Category: Aviation

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging African governments to unblock bottlenecks so that urgently needed financial relief pledged for air transport and tourism reaches the distressed businesses. As a consequence of the pandemic and associated restrictions, African airlines are forecast to lose $2 billion in 2020. Without urgent financial relief, the industry is at risk of collapse, putting about 3.3 million jobs and $33 billion in African GPD in jeopardy. To date, the governments of Sub-Saharan Africa Rwanda, Senegal, Côte D’Ivoire and Burkina Faso have pledged a total of $311 million in direct financial support to air transport. ... Read more

Dubai-based carrier Emirates has rolled out a new online gateway to serve its travel trade partners around the world. Tailored for each market, and personalised for each partner to cater to their unique business environment and needs, the Emirates Partners Portal is designed as a one-stop shop for travel industry partners to quickly and securely access the full range of information on Emirates’ latest products, services and policies, and obtain technical support. The portal also offers a range of functions including self-service tools and support, and in-built automation of business processes, all aimed at delivering efficiency for travel partners, as ... Read more

Effective 1 August, all travellers flying Etihad Airways from around the world to Abu Dhabi, and those transferring via Abu Dhabi onto other flights, will be required to show a negative COVID-19 PCR test result. The tests have to be carried out from a list of approved testing facilities listed on www.etihad.com/destinationguide, alongside their ICA approval if Abu Dhabi is their end destination. The PCR test must be carried out within 96 hours prior to arrival in Abu Dhabi and a negative COVID-19 PCR test result certificate from one of the approved clinics listed must be shown for approval to board. ... Read more

Air India’s northern regional office has formed a committee to identify “redundant” or “surplus” employees who would be asked to go on a compulsory leave without pay (LWP) for up to five years. P S Negi, Regional Director (RD), Northern Region, Air India, issued an order stating that an empowered committee is being constituted for the identification of such employees, news agency PTI has reported. Negi’s order, which has been accessed by PTI, said the general manager (personnel), general manager (finance) and departmental heads will be the members of the empowered committee. “GM (Personnel) will share the staff list with ... Read more

Dubai-based airline Emirates has said that on-arrival polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests will be mandatory only for passengers from specific countries, starting August 1. The airline has issued a list of 29 such countries, Gulf News reports. These countries include India, Brazil, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and select US airports among others. The US airports included in the list are Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO), says the Gulf News report. All passengers arriving from these points of ... Read more

British Airways-owner International Airlines Group (IAG) has said that American Express would pay it 750 million pounds ($955 million) to renew their partnership, providing a welcome boost to the airline’s finances at a time when it is burning through cash. Since lockdowns have eased, flying has restarted, but pressure remains on airline companies like IAG because travel is still at less than half of pre-pandemic levels due to ongoing restrictions for some destinations and consumer worries, says Reuters. IAG’s finances have been strained by the pandemic, leading to media speculation that it could need to raise new equity. It said ... Read more

Airlines are taking extreme measures to survive the pandemic, with Asiana Airlines Inc. flying the world’s biggest commercial plane more than 20 times, going nowhere and carrying no passengers, just to keep trainee pilots certified, Bloomberg has said. Keeping crew flight-ready is one of the challenges carriers face as they grapple with the unprecedented crisis that keeps more than a third of the world’s fleet grounded. The empty Airbus SE A380 flew over South Korea for a few hours a day for three days in May to enable pilots of the 495-seat superjumbo to practice taking off and landing. The ... Read more

A consortium of Flight Simulation Technique Centre, Big Charter and Imperial Capital Investments LLC has reportedly secured $100 million that will be pumped into Jet Airways in order to revive the defunct airline. The consortium is one of the two bidders that submitted resolution plans for Jet Airways earlier this week. Lenders had shortlisted it, along with three other entities, for Jet Airways’ insolvency process back in June. Biraja Jena, Chairman of Dubai-based Imperial Capital, told Moneycontrol that they have secured $100 million from their partners. The investment banking and wealth management firm has also roped in Middle Eastern business house Taha Group as ... Read more

SpiceJet has been designated as “India’s scheduled carrier” to operate flight services to the UK from India, the Gurugram-based no-frills airline said in a regulatory filing on Friday. The announcement came just one day after it was picked to fly on India-US routes by the governments of the two countries under the bilateral air services pact, news agency PTI has reported. “We would like to inform you that in terms of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of India and the United Kingdom, SpiceJet has been designated as Indian scheduled carrier to operate on agreed services between India and the ... Read more

Qatar Airways will operate three weekly flights to Cebu in Philippines, starting July 24. The airline will also resume its China flights, with a weekly Guangzhou service. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker said: “We are delighted to be launching a new direct service to Cebu, offering our passengers another gateway into the Philippines. Being the airline that has never stopped flying since COVID-19 hit, it has been Qatar Airways’ mission to take people home safely during the pandemic, and we have helped more than two million people get home to their loved ones since February,” he said. ... Read more

In yet another setback, 60 Air India pilots who flew repatriation flights to bring back Indians stranded abroad have tested positive for coronavirus, the airline has said in a letter to the government. The Vande Bharat mission to repatriate Indians came “with a heavy price to pay for those on the frontline. As of date, at least 60 plus pilots have been tested Covid positive,” senior pilots of the national carrier have stated, in the letter addressed to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri. “This has had a ‘devastating effect’ on their family members,” said the letter. The pilots are already ... Read more

Airlines for America (A4A) – the industry trade organization representing the leading US airlines – has welcomed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to adopt the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions standard for future aircraft. EPA’s proposal to adopt the ICAO standard will further enable US airlines to meet the industry’s goals to achieve carbon neutral growth in the near term and to cut net carbon emissions in half in 2050 relative to 2005 levels. The standard, which takes into account safety, technological feasibility and environmental benefit, applies to new models of commercial ... Read more

Qatar Airways has launched an international arbitration seeking at least $5bn from four Arab countries as compensation for blocking the airline from their airspace for the past three years. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt had imposed a ban on the airline since June 2017 when they cut all ties with Qatar and brought upon an air, land and sea blockade on it, over accusations of supporting “terrorism”. Doha denied the charges alleging that the quartet aims to infringe on its sovereignty. The airline said it has made substantial investments in these four countries in order to ... Read more

Emirates has announced that it will resume passenger services to Seychelles from August 1, coinciding with the country’s re-opening to international tourists. Operating flights to Seychelles five times a week with a Boeing 777-300ER, Emirates offers travellers convenient access to this popular Indian Ocean holiday destination. The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa. Seychelles is home to numerous beaches, coral reefs and nature reserves, as well as rare animals such as giant Aldabra tortoises. Mahé, a hub for visiting the other islands, is home to capital Victoria. It also has the mountain rainforests ... Read more

Eli Rozenberg, the 30-year-old scion of a New York family in the nursing home business, made his offer on Monday for control of El Al Airlines, Israel’s flag carrier. He said that he and his family were prepared to pay $75 million for an allocation of shares that would give him a 44.99% stake. According to a report by Haaretz, the stake is the maximum he can offer to achieve control of Israel’s flag carrier without having to make a general offer for all the shares, under Israeli regulations. The offer, which was presented to the Israel Companies Authority and the ... Read more