and roads, according to estimates by AAA, the automobile owners group. “We’re approaching prepandemic numbers,” said Andrew Gobeil, a spokesman for Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport. He said on Friday that he expected more than 2m passengers between Thursday and Wednesday. “It’s an honest appraisal of where we stand,” he said. “Everyone is pretty thrilled.” “We’re approaching prepandemic numbers,” said Andrew Gobeil, a spokesman for Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport. He said on Friday that he expected more than 2m passengers between Thursday and Wednesday. “It’s an honest appraisal of where we stand,” he said. “Everyone is pretty thrilled.” Last year, some experts, including Dan Diekema, an epidemiologist at the University of Iowa, were hopeful that the holiday weekend would mark the beginning of the end to the threat of the virus in the United States. “In retrospect, I was far too optimistic,” he said in an interview on Friday, adding that he has since stopped making predictions. “I could not imagine the tragedy that would ensue over the past year.”<br/>
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Insurance premiums are doubling or more for some aviation and marine business particularly exposed to the war in Ukraine, increasing costs for airline and shipping firms, industry sources say. Global commercial insurance premiums rose 11% on average in Q1, according to insurance broker Marsh, which said the war was putting upward pressure on rates. But the overall figure masks sharper moves in some sectors, and only covers the first five weeks following the invasion. War is typically excluded from mainstream insurance policies. Customers buy extra war cover on top. Garrett Hanrahan, global head of aviation at Marsh, said aviation war insurance was no longer available for Ukraine, Russia and Belarus as a result of the conflict. For the rest of the world, aviation war cover has doubled, as insurers try to recoup some of their losses, he said. "The hull war market is beginning to reflate itself through rate rises." The conflict, which Russia calls a "special military operation", could lead to insurance losses of $16b-$35b in so-called "specialty" insurance classes such as aviation, marine, trade credit, political risk and cyber, S&P Global said in a report. Aviation insurance claims alone could total $15b, S&P Global said, with hundreds of leased planes stranded in Russia as a result of western sanctions and Russian countermeasures.<br/>
Chinese authorities have reportedly shut their airspace for Boeing and Airbus aircraft of Russian carriers after they failed to provide sufficient evidence that imported aircraft were deregistered abroad, RBC reported. Citing two sources familiar with the development, the Russian media group said that Chinese aviation authorities asked all airlines to update electronic dossiers, containing data such as aircraft, airline owners and ground handling contracts, earlier this month. Although requesting such information is part of standard procedure, the Chinese authorities reportedly made some changes to it, the source familiar with the matter said. Although requesting such information is part of standard procedure, the Chinese authorities reportedly made some changes to it, the source familiar with the matter said.<br/>
Passenger numbers are still below pre-Covid peaks. But with school half-term holidays coinciding with the extra Jubilee bank holiday, airports are now busier than at any point since before the pandemic. Over the weekend travellers at Gatwick, Bristol and Manchester airports faced long queues for check-in desks, security, and boarding. Tui and EasyJet cancelled dozens of flights to try to ease the pressure. Vueling, part of IAG which also owns British Airways, said "several operational issues" had affected its flight schedules on Friday, with a knock-on effect over the weekend. "We always strive to offer a timely service, however, if this isn't possible our priority is to organise the best alternatives for our customers," said Vueling. "Our team at Gatwick worked diligently to resolve these issues and our customer service team is in touch with those affected by the delays". A spokesperson for Gatwick airport said there had been some difficulties over the weekend, but "not to the extent of the disruption that has been reported". Airline sector expert John Strickland said the removal of the final Covid restrictions in March had come too late for the industry to feel confident about ramping up staffing levels. "It's a structural challenge for the industry pretty much globally, to get back to [full] manpower levels," he said. Strickland said it may be some time before the airlines can solve their staffing challenges. "The level of pay on many of these frontline jobs that are so important to airlines, whether its security search, or check-in or baggage loading and so on, have always been pretty low. They're becoming less competitive now against other industries. Many of these jobs are physically and mentally demanding and so regardless of the pay... that pressure of day-to-day, dealing with the strain and getting the kick-back from passengers that are unhappy, means that it is going to be a structural question for the industry for the future."<br/>
