Half of the world’s top 50 air travel markets are now open to vaccinated international travellers without Covid-19 quarantine or testing requirements, according to IATA, amid increasing momentum towards the relaxation of border controls. Releasing the results of its latest survey of travel restrictions on 17 March, the airline association says that border reopenings have accelerated in recent weeks, but that Asia-Pacific continues to lag the progress seen elsewhere. “The world is largely open for travel,” states IATA DG Willie Walsh. “As population immunity grows, more governments are managing Covid-19 through surveillance, as they do for other endemic viruses. “Asia is the outlier,” Walsh continues. “Hopefully, recent relaxations including Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan and the Philippines are paving the way towards restoring the freedom to travel that is more broadly enjoyed in other parts of the world.”<br/>Indeed, of the 12 international markets among the top 50 – ranked by revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) in 2019 – that still have quarantine and testing requirements for vaccinated travellers, 10 are in the Asia-Pacific region and two in Europe. China is perhaps the highest-profile example of an international air travel market that retains strict border controls. The biggest markets in the Americas, the Middle East and Africa have all reopened with no quarantine requirements for vaccinated travellers. IATA notes that “repeated surveys of passengers during the pandemic have shown that testing and especially quarantine are major barriers to travel”.<br/>
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Aircraft leasing firms working to retrieve planes from Russia are set to collide with an aviation-insurance industry bracing for an unprecedented barrage of claims. Lessors of planes stuck in Russia since the onset of sanctions have warned insurers of possible claims to come if the jets are not returned. Insurers, meanwhile, are cancelling some policies, including for war risk, and may challenge claims on coverage still in force, industry participants said. "The magnitude of potential loss here is staggering," said Mr Garrett Hanrahan, global head of aviation and space for insurance broker Marsh, a unit of Marsh McLennan. "This could potentially be the biggest aviation insurance loss in market history." Both sides are trying to improve their positions after President Vladimir Putin allowed Russian airlines to keep aircraft until the end of their lease terms and re-register them in the country. Leasing firms seeking to repossess planes have until March 28 to cancel contracts under European Union sanctions and broader banking prohibitions. As the focus shifts to the insurance market, providers of coverage are trying to avoid being overloaded with claims. The stand-off threatens firms up and down the insurance market food chain. Foreign lessors had 509 aircraft rented to Russian operators as at March 16, according to aviation consultant IBA. That is 14 planes less than the 523 plane tally on March 10. Some of the 14 planes were outside Russia when sanctions were imposed and have since been returned to lessors, IBA said.<br/>
A European aviation safety regulator on Thursday issued a warning that an unidentified source is disrupting GPS systems near Russia and Ukraine. "In the current context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the issue of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) jamming and/or possible spoofing has intensified in geographical areas surrounding the conflict zone and other areas," the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said in a bulletin. The EASA said the regions where navigation systems have been impacted are around the Black Sea and in neighboring states, eastern Finland, and the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea — all of which are close to or near Russia's borders. It's not possible to predict the extent of any disruptions on aircraft, the EASA said, but it could lead to a loss of waypoint navigation or prevent runway approach. The warning comes on the heels of Russia seizing hundreds of Western-built aircraft in response to sanctions by Western leaders that require aircraft leasing companies to cancel their contracts with Russian airlines.<br/>
The Government of Canada has barred Belarusian aircraft from entering its airspace for supporting Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine, Reuters reported. The information was released by the Canada Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on Twitter. In his Twitter post, Alghabra stated: “We are prohibiting Belarusian aircraft from entering Canadian airspace in response to their support for Russia’s unprovoked aggression in Ukraine.” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.<br/>
Some of Russia’s private airlines appear open to returning their Western-owned aircraft to lessors despite a new law that allows them to seize the planes. Russia’s state airlines, including the Aeroflot group’s eponymous carrier, Pobeda, and Rosiya, appear to be hanging on to their leased aircraft. Those three airlines hold more than 50 Western-owned planes, and have suspended all international flights to avoid potential aircraft seizure. But lessors are finding the country’s private carriers, including Nordwind and S7, more amenable to working with them in order to maintain access to European and U.S. aircraft after the war ends. Privately owned Russian airlines “very much see the endgame beyond this current crisis or believe that there is life after this crisis, and they are doing everything possible knowing that they need our aircraft and other Western supplied aircraft on the leasing side,” Air Lease Corp. CEO John Plueger said Wednesday. “So they’re doing I think an excellent job of trying to manage this balance to try and work with us as cooperatively as possible.” ALC has 14 aircraft leased to S7, 11 to Nordwind, four at Ifly, and a handful at other private carriers, according to IBA data via J.P. Morgan. None of its 32 aircraft in Russia are flown by Aeroflot or its affiliates. That’s good news for lessors that feared the industry may have to write off as much as $10b in aircraft assets. Cirium data show that 79 Western-owned aircraft have been recovered by lessors to date, leaving some 428 aircraft in either Russia or Belarus. Russian airlines leased 515 aircraft from foreign lessors on February 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine.<br/>
The gleaming, late-model European jet for sale was a rarity in the hot market for second-hand corporate aircraft. It was only after aviation lawyer Amanda Applegate’s client did some additional digging that they discovered the aircraft, while not registered in Russia, was in fact Russian-owned. For that buyer, it was a deal-breaker, said Applegate, a partner at U.S.-based Soar Aviation Law, as the West imposes sweeping sanctions in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The private jet world is on high alert to avoid doing business with Russia at a time when a Twitter account run by a Florida teenager, @RUOligarchJets, has focused popular attention on the fugitive luxury fleets of the ultra-rich. “When I look at compliance, it’s like a taco, wrapped in a burrito, wrapped in a chalupa,” said an executive at a business jet manufacturer. According to European data research and consulting company WINGX, there are only about 100 business jets on the Russia Register. Yet about 400 corporate aircraft flew frequently from the country last year, raising questions over the true extent of Russian control of the fleet.<br/>
Manchester Airport has apologised after huge security queues caused passengers to miss flights. Hundreds of travellers were left waiting for hours earlier, with many venting their frustrations online. The airport said unexpectedly high passenger numbers put "considerable strain" on staff while 60% of bags had been rejected at security. Passenger Paul Keegan said everyone was "tired and upset" after he waited five hours to board a flight. Hundreds of passengers were forced to queue in the car park outside the airport on Thursday morning.<br/>
A missile that was accidentally fired from India last week narrowly missed dozens of commercial jets that were in the same skies. Several planes passed through the direct trajectory of the missile that day, which flew from the Indian garrison town of Ambala and ended up in Mian Channu in Eastern Pakistan. They included a Flydubai jet heading to Dubai from Sialkot, an IndiGo plane from Srinagar to Mumbai and an Airblue Ltd. flight from Lahore to Riyadh. All crossed the missile’s trajectory within an hour of its accidental launch, data from flight-tracking application Flightradar24 show. Other international flights in the vicinity of the missile’s trajectory -- and within its range -- included a Kuwait Airways Co. jet heading to Guangzhou from Kuwait City, a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight to Riyadh from New Delhi, and a Qatar Airways service from Kathmandu to Doha, the data show. No advisory to pilots operating in the vicinity -- known as a notice to airmen or NOTAM -- was issued. A time-lapse video of the airspace -- prepared by Flightradar24 on request from Bloomberg News -- showed busy activity in the skies within an hour and half of both sides of 7 p.m. local time on March 9, which India said was the approximate time of the accidental launch. India’s “robust” missiles handling procedures are being reviewed and will be strengthened further, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told lawmakers earlier this week.<br/>