Forward bookings for air travel in the fourth quarter show that the recovery continues to falter, says International Air Transport Association (IATA).

While domestic travel is picking up across Africa as countries re-open their borders, international travel remains heavily constrained as major markets including the EU remain closed to citizens of African nations.

Currently, residents from only two African countries– Rwanda and Tunisia – are permitted to enter EU borders.

“The further fall in passenger traffic in 2020 is more bad news for the aviation industry in Africa.  A few months ago, we thought that demand reaching 45% across the continent in 2020 compared to 2019 was as grim as it could get. But with international travel remaining virtually non-existent and a slower than expected pick up in domestic travel, we have revised our expectations downward to 30%,” said Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East.

More airlines expected to fold without Committed Relief 

Four airlines across Africa have ceased operations due to the impact of COVID-19 and two are in voluntary administration, with many more in serious financial distress. Without urgent financial relief more carriers and their employees are at risk, as is the wider African air transport industry, which supports 7.7 million jobs on the continent.

The governments of Rwanda, Senegal, Côte D’Ivoire and Burkina Faso have pledged a total of USD 311 million in direct financial support to air transport. A further USD 30 billion has been promised by some governments, international finance bodies and other institutions including the African Development Bank, African Export Import Bank, African Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for air transport and tourism.  However, most of this relief is yet reach those in need.

“Hundreds of thousands of airline jobs are at risk if there is a systemic failure in African aviation. And this is not just in aviation but across industries that depend on efficient global connectivity. Much needed financial relief has been pledged, but little has materialized. The situation is critical. Governments and donor organizations need to act fast or the challenge will move from supporting an industry in severe distress to resurrection from bankruptcy,” said Albakri.

Source: https://www.theafricalogistics.com/2020/10/22/iata-revises-2020-passenger-traffic-forecast-down-for-africa/

The Government of India has relaxed visa restrictions for international passengers, with only those on tourist visa now barred from entering the country.

“It has been decided to permit all Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders and all other foreign nationals intending to visit India for any purpose, except on a Tourist Visa, to enter by air or water routes through authorized airports and seaport immigration check posts,” said a statement from Ministry of Home Affairs on October 22.

“This includes flights operated under Vande Bharat Mission, air transport bubble arrangements or by any non-scheduled commercial flights as allowed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation,” the statement added.

The easing of restrictions comes even as the government has expanded the air travel bubble arrangement with 18 countries. Earlier this week, Bangladesh and Ukraine were added to the list that already includes the US, the UK, France, Germany, Canada and UAE.

All the travelers, the MHA statement added, will have to “strictly adhere to the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare regarding quarantine and other health/COVID-19 matters.”

In August, the government had given a partial relaxation for the OCI card holders. But this was only for those from Germany, the US, the UK and France, with whom India had the travel bubble arrangement. The latest communication eases all restrictions.

What are not restored 

While the government has restored, with immediate effect, all existing visas, the relaxation excludes electronic visa, tourist visa and medical visa.

But the statement added that foreign nationals intending to visit India for medical treatment, can apply for a medical visa. This is also applicable for their medical attendants.

“This decision will enable foreign nationals to come to India for various purposes such as business, conferences, employment, studies, research and medical purposes,” the ministry statement said.

Source: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/international-flights-oci-and-pio-cardholders-can-now-visit-india-government-relaxes-visa-restrictions-5998041.html

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the release of the results of testing by the United States Transportation Command (US Transcom) confirming the low risk of COVID-19 transmission onboard an aircraft.

The US Transcom testing, which was conducted in August, found that “the overall exposure risk from aerosolized pathogens, like coronavirus, is very low” on the types of airline aircraft typically contracted to move Department of Defense (DOD) personnel and their families, US Transcom stated. More than 300 aerosol releases, simulating a passenger infected with COVID-19, were performed over eight days using United Airlines Boeing 767-300 and 777-200 twin-aisle aircraft.

“Last week, IATA reported that since the start of 2020 there have been 44 cases of COVID-19 reported in which transmission is thought to have been associated with a flight journey, out of 1.2 billion passenger journeys in 2020. The US Transcom research provides further evidence that the risk of infection onboard an aircraft appears to be very low, and certainly lower than many other indoor environments,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

The US Transcom testing showed that the aerosol was “rapidly diluted by the high air exchange rates” of a typical aircraft cabin. Aerosol particles remained detectable for a period of less than six minutes on average. Both aircraft models tested removed particulate matter 15 times faster than a typical home ventilation system and 5-6 times faster “than the recommended design specifications for modern hospital operating or patient isolation rooms.” Testing was done with and without a mask for the simulated infected passenger.

