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A transatlantic flight on which all on board have tested negative for coronavirus has touched down in London. United flight 14 from Newark airport in New York to Heathrow is the first in a series of a dozen transatlantic flights this month and next for which the crew and all passengers aged two and above are obliged to take a free Covid test before boarding the plane. Each passenger takes a nucleic acid amplification test, known as NAAT, at Newark airport. The result of these rapid molecular tests is known within 20 minutes. They are not as reliable as the PCR tests used by the NHS. Anyone who tests positive must contact health authorities and postpone their trip. Travellers booked on the flight who do not wish to take the test can switch to another departure free of charge. Although all passengers have tested negative for coronavirus, anyone intending to stay in the UK will still be obliged to self-isolate for 14 days in accordance with normal quarantine regulations. The pre-flight health check makes no difference. But United hopes the trial will provide data to support pre-flight testing as a means to reduce or eliminate quarantine. The airline already employs pre-flight testing between San Francisco and Hawaii. The island state requires visitors either to quarantine for two weeks or to produce a negative test result. <br/>

China’s three largest carriers grew their domestic networks in October, tapping into second- and third-tier cities to launch new routes, as they recorded yet another month of domestic traffic recovery. The ‘Big Three’ — Air China, China Eastern and China Southern — each launched more than 10 new domestic routes during the month. Among them, China Southern, which returned to profitability in its third-quarter earnings, rolled out the most number of new destinations, launching 18 routes. Air China announced 17 new routes, while China Eastern launched 12 routes. Some of the newly-launched routes were between smaller Chinese cities, such as Air China’s daily flights from Wenzhou in eastern China to Nanning in the south. October’s route expansion is also highest number of launches in recent months, underscoring the rapid domestic recovery reported by each of the three carriers after being impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. For the month, the ‘Big Three’ continued to see growth in domestic traffic, helped by the Golden Week national holidays at the beginning of the month. However, the carriers saw a decline in passenger load factor, as capacity growth outpaced traffic volume. International traffic remained at dismal levels, due to global travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Air China carried 8.37 million domestic passengers in the month, a 3.6% increase month on month and a 7.7% increase compared to the same month last year. Month on month, domestic RPKs grew 8.3%, while ASKs rose 9.8%, leading to a decline in passenger load factor of 1.1 percentage points to 76.1%. Compared to October 2019, Air China saw domestic RPKs rise 2.6%, with ASKs increasing 13.7%. Air China carried 42,900 international passengers in October, representing a 10% month-on-month rise, but a 97% decline year on year. It was the only carrier among the ‘Big Three’ to report an increase in international traffic month on month. Story has details of other two.<br/>

The Singapore Airlines Group suffered a 98.1% year-on-year decline in passenger carriage in October, despite moves to open Singapore's borders to more places. "Demand for air travel remained tepid as border controls and travel restrictions remained in place in most countries to curb the spread of COVID-19," SIA said Monday as it published its October operating results. Overall passenger carriage was lower by 98.1%, resulting in a passenger load factor - which measures the percentage of available seating capacity that is filled with passengers - of 15.8%. This marked a decline of 68.6 percentage points year-on-year, said SIA Group. October's Group passenger capacity was also down by 89.9% year-on-year. SIA’s capacity was 87.9% lower compared to last year, with a "skeletal network in operation". In October, the airline added Dhaka and Johannesburg to a list of 30 cities it was serving in September. SIA's passenger carriage declined 97.8%, resulting in a passenger load factor of 15.6%.<br/>

Singapore Airlineshas upsized its multicurrency medium-term note programme limit to $10b, up from $5b previously, the flag carrier said in a bourse filing on Tuesday. Net proceeds from the issuance of notes under this programme will be used for general corporate or working capital purposes, or other such purpose(s) as may be specified in the relevant pricing supplement, SIA noted. DBS and Citigroup Global Markets Singapore are the arrangers of the programme. SIA's latest announcement comes shortly after the airline last week said its new $850m five-year convertible bonds have been upsized amid strong investor interest, and will carry a 1.625 per cent coupon. The offering was four times oversubscribed by institutional and other investors, which enabled the carrier to upsize the deal from an initial $750m and with more attractive terms for SIA, the airline said Friday. HSBC was the sole bookrunner and lead manager of the sale.<br/>