American tourists may be allowed to travel to Britain next month as part of a plan to gradually reopen the UK’s borders, according to the head of London’s Heathrow airport. Progress on Covid-19 vaccinations in the two countries could allow the US to be included on the so-called Green List of countries from which people will be able to travel to Britain without quarantine, Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said Thursday. While it wouldn’t necessarily be reciprocal, the move would make it easier to travel to the UK from the US than from some parts of the EU, where coronavirus shots haven’t been rolled out as quickly. Even a limited restart of US services would come as a huge boost for Heathrow, which relies on the market for 20% of its traffic. The airport, Europe’s busiest prior to the pandemic, said passenger numbers remained stuck at just 9% of usual levels in the first quarter as current curbs limit operations at carriers such as BA and Virgin Atlantic Airways.<br/>
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The FAA Thursday said it is investigating the origins of a manufacturing problem that led to the recent grounding of dozens of Boeing 737 Max planes earlier this month. The agency a day earlier ordered fixes to address electrical issues on 109 737 Max aircraft, 71 of them in the US. The FAA said there is insufficient electrical grounding in some areas of the cockpit of certain jets. The issue, which arose after a design change in early 2019, could ultimately affect systems such as engine ice protection if not addressed, the FAA said in its order. The issue isn’t tied to the system implicated in two fatal crashes that grounded Boeing’s bestselling jet for nearly two years. But the grounding comes just as the company is trying to repair its reputation after the crashes. The manufacturer said Wednesday it paused deliveries of new Max planes as it addresses the problem and CEO Dave Calhoun warned investors that April deliveries will be “light” as a result. The FAA said Thursday that it is also auditing Boeing’s process for making minor design changes throughout its product line, “with the goal of identifying areas where the company can improve its processes.” The audit and investigation were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. “These initiatives are part of our commitment to continually evaluating and improving our oversight of all aspects of aviation safety, recognizing that catching errors at the earliest possible point enhances what is already the world’s safest form of transportation,” the FAA said.<br/>
The head of Heathrow airport has warned of the risk of a crisis from a thinly staffed border force struggling to cope with Covid-related passenger checks if overseas holidays restart next month. CE John Holland-Kaye said the UK’s busiest airport had already had to turn away flights because of the congestion at immigration, despite the 90% fall in passenger volumes. “We’re calling on the home secretary to make every desk manned at peak times so this doesn’t become a crisis point,” he said. Queues for border checks have averaged about two hours, he added. However, they have stretched beyond six hours at certain points due to the small number of Home Office staff deployed to handle an increasing load of paperwork related to Covid-19. The government is expected to announce early next month the initial “green list” of countries that are safe to travel to when international travel is set to resume on May 17. The transport secretary has said the government is planning to introduce automated pre-departure Covid-19 test forms to allow the use of electronic gates. Holland-Kaye said he expected the list to be relatively small before more nations were added in the ensuing months. Pent-up demand was expected to be high and Heathrow is pinning its hopes on the inclusion of the US to reboot long-haul transatlantic flights.<br/>
Heathrow, Britain’s biggest airport, said Thursday a Q1 loss of GBP329m took total losses since the start of the pandemic to nearly GBP2.4b as travel continues to be hammered. It said only 1.7m passengers travelled through the London airport in the three months to March 31, down 91% compared to Q1 2019. Heathrow, which during the pandemic lost its crown as Europe’s busiest hub to Paris, said continuing uncertainty over British government policy meant it had reduced its passenger forecast for the year to a range of between 13m and 36m, compared to 81m in 2019. Britain’s aviation industry is hoping that flying will rebound in late May once COVID-19 restrictions are eased, but uncertainty remains about where people will be able to go, and how digital vaccine passports will work.<br/>
Airbus announced Thursday that it had returned to a profit in Q1 following a E1.1b loss last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but its top executive warned that the economic toll would continue. “The first quarter shows that the crisis is not yet over for our industry, and that the market remains uncertain,” Guillaume Faury, CE of the world’s largest airplane maker, said in a statement. Airbus booked a net profit of E362m ($440m) between January and March, compared with a loss of E481m a year earlier, as cost-cutting measures — which included more than 11,000 layoffs announced last year for its global operations — bolstered the bottom line. Revenue fell 2% to E10.5b.<br/>
Airbus Thursday confirmed plans to raise production of its most-sold jets as airlines begin an uneven recovery from the pandemic, despite setbacks in Europe and a rapidly worsening wave of infections in India. Unveiling a stronger than expected turnaround in Q1 profit, CEO Guillaume Faury said domestic air travel is rebounding in China and the US while cross-border travel is likely to remain weak for some time. Conflicting policies on quarantines, lockdowns and testing have disrupted Europe’s single aviation market: one reason why Faury said he remained cautious even while planning to raise output in the second half to serve travel demand elsewhere. “The lack of coordination of the measures taken primarily in Europe....is leading to a travel situation that is far worse in Europe than in other comparable markets,” Faury said. “That is a concern and headwind for the recovery in aviation.”<br/>
US air safety regulators are auditing Boeing's procedures for making "minor" design changes to planes in the wake of the latest problem with its troubled 737 MAX, regulators said Thursday. The FAA's review aims to help Boeing identify "areas where it can improve its processes," an agency spokeswoman said. "These initiatives are part of our commitment to continually evaluating and improving our oversight of all aspects of aviation safety, recognizing that catching errors at the earliest possible point enhances what is already the world's safest form of transportation." The audit is in addition to the agency's ongoing investigation into the issue that led to grounding of more than 100 MAX planes after Boeing earlier this month alerted 16 airlines of an electrical problem with some of the planes.<br/>
Airlines were on Thursday given airport fee waivers until March 31 next year as part of a raft of measures to rehabilitate the aviation industry devastated by Covid-19. The Civil Aviation Board agreed to help the airlines in various ways, including reducing and exempting them from fees due to the Airports of Thailand (AoT). Airlines will also be due refunds for airport fees they paid before the new measures came into force and have been awarded buts in aviation service fees due to the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand and given 180 days to pay their bills, instead of 90. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob, who presided over the meeting, said he had instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) to implement the measures carefully but quickly and suggested it work closely with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.<br/>