Thirteen airlines to operate from Doha International Airport from September 15

Effective from 15 September 2022 until 30 December 2022, 13 airlines will commence operations at Doha International Airport (DIA), Doha's second airport, located 15 minutes away from the city center and within 30 minutes from most of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums. 

According to a statement from Hamad International Airport (HIA), the airlines are: 

1. Air Arabia
2. Air Cairo 
3. Badr Airlines 
4. Ethiopian Airlines
5. Etihad Airways 
6. Flydubai 
7. Himalaya Airlines
8. Jazeera Airways 
9. Nepal Airlines 
10. Pakistan International Airlines 
11. Pegasus Airlines 
12. SalamAir 
13. Tarco Aviation 

Car parking facilities are available at both the DIA departure and arrival terminals (parking charges will apply), the statement noted, adding that prayer rooms, high-speed WIFI, Ooredoo and Vodaphone kiosks, ATMs, and foreign exchange services, as well as special services for passengers with reduced mobility, will also be available. 

Car Parking charges are as follows: 
Hourly rate of QR 10 (up to first 5 hours)

Each additional hour or any part thereof will be QR 5 each (up to 24 hours)

Each 24 hours - QR 145

Payment can be made by cash or card.

Departures at Doha International Airport:
Doha International Airport’s departure terminal is located in the Old Airport area in Doha city, at the junction of D-ring road and Al Matar Street.

The departures terminal is designed to handle 2,000 departing passengers per hour. It has 83 check-in desks, 52 departure immigration counters, and 22 departure boarding gates.

Access into the terminal building is reserved for ticketed passengers only.

The departures terminal is connected to the city via the Al Matar Al Qadeem metro station- Red Line (600 meters away), with multiple bus routes to the terminal.

Car parking payment can be made upon exiting the parking area.

Retail and food and beverage options, wellness services, currency exchange, and ATMs are available for passengers.

Passengers can purchase SIM cards and top up roaming data at Ooredoo and Vodaphone booths located within the terminal.

 

Arrivals at Doha International Airport:
Doha International Airport’s arrival terminal is located at Ras Abu Aboud, on C Ring Road, Doha. 

DIA arrivals terminal has been designed to handle 2,000 arriving passengers per hour. It has 52 arrival immigration counters.

Passenger pick-up facilities are available at the DIA arrivals terminal.

Parking payments can be made at payment machines located within the terminal or upon exiting the parking area.

The arrivals terminal is connected to the city via the National Museum metro station- Gold Line (800 meters away) as well as buses, limousines, taxis, and car rental facilities.

Qatar Duty-Free (QDF) retail options, Currency exchange, and ATMs, as well as food and beverage options, are available for passengers.

Passengers can purchase SIM cards at Ooredoo and Vodaphone booths located within the terminal.

Qatar Tourism and Discover Qatar counters are also available to assist passengers that are planning to explore the country.

(Source: The Peninsula)

From Bengaluru to the airport for Rs 10: Why new train service is a game changer

 Five trains are now plying between the city and the airport, offering a new path for thousands of passengers and workers.

On Monday evening, Rahul Bhakta, a 27-year-old resident of Bengaluru, frantically checked cab fares to Bengaluru International Airport, located 35 km from the city centre. The aircraft maintenance engineer had a flight to Chennai at 8.30 pm but scrolling through his phone, his face fell as he saw that the cab fare was almost half the cost of his flight ticket. 

“It looked like it was going to rain and that would mean a price surge in getting a cab,” Rahul said. He considered taking the bus to the airport but it still set him back by Rs 270. “There was also the evening rush-hour traffic,” says Rahul.

Until Monday, a bus or a cab were Rahul’s only options of public transport to the airport from his home in Kalyan Nagar. But a newly-launched service is now changing that and adding a third option to the mix  — a suburban train from the city to the airport at just Rs 10. 

“The timings matched my flight. The station was 15 minutes from my home so I went there and asked at the counter. They said that the train to the airport has started,” said Rahul, holding up his ticket. 

