Source: A4A A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio issued the following statement in response to the White House’s announcement regarding implementation of its new international travel policy: We are pleased that the Administration’s new global vaccine and testing framework for international travel will be effective November 8, 2021. U.S. airlines have been strong advocates for an individual risk-based system to safely ease travel restrictions, and we recognize that the safe reopening of borders is essential for our nation’s economic recovery. The full reopening of international travel is also critical to reviving economies around the globe, reinvigorating communities and supporting millions of jobs in the U.S. and abroad. We have seen an increase in ticket sales for international travel over [...]

Source: ACI-NA Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) President and CEO Kevin M. Burke today issued the following statement on the Biden Administration’s announcement that it would begin easing international travel restrictions on November 8, 2021. ACI-NA is the trade association presenting commercial service airports in the United States and Canada. “Today’s announcement from the Biden Administration is a promising step forward for our industry following a long period of depressed international air travel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ACI-NA has long called for the U.S. government to implement a plan to safely reopen our borders to international passenger traffic. We appreciate the Biden Administration’s commitment to working with industry on these complex challenges and we look forward to our [...]

Source: US FAA The Federal Aviation Administration Aviation and Space Education Airport Design Challenge registration opens November 1, 2021. This annual competition is an opportunity for K-12 students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects to meet aviation professionals and learn about the aerospace industry and STEM concepts and careers. “The Airport Design Challenge is a perfect fit of science, technology, engineering and math which is so much a part of what we do at the FAA and so important to pass on to the next generation.” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. The Airport Design Challenge helps students use the Microsoft game Minecraft to design virtual airports based on guidance from FAA aerospace and engineering experts. Students will collaborate [...]

Source: ICAO The attention of ministers of transport and health for 193 countries will be focused on air transport over the next two weeks, as discussions are underway at the ICAO High-level Conference on COVID-19 (HLCC) on how to safely accelerate the resumption of global air connections to revitalize tourism and trade. Event interactions, taking place from 12 to 22 October, will focus not only on near-term objectives relevant to countries’ traveler vaccination and related pandemic risk mitigation measures, but also on medium- and long-term resilience and sustainability objectives to assure future infectious disease events might be managed with far less global disruption. In his opening remarks to the virtual event, ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano stressed that as a [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched a new industry certification program— Center of Excellence for Independent Validators Lithium Battery - to improve the safe handling and transport of lithium batteries across the supply chain. "Lithium batteries are critical power sources for many consumer goods on which we all rely. And it is vital that we can ship them safely by air either with finished products or as components in global supply chains. That's why we developed the CEIV Lithium Battery certification. It gives shippers and airlines assurance that certified logistic companies operate to the highest safety and security standards when shipping lithium batteries," said Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General. Shipments of lithium batteries (alone or with finished products) [...]