CAPA News Briefs

RwandAir, via its official Twitter account, confirmed (10/15-Sep-2021) plans to resume services to Entebbe on 17-Sep-2021 and Mumbai on 20-Sep-2021. As previously reported by CAPA, the airline will also commence services to Lubumbashi on 29-Sep-2021 and Goma on 15-Oct-2021.

Health Canada, via its official Twitter account, announced (20-Sep-2021) the current Canadian border restrictions and entry requirements will remain in effect until 21-Nov-2021, including the following:

• As of 07-Sep-2021, fully vaccinated travellers from any country can enter Canada for discretionary reasons, if they meet specific requirements;
  • Fully vaccinated travellers must show proof that they have received a full series of a Canadian Federal Government accepted vaccine - or accepted combination of vaccines - at least 14 days prior to entry;
  • Travellers must also provide a negative molecular COVID-19 test taken 72 hours before arrival, or a positive test taken between 14 and 180 days before arrival;
  • All travellers entering Canada must submit required COVID-19 information electronically into the ArriveCAN app prior to arrival.

Volotea reported (16-Sep-2021) it completed its transition to an all Airbus fleet during 3Q2021. 14 Boeing 717s were retired early by the airline, and replaced with larger A320 aircraft. Volotea operated a total of 40 A320s and A319s during the European summer. [more - original PR]

Boeing stated it expects LCCs will help lead the post COVID-19 recovery in air travel (Routes Online, 17-Sep-2021). According to Boeing, LCCs have historically led air service recovery out of market downturns, as their point-to-point structure allows quick market entry and the lower airfares they offer are "particularly appealing coming out of economic downturns". The recovery by network carriers is expected to lag that of LCCs, as the long-haul and premium traffic segments "typically recover a bit later" according to Boeing.

London Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate said (17-Sep-2021) the UK Government's proposed changes to travel restrictions are a "significant and welcome step" towards the industry's recovery. The government plans to introduce a simplified two tier travel list in Oct-2021, as well as removing the pre departure testing requirement for fully vaccinated passengers. Vaccinated travellers will also be able to replace PCR tests with cheaper lateral flow tests. Mr Wingate called on the government to complement the changes by reinstating slot rules to "incentivise airlines, increase competition and provide passengers with greater choice and flexibility". [more - original PR]

Tourism Malaysia appointed (15-Sep-2021) Zainuddin Abdul Wahab as director general, effective 13-Sep-2021. [more-original PR - Malaysian]

Garuda Indonesia Group reported (17-Sep-2021) the following traffic highlights for Garuda Indonesia for Jul-2021:

• Passengers: 111,298, -44.4% year-on-year;
  • Domestic: 103,852, -33.1%;
  • International: 7446, -91.0%;
• Passenger load factor: 18.9%, -28.3pp;
  • Domestic: 27.4%,-15.0pp;
  • International: 9.4%, -48.7pp;
• Passenger yield: USD 9.70 cents, +21.4%;
  • Domestic: USD 9.99 cents, -5.7%;
  • International: USD 8.79 cents, +52.6%;
• CASK: USD 9.55 cents, -10.1%;
  • Domestic: USD 12.01 cents, -15.6%;
  • International: USD 6.82 cents, -14.4%;
• CASK excluding fuel: USD 7.77 cents, -8.5%;
  • Domestic: USD 10.06 cents, -14.9%;
  • International: USD 5.21 cents, -13.3%;
• Cargo: 14,896 tons, +37.1%;
  • Domestic: 7510 tons, +12.3%;
  • International: 7386 tons, +90.7%;
• Cargo yield: USD 47.26 cents, +13.3%;
  • Domestic: USD 78.56 cents, -4.3%;
  • International: USD 37.1 cents, +89.4%. [more - original PR]

Japan Airlines Group announced (16-Sep-2021) plans to further suspend 247 domestic frequencies from 01-Oct-2021 to 15-Oct-2021 and a further 3156 frequencies from 16-Oct-2021 to 31-Oct-2021. The group's overall operation rate in Oct-2021 will reduce to 75%. [more - original PR]

CAPA - Centre for Aviation confirmed (20-Sep-2021) AirAsia super app CEO Amanda Woo, Air Niugini CEO Bruce Alabaster, Allegiant SVP corporate finance & treasurer Robert Neal, AVA Airways CEO Olivier Arrindell, Iberia CEO Javier Sánchez-Prieto, IndiGo CEO & whole time director Ronojoy Dutta, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes, Kenya Airways group managing director & CEO Allan Kilavuka, LAM Mozambique Airlines general manager/CEO João Carlos Pó Jorge, Solomon Airlines CEO Brett Gebers, Spring Airlines chairman Stephen Wang, Sun Country president & CFO Dave Davis, SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx, TAP Air Portugal CEO Christine Ourmières Widener, Ultra Air founder & CEO William Shaw, Wizz Air product manager Remus Moraru, Amazon Web Services head worldwide business development - travel & hospitality solutions Massimo Morin, Amazon Web Services head worldwide business development - travel Judy Pitchford, Association of South Pacific Airlines (ASPA) director general George Faktaufon, Bernstein Research MD & senior analyst Daniel Röska, BOC Aviation MD & CEO Robert Martin, Evernym senior director business development Jamie Smith, Hospitality and Travel Special Interest Group (SIG) chair Nick Price, IATA regional VP Americas Peter Cerda, IESE Business School Professor and former chairman & CEO British Airways Alex Cruz, International Aviation Law principal Kenneth Quinn, JLS Consulting director John Strickland, Korn Ferry senior client partner Michael Bell, OAG chief analyst John Grant, Raymond James managing director airlines Savanthi Syth and TravelScrum co-founder & chairman Gene Quinn as speakers at CAPA Live October on 13-Oct-2021.

UN World Health Organisation (WHO) and Japan's Government established (17-Sep-2021) a port health facility at Juba Airport to enhance public health security in South Sudan. The facility is designed to improve capacity for coordination and communication to mitigate the risk of the cross border spread of disease and other public health threats. [more - original PR]

La Reunion Roland Garros Airport reported (15-Sep-2021) a recovery in passenger numbers between Reunion and mainland France in Jul/Aug-2021. Traffic to and from Paris, Lyon and Marseille reached 249,290 passengers, up 47.7% year-on-year but down 19.5% compared to 2019. [more - original PR - French]

flyadeal outlined (17-Sep-2021) plans to take delivery of all 50 A320neo aircraft outlined under its Jun-2019 agreement with Airbus by 2025, comprising an initial 30 aircraft with the option for a further 20. As previously reported by CAPA, the aircraft received its third A320neo under the order effective 15-Sep-2021 and operates 15 A320s in total, having previously cancelled Boeing 737 MAX orders with plans to exclusively operate A320 aircraft. [more - original PR]