Five trains will operate from Bengaluru to the airport for the next few months — two trains will leave the KSR Railway Station at 4:45 am and 9 pm and three other trains will operate from Yelahanka (7 am), Yeshwantpur (8:30 am) and Cantonment (5:55 pm) stations. 

Five more trains will operate in the other direction from the airport to the city, with the earliest train at 6:23 am and the last train at 10:38 pm.

The five trains plying between the city and the airport could make a world of difference for the 25,000 people who work at the airport as well as flight travellers and those who accompany the passengers to the airport. 

According to officials at the Bengaluru International Airport, the daily traffic at the airport is around 30,000. The halt station was built by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), the company which manages the airport.

“Till yesterday, there was no option to go to the airport without spending at least Rs 250. The train service is also a cheaper and safer way to commute to the airport since you are not exposed to the pollution of road traffic. These trains can take around 700 people considering the [physical] distancing rules. So the service can now be used by around 3500 people every day. The railways should aim to increase this number,” Rajkumar Dugar, convenor of  Citizens for Citizens (C4C), and one of the activists who advocated for the airport halt station, said. 

Rahul boarded the train at 6 pm and was the sole passenger to disembark at the airport about an hour and seventeen minutes later. Though the train provides an affordable and traffic-free path to Bengaluru’s airport, and has been a long-standing demand from activists, there is still little awareness among prospective passengers. 

And while Rahul was familiar with the service, he still nervously glanced at his phone every few minutes to follow the train’s path. Channasandra station: 6:24 pm. Bettahalasur station: 6:55 pm. 

“It is a new route and there was confusion among travellers. I kept checking the progress of the train on my phone because after all, I had boarded after seeing a Facebook post. I was still unsure that the train would take me to the airport,” said Rahul. 

To his relief, the train reached the newly-built airport station at 7:12 pm after leaving Cantonment Railway Station at 5:55 pm. The halt station is located near the boundary of the airport and a free shuttle bus awaited Rahul. 

Rahul reached the airport at 7.30 pm, an hour before his flight. “I spent Rs 60 for the auto and the train ride and I didn’t get late for the flight. Even though the train was delayed by 20 minutes, the ride was definitely more comfortable than being stuck in Bengaluru traffic,” a beaming Rahul said. 

Delays mar first day of service

However, all was not well during the launch of the service on Monday. The first train left KSR Station at 4.45 am amid fanfare and with high-profile passengers on-board. But commuters complained that the train from Yeshwantpur to the airport at 8:30 am was delayed by an hour. The train travelling from the airport to Cantonment Station was similarly delayed and only arrived at 9:30 pm, an hour late. 

Mohan, who manages an electrical shop in Chikkaballapura, is a regular commuter on the route from Yeshwantpur which extends beyond the airport. He said that there were no delays in the route in the weeks before the airport service was launched. “Today was the first time in a while there was a long delay, both while going towards the airport and later while coming back to the city,” Mohan says. 

A railway official played down concerns over the delays stating that it will review the trains in the line and decongest it. “We will be addressing the issues that came up on the first day,” a railway official says. 

The 24-km of rail line between Yehalanka and Devanahalli is a single track, which means that trains can only go once every 30 minutes in either direction. The airport halt station lies in between these two stations. “Ideally, the railways should take up doubling work on this line,” Mohan says.

Rajkumar Dugar however explains that since a double line may take years to build, upgrading the railway station in Doddajala to a crossing station at the cost of Rs 10 crore will ease the congestion. The Doddajala station, which is over 100 years old, is the penultimate station before the airport halt station while travelling from the city. 

Despite the challenges, commuters like Rahul say that the airport train is the only sensible mode of transportation to the airport. 

“When a cab ride can cost as much as a plane ticket, having a cheap train service to the airport is essential. I will be encouraging people to use this service. It can be improved but if you plan in advance, this is a great alternative to go to the airport,” Rahul said, adding, “The railways should ensure that there are minimal delays.”