The testing was conducted in partnership with Boeing and United Airlines, as well as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Zeteo Tech, S3i and the University of Nebraska’s National Strategic Research Institute.

Source: https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2020-10-16-02/

The Additional Director General of the India Ministry of Tourism, Ms. Rupinder Brar, said that technology will be a game-changer for the travel start-up industry and government is ready to support new ideas and collaborate with start-ups.

Addressing a webinar on “Travel Start-up Accelerator Series – Towards A Self-Reliant India,” organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Ms. Brar said that COVID-19 will accelerate the digital transformation in the India travel and tourism industry that will lead to innovative, creative, and out of the box thinking. “We cannot miss out on the software product opportunity that lies in front of India, and this is the time for start-ups to ‘Make in India’ and for the world,” she added.

Ms. Brar stated that as travel restrictions are easing, both the government and industry are coming up with ideas to implement minimum or no-contact set up. “E-visa seems to be the way forward which can act as a supporting tool for the promotional campaigns run by the governments. This will also help in recognizing a tourist destination as a safe destination,” she said.

Highlighting the global competition in the tourism industry, Ms. Brar said: “Adopting digital technology provides the best opportunity for the tourism industry to cement their position in the Indian economy. There has never been a better time for the industry to use it and make themselves globally competitive.”

The slow easing of international travel restrictions in the future will result in intense competition as countries will target the same markets. This calls for an aggressive strategy focusing on the intense use of technology, noted Ms. Brar. 

The Director of Travel, BFSI, Classifieds, Gaming, Telco & Payments for Google India, Ms. Roma Datta, said digital adoption by consumers has increased in the past few months, and travel start-ups must leverage the opportunities in digitization.

“Understanding the changing needs of the travelers; reinventing, reimagining, and being relevant are key factors for travel start-ups. COVID-19 has taught India to be ‘Atmanirbhar [self-reliant],’ and several start-ups will emerge from this adversity by seeking inspiration from the global market,” said Ms. Datta.

The Co-Chairman of the FICCI Travel Technology Committee & Thought Leader, Mr. Ashish Kumar, said that companies need to focus on innovation which is the key for sustained growth. Travel companies and businesses must promote their safety protocols and encourage travelers to also keep sustainability in mind, he added.

The Co-Chairman of the FICCI Travel Technology Committee & Co-Founder TBO Group, and Managing Director of the Nijhawan Group, Mr. Ankush Nijhawan, said that the new travel companies are extremely talented but require mentorship to take the next step. He also urged the government to support and boost the start-up sector in India. 

The Secretary General of FICCI, Mr. Dilip Chenoy, said that start-up as a concept challenges the existing business models, markets, and thought process and brings in disruption. “During the pandemic, we must identify the start-ups and help them accelerate. This is a time to create a new experience which is safe, secure, and generates a growth paradigm for the industry,” he added.

The webinar was moderated by Mr. Kartik Sharma, Board Member of the Start-Up Mentor Board.

Source: https://www.eturbonews.com/823370/technology-will-be-game-changer-for-travel-start-ups/

Following the highly successful first ever SPOTLIGHT VIRTUAL EXPO on 30 September which attracted 40 Exhibitors and 162 Buyers from 25 countriesDerek Houston has announced details for the next Spotlight Virtual to be held on Wednesday 04 and Thursday 05 November

Reports indicate that Regional travel within Africa is already seeing a re-bound as more and more airlines re-launch their flights into and around Africa.

While nothing can beat a face to face Workshop – for the moment VIRTUAL has become the new normal and a very dynamic way to communicate with your Trade partners within Africa and overseas.

Spotlight Virtual TravelExpo will promote Inter-regional travel within Africa (from Southern Africa to East & West Africa and vice versa); Outbound travel from Africa to Indian Ocean islands and overseas destinations (Europe, The Gulf etc) and Inbound Tourism from Overseas countries to Africa

Spotlight Virtual Travel Expo is designed to create a real Exhibition experience with B2B meetings and Pre – scheduled Appointments.

