Banks are still open for aviation finance business, despite a small number exiting the space amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an industry panelist. “You see the traditional aviation finance banks: they are still open for business. Yes, maybe there is more interest in new deliveries with a strong credit, but they are still there,” says Kenneth Loo, senior vice-president at Novus Aviation Capital, during the Avstonish conference in Hong Kong on 31 May. “Yes, there are a very, very small handful of aviation banks shutting their aviation desks... but there is still quite a lot of liquidity out there supporting the market.” In May, private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and fund manager Bellinger Asset Management joined forces to acquire a $1.1 billion aircraft loan portfolio from National Australia Bank (NAB), as part of plans to launch a joint aviation platform. Summer Li, general manager, aviation, at Haitong UT Leasing HK, takes a more conservative view on Western banks than fellow panellist Loo. “Aviation has not been the flavour of the month still, so they are limiting their exposure [to] aviation in a general sense,” she says, referring to Western banks. “On the Chinese banking side we see they are still supporting, especially state-owned companies like Chinese airlines and Chinese-owned lessors like us.” For lessors, Yoo says opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region are fewer than in the West and competition on RFPs is fierce. “I get quite envious of my colleagues during the weekly team calls. Europe and the Americas seem to have a healthy pipeline of transactions coming back, whereas here in APAC — HK has been doing very well lately, whereas in the neighbouring regions they have more to battle with the latest waves of Covid-19,” he says. On 29 May, a Hong Kong government pandemic advisor Yuen Kwok-yung declared the city’s fourth wave of Covid-19 over, though warned the city to brace for a potential fifth wave, according to a same-day article in local newspaper The South China Morning Post. Loo adds: “From what I see now, lease rates and SLB opportunities, or in general, airlines do have a choice when they come to financing. There’s still a lot of liquidity, a lot of interested parties bidding for a handful of deals. It’s still very much an airline’s world when they need to choose the new delivery financing.”

ICAO’s Council is to carry out a fact-finding investigation into the diversion of a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 over Belarus, to understand whether any member state broke international aviation law. The Council, a governing body which comprises 36 member states, convened for an urgent session on 27 May, four days after the 737 was diverted to Minsk while operating an Athens-Vilnius flight. Authorities detained an opposition activist before releasing the aircraft. ICAO says the Council expressed “strong concern” at the “apparent forced diversion” of the aircraft. Members stressed the importance of establishing the facts of the occurrence and understanding whether there had been “any breach by any ICAO member state” of international aviation law – including the Chicago Convention. Belarus is a member of ICAO – although not a member of the Council – and acceded to the Chicago Convention in 1993. It is also bound by a number of other aviation law instruments relating to safety of civil aircraft. Under the Convention, the Council is entitled to investigate situations which “may appear to present avoidable obstacles” to international air navigation development. “The Council has therefore decided that all relevant facts should be officially established through an ICAO investigation,” says Council president Salvatore Sciacchitano. It has requested the preparation of an interim report to the Council for a subsequent meeting, presenting the available facts and relevant legal instruments. ICAO secretary general Fang Liu has assured that the ICAO Secretariat will offer full support and co-operation.

AirAsia Philippines has backed the Department of Tourism’s recent proposal to create a travel "green lane" to allow entry to vaccinated travellers, in line with government efforts to reopen the economy. “We must keep pace with our neighbours and the rest of the world in slowly reopening our tourist destinations. We must be ready for visitors when the whole world is ready to safely travel again," Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a 21 May statement on the proposed green lane. The low-cost carrier says it is currently looking at providing incentives for fully vaccinated individuals to revive demand for safe air travel and encourage everyone to be vaccinated, according to its 26 May press release. AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan states: “AirAsia believes that the 'green lane' will encourage leisure travellers who have previously expressed concerns on varying requirements per destination. This will be further reinforced by the implementation of uniform travel requirements through a digital travel pass. If the execution becomes effective for domestic travel, then we can slowly welcome foreign tourists again.” “While we strongly believe that easing of restrictions among fully vaccinated individuals is key to rebooting tourism, there must be no room for complacency. Industry partners and all stakeholders must proactively monitor and observe established health and safety protocols.” The carrier highlights a Euromonitor International study that predicts inbound tourist arrivals to the Philippines will reach 9.9 million by 2023, based on government measures such as the vaccination roll-out, easing or lifting of travel restrictions and travel arrangements such as green lanes. This data, the carrier says, corroborates its projection of a full recovery by 2023. The airline plans on gradually achieving recovery later this year with the resumption of international flights in August. “Since the onset of the pandemic, AirAsia has implemented a robust multi-layered approach to passenger safety from check-in to inflight. Numerous digital and contactless solutions have also been put in place to ensure a safe, affordable and comfortable guest experience,” Dailisan adds. The airline also notes that Spain, France, Nepal and Thailand's Phuket have established similar green lane travel arrangements to allow entry to fully vaccinated travellers.