(Source: TNM)

Grounded pilots out of practice because of COVID-19 spark airline safety fears

 On Sept. 15, an Indonesian plane carrying 307 passengers and 11 crew to the northern city of Medan momentarily veered off the runway after landing, sparking an investigation by the country’s transport safety regulator. It found the pilot had flown less than three hours in the previous 90 days. The first officer hadn’t flown at all since Feb. 1.

The incident underlines an emerging risk from the coronavirus pandemic: pilots aren’t getting enough opportunity to fly because airlines have grounded planes and scaled back operations due to a slump in demand for air travel.

In its preliminary report, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee said the pandemic has made it harder to maintain pilot proficiency and flying experience. The Lion Air aircraft involved was an Airbus SE A330, one of 10 in the carrier’s fleet. Because Lion Air doesn’t have a simulator for the A330, its pilots are trained at third-party facilities in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. COVID-19 travel restrictions have made those harder to access.

“Regular flying keeps your mind in the cockpit,” said Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation safety consultant who was an adviser to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation. “Being away from flying for such a long time brings in some complacency. Add loss of income, uncertainty about jobs or the future of the airline, that brings in additional stress. With an increase in stress levels, proficiency drops.”

As the pandemic continues to hammer international travel, analytics company Cirium says almost a third of the world’s passenger jets remain in storage. | BLOOMBERG

Analytics company Cirium says almost a third of the world’s passenger jets remain in storage — parked in the center of Australia and the U.S.’s Mojave Desert. While there’s been a recovery in domestic travel in larger markets such as China, international traffic is way off pre-pandemic levels because of border restrictions and mandatory quarantine, a big deterrent to travelers. Thousands of pilots have been laid off or furloughed, and those still in work are flying a lot less because there’s so little demand.

Pilot rustiness was also cited by Europe’s top aviation-safety official as a possible factor in the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines Corp. plane in Karachi in May that killed all but two of the 99 people on board. Nobody was injured in the Lion Air runway incident.

“The pilots did not seem to be as fluent in the way they were conducting their flights as they should have,” European Union Aviation Safety Agency Executive Director Patrick Ky said in September regarding the PIA flight. “If you haven’t flown for three months, six months, you need to be retrained in some way in order to come back.”

That concern is shared by others. At an event in October, Singapore’s central bank chief, Ravi Menon, spoke about the lingering effect COVID-19 will have on the aviation industry and pilots who haven’t flown for long periods. “It’s not like picking up after taking two months off. When you take two years off, it’s very different,” he said.

In its preliminary report on the Lion Air incident, the Indonesian safety authority laid out the pilots’ experience, the approach of the plane, weather conditions and landing. The pilot in command was a 48-year-old Airbus A330 flight instructor with about 17,000 hours flying experience; the 46-year-old first officer, who’d been working as a captain for Thai Lion Air before relocating to Indonesia in March, had a similar amount of flying hours.

On its approach, Flight 208 requested a change of runway due to stormy weather. At about 1,000 feet, the first officer handed control to the pilot. He then noticed that the plane was nearing the left edge of the runway and told the pilot to adjust. The right rudder pedal was applied after touching down but the left main landing gear went off the tarmac, breaking two runway lights.

The report noted that Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued a circular in May on testing pilot proficiency during the pandemic, with certain exemptions and extensions allowed due to limitations on flying time. However the circular didn’t provide detailed guidelines to airlines on how they should operate under these exemptions.

A Lion Air spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg Television, the International Air Transport Association’s vice president for Asia Pacific, Conrad Clifford, said the industry group has been looking at creating special travel bubbles so pilots can access simulators to ensure they can remain current. “I’m glad to say that governments are doing something about this,” he said.

Additionally, the International Civil Aviation Organization has called for flight crew to be recognized as key workers so they can use travel bubbles and access training facilities, including simulators so they can maintain certifications, experience and proficiency.