At the September Spotlight Virtual Expo 162 Buyers from 15 countries in Africa -(including 51 from East Africa) and 31 tour operators from ten overseas countries registered. Buyers attended from Kenya, Australia, USA, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Italy, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Czech Republic, Romania, Ethiopia, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, UK, Netherlands, Nigeria, Finland, Israel, India, Uganda, Canada and Mozambique.

We have decided to extend the workshop to two full days and also open the meeting slots from early morning to late evening to enable buyers from all time zones to attend at times convenient for them.

Houston expects 20 exhibitors to participate and over 200 Trade buyers to register from Africa and overseas countries. “We have very strict criteria for buyer registration commented Derek “and we do not allow sellers to sign up as buyers!”

For further information on exhibiting or registering as a buyer please contact  Dere@houstonmarketing.co.za or visit www.houstonmarketing.co.za

Kenya has moved the region closer to achieving an open airspace following the decision by the Cabinet to approve establishment, implementation and management of the East African Community (EAC) Seamless Upper Airspace.

The development, which has been elusive for many years, comes at a time the call for creation of a common airspace has been getting louder from different stakeholders who have argued that the move will lower high cost of air transport in the region.

If implemented, the move will enable interoperability and foster seamlessness for the Air Navigation Services (ANS) and enhancement of collaborative activities in the provision of ANS in member states.

This will also lead to implementation of national aeronautical information databases development and operationalisation of the centralised regional aeronautical information database.

The treaty was signed on November 30, 1999 and entered into force on July 7 in 2000, with three original partner States comprising Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Burundi, Rwanda acceded to EAC Treaty on June 2007 and became full members from July 2007. Republic of South Sudan was officially admitted in 2016.

The cabinet, led by President Kenyatta, approved the memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the seamless upper space in last Thursday’s meeting.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) has before pointed out that the reason air tickets have remained high in Africa is lack of a common airspace.

According to IATA, African countries need to fast-track the agreements that have been signed, aimed at introducing a single airspace to enable passengers enjoy reduced cost of travel.

“Air travel costs remain high in Africa because of lack of open skies as each country tries to protect their airlines. This eventually affects the passengers,” said, Regional Vice President of IATA for Africa and the Middle- East Muhammad Ali Albakri in an earlier interview.

Mr Albakri said African nations are hurting their economies by protecting their national carriers by their reluctance to implement open sky policy.

“With open skies policy, it means that more airlines will fly and the cost of air ticket will be affordable. This means that countries’ economies will benefit from this,” he said.

OPEN SKIES

In 1988, a number of African countries came together with the view of creating an open airspace for ease of movement and boost trade on the continent in what was called Yamoussoukro Declaration.

In 2000, the decision was endorsed by heads of state and government at the Organisation of African Unity — now African Union — and became fully binding in 2002.

However, to date, not much has been done in regard to adoption of the open skies policy by member states as 14 nations have not ratified the treaty.

African nations are protecting their airlines from stiff competition, putting to doubt whether the dream of open skies policy will be achieved.

For instance, Kenya and Tanzania last year denied other airlines the rights to fly to a third country other than their hub in what appeared to be a deliberate move to protect their domestic carriers.

Kenya Civil Aviation in gazette notice December last year failed to grant permission to Saudi Arabian Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines who had sought permission to vary their licenses.

Saudi Airlines wanted variation of its existing licence to include the routes Jeddah/Nairobi/Maastricht and Jeddah/Nairobi/Liege, however, this request was not granted.

On the other hand, Ethiopian Airlines, the fiercest competitor of Kenya Airways, wanted variation of its existing air service licence to include aircraft type B737F, which was also denied. Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/shipping-logistics/kenya-approves-move-eac-seamless-airspace-2480094

The national carrier has expanded its codeshare partnership with Delta Airlines as the carrier prepares to resume New York flights later this month.

Kenya Airways and the US-based carrier have expanded their current codeshare to three more points in America.

The partnership will see KQ expand its current network in North America, offering customers flying into Dallas, Washington DC and San Francisco a one-stop travel option via New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport.

“The one-stop service via New York into North America is critical, especially in the current environment as Kenya Airways continues to focus on offering safe travel by reducing the amount of connections needed by passengers connecting to and from Africa,” said KQ in a statement.

