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...
Read MoreTag: travel
Passengers confined to cabins after Royal Caribbean cruise ship detects COVID-19 in Singapore Hundreds of passengers on a Royal Caribbean ‘cruise-to-nowhere’ from Singapore were told to stay in their cabins until contact tracing was complete after a COVID-19 case was detected, forcing the Quantum of the Seas ship back to port, authorities said. Royal Caribbean and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said all guests and crew of the Quantum of the Seas who had close contact with the 83-year old infected male guest have subsequently tested negative for the virus. Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas cruise ship docks at Marina Bay Cruise Center after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a cruise to nowhere, in Singapore, December 9, 2020. REUTERS/Edga...
Read MoreThe 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 World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, has unveiled a major new report that recommends global guidelines for a Safe & Seamless Traveller Journey related to traveller identity and security in the ‘new normal’. Developed in partnership with Oliver Wyman Consulting Group, and Pangiam as one of the advisors, the report emphasises the need for swift action for a harmonised approach in the implementation of digital traveller identity and biometrics, and the enablement of strong policies through the undertaking of several activities to support the recovery of the ailing Travel & Tourism sector. WTTC’s Safe & Seamless Traveller Journey (SSTJ), a core initiative, aims to enable a seamless, safe and secur...
Read MoreUNWTO has concluded a first in-person visit to Bali since the start of the pandemic. The delegation met with key figures from the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to advance collaboration as the country gets ready to reopen its borders to international visitors and restart tourism. In partnership with Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, UNWTO hosted a special Capacity Building Workshop on Restarting International Tourism in Bali. The workshop counted on the participation of more than 30 leaders from across the tourism sector, with a further 150 experts and leaders joining virtually. Discussions focused on the government’s strategy to restart tourism, including the formulation of policies, procedures, health infrastructure and imm...
Read MoreElon Musk’s SpaceX was set to launch a prototype of its Mars rocket Starship in its highest-altitude “hop” test from the space company’s Texas facilities on Tuesday, a key trial for a rocket system that Musk hopes will land humans on the moon and eventually Mars. Musk sought to tamp down expectations for Starship’s first suborbital flight using three of its new Raptor rocket engines, predicting a 30% chance of success in reaching an altitude of more than 40,000 feet. That would be vastly higher than the vehicle’s first two tests at altitudes of 500 feet. The sun sets as SpaceX prepares their super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket for a test launch this week at the company's facilities in Boca Chica, Texas, U.S. December 1, 2020. REUTERS/Gene Blevins “With a test such as this, succe...
Read MoreAthari Alkhaldi stands out amid a sea of men and falcons at the Middle East’s top falconry competition: the first Saudi woman to qualify and participate in the event. “With my participation ... I proved I am here, that women can join this field, that it’s not only restricted to men,” she said, alongside her falcon Ma’aned. Falconry is an important part of the desert heritage of Arabs of Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries going back thousands of years. Athari Alkhaldi, the first Saudi woman to qualify and participate in the King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival, holds a falcon during the show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 1, 2020. Courtesy of King Abdulaziz Falconry Media Center/Handout via REUTERS The two-week King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival, which gathers more than 4,000 ...
Read MoreThe people of Paraguay will honor their patron saint this year online or in neighborhood parishes, as pandemic rules prevent an annual pilgrimage to a sacred cathedral for the first time in a century. The sprawling white Caacupé Cathedral, surrounded by palm trees, is widely seen as the spiritual capital of the land-locked South American nation. For more than a century it has attracted nearly a million visitors annually around the holidays, culminating on Dec. 8. The Caacupe Cathedral is pictured before the Virgin of Caacupe Day, during the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Caacupe, outside of Asuncion, Paraguay December 7, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno But this year officials in Paraguay have largely restricted access to Caacupé, 50 kilometers (30 miles) outs...
Read MoreMeghalaya will be open to tourists from December 21 for the first since the COVID-19 pandemic made its way into the country earlier this year, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Tuesday. Travellers, however, will have to adhere to a host of guidelines and health protocols to visit the 'Land of Clouds', he said. "#Meghalaya reopens its #Tourism from 21st December, 2020... The Home of Clouds looks forward to welcoming you," Sangma said on Twitter. A Tourism Department official said registration would be made mandatory through a dedicated app of Meghalaya Tourism, along with standard operating procedures (SOPs) put in place to ensure the safety of everyone. !function(e,t,c,a){if(!e.fwn&&(a="fwn_script",n=e.fwn=function(){ n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,argum...
Read MoreMount Everest is higher than previously thought, Nepal and China said on Tuesday, settling a long-running conflict over the height of the world’s tallest peak that straddles their shared border. Kathmandu and Beijing had differed over its exact height but after each sent an expedition of surveyors to the summit they have agreed that the official height is 8,848.86 metres (29,031.69 feet), a bit more than their previous calculations. Everest is an “eternal symbol of ... friendship between Nepal and China,” said Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, announcing the findings of their surveys on a video call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Mount Everest, the world highest peak, and other peaks of the Himalayan range are seen through an aircraft window during a mountain ...
Read More
You must be logged in to post a comment.