Ian Cheng, senior vice president of flight operations at Scoot, Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s low-cost carrier, said its pilots are being kept engaged with simulator sessions and meetings to update on the latest developments. “Because of the low amount of flying, it’s essential to keep proficiency levels up,” he said.

According to Ranganathan, it will take about a month of regular flying for pilots to get their confidence and skill levels back, along with lots of training.

“When you are not focused, decisions can get delayed,” he said. “Just a few seconds can make a difference between a safe flight or an accident.”

(Source: JT)

Indian airline Vistara to start Doha flights

 Indian Airlines Vistara will start flying to Qatar from India from November 19. The full-service airline, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore airlines, said that they will start flying to Doha from Indian capital Delhi.

Currently, due to the Covid-19 restrictions, India allows only flights from certain countries with which it has an ‘air bubble’ agreement to enter its airport. Qatar and India have air bubble deal and Indian carries and Qatar Airways are allowed to operate flights from Doha to various Indian cities.

In addition to Qatar Airways, Indian budget airlines Indigo and Air India Express and full service airlines Air India operates flights to Doha as part of the agreement, which was recently extended till December 31.

As per Vistara website the flights will leave Delhi at 20:00 and will arrive in Doha 21:45 on Thursdays and Sundays and return from Doha at 22:45 and will reach Delhi on Thursdays and Sundays. The airline said that schedule is valid from November 19 till December 31. (Schedule is subject to regulatory approval. All timings shown are in local time zones.). They will be operating a Airbus A320 in this route as per their website.

“We are excited to spread the new feeling to Doha, the fastest growing and most popular city in Qatar, with flights from Delhi!,” Vistara said on their website.

Bookings for these flights are now open on their website and when we checked the round-trip fares for Delhi-Doha-Delhi start at INR 15,499 and round-trip Doha-Delhi-Doha start at QAR 669.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions residents entering Qatar will have to apply for an exceptional entry permit and depending on the kind of permit will need to book a hotel for 7-day quarantine.

(Source: The Peninsula)

Experience: I landed a plane after the pilot passed out

The flashing lights of emergency vehicles streaming towards the runway made me realise people were preparing for disaster

I hadn’t flown very much in my first two flying lessons. The first few are really just introductions to a plane and cockpit, a run-through of the basics; you’re taken up and brought back down. I hadn’t spent more than 10 minutes in control of an aircraft, and my instructor was sitting next to me, carefully watching my every move.

At 4pm on 31 August 2019, I settled in to the two-seat Cessna 152 for my next lesson; 30 minutes later, we started to make our way back to Jandakot airport, Perth. As we cruised at 3,500ft, I noticed my instructor was staring out the window into the sky above us. I assumed he’d seen something, but there was nothing there.

Then he started to shake. I’d never seen someone have a seizure, but it was clear that was what was happening.

At that moment, thankfully, I was in control of the aircraft. If I hadn’t been, we may have started plummeting before I’d clocked what was going on. Instead, I ensured we were stable and then went into survival mode: we needed to make it down alive. First I decided to phone my wife. I explained what was happening, but then my phone cut out. I can only presume she thought that I’d died.

Max Sylvester: ‘Despite the calmness of the controller, there were moments of panic, made worse when I noticed the blood coming from my incapacitated instructor’s mouth.’ Photograph: David Dare Parker/The Guardian

Once I’d figured out how to work the radio, I contacted air traffic control: “Emergency, emergency, emergency”, and told them who I was. The man at the end of the radio reassured me, confirmed there was no traffic, and that I should divert towards the airport urgently. 

He calmly talked me through every step as I began to fly us back.

For a while I flew the plane in circuits above the airport, familiarising myself with the controls and the sensations different movements bring. Despite the calmness of the controller, there were moments of panic, made worse when I noticed blood coming from my instructor’s mouth. With one hand on the yoke [control wheel], I used my other to keep his head upright: I couldn’t let him choke.

