Category Archives: Aviation

Joszef Varadi, CEO, Wizz Air confirmed his ambitions for the low-cost carrier’s impending move to operate and serve in the GCC markets, in an interview with aviation industry consultant John Strickland at ATM Virtual. Varadi said, “We managed to grow our fleet to 100 aircraft over the last 15 years in the EU and we should be able to do the same thing in Abu Dhabi.” Expanding on his forecast, he added, “You should be looking at our platform, not necessarily just Abu Dhabi, we want to serve the UAE and possibly the broader GCC markets.” Varadi went to talk about the current situation and the desire to travel, versus the ability to travel. He claimed that his customers were motivated to travel especially younger customers, who generally are more adventurous and less affected by the pandemic. However, the inconsistent response from different governments to the COVID-19 situation was not supporting the industry and that a framework of regulations was needed, to enable aviation to recover. “Airports did well after 9/11 introducing heightened security measures and we need similar measures regarding health and safety. While airports and airlines are quiet it is easier to practice social distancing, but not when we start to become busier.There is no scientific evidence to suggest any passengers have contracted the virus while flying. In fact, the air filtration onboard aircraft is comparable with an intensive care unit,” he said. “I do support wearing masks, hand sanitising, disinfecting and reducing the amount of high touch points such as cash payments for onboard catering and inflight magazines. It’s all about liquidity and what that provides to your business. If we do not fly a single passenger …

Abu Dhabi Airports will begin to welcome transfer passengers travelling through Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) from June 10, 2020. The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has approved Etihad’s commencement of a limited number of transfer flights connecting 20 destinations via Abu Dhabi International Airport. The resumption of these commercial flights marks the beginning of the resurgence of the UAE’s national aviation sector.The transfer flights will be allowed to land and depart from Abu Dhabi International Airport, enabling travellers to connect easily through the UAE capital onwards to key global destinations. H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Airports commented, “This milestone has been enabled by the effective and swift response of our nation’s wise leadership in implementing comprehensive measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. The UAE is recognised globally as a transfer hub of choice, enabling passengers from around the world to travel with convenience and ease. With this initial step, we begin the process of restarting commercial air travel, contributing to the region’s economic recovery following COVID-19.” “We have made extensive preparations to welcome back increasing amounts of passengers to our airports, and we have worked with our longstanding partner, Etihad Airways, to implement comprehensive health and safety measures across our facilities. The welfare of passengers and our employees remains our top priority, and we continue to work with the relevant aviation authorities in the UAE to ensure their safety whilst travelling through Abu Dhabi,” he said.

Emirates airline will offer passenger services to 16 more cities on its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from June 15, following the UAE Federal Government’s announcement to lift restrictions on transit passengers services. With travel restrictions remaining in place in most countries, customers are reminded to check entry and exit requirements before their journeys. Flights to the following cities will be available for booking on emirates.com or via travel agents: Bahrain, Manchester, Zurich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin, New York JFK, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Taipei, Hong Kong, Perth and Brisbane. In addition, from June 8 Emirates will offer flights from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad for travellers from Pakistan who wish to connect onwards to other Emirates destinations. With this latest announcement, Emirates will be offering flights for passengers on the back of its scheduled cargo operations from Dubai to 29 cities, including existing flights to London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne and Manila (from 11th June). Customers can book to fly between destinations in the Asia Pacific and Europe or the Americas, with a convenient connection in Dubai, as long as they meet travel and immigration entry requirements of their destination country.Working closely with the UAE authorities, Emirates continues to take a measured and phased approach to flight resumption and rebuilding connections between Dubai and the world. Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes to all customers.

During the opening session of ATM Virtual, aviation industry veteran Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, outlined the impact of COVID-19 on the aviation industry and how it will return to normalcy in 2021. He also highlighted the measures implemented by the company in response to the pandemic. Sir Tim said, “We have seen a US$15 trillion torpedo hit the global economy and its crippled many, many sectors, with transportation and leisure just a few of the casualties. My own belief is there is sufficient resilience in the global economy to take this trauma as long as it doesn’t go on for too long. If we can accept there is a finite point where we will see the back of this, with adjustments to the way we go about our lives, the way we go about our business, and our travel aspirations, we will see things moving back to some kind of normality during the course of 2021.” “Planning for resumption is quite complicated, needless to say, we have a 24/7 watch on it as countries start to relax their access requirements but I see some difficulties as I don’t believe they will open at the pace we would like. I think there will be a degree of what they started to call the bubble effect, i.e. countries selecting other countries that are relatively COVID free and therefore allowing services between those countries,” he adds. Sir Tim concluded by saying, “The aviation business is in a critical and very fragile state at the moment and needs all the help it can get. Access, getting passengers and freight moving again, not necessarily to the levels pre-COVID, but at least getting …

Emirates airline updated its COVID-19 travel waiver policies into one simplified approach for rebooking and refunds on tickets issued in all its global markets, showcasing their customers first approach. Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates said, “The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented for everyone, and we’d like to thank our customers and trade partners for their patience, understanding and support as we worked through this period to ensure our policies are not only customer-friendly but also in line with regulatory requirements.We sincerely hope that our customers will choose to rebook and fly with us again at a later time, and that is why we’re offering up to two years validity on their current tickets, or travel vouchers which can be redeemed for any Emirates product or service. Any fees for making a change to the tickets will be waived for tickets issued till May 31, 2020 for travel up to August 31, 2020. However, if they would still like to opt for a refund, we will process that. We would just like to seek our customers’ understanding that refunds will take time as we have a significant backlog to manage.”

