The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on governments to add market stimulation measures to the support they are giving to keep aviation financially viable. Such measures would encourage travel while systematic testing protocols enable a safe re-opening of borders. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have helped airlines survive the crisis with approximately $173 billion in various forms of financial support.More support will be needed in the form of financial stimulus. Many of the support packages are running out, but industry losses continue to mount. Airline losses are now forecast to top $118 billion this year and nearly $39 billion in 2021. The industry is expected to continue burning through cash at a rate of almost $7 billion per month in...
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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the recovery of passenger demand continued to be disappointingly slow in October. Total demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was down 70.6% compared to October 2019. This was just a modest improvement from the 72.2% year-to-year decline recorded in September. Capacity was down 59.9% compared to a year ago and load factor fell 21.8 percentage points to 60.2%. International passenger demand in October was down 87.8% compared to October 2019, virtually unchanged from the 88.0% year-to-year decline recorded in September. Capacity was 76.9% below previous year levels, and load factor shrank 38.3 percentage points to 42.9%. FILE PHOTO: Passengers wearing protective face masks sit on a plane at Sharm ...
Read MoreThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) jointly called on governments to follow the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) guidelines to exempt crews from COVID-19 testing that is applied to air travelers. The CART guidelines specifically recommend that crew members should not be subject to screening or restrictions applicable to other travelers. Furthermore, according to CART, health screening methods for crew members should be as “non-invasive as possible.” Despite this guidance, an increasing number of States are applying the same public health measures for crew that are applied to the general traveling public. Such measures include provi...
Read MoreAustralia’s second-largest city welcomed its first international passenger flight in five months on Monday, an arrival that will test the state of Victoria’s revamped hotel quarantine system. Australia has since March closed its borders to non-citizens, but airports serving Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, stopped accepting any arrivals in late June after an outbreak of COVID-19 that begun at two hotels where arrivals were quarantining. More than 20,000 infections were recorded in Victoria when hotel staff contracted the virus from people returning from overseas. The outbreak has been widely blamed on failures of private contractors to follow protocol. With hundreds of people expected to arrive in Victoria each week, state authorities have said police officers will now enforce ...
Read MoreEASA/ECDC guidelines confirm ineffectiveness of passenger quarantines World over chorus is growing for making travel, at least short term travel, quarantine free to revive the pandemic-struck industry. New guidelines by EASA/ECDC have termed quarantine of passengers as ineffective. Taking the cue World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has also said that International business travel could restart if agreement is secured to safeguard journeys of up to 72-hours free from quarantines. The joint recommendation for the short stay exemption comes from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (EASA/ECDC) and is welcomed by WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector. FILE PHOTO: Passengers wearing p...
Read MoreThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data revealing that the COVID-19 crisis has had a devastating impact on international connectivity, shaking up the rankings of the world’s most connected cities. London, the world’s number one most connected city in September 2019, has seen a 67% decline in connectivity. By September 2020, it had fallen to number eight. Shanghai is now the top ranked city for connectivity with the top four most connected cities all in China—Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu. New York (-66% fall in connectivity), Tokyo (-65%), Bangkok (-81%), Hong Kong (-81%) and Seoul (-69%) have all exited the top ten. The study reveals that cities with large numbers of domestic connections now dominate, showing the extent to which...
Read MoreIndustry veteran Willie Walsh will now lead the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the new Director General. IATA announced leadership major changes approved by the 76th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Geneva. Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue is now the Chair of the IATA Board of Governors (BoG), succeeding Carsten Spohr, Chair IATA BoG (2019-2020) and CEO of Lufthansa. Hayes will serve a term commencing immediately and ending at the conclusion of the Association’s 78th Annual General Meeting to be held in 2022. Hayes will serve an extended term as Chair covering two AGMs due the disruption to governance cycles necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis.Rickard Gustafson, CEO of SAS Group will serve as Chairman of the BoG from the conclusion of the 78th IATA AGM in 2022 u...
Read MoreIATA AGM also requests governments to support safe and sustainable industry restart The International Air Transport Association (IATA) 76th Annual General Meeting (AGM) unanimously resolved to urgently call on governments to re-open borders to travel. IATA is proposing systematic testing of international travelers which would permit the lifting of border restrictions and provide an alternative to current quarantine rules. Quarantines essentially kill demand for air travel and governments need to immediately consider the drastic socio-economic effect this is having. International air travel continues to be down 90% on 2019 levels. Current estimates are that as many as 46 million jobs supported by air travel could be lost and that the economic activity sustained by aviation will be re...
Read MoreThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced a revised outlook for airline industry performance in 2020 and 2021. Deep industry losses will continue into 2021, even though performance is expected to improve over the period of the forecast. A net loss of $118.5 billion is expected for 2020 (deeper than the $84.3 billion forecast in June).A net loss of $38.7 billion is expected in 2021 (deeper than the $15.8 billion forecast in June). Performance factors in 2021 will show improvements on 2020; and the second half of 2021 is expected to see improvements after a difficult 2021 first half. Aggressive cost-cutting is expected to combine with increased demand during 2021 (due to the re-opening of borders with testing and/or the widespread availability of a vaccine...
Read MoreThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) released guidance to ensure that the air cargo industry is ready to support the large-scale handling, transport and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. IATA’s Guidance for Vaccine and Pharmaceutical Logistics and Distribution provides recommendations for governments and the logistics supply chain in preparation for what will be the largest and most complex global logistics operation ever undertaken. Reflecting the complexity of the challenge, the Guidance was produced with the support of a broad range of partners, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA), International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Ass...
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