“I hope they don’t think I’m paying for this class,” I found myself saying to the controller, cracking a joke in order to bring back my focus. The severity of the situation began to dawn on me: the flashing lights of emergency service vehicles streaming towards the runway made me realise people were preparing for disaster. By now it was the evening, and soon we’d start losing light.

I was talked through a few practice landings. I’d fly us down towards the runway to get used to the experience, before pulling back to ascend into the air once again. Meanwhile, in a state of confusion, my instructor began to regain consciousness. Oblivious to what was happening, he started to press buttons and touch dials on the radio, refusing to listen to my objections. That was all I needed, I thought.

Only 40 or 50 minutes after my first contact with the control room, the voice in my ear asked if I thought I was ready to try landing. 

Attempt number five would be the one. As we descended, my mind ran wild: one moment I was thinking that landing so early in my flying career would be proof of my abilities. The next I imagined us coming down on a highway, ending up on fire or upside down. Focus, Max, I told myself. Then I heard the wheels hit the ground.

I taxied towards the terminal. The controllers presumed I’d stop on the runway, but this felt easy compared with what had just happened – I wanted to see the journey through to the end. Once at a standstill, though, my legs turned to jelly. It was 6pm by the time the ground team helped me step out.

Words can’t describe how it felt to hug my wife and grab my three children when I made it to where they stood waiting: we’d both been terrified the kids would lose their father – not that my wife let on to them what was going on. My instructor was taken to hospital; it turned out he had a brain tumour. Somehow, I’d managed to save both our lives.

Only a week or two later I was back in the cockpit; I didn’t quit my job in engineering to just give up on my plans to be a pilot. Now I’m making good progress on the 150 hours’ flight time I need to attempt my commercial licence qualification. Some people have said I should have been rewarded with more than an extra 45 minutes of experience added to my timesheet, but frankly, I am just happy to be alive.

(Source: The Guardian)

Coronavirus: When will it be safe to fly again?

Aer Lingus has said it will review its procedures following a claim it did not maintain social distancing among passengers on a Belfast-London flight.

But when can air passengers expect things to return to the way they were before coronavirus?

How many people are still flying?

Far fewer people are flying since the Foreign Office advised against international travel.

Between 16 and 22 April, for example, the number of air passengers coming into the UK was 99% lower than the same period in 2019.

Getty Images

American Airlines said social distancing had been possible "for all passengers", suggesting that its aircraft have a lot of empty seats. 

And Virgin Atlantic said many of its flights in April were only a quarter full.

Meanwhile, Ryanair carried 40,000 passengers in April - down from 13.5 million in the same month last year.

With the holiday trade almost completely dried up, most of those flying were UK nationals returning home.

How safe is air travel?

If you have to fly, it's a common belief that you are more likely to become ill on an aeroplane, because you're breathing "stale" air.

However, according to the World Health Organization, the quality of air in a plane cabin is very carefully controlled and changed up to 30 times an hour.

However, there is a greater likelihood of the virus being transmitted if passengers are close together - usually as a result of an infected individual coughing, sneezing or touching surfaces.

This is the same as in any other situation in which people are close to each other, such as on a train or a bus.

Most seats were occupied on the Belfast-Heathrow flight, despite government guidance people should stay two metres apart. Sean Mallan

What's the advice for air travellers?

Public Health England says passengers should sit as far apart as possible.

The National Travel Health Network and Centre - which was set up by the Department of Health - offers the following advice:

• Avoid moving from your seat unnecessarily, but exercise your legs (flex and extend the ankles) to encourage blood flow
• Only use the designated toilet for your area and wash your hands before leaving
• If you start to feel unwell, stay in your seat and speak to the air crew

You should not be travelling if you are unwell, or if you have tested positive for Covid-19.

At UK airports, the advice is similar to that given in any large public building - keep your distance from others, and use the hand sanitisers provided by the airport. Shops and restaurants have been mostly closed and people are discouraged from entering the terminal unless they are travelling.

