Source: ICAO Delivering another important contribution to the international community’s efforts to realize a responsible and sustainable air transport recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, ICAO has announced the publishing of new technical specifications for a Visible Digital Seal (VDS) for non-constrained environments. The ICAO VDS stores datasets for test and vaccination certificates in a two-dimensional barcode which can be paper- or screen-based. Border control and other receiving parties can verify the data against established requirements efficiently and seamlessly, including through the use of traveller self-service kiosks and processes. The VDS barcode is digitally signed for security, with the signature being based on the same public key cryptographic infrastructure principles already used to support ePassport issuance and authentication by more than [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that domestic travel demand improved in April 2021 compared to the prior month, although it remained well below pre-pandemic levels, while recovery in international passenger travel continued to be stalled in the face of government-imposed travel restrictions. Because comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted all comparisons are to April 2019, which followed a normal demand pattern. Total demand for air travel in April 2021 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was down 65.4% compared to April 2019. That was an improvement over the 66.9% decline recorded in March 2021 versus March 2019. The better performance was driven by [...]

Source: US DOT U.S. airlines employed 706,504 workers in April 2021, 6,531 fewer than in March 2021 (713,035) and 48,591 fewer than in March 2020 (755,095). The April industry numbers consist of 592,931 full-time and 113,573 part-time workers. The largest March to April reductions among major airlines were American Airlines, down 2,410 employees, and SkyWest Airlines, down 2,329 employees.  From the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the largest employment reductions were Delta Air Lines, down 24,321 employees, and United Airlines, down 23,632 employees. From March 2020 to April 2021, Federal Express added 24,392 employees.   Regulations require airlines to report employment numbers to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for employees who worked or received pay for any part [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released April 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand continued to outperform pre-COVID levels (April 2019) with demand up 12%. As comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons to follow are to April 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern.   Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was up 12% compared to April 2019 and 7.8% compared to March 2021. Seasonally adjusted demand is now 5% higher than the pre-crisis August 2018 peak. The strong performance was led by North American carriers contributing 7.5 percentage points to the 12% growth rate in April. [...]

Source: ALTA The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) is committed to working for a more diverse and inclusive aviation and today reinforces this conviction with the affiliation of our CEO to the group of advocates in IAWA, the International Aviation Women’s Association. José Ricardo Botelho, ALTA’s Executive Director & CEO, highlights: “I am honored to be an advocate at IAWA, an association with 33 years of work focused on promoting the achievements and impact of women in aviation and inspiring young women to join the industry. I am convinced that the near future of aviation is more diverse and much more creative, efficient and agile. From ALTA we will further strengthen ties with IAWA to continue developing [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to maintain the critical separation between politics and aviation safety issues. The call followed the latest development in events following the incident when Ryanair FR4978 was intercepted over Belarus Airspace and forced to land in Minsk. On 2 June EASA replaced its recommendation (Safety Information Bulletin) for European airlines to carefully assess the risk of flying in Belarus airspace with a blanket prohibition (Safety Directive) on European aircraft entering Belarus airspace. “Aviation safety must never be politicized. IATA condemned the actions of the Belarus government and called for an independent investigation. Banning European aircraft from using Belarusian airspace with a Safety Directive is also [...]

Source: European Commission Joint Press Release on the Conclusion of the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) and its Member States have concluded the negotiations on the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement (AE CATA) at the Extraordinary ASEAN-EU Senior Transport Officials Meeting held virtually on 2 June 2021. The AE CATA is the world’s first bloc-to-bloc air transport agreement and will bolster connectivity and economic development among the 37 member states of ASEAN and the EU. Under the agreement, airlines of ASEAN and the EU will have greater opportunities to operate passenger and cargo services between and beyond both regions. Airlines of ASEAN and the EU will be able [...]