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

Low-cost carrier EasyJet it to close its bases at the London airports of Stansted and Southend, as well as Newcastle, as it cuts its UK network to counter lower levels of demand. The carrier had at the end of June warned the three base closures were under consideration as part of its cost-cutting efforts to counter reduced demand following the coronavirus pandemic. EasyJet will cease its base operations from all three UK airports from the end of August - though it will continue some flights from both Stansted and Newcastle. Airline chief executive Johan Lundgren says: ”We have had to take the very difficult decision to close three UK bases as a result of the unprecedented impact of the pandemic and related travel restrictions, compounded by quarantine measures in the UK which is impacting demand for travel. “Working closely with our employee representatives, I am pleased that we have been able to identify ways to significantly reduce the number of proposed compulsory redundancies through providing enhanced voluntary redundancy packages for all UK crew alongside additional options like part time and seasonal contracts, base transfers and unpaid leave which we expect to result in reducing the number of job losses overall.” Confirmation of the three UK base closures follows the completion of a collective consultation process and the airline says it will now work with unions on the next steps. The airline says it has reached agreement with Unite on voluntary redundancy terms and selection criteria for impacted cabin crew and that individual consultation with cabin crew continues. “We remain committed to working with pilots union BALPA on the next phase which includes the voluntary redundancy and individual consultation process,” the airline says. BALPA, however, hit out at the airline for “unilaterally shutting down formal redundancy talks” which have been in progress aimed at mitigating the need for compulsory redundancies. The union says talks ”had appeared to be going well”, that further talks were planned and that there was “no warning” EasyJet would take this step. BALPA general secretary Brian Strutton says: ”We have a previously scheduled meeting with easyJet management tomorrow which we plan to attend to give easyJet a final chance to change course. Following that we will consult with our members on how they want to proceed.” Relations between the airline and its the pilots have become increasingly strained. Last month more than 2,000 of EasyJet’s pilots voted to express no confidence in the airline’s chief operating officer, Peter Bellew, in what BALPA described as a “serious and widening rift” between crewmembers and management. How base closures impact EasyJet network Stansted is the biggest of the impacted operations. Cirium schedules data shows EasyJet operated 19 routes from the London airport in January, before the pandemic hit. EasyJet will continue four routes from the north London airport, serving UK domestic routes to Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as Amsterdam. EasyJet opened its base at Southend in 2012 and was operating 14 routes from the east London airport in January this, Cirium data shows, It was the second biggest operator at Southend. The carrier has a much larger presence at the London airports of Gatwick - its biggest base - and Luton, where it has its headquarters. EasyJet opened its Newcastle base in 2002. Cirium schedules data shows the carrier was operating nine routes from Newcastle in January, immediately prior to the crisis. It plans to continue flights from Newcastle to Belfast, Bristol and NIce. But it means routings to six leisure destinations have been dropped. The closing of the three operations means EasyJet will operate eight bases in the UK. To counter the impact of the pandemic EasyJet embarked on a restructuring scheme to bring costs down in line with projected demand – including cutting up to 30% of its workforce.

Source: Cirium