Emirates Airline has unveiled multi-faceted measures for employee and customer care at every step of the travel journey, redefining safety and hygiene standards on board and on the ground. The new measures were implemented with the resumption of regularly scheduled passenger flights to nine destinations. Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates said “Emirates is implementing a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the traveller’s journey, to enhance the sanitisation of all touchpoints, and ensure the health and safety of our customers and employees. The risk of catching an infection on an aircraft is already very low, but we have spared no effort in reviewing and redesigning every step, from check-in to disembarkation.” “Every measure implemented is an additional reduction in risk, and taken altogether, our aim is really to make flying as safe as possible. We are working with all the stakeholders in Dubai – including the airport, immigration, health and aviation authorities to implement such measures, and we will continue to review and consult expert advice for any development and changes. We are all aware that we have to adapt to different practices during this pandemic in our day to day activities.” said Redha.

Airports Council International (ACI) World and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have called on governments to ensure any new measures introduced for airports and airlines in the wake of COVID-19 are supported by scientific evidence and are consistent across the world. ACI and IATA have jointly issued a paper laying out a pathway for restarting the aviation industry – Safely Restarting Aviation – ACI and IATA Joint Approach. Airlines and airports have cooperated to build a roadmap for resuming operations which reassures the travelling public that health and safety remain the overall priorities. ACI and IATA are both central members the COVID-19 Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) being led by the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). CART enables the collaboration among governments and between governments and industry, which is vital to ensure the harmonisation and consistency of measures that are essential to restoring air connectivity and passenger confidence in air travel. “Airports and airlines have come together with ICAO and the wider aviation industry to address the biggest challenge ever faced by commercial aviation in restarting a global industry while continuing to halt the spread of COVID-19,” ACI World Director General Angela Gittens said. IATA’s Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said, “Safety is always our top priority and that includes public health. Restoring air connectivity is vital to restarting the global economy and reconnecting people. Our layered approach of measures recommended by airports and airlines safeguard public health while offering a practical approach for a gradual restart of operations.”  

Etihad Airways continues to increase the number of special flights it is operating worldwide to and from Abu Dhabi. Throughout May and June, the airline will increase frequencies on previously announced special flights and will add new services to Belgrade, Dublin, Geneva, Milan, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Toronto. In addition to the recently launched link between Melbourne and London, Etihad will also add services to Sydney, allowing a direct transit connection to and from the UK capital via Abu Dhabi. Etihad continues to follow UAE and international government, regulatory and health authority directives, and is playing its part in helping to limit the spread of COVID-19. The airline has implemented an extensive sanitisation and customer safety programme and is practicing the highest standards of hygiene at every part of the customer journey. This includes catering, aircraft and cabin deep-cleaning, check-in, health screening, boarding, inflight, crew interaction, meal service, disembarkation and ground transportation, among others.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is calling for aviation-specific financial relief measures from the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to address the severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the air transport sector. IATA estimates that revenues generated by airlines in the Saudi market will fall by $7.2 billion in 2020, 35 per cent below 2019 levels. That puts at risk nearly 287,500 Saudi jobs and $17.9 billion of Saudi’s GDP, which is generated by aviation directly and aviation-related tourism. In response to the impact of COVID-19, the Saudi government has introduced broad economic relief measures in excess of $32 billion in financial support for the private sector. It has also provided support for air transport by suspending the airport slot use rules for the summer season and extending licenses and certifications for crew, trainers and examiners. We urge the government to build on this and implement specific financial relief measures for aviation to ensure that the sector will be capable of driving the recovery. “Saudi Arabia has announced financial relief measures for sectors affected by COVID-19, but not specifically for aviation. Given the industry’s role in social and economic development as well as achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, it is important the government prioritises aviation and provide urgent financial relief,” said Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East. “Without a viable air transport sector, we can expect a slow and painful economic recovery. Before the crisis, Saudi Arabia was moving at full speed and achieving tangible results in modernisation, infrastructure development and economic growth,” said Albakri.

Arabian Travel Market (ATM) has confirmed aviation industry veteran Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airlines, and Jozsef Varadi, CEO of Wizz Air will speak at the inaugural ATM Virtual, which takes place from June 1-3, 2020. According to the latest analysis from the International Air Travel Association (IATA), the COVID-19 crisis will see global airline passenger revenues drop by US$314 billion in 2020, a 55 per cent decrease compared to 2019. In a series of seminars and interviews led by respected aviation expert John Strickland, Director of JLS Consulting, ATM Virtual will look at the measures airlines are undertaking to counteract the direct impact the pandemic is having on their business. A major discussion point during the event will be the opening of Wizz Air’s forthcoming subsidiary in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, which will further underscore its market position in the budget airline sector. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “The airline industry continues to face deteriorating conditions with global airline passenger revenues predicted to fall by over 55 per cent in 2020. To address these issues, we have brought together two of the most influential figures in the airline industry to discuss their procedures and strategies for the future.”