Aviation

The safety of passengers and crew is paramount. But the International Air Transport Association (IATA) does not support mandating social distancing measures that would leave ‘middle seats’ empty. 

Airports Council International (ACI) World has released updated modelling that shows the worsening economic impact on the global airport industry.

Southwest Airlines now takes corporate travel bookings through industry-standard business travel booking systems.

Rolls-Royce announced over the weekend that it plans to cut up to 8,000 jobs as its business is hit hard by the impact of COVID-19 on the civil aviation industry.

As the leading U.S. airlines announced that customer-facing employees and passengers are required to wear a cloth face covering over their nose and mouth throughout the journey, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group are also started asking all passengers to wear a mouth-nose cover onboard their flights from May 4.

Looking ahead to the post-crisis world when passenger travel can resume at scale, airlines, airports, and other air transport industry stakeholders believe that the industry will need at least two to three years to recover.

WestJet announced it has reached an agreement with the Airline Pilot Association (ALPA), to save more than 1,000 pilot jobs at WestJet, WestJet Encore and Swoop amidst the COVID-19 crisis. 

Boeing conducted a productive and successful first flight of the second 777X airplane. Designated WH002, this airplane is the second of four in a dedicated flight test fleet and will test handling characteristics and other aspects of airplane performance. 

American Airlines will soon require all customers traveling to wear a face covering (or mask) while on board the aircraft starting May 11.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced today that the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will award $1.187 billion in airport safety and infrastructure grants.

Airports Council International (ACI) World and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have today come together to call for governments to quickly grant financial relief to assist airport operators and airlines during the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and support the essential connectivity the industry will provide for economic recovery. 

Chinese domestic air travel bottomed in mid-February, from which point it has been in muted recovery mode. But today, domestic air travel in China has been recovering slowly in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

A combination of trip cancellations, country-specific restrictions on flights, brings air traffic to a stop. And Lithuania's capital Vilnius, for the first time in history opens a drive-in cinema in Vilnius Airport's apron area, where planes are usually parked, unloaded, refuelled and boarded.

AirAsia resumed its scheduled domestic flights today in Malaysia and will be followed by Thailand (1 May 2020), the Philippines (16 May 2020), and Indonesia (7 May 2020), subject to approval from the authorities.