Source: IATA ACI EUROPE (Airports Council International) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged European Governments to lift all travel restrictions for fully vaccinated/recovered individuals holding a valid Covid Certificate – as advised by the new regime for travel within the EU which comes into force today. This new regime, set out by an EU Council Recommendation adopted on 25 January, is based on the health status of travellers, rather than the epidemiological situation of their country or area of origin. Independent research (see link in notes below) conducted in Finland and Italy provides insight into developing a Europe-wide policy for removing restrictions. The research made public today confirms the validity of the traveler-centric approach, highlighting the inefficiency of [...]

Source: US Department of Transportation Overall air cargo remains up 12.7% over pre-pandemic November 2019 U.S. Airlines Carried 0.2% less cargo by weight in November 2021 (preliminary) than in November 2020. The decrease comprises a gain of 0.3% in domestic cargo and a loss of 1.8% in international cargo, according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 14 of the leading U.S. cargo airlines. The 14 airlines carry 95% of total cargo by weight transported on U.S. airlines. Cargo data consists of freight and mail carried within the U.S. and between the U.S. and foreign points. November 2021 (preliminary) air cargo numbers for 14 U.S. cargo carriers: Total: 1,650 thousand tons, down 0.2% from Nov. 2020, [...]

Source: ICAO ICAO has published its first Health Master List, a new data resource for States and aviation stakeholders to aid in the more efficient and secure authentication of traveler health certificates, including vaccination and test result certificates. In support of WHO recommendations, ICAO has embarked on an innovative Public Key Infrastructure collaboration with the Luxembourg State Agency, INCERT. The aim of the partnership is to address the urgent need for improved trust and processing of health documentation internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. “The presentation of documentation related to COVID-19 health interventions has become commonplace since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many States originally issued health proofs appropriate for domestic and/or regional use cases,” commented ICAO [...]

Source: AFA AFA is proud to celebrate Black History Month in February, an annual national observance that highlights the power and impact of the Black community. On February 11, 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor worked her first flight at Mohawk Airlines. She was the first African-American Flight Attendant in the United States. Only six months after breaking one historic barrier, Taylor's career ended due to another discriminatory policy: the airline's marriage ban, a common practice among airlines of the day of dismissing Flight Attendants who became either married or pregnant. Watch AFA's tribute to Ruth Carol Taylor. While we celebrate the contributions of trailblazers like Taylor, this month is not just a time to highlight history—we must take on racism, poverty and inequality today [...]

Source: US DOT Popular RAISE Discretionary Grant Program funds increased by approximately $500 million over last year under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help meet overwhelming demand The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $1.5 billion in grant funding through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program. The popular program helps communities around the country carry out projects with significant local or regional impact. RAISE discretionary grants, which were originally created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as TIGER grants, can be used for a wide variety of projects. Recent examples of funded projects include dedicated bus lanes in Baltimore, highway and bridge repair in New Mexico, [...]

Source: US DOT Through continued technical collaboration, the FAA, Verizon, and AT&T have agreed on steps that will enable more aircraft to safely use key airports while also enabling more towers to deploy 5G service. The FAA appreciates the strong communication and collaborative approach with wireless companies, which have provided more precise data about the exact location of wireless transmitters and supported more thorough analysis of how 5G C-band signals interact with sensitive aircraft instruments. The FAA used this data to determine that it is possible to safely and more precisely map the size and shape of the areas around airports where 5G signals are mitigated, shrinking the areas where wireless operators are deferring their antenna activations. This will enable [...]

ACI-LAC invites its members to the third ACI-LAC & InteVISTAS Consulting Inc. webinar on "Airports as Destinations: Rethinking Your Customer Experience Strategy". Customer experience (CX) can be defined as the cumulative result of past experience, expectations, and interactions with multiple touchpoints that are scripted to produce a specific result or effect on consumers. With additional health screening requirements and the emergence of touchless and seamless travel technologies, updating a CX strategy can be a daunting exercise for airport managers. This webinar will outline the value of implementing a CX strategy from a commercial, operational, and traveler experience perspectives in the current ever-evolving regulatory environment. We will also demonstrate the potential of a CX strategy to unleash non-aeronautical revenues and the branding/repositioning of [...]

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation The U.S. Department of Transportation today released its Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on airline operational data compiled for the month of November 2021 for on-time performance, mishandled baggage, mishandled wheelchairs and scooters, complaints received, and oversales. The ATCR is designed to assist consumers with information on the quality of services provided by airlines. The COVID-19 pandemic continued to result in significant changes to airline schedules and operations in November 2021. The 573,134 flights operated in November 2021 were 88.2% of the 649,511 flights operated in pre-pandemic November 2019. Operated flights in November 2021 were up 47.9% year-over-year from the 387,481 flights operated in November 2020 and down 1.7% month-over-month from the 582,759 flights operated [...]

Source: FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working with law enforcement, the aviation community and the National Football League to ensure safe, secure and efficient aircraft operations for Super Bowl LVI. The Super Bowl will be held Feb. 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The agency is planning for hundreds of additional take-offs and landings and aircraft parked at Los Angeles-area airports during Super Bowl week. Special procedures, including Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) and a No Drone Zone, will limit flights around SoFi Stadium before, during and after the game. The game-day TFR will go into effect at approximately 2:30 p.m. PST. It will cover a ring of 30 nautical miles (34.5 miles), centered over the stadium and from the ground up to 18,000 feet in [...]

Source: ACI Europe In the last few weeks, Europe has seen a surge in COVID cases and the spread of the latest and highly-transmittable variant, Omicron. Whilst the European Commission announced in December 20211 that the EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) would be valid for nine months without a booster shot, several EU countries – including France, Italy, Denmark and Malta – decided to shorten the validity of vaccination passes for national use to seven or three months. A number of countries have also introduced additional testing requirements that apply to vaccinated/recovered EU travellers, going against the current Council Recommendations.2 Transport and tourism associations are very concerned at this emerging new patchwork of rules across Europe. The industry supports the European [...]