In addition to the three destinations, KQ is currently connecting guests to Columbus, Phoenix, Charlotte, Denver, Orlando, Houston, Miami, Chicago, Raleigh Durham, Montreal and Toronto, among other destinations in North America through the codeshare arrangement with Delta.

Delta and Kenya Airways are both members of the SkyTeam alliance. Frequent Flyers will, therefore, earn and redeem miles on both airlines, while Elite Plus travellers benefit from SkyPriority services.

KQ had announced that it would resume direct flights to New-York from Nairobi on October 29 with a slimmed-down operation of two weekly flights after a six-month freeze due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The carrier will initially operate flights on Wednesdays and Sundays, down from a frequency of five before the global corona outbreak that forced it to ground flights.

KQ suspended international flights in March following a surge in cases of Covid-19 that saw countries across the world close their airspace for passenger aircraft.

International flights resumed on August 1 with KQ slashing the routes that it used to fly before the pandemic by nearly half as demand remains low.

Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/kq-delta-airlinesexpand-america-codeshare-deal-2481496

Domestic carriers have doubled flight frequency on nearly all routes, riding on improved demand for air travel following the reopening of the country from a Covid-19 lockdown.

A spot check shows that several airlines including Jambojet and Safarilink have upped the flights per week on routes such as Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, Malindi and Diani, in what look set to boost their revenues.

Passengers travelling to routes such as Kisumu, Eldoret, Ukunda and Malindi can now fly two times per day from their hubs in Nairobi up from once per day when the carriers resumed operation in Mid-July.

“We have increased our frequencies because we realised there is a huge desire for domestic travel after the Covid-19 restrictions were partially lifted by the state,” said Safailink chief executive Alex Avedi.

“We are also not pricing for profit at the moment. The air ticket we are charging is meant to keep operations going.”

Under the new changes, Safailink is flying to Kisumu 14 times per week up from seven. This includes an additional evening flight to Kisumu on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Safarilink has also increased its frequency on the Diani and Vipingo route to 14 times per week up from seven.

It has also introduced flights to Malindi where it is flying seven times per week.

Jambojet is also flying to Eldoret, Ukunda and Malindi 14 times per week up from seven times.

Jambojet is, however flying to Kisumu 24 times per week up from 14 when it resumed operations in July. It is also flying to Mombasa 32 times per week up from 21 per week.

The increase in frequencies by Jambojet comes barely a month after the carrier increased fares in five of its domestic routes including Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret and Malindi and Diani.

Passengers going to Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Malindi have been paying a one-way minimum fare of Sh6,600 up from Sh4,800 on the routes from Nairobi since last month, reflecting a 37.5 percent increase.

The carrier’s passenger capacity has increased from 30 percent in the weeks after Kenya resumed domestic flights in July 1 to 58 percent in September.

“We are seeing a slight increase in passenger numbers flying the domestic routes. This is the reason why we are increasing our frequencies to accommodate more numbers,” said Jambojet acting managing director Karanja Ndegwa.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Association of Air Operators (KAAO) said its members are yet to receive the Sh3 billion government bailout it had requested six months ago.

Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/domestic-carriers-doubleflights-on-rising-demand-2481470

Vegans and vegetarians have become accustomed to getting the short end of the (gluten-free?) breadstick from many airlines.

Some – especially in Asia and the middle east – are better than others when catering for non-carnivores, and the gap continues to close: even Singapore Airlines is now offering a vegan version of its signature satay sticks, using plant-based Impossible Meat.

Qatar Airways has now taken a confident culinary stride forward with the launch of ‘fully vegan’ à la carte menu in business class.

Dishes on offer include smoked moutabel, spiral courgettes and arrabbiata sauce, tofu and spinach tortellini, asian barbecue tofu, noodles, scallions and shiitake, fried tofu with vegetable tajine, cauliflower couscous and kalamata bruschetta, and chickpea flour omelette.

However, the airline says this isn’t just for vegans – the move is designed to cater to increasing demand for plant-based food.

“We always strive to provide our customers with authentic and indulgent experiences in the skies,” says Qatar Airways Group CEO His Excellency Akbar Al Baker.

“We are delighted to incorporate a vegan main course choice to our on-board menu, offering our passengers yet another lifestyle choice that redefines the expectations from a five-star airline.”

Qatar Airways’ vegan business class menu is available on all flights from the airline’s hub at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, and selected flights into Doha. Source: https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qatar-airways-vegan-business-class-menu