Emirates Airline is battling to restore its passenger operations despite over 150 destinations in its global network remaining subject to Covid-19-related travel restrictions. On Monday 17 August, the carrier’s tracked scheduled passenger jet flights and hours were down more than 80% compared with Monday 19 August 2019, while 72% fewer of its aircraft were tracked in the air. However, daily flights were up more than 11% on a seven-day rolling average basis, compared with the seventh day prior. The vast majority of the airline’s 133 passenger Boeing 777s have returned to service although many are operating cargo-only flights, according to Emirates Airline president Tim Clark. In contrast, a mere 13 of the airline’s 115 ultra-large Airbus A380s are showing in-service status, and only six of these were tracked operating a commercial flight on 17 August (all more recently-delivered examples equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines rather than Engine Alliance GP7200s).
London was the top city served last year with 22 flights to and from Dubai, but only six were operated on 17 August 2020. Daily services to Kuwait City meanwhile dropped from 15 last year to only two this year. Clark says Emirates – which is seeking a financial bailout from the Dubai government – is only operating services capable of generating revenue higher than cash operating cost.

Source: Cirium

The Indian government has proposed creating "air bubbles" with five neighbouring countries, according to civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

Proposals have been made to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan, he said in an 18 August Twitter post.

"Going forward, we will consider such arrangements with other countries also."

He adds that India is committed to "further strengthen the reach and scope" of its Vande Bharat Mission, an evacuation programme for Indians stranded overseas during the Covid-19 pandemic. "Air travel arrangements" are already in place with the USA, UK, France, Germany, the UAE, Qatar and the Maldives, he said.

He went on to say that the government is now "taking these efforts forward" and negotiating with 13 more countries – including Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand – to "establish such arrangements".

It is not clear what stage these "air bubble" talks are at, nor exactly what Puri means by an "air bubble", but his Tweet seemed to provide a ray of hope for the many Indians stranded overseas amid the Covid-19 pandemic. His tweet was flooded with replies from Twitter users who said they were desperate to get home.

"Sir, I'm stuck here in Nepal since March. Please start air bubble with Nepal as soon as possible. So I can go back to India, as my mom and dad are alone there with no help," one person tweeted.

Travellers in Asia-Pacific have been faced with an array of immigration restrictions and border closures related to the coronavirus, although limited travel "bubbles" allowing less restricted travel have emerged. Earlier this month, for example, Auckland International Airport in New Zealand said it would separate its international terminal into two self-contained zones to cater to different categories of travellers "in anticipation of a safe air corridor being formed between New Zealand and the Cook Islands". Amid the chorus of Indians stranded abroad, the government has made clear it will do its best to bring them home. "It is always our endeavour to reach out to every stranded citizen," Puri said. "No Indian will be left behind."

Source: Cirium

Tour operator TUI has cancelled all its package holidays to the Balearic islands for German customers until 24 August after the government in Berlin warned against non-essential touristic travel to Spain amid a rise in coronavirus infections there. The warning from the German federal foreign office – issued on 14 August – covers mainland Spain and the Balearic islands, but not the Canary Islands. TUI, which does not currently offer package holidays to Spanish mainland destinations, says it will reassess the situation after 24 October. The tour operator declined to reveal the impact on its leisure flight operation. Earlier this month, Hanover-based TUIfly said Majorca – the largest Balearic island – was its "top" tourist destination and that it had carried 50,000 travellers to the island since an operational restart in mid-June. Lufthansa, meanwhile, says it has not made significant changes to its schedule as a result of the travel warning. "Lufthansa and [budget subsidiary] Eurowings continue to fly to Spain – including Majorca,The operator advised, "Despite the latest travel warning to Spain and the Balearics, we continue to see good load factors – also on these flights," it adds, noting that Eurowings operates 150 flights a week to Majorca, and Lufthansa 30. "We believe that our passengers continue to responsibly implement all necessary protective measures and comply with the regulations on return," says the group. Noting that Spain represents the "most favourite" international holiday destination for German travellers, the general secretary of the tourism industry association BTW, Michael Rabe, expresses regret at "the requirement" for a travel warning. But he states that the government's decision must be accepted because "health protection has highest priority". Rabe says travellers should adhere to hygiene and social-distancing measures because if rules are observed the infection risk on holiday is "no higher or barely higher than when you are going around your home city". Nevertheless, he also appeals to holiday providers to make services "more vehemently corona-compliant" through raised hygiene standards, fever checks, measures to better comply with distancing rules, and increased testing capacity.

Source: Cirium