Can there be social distancing on flights?

EasyJet has said it plans to keep the middle seats on planes empty once the lockdown is lifted.

The airline suggested the measure could be taken for a short period as flying resumed. Emirates and the US airline Delta have announced similar plans.

But not all airlines are happy about the prospect.

Michael O'Leary, the boss of Ryanair, has said empty seats do not ensure safe social distancing and are financially unviable.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the body representing global airlines, says leaving the middle seat empty would not improve passenger safety. It says most airlines would not have made money last year if a third of the seats had been removed.

The chief executive of Heathrow Airport, John Holland-Kaye, raised concerns about getting passengers on and off flights. "It's just physically impossible to socially distance with any volume of passengers in an airport," he said.

Many airports have taken measures to help enforce social distancing rules. Getty Images

What about other measures?

Mr Holland-Kaye has called for a common international standard for health screening at airports "to build confidence in international travel". He has also pushed back against Public Health England's verdict that temperature checks for passengers are ineffective, asking for the evidence to be published.

He also suggested people passing through airports should wear face masks, "as people from Asia have been doing ever since Sars (virus) came out".

UK ministers have suggested that they might consider a 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving in the country.

Home Secretary Priti Patel told the Home Affairs Select Committee that while the government's decisions were informed by scientific advice, "everything is under review".

But Airlines UK, which represents British Airways, easyJet, Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair, are opposed to the measure, calling it a "blunt tool measure".

(Source: BBC)

Cardboard boxes replace hotel rooms at Narita as Japan struggles with returnees

Travel restrictions are keeping Narita Airport — Japan’s gateway to the world — eerily quiet. Over the past week or so, the usual bustle from international travelers has been replaced with something else: cardboard beds.

At a glance, it looks like an evacuation shelter. The so-called “cardboard village” is spread throughout the arrivals section of the airport, skirting around the baggage claim conveyor belts and triggering worries about whether there is enough space between beds.

Though Japan seemed to avoid the first wave of COVID-19 infections in March, cases have skyrocketed over the last two weeks — with the number of new infections logged daily sometimes doubling from one day to the next. In an effort to curb the rise, the country stopped accepting foreign nationals from 73 countries and regions on April 3, and began testing every arriving passenger for COVID-19.

Cardboard beds are used to temporarily quarantine passengers as they wait for COVID-19 test results, at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture on April 9, in this photo obtained from social media. | TWITTER/@WASABI1094 / VIA REUTERS

Under the new rules, most passengers were allowed to travel on to their intended destinations if a family member or friend could pick them up, or they were checked into nearby hotels.

But as hotels ran out of rooms, the government started building makeshift cardboard beds, with futons laid on top, inside the airport.

“Until a few days ago, hotels near (the airport) were still available but all the rooms are full right now,” a quarantine officer said earlier this month.

Immigration officers say the beds are filling quickly.

Some passengers have to stay for at least two days to get their test results before they are able to use public transportation — assuming their result is negative. Quarantine officers assisting with tests at Narita arrange transportation to medical institutions if those who have tested positive need to be admitted to a hospital.

The airport is otherwise strikingly deserted, with around seven airport staff and two police officers assigned to each empty security lane.

Narita Airport closed down one of two runways on Sunday due to the declining number of arriving and departing passengers. The airport saw 3,661 international flights in the week from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25. But the tally sank to 582 by the week from March 29 to April 4, according to Narita International Airport Corp., the operator of the transportation hub.

Kaoru Matsuoka, 27, arrived at 3:30 p.m. on April 8 from Canada, and spent seven hours at Narita before being assigned a bed. She spent two of those hours on a parked plane, another hour in line to get tested, and four hours waiting to be brought to the bed area. Matsuoka then stayed until 3:00 a.m., when her parents arrived from their home in Osaka to pick her up.

When she learned that the hotel rooms had been filled, she agreed to stay in the airport overnight. “I had no choice,” she said.

