Argentine low-cost carrier Flybondi has strongly protested the government’s decision to keep Buenos Aires’ secondary airport El Palomar closed as the country slowly reopens following the coronavirus crisis. El Palomar, located near the centre of the sprawling Argentine capital, had been the chosen airfield for low-cost carriers such as JetSmart and Flybondi as they expanded their services to an ever growing middle class prior to the global pandemic. The country’s government-owned flag carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas, and other international carriers use the larger Ezeiza International airport, on the city’s far southwestern outskirts. Last week, Argentina’s airport authority ORSNA ruled that Ezeiza was the only one of the region’s three airports that satisfied the health and safety requirements to re-open during the global health crisis, effectively freezing out El Palomar and the LCCs which operate from the field. The city’s third airport, Jorge Newberry Aeroparque, also near the city’s centre, closed in August for major repairs – including expansion of a runway and a terminal – and won’t reopen until at least February 2021. That airport was primarily used for domestic flights, which have been transferred to Ezeiza until the construction is complete. “Flying from Ezeiza is not a commercial option for Flybondi nor for our passengers, and the government authorities and regulatory bodies are aware of this reality,” says Flybondi president Esteban Tossutti on 25 October. “Their decision shows the lack of respect for passengers who purchased tickets to fly from El Palomar…in addition to the thousands of passengers who can only travel by plane if they do so from an airport that can be reached by public transport.” “It is also very striking that in this context of economic complexity and deep crisis in the industry, thousands of jobs are put at risk,” Tossutti adds. FlyBondi says that El Palomar, which was created as the first low-cost airport in Latin America, employs more than 1,000 people, 80% of whom live in close proximity to the airfield. Prior to 2018, El Palomar was a military airport which also served general aviation aircraft. As a part of a broad liberalisation of the country’s air transport system at the time, the previous government loosened the regulatory shackles and opened the field to low cost carriers which stormed into one of Latin America’s largest economies. Numerous LCCs including Flybondi, JetSmart and now-defunct Avianca Argentina, Norwegian Air Argentina and LATAM Airlines Argentina, seized a share of the growing business as government-owned Aerolineas continued to suffer under bureaucratic management and a rebellious pilots’ union. The LCCs offered regular scheduled service on routes previously only serviced by Aerolineas and its subsidiary Austral Lineas Aereas, charging fares as low as $1 to attract a growing middle class to the efficiency of travelling the vast country by air. Previously, a nationwide bus network was the only real alternative to Aerolineas and Austral. A new government, elected a year ago, threatened to stop the LCC gold rush, and the coronavirus-prompted shelter-in-place orders coupled with draconian punishments for violating them, decimated travel demand. The possibility of using the El Palomar airport had made the low-cost model profitable in the first place, Tossutti says, and he calls for “continuity of a business model that in little more than two years has managed to democratise the airplane as a means of transport and transform it into an accessible option for all the people of this country”. Tossutti’s appeals to the government come just as Argentina is taking its first tentative steps to open up after one of the world’s longest coronavirus-prompted lockdowns. Beginning this week, the government has begun tentatively re-opening the country for business. Travellers from neighboring Latin American countries Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay will be able to enter Argentina for tourism from 30 October if they can verify a negative coronavirus test within the previous 48 hours. Domestic non-essential travel and other international travel is still strongly restricted.

Source: Cirium

Austrian Airlines has begun trialling voluntary, free-of-charge Covid-19 tests at Vienna airport, which provide passengers with results in 15 minutes. However, the rapid tests do not replace the standard PCR tests required by health authorities in various countries. The aim of the trial, says Austrian, is to demonstrate how rapid testing could be integrated into the air travel process. Passengers on Austrian flight OS 229 to Berlin will be able to volunteer to take the test during the period between 23 October and 8 November. Vienna airport has set up a testing centre in Terminal 3 and results will be provided to passengers "within 10-15 minutes". Boarding cards will only be activated if the test comes back negative, meaning those who test positive will not be allowed to proceed through security. Passengers who test positive for coronavirus will be cared for by the airport's medical service, and will be able to reschedule or cancel their flight at no charge, says Austrian. The airline's parent company, Lufthansa Group, has been working with Fraport and Centogene to test passengers for Covid-19 in Germany. Austrian says the findings from its Vienna trial "will be integrated into the overall project" being implemented by Lufthansa. "For the future, our objective is to achieve corresponding loosening of travel restrictions," says Austrian's chief commercial officer, Jens Ritter. "However, first we aim to show how a targeted testing programme can work." If the Vienna trial proves successful, "the tests could be offered on a larger scale", says Austrian. Rapid antigen tests "can be well integrated into the operational process of air travel", states Julian Jager, a board member at Vienna airport's operator. "Nationwide use at airports and by airlines within the framework of a Europe-wide uniform testing regime could enable the freedom of travel for passengers, which is important for [the] economy and tourism," he adds.

Source: Cirium

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has referenced further airspace efficiencies as a benefit of the new agreement to normalise relations with Sudan. Netanyahu had previously indicated that the Israeli government had made political contact with Sudanese counterparts in the past couple of years. “The skies of Sudan are open to Israel today,” he says. “This allows for direct and shorter flights between Israel, Africa and South America.” Israeli and Sudanese officials are set to negotiate co-operation in aviation, trade, economy and other aspects over the coming weeks following the agreement to normalise relations. Sudan becomes the third Arab state – after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – to reach such an agreement in the past few weeks, joining a group which also includes Jordan and Egypt. The Sudanese state is undergoing a transition to democracy through a process which commenced in mid-2019. “After decades of living under a brutal dictatorship, the people of Sudan are finally taking charge,” says the US government which brokered the agreement, and removed Sudan from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism. “The Sudanese transitional government has demonstrated its courage and commitment to combating terrorism, building its democratic institutions, and improving its relations with its neighbours.” Israel’s agreement with Sudan is particularly symbolic because the Arab League declared from the Sudanese capital Khartoum, after an August 1967 summit, that Arab governments would work to ensure Israel’s withdrawal from Arab territory following the Six-Day War. This declaration added that there would be no recognition of Israel, no negotiations, and no peace with it, while affirming support for Palestinians. “Today Khartoum says ‘yes’ to peace with Israel, ‘yes’ to recognition of Israel, and to normalisation with Israel,” says Netanyahu. “This is a new era. An era of true peace. A peace that is expanding with other Arab countries.” Sudan’s main airline, Sudan Airways, has been affected for years by the pressure from US government sanctions. The carrier is also blacklisted by the European Union as part of a blanket ban on the country. Sudan Airways operates only a limited fleet. It has a pair of Airbus A300-600Rs in storage while an Airbus A320 serves regional routes including Cairo.

Source: Cirium