Emirates Airline, via its official website, reported (08-Jul-2020) tourists travelling with Emirates to Dubai from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Sudan, Tanzania and certain destinations in the US must carry a negative COVID-19 test certificate issued by an approved laboratory in order to be accepted for travel, effective 10-Jul-2020. Certificates must be issued no more than 96 hours before departure.
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In a case of very unfortunate timing, some US airlines are rolling back, or adding more clarity to, their policies of blocking the middle seat on their aircraft just as the country’s COVID-19 cases continue their alarming climb.
American Airlines is drawing criticism from the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) for its decision, while United is arguing that blocking the middle seat does not create six feet of distance between passengers in any case.
The reality is that those airlines that continue blocking the middle seat cannot continue the practice indefinitely and bolster revenue. At some point all US operators will stop capping the number of seats they sell on aircraft as they work toward reaching break-even load factors (that now exceed 100%).
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COVID-19: Hawaii adjusts its quarantine. Will the tourists come?A mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone entering the US state of Hawaii will soon be eased for travellers showing proof of testing negative for COVID-19. The strict regulations have been in place since Mar-2020 as the state attempted to contain the spread of the virus.
The quarantine brought the operations of Hawaiian Airlines to a near standstill, but the easing of travel restrictions on interisland travel in mid-Jun-2020 resulted in the addition of some flights.
Now the re-opening of Hawaii is occurring as COVID-19 cases in numerous US states are rising rapidly, which could further weaken already depressed demand. But Hawaiian is not blind to the challenges that lie ahead, and remains focused on building up liquidity to withstand a sustained period of uncertainty.
Welcome to the latest edition of CAPA’s Coronavirus and Aviation global COVID-19 update. We offer this product to our active CAPA Members, as well as visitors to our website to help our industry navigate through this crisis.
The report contains a small selection of news briefs and CAPA commentary from around the world.
Top news headlines:
- US capacity driven up by holiday but uncertainly looms as cases spike;
- IATA: Cargo capacity crunch 'likely to take some time to unwind';
- OAG: China domestic capacity bounces back to 86% of pre crisis levels, international under 10%.
Following the aviation summaries, the report contains the latest coronavirus data, globally and by country:
- Global COVID-19 cases up more than 11% in a week.
To some degree, the environment movement has temporarily been sidelined during the global COVID-19 pandemic. But that was never going to be the case for long.
Many airports have taken the opportunity to revisit their position on environmental concerns, and the first out of the blocks in the UK is the fifth busiest airport: at Luton, north of the capital, which has set out its stall to be Britain’s ‘most sustainable airport’.
Luton is the UK’s fifth busiest airport by passenger numbers, behind London Stansted, which is 50 miles (80 km) away to the east.
London Luton Airport has outlined an ambition to become the most sustainable airport in the UK over the next 20 years. London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL) has already been working to consider how expansion of the airport will meet the terms of both the Paris Agreement and the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change.
On the matter of the global pandemic, LLAL is currently working to support its operator and airlines with ongoing safe travel and passage through London Luton. At the same time, Luton Council is preparing an emergency budget to deal with the loss of airport-related and other incomes, and costs experienced during the response to coronavirus.
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COVID-19: major uncertainty clouds Latin America’s potentialAeromexico’s recent bankruptcy filing reflects the bleak outlook for Latin America as the region battles the spread of COVID-19, and governments in the region have largely opted not to offer financial assistance to their respective airlines.
Aeromexico is the third airline in Latin America to seek Chapter 11, joining other full service operators Avianca and LATAM Airlines Group in being forced to rightsize through a formal restructuring.
Demand in Latin America will take longer to recover compared to other regions of the world, however long term opportunities remain robust, and those airlines that emerge from the crisis intact could be in a prime position to take advantage of a rebound when it occurs.
Recorded at CAPA Qatar Aviation Aeropolitical and Regulatory Summit, 5-6 Feb 2020
Cargo Services: Industry Stepchild Or Driver Or Economic Growth And Deregulation?
Cargo services often are given less attention than passenger operations. Yet, air cargo serves as a lifeline for nations such as Qatar and also provides the foundation for the global supply chain. Yet, the nature of the cargo business demands operational flexibility and liberal operating rules to meet the needs of consumer businesses. This panel will examine the forces and pressures shaping the business.
CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation SummitMore
Upcoming Event
5-6
Aug
Adelaide: CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit
As a cornerstone and pre-eminent strategic event in the CAPA Summit global series, we are pleased to announce the return of the CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit for 2020 on 5-6 August in Adelaide and virtual.
CAPA Americas Aviation & LCCs SummitMore
Upcoming Event
15-16
Oct
San Juan: CAPA Americas Aviation & LCCs Summit
North American airlines face a mixed outlook for 2020. The CAPA Americas Aviation & LCCs Summit provides a timely platform for the industry’s senior leaders to address challenges and opportunities in the region, and assess the competitive LCC landscape.
Air Namibia, via its official Twitter account, stated (09-Jul-2020) the suspension of its service licences was "upended" by the High Court. The airline will continue to operate all domestic services according to its published schedule. Earlier reports stated the Transportation Commission of Namibia had suspended the airline's scheduled air services licence, effective 08-Jul-2020, due to the airline's financial status (The Namibian/Reuters, 08-Jul-2020). The commission had given the airline until 22-Jul-2020 to provide "evidence of having obtained funding to meet the requirements of the air services acts".
Dana Air, via its official Facebook and Twitter accounts, confirmed (08-Jul-2020) plans to resume domestic operations on 09-Jul-2020. The airline will initially operate Abuja-Lagos service and will announce the date for the resumption of Owerri and Port Harcourt services "soon".
Aero Contractors, via its official Twitter account, confirmed (08-Jul-2020) plans to resume operations on 09-Jul-2020. The airline opted to resume services one day after the official domestic resumption date of 08-Jul-2020 "to ensure that airport facilities were not stretched beyond COVID-19 protocol guidelines".
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9-Jul-2020 12:04 PM
Prime Minister of Australia proposes slowing down the rate of international arrivals
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced (08-Jul-2020) to the National Cabinet plans to slow the arrival of incoming passengers at international airports, and has "been discussing that with Premiers over the last sort of 24 hours". Mr Morrison stated: "The fact is that New South Wales has been bearing the largest burden of people returning to Australia and they're people, they're Queenslanders, they're Western Australians, they're Tasmanians and New South Wales has done the heavy-lifting on that and foot the bill for it too". [more - original PR]
Georgia's Government announced (08-Jul-2020) plans to open borders unconditionally for Estonia, Germany, France, Latvia and Lithuania, following a decision by the Interagency Coordination Council. Work on relevant procedures continue with countries that have unconditionally opened their borders to Georgia. Countries including Italy, Cyprus, Iceland, and Slovenia are ready to open borders with certain restrictions, including a mandatory 14 day quarantine period for arrivals. Georgia will maintain the status quo in relation to EU member states that did not open their borders to Georgia. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway, Malta, Finland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have not opened their borders to Georgia. [more - original PR]
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