While waiting to be brought to the beds, one woman told an officer that someone was coughing badly, Matsuoka said. But the officer said that they were not required to do anything as the individual had already passed the health check.

When individuals asked where they were going to be taken next and when, officers did not give clear answers. “We were just waiting there even though we didn’t know why we were waiting or how long we had to wait,” Matsuoka said.

At around 10:30 p.m., she was finally brought by bus to the area with the cardboard beds.

A cardboard bed that is being used to temporarily quarantine passengers as they wait for their coronavirus test results is seen at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture on April 9 in this photo obtained from social media. | TWITTER/@WASABI1094 / VIA REUTERS

Matsuoka said that the open-air beds were placed 1.5 to 2 meters apart. Because individuals were sent there before knowing their test results, someone with the virus could have been sleeping nearby.

In addition, the lights were not turned off at night and the food provided was lacking.

“When I first got to the place with beds there was only emergency food, like canned bread and bottled water,” she said. “Nobody took the canned bread so the staff brought us some onigiri (rice balls) from a convenience store.” There wasn’t very much, so she only took one.

She said she feels fortunate that her parents drove the eight hours from Osaka to pick her up. If they weren’t able to do that, she would have had to wait in the airport for two days to get her results and then book a hotel room on her own dime.

“It seems like their plan was messed up,” Matsuoka said. “They were not ready.”

(Source: JT)

Coronavirus has emptied flights. It could end up changing flying for ever

Major airlines are now battling for survival – and those staying at home may start to question their need to travel

As coronavirus grew from a Chinese outbreak to a global pandemic, the aviation industry was at the leading edge of the accompanying financial crisis. Since the extraordinary intercontinental travel ban imposed by President Trump last week, the disastrous potential extent of the crisis for airlines has become clear.

A drop-off in demand, as businesses cut back on travel and passengers deferred holidays, is being replaced by government decrees and mandatory public health measures. If much lost trade has so far come in the quiet months for western carriers in the northern hemisphere, the prospect of losing spring and summer bookings is another scale of financial loss altogether.

Already, major airlines – even the likes of British Airways and German carrier Lufthansa, let alone the financially precarious Norwegian – have made it clear that this is now a challenge to their very survival. The speedy escalation of the crisis, with major hubs such as Madrid now following Rome in being declared off-limits to non-essential travel, makes it impossible to predict whether this is a hiatus – or if measures announced as temporary could last for much longer.

A deserted Alitalia check-in area at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport on Friday. Photograph: Telenews/AP

As British Airways’ boss, Alex Cruz, told 45,000 staff on Friday, for airlines this is already bigger than the Sars epidemic, the aftermath of 9/11 or the 2008 financial crisis. In extraordinary times, the normal rules will no longer apply. Flag carriers have swiftly appealed for state aid. Layoffs could be temporary, or permanent. Already a glut of planes are mothballed.

Airline seats are perishable goods, and most of the revenues will never be recouped

The withdrawal of most scheduled international air travel, even for a short time, no longer looks improbable as much of Europe approaches the kind of shutdown so far seen only in Italy. Indeed, the idea of shuttling vast numbers of people anywhere, let alone between infected countries, has rapidly started to look reckless.

Yet it is worth noting that public transport continues to function in Italy; people still need services, food and goods. And a plane flying in Chinese medics and supplies was warmly welcomed to Rome on Friday. That flight was another reminder of how aviation remains an essential part of our world; why governments have long subsidised flag carriers, at vast expense.

Last week’s emergency measures included the cancellation of international sporting fixtures – taking away another small but significant slice of life that is dependent on air travel. But before the latest escalation, planes had been flying almost empty, with many of the dwindling numbers of passengers deciding not to show up – something that made clear how many airline trips are entirely discretionary.

Perhaps, if and when normality returns, there could be a glut of pent-up demand from societies forced to work from home or self-isolate. But airline seats are perishable goods, and most of the revenues will never be recouped; many of those who might have booked holidays can expect to see annual leave used up to care for children sent home from school, or sick relatives. Business travel that has been postponed for health fears may end up looking like an unaffordable expense for many firms, should coronavirus lead to recession.