Bristol airport has pleaded with passengers to arrive within reasonable time for their flights as they blame people arriving five hours early were causing congestion in their terminals. Angry holidaymakers were complaining about being forced to queue for hours just to get into the terminal at Bristol airport on Monday morning. Travellers compared the scenes to "a zoo" and claimed there was widespread disorder and confusion - along with several flights being cancelled. In response Bristol airport issued a statement saying: "For early morning flight departures we are seeing customers arriving five hours prior to flight departure, adding to the congestion in the terminal. This is something we have not experienced before. "When customers are queuing before check-in and security opens it provides a negative customer experience for everyone, and one we want to avoid. We advise all customers to arrive in the terminal when their check-in opens, this helps us to manage resources and gets customers on their way quickly and efficiently as possible." People have been arriving early after reports of airport chaos have been swirling for months.<br/>
With Oman lifting all Covid-19 precautionary measures and safety procedures at the airport and ending the quarantine requirement, national carrier Oman Air is welcoming travellers from all over the world into the sultanate with open arms. Lauding the move, Oman Air said hereafter the international travellers entering the country need not register through the eMushrif portal or undertake a PCR test before or upon arrival, as was previously required. Furthermore, authorities have removed all quarantine requirements as well as the requirement to download the Tarassud+ Track & Trace application prior to departing for Oman, it stated. Guests departing Oman should ensure that they are aware of all pre-departure requirements and also the measures to be taken during their flights, which are provided at the airline's website, it added.<br/>
Sri Lanka is recommending airlines carry enough jet fuel to last return trips or fill up elsewhere, as the island grapples with a shortage of everything from oil to food due to a foreign exchange crisis. "We've asked airlines to carry the required fuel while operating to Sri Lanka, because there is a shortage of aviation fuel, and we have to manage the situation," Rayhan Wanniappa, a director of Sri Lanka's Civil Aviation Authority, said Monday. "Airlines are bringing certain additional supplies, while we are also providing from our stocks." Airlines that fly to Sri Lanka, including Dubai's Emirates Airline are tankering - carrying more fuel than required - while the island's flag carrier is using the Southern Indian city of Chennai and Dubai to refuel for long-haul flights, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified as plans are confidential. Sri Lanka has been plagued by a dearth of necessary items, power cuts and rampant inflation, leading to public protests calling for the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The country defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time this month, and has started bailout talks with the IMF. Sri Lanka has taken measures for minimum interruption to flight schedules, a spokesman for the airline said. The steps include fuel tankering and refuelling aircraft through technical stops at foreign airports, he said.<br/>
Japan's easing of a two-year ban on foreign tourists seeks to balance the enormous economic importance of tourism with concerns that travellers would trigger a COVID outbreak, insiders say. Under the decision, Japan will allow in a limited number of foreign tourists on package tours starting June 10. Last week a few "test tours", mainly of overseas travel agents, started to arrive. Relaxing some of the world's strictest pandemic border measures required months of pressure from travel and tourism executives, three insiders told Reuters, describing both the government's fears of public backlash if infections spiked and the industry's concerns of an economic wipeout. "There were worries that foreign tourists would include a lot of people with bad manners - people who don't wear masks or don't use hand sanitiser and that infections could spread again," said one tourism company executive, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The industry pressed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner as well as government ministries, he said, but initially found them unresponsive.<br/>
Brazil's Embraer has already won enough orders to meet the top end of its targeted revenue range for the current financial year, the planemaker said Monday as it sees a bounce from a COVID-19 related downturn. The positive outlook came after large revenue drops due to the pandemic and a failed deal in early 2020 for Boeing to take over its commercial aviation division, after which it was forced to reintegrate the unit.<br/>The latest update comes only weeks after Embraer on April 28 reaffirmed its financial outlook for 2022, with revenue seen reaching between $4.5b and $5b. CFO Antonio Carlos Garcia said on Monday the company already had enough orders to meet the top end of that range, though the outcome would still depend on its ability to deliver all aircraft ordered. "The only question mark is our ability, with our partners, to deliver those aircraft. It is just a matter of the disruption we see today in the market. We have orders for the $5b (revenue goal)," Garcia said. Embraer's firm order backlog hit $17.3b at the end of Q1, the highest level since early 2018. Garcia said Embraer is focused on reaching what it has already promised, adding that it "could be better" but supply chain constraints remained a potential drag. "We always work to exceed market expectations - we did it last year - but we do prefer to deliver what we promised because we want to regain credibility in the capital markets," he said.<br/>