IATA general director Willie Walsh is in "no doubt" that commercial flight ticket prices will increase as the aviation sector seeks to become more environmentally friendly and that travel demand will decline as a consequence. Walsh noted during a panel discussion at Eurocontrol's Aviation Sustainability Summit on 22 November that investments required to meet the air transport sector's target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050 would be in the trillion- rather billion-dollar range. "Will it increase the cost of flying? There is absolutely no doubt with that, prices will have to go up. Whatever way you look at it, the industry has got to face a cost challenge and ultimately that will be passed on to the consumer. Will it have an impact on the number of people flying? It has to, because there are lots of people who are price sensitive and they will be discouraged from flying as a result of that. When we looked at the challenge we recognised that we must face it, it's existential." William Todts, executive director of campaign group Transport & Environment, who participated in the panel discussion, suggested that public pressure, especially from young people, had been a central reason that European airlines adopted environmental protection as a priority and committed to emission-reduction targets in recent years. Walsh rejects the notion that airlines are facing pressure primarily from young people. He says: "The research we have done [shows] it is every age group. Young people are not necessarily who are most challenging about this, everybody is. And that's what we have got to recognise. This is not being done because some young people have mobilised and challenged not just the airline industry, but every industry. This is being done because people right across the world are challenging industries to decarbonise." He notes that while European airlines took a leading role in acknowledging the climate effects of air transport, environmental protection has become a priority for the sector as a whole as "airlines right across the world are conscious of the challenge". However, Walsh accepts Todt's argument that aviation is under particular pressure because aircraft emissions are set to increase in coming years despite the sector's climate-protection commitments. "You are one of the only industries in the economy that is consistently increasing its emissions," Todt says. "That is why you are going to be in the spotlight even more in coming years because the car industry, the drug industry, the electricity industry... are all on a path toward decarbonisation faster than [aviation]. "You have a plan. But the plan is not going to cut emissions in the next 10 years or not in a significant manner. That's what you should focus on. Forget about the PR, forget about the perception." Walsh acknowledges: "Our industry is in the spotlight because our emissions will increase, and we need to be honest about that. But I think our industry is more honest about the problem we face. It will be difficult to decarbonise the airline industry, but working together we can do it over time." The IATA chief concedes that aviation will have "significant challenge in the short to medium term" until sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply has been ramped up to a substantial level. SAF will be the most effective tool to put the sector on a more environmentally friendly footing, he says. "Longer term, I genuinely believe that technology will provide a solution to us." Fellow panellist and Lufthansa chief customer officer Christina Foerster also thinks that SAF will be the primary emission-reduction tool in the interim term, in addition to fleet replacement and fuel-burn enhancement efforts on existing aircraft. Foerster says pressure on the German carrier to improve its environmental performance comes in particular from corporate and cargo customers. She suggests the airline group supports establishment of ambitious environmental targets in European and is not opposed to the idea of a carbon-emission tax in principle. But she adds such a tax should replace rather than be in addition to existing aviation infrastructure fees and charges. Lufthansa is concerned that additional European environmental regulation and charges will lead to commercial disadvantages versus competitors based outside the region and could prompt passengers to choose long-haul flights via non-EU hubs. Foerster says that SAF blending mandates, as planned by the EU, will add two- or three-digit amounts to ticket prices and suggests that premiums will rise further as aviation moves from current biofuel-based solutions to synthetic SAF. While SAF prices currently are five to eight times higher than for fossil-based kerosene, Foerster estimates that the price for power-to-liquid SAF could be 15 times higher. "If you put that on a long-haul flight, that is really a considerable sum. I think especially private travellers and some business travellers would transfer in Istanbul and in the Gulf region," she says. Lack of production volume is the main obstacle in adopting SAF and main reason for its "excessive" price today, Wash notes. He cites as an example a recent demonstration flight by Etihad Airways from London and Abu Dhabi for which the carrier wanted to use 50% blended SAF, but was able to source only 38% due to lack of availability. "The industry will buy sustainable fuel when sustainable fuels are available. We recognise that is part of the solution of the challenge… The sooner we get sustainable fuel at scale, financially the better," he says. Even with increased production, Walsh believes it is "inevitable" that SAF prices will stay higher than for conventional fossil-based kerosene, and that the cost difference will translate to higher fares. "How big a premium, I don't know. But I think it [SAF] will be at a premium to kerosene and will be for some time before we get to levels of production that we want to get to," he says. Walsh calls on European policymakers to create incentives to scale up SAF production and measures to de-risk investment in such facilities, rather than impose additional regulations aimed at reduce emissions. He argues that US policymakers have adopted a "much more pragmatic approach" than their EU counterparts. "We can learn a lot of lessons if we look at them [USA]," he says. "I don't think Europe is pragmatic."

