US corporations’ travel spending will likely inch up to 25-35% of 2019 levels by the end of 2021 and up to 80% by the end of 2022 – though full recovery depends on how significantly the pandemic changed corporations’ view of business travel. That is according to a new report from consultancy Deloitte, which notes that virtual meeting technology could lead companies to rethink the necessity of some trips. Airlines, at least in the USA, have seen domestic air travel return to near 2019 levels in recent months, though leisure travellers are primarily driving the rebound. Business travel, typically the most-lucrative segment, and international travel, remain badly depressed. Deloitte’s report, released on 3 August, predicts a steady increase in US corporate travel spending through the end of 2022. “Many companies plan to significantly accelerate their return to offices after Labor Day”, which is in early September, says the report. “Travel managers have identified this shift, especially clients’ return to the office, as a top trigger for travel.” The report is based on a survey of 150 travel managers and interviews with executives at companies that in 2019 spent an average of $123m on business travel. During the pandemic, many companies cut travel spending by 90%, it notes.<br/>
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The full US House of Representatives could vote on a bill to bar what it calls “flags of convenience” airlines from seeking to fly to the US, after the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee approved the measure late last week. The bill is a shot across Norse Atlantic Airways’ bow as that airline seeks to begin low-cost flights to the US later this year. The Fair and Open Skies Act, introduced in May by a Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and cosponsored by a bipartisan clutch of 10 representatives from states as diverse as Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Georgia, and Nebraska, is expected to come up for a vote in the full House when the chamber returns from its August recess, or by late September. Sources close to the matter say DeFazio is working to get more sponsors for the bill before it comes up for a floor vote. The bill would prohibit airlines that flout international and U.S. labor laws from flying to the country by directing the Transportation Department (DOT) to withhold a foreign air carrier permit from airlines that are in violation of protections. Specifically, the Fair and Open Skies Act invokes the provision in the US-EU open skies agreement that requires airlines on both sides of the Atlantic to adhere to the labor laws of their home countries and the US bill, if enacted, would apply only to airlines applying to fly to the US and would not be retroactive.<br/>
The United Arab Emirates will on Thursday lift a ban on transit flights including from India and Pakistan, the National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) said on Tuesday. India and Pakistan are important markets for Emirates, Etihad Airways and other UAE carriers flydubai and Air Arabia. The Gulf state, a major international travel hub, had banned passengers from many South Asian and African states travelling through its airports this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. NCEMA said on Twitter that passengers travelling from countries where flights had been banned would be able to transit through its airports from Aug. 5 as long as they present a negative PCR coronavirus test taken 72 hours prior to departure. Final destination approval would also have to be provided, the authority said, adding that UAE departure airports would arrange separate lounges for transiting passengers. The transit ban had also included Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Nigeria.<br/>
Africa was set to become one of the fastest growing regions for aviation over the next two decades. Then the pandemic hit, slashing global passenger traffic by 66% in 2020, and stalling the pace of growth in Africa. The IATA, which represents 290 airlines and roughly 82% of total air traffic, is putting measures in place to help the travel industry recover from the pandemic on the continent and beyond. Story is interview with Kamil Al-Awadhi, IATA's Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, about the future of African aviation. <br/>
For the second week in a row, the recovery in global air traffic has taken a step back. Airline seat capacity declined about a quarter of a percentage point to 68% of the amount offered in the same week of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted a multi-year travel expansion fueled by the rising number of middle-class tourists from China and Southeast Asia. The latest setback, attributed largely to the spread of the delta variant, follows an almost 1-point decline the prior week, according to Bloomberg’s weekly flight tracker, which uses data from aviation specialist OAG to monitor the pulse of the comeback. The biggest challenges are once again in Asia. The broadest virus outbreak in China since the pandemic first began has forced officials there to suspend flights and increase testing of airport workers. That’s taken a chunk out of the nation’s massive domestic aviation trade, which has performed the best among the largest pre-pandemic global markets. In the U.S., capacity has been stuck for several weeks due to staffing constraints and slow progress toward lifting border restrictions with Europe and other markets. In Europe, the only region where so-called vaccine passports are in widespread use, the comeback made further progress, though it, too, will be limited by the failure to fully reopen transatlantic travel, according to Rob Morris, global head of consultancy at Cirium, which tracks air traffic. The question for airlines now is whether vaccines can be distributed quickly enough to counter the spread of new coronavirus variants.<br/>
Passengers who have bought domestic tickets for flights scheduled from August 4 to 31 can request a full refund, China’s aviation regulator said on Tuesday as the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus hit many Chinese cities. The policy is to accommodate control and prevention measures for coronavirus by reducing the movement of people, the Civil Aviation Administration said in a statement.<br/>
Government agencies are reviewing the findings of a study conducted on the operational and commercial viability of using sustainable aviation fuels at Changi Airport, Transport Minister S Iswaran said on Tuesday. Such fuels can be produced from sustainable resources such as waste oil. It can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%, compared with conventional jet fuel on a lifecycle basis, but it is two to five times more expensive, Iswaran said in Parliament. The study, conducted by the Singapore Government and industry players, has presented options to integrate sustainable aviation fuels with traditional jet fuel at Changi Airport. For instance, at jet fuel facilities or at tank terminals in the existing supply chain. Based on the availability of feedstock in the region, as well as cost and lifecycle assessments, the study also identified viable feedstock-technology combinations for the production of sustainable aviation fuels in Singapore.<br/>