UK low-cost carrier EasyJet is looking to hire 1,500 seasonal cabin crewmembers across Europe for its summer operations between March and October 2022. Of these, 1,100 will be based in the UK alongside 250 seasonal crew who are set to return after having worked with the airline last summer, EasyJet says. The carrier is also adding 150 newly qualified cadet pilots in the UK who had originally been due to join the airline at the beginning of the pandemic. They will now join between January and April 2022. Additionally, it plans to begin recruitment in the coming weeks for experienced Airbus pilots, to be based in Europe. “With the recovery under way, we are ready and able to seize opportunities and our seasonal crew are integral to this,” EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren says. “As the largest UK airline, we are proud to employ thousands of people across the country, as well as in Europe, and have been delighted with the overwhelming response so far with more than 11,000 applicants for the 1,500 crew roles.” EasyJet plans to expand its UK fleet with three more aircraft across its Bristol and Manchester bases for the summer 2022 season.

The Philippines is preparing to reopen international borders to fully vaccinated tourists from low-risk countries "soon". The country's Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has "approved in principle the entry of fully vaccinated tourists from Green List countries, territories and jurisdictions", according to a 19 November statement by the Department of Tourism (DOT). The IATF in its 18 November directive greenlit the move "in support of the thrust of the Department of Tourism to boost Philippine tourism". DOT secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat states: "Allowing tourists from green countries or territories that have the majority of its population vaccinated and with low infection rate, will greatly help in our recovery efforts--increasing tourist arrivals and receipts among others." “Our ASEAN neighbours like Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia also did the same. We believe that it is also time for us to reopen our borders for inbound tourism as a way towards full recovery,” she states. Romulo-Puyat says the in-principle approval is subject to the IATF's finalised and approved guidelines. The department has formed a technical working group to prepare the guidelines for the IATF's final approval. Entry "will be based on strict conditions", she says, and will be extended only to those vaccinated with vaccines authorised by the Philippines' Food and Drug Administration for emergency use or by the World Health Organization. The Philippines governs its border restrictions according to a three-tier traffic light system. Currently, fully vaccinated travellers from low-risk "green list" countries and territories are allowed to enter the country with a negative pre-departure PCR Covid-19 test result in lieu of quarantines. Until 30 November, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Japan are among the 44 countries and territories listed as low-risk, while most countries are classified under its "yellow list". Only The Netherlands and Faroe Islands placed under its high-risk "red list". The tourism department is also working on a separate tourism scheme for vaccinated tourists arriving from countries under its "yellow list", who "may be able to enter the country under certain restrictions and strict conditions". A wider tourism reopening could boost Philippines' already improving air traffic recovery in the last quarter, after activity hit an all-year low in mid-August. Data shows that daily tracked flights have risen sharply since hitting its lowest levels this year on 15 August, when only 80 flights flew that day. This has since increased to above 200 flights per day from 27 October. The daily number of aircraft tracked, which so far in 2021 averaged about 35% of 2019 levels, has risen to about 45% since October.