A sustained pandemic could vastly alter the industry. Far smaller shocks have caused weak airlines to go under; but even the big players are likely to have their wings clipped. The appetite for travel may be an ancient human urge, but global hypermobility is only a couple of decades old. Action on climate change may have restricted aviation; higher fares from reduced competition might yet do more. Now, societies forced to do without flying may also start to question whether the habit was worth it.

Even before coronavirus, protectionism in trade and the political willingness to erect fresh borders with neighbours had re-emerged to a startling extent. A world haunted by viruses arguably needs globalised structures more than ever, but is meanwhile ever more ready to slam international doors. Airlines, so often the canary in the coalmine for the global economy, may never fly quite so high again.

Saudi ruthlessness on display once more

It was not so long ago that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hoped to convince the global financial community that Saudi Arabia was a respectable modern economy, home to Saudi Aramco – the world’s most profitable listed company – and a power broker in stabilising oil markets.

But if Prince Mohammed had expected to establish a reputation as a moderniser and visionary, then waging an oil price war during a deadly pandemic might not have been his most considered move.

The world’s largest oil exporter triggered the worst day in the financial markets since 1987 last week after firing the starting gun on a race to pump more oil than the global market can absorb. The benchmark price fell by its fastest rate since the 1991 Gulf war to lows not seen in four years, wiping billions from the market value of companies across the energy sector.

These companies form the pillars of global equity markets, which buckled under the pressure of plummeting share prices and fears that the economic contagion of the Covid-19 virus might trigger a worldwide recession.

The decision of the Saudi crown prince to wreak havoc on the global markets is both shocking and true to form.

Prince Mohammed is never far from accusations of extortion, torture and even murder, all denied. If the oil market is a game of money and power, he is playing for the latter. By flooding the world with cheap Saudi oil, the kingdom will corner the global market and reassert its dominance against the rise of Russia and American shale production. It is a race Russia is willing to run, but there is no doubt that this is a race to the bottom.

At least there is one constant in the markets: the ruthless impetuousness of the Saudi regime.

Intu must auction off the crown jewels

Shopping centre owner Intu is unlikely to last until the end of the year in its current form, despite boasting nine of the UK’s top 20 malls, including Manchester’s Trafford Centre and Lakeside in Essex.

A £2bn loss, postponement of an emergency cash call, questions about its status as a going concern, and a share price down more than 90% over the past year – the group’s debt problems are mounting. Hovering below 5p, Intu shares can now be purchased for less than the cost of a “bag for life” in the shops that rent space in its centres.

Struggling retail chains have taken their toll on Intu’s rental income, all while the shopping-centre company groans under £4.5bn of debt, compared with a market value of about £60m.

For it to access its new overdraft facility in October 2021, its banks have demanded that it raise at least £1.3bn from investors. Most analysts believe Intu won’t reach that date without drastic action.

The company’s management is putting on a brave face, insisting they have options. But the time for selling mid-tier assets and tinkering around the edges is over. Survival means facing up to the unpalatable – auctioning off the crown jewels, such as the Trafford Centre.

The company holds the debt for each centre in separate vehicles, rather than at group level, making any move to take Intu private costly and complex, even for an investor such as billionaire John Whittaker – the original owner of the Trafford Centre – who runs Peel Group, Intu’s largest shareholder.

The value of Intu’s properties tumbled by 22% last year. Further falls of just 5% would see the loan-to-value ratios on some of its centres hit danger levels. If it triggers a covenant, as occurred in January with Gateshead’s Metrocentre, the banks could ask for the keys back.

And this is without adding coronavirus into the mix. In pandemic times, how many shoppers will want to rub shoulders with thousands of others at large indoor malls?

(Source: The Guardian)

A real solution for airport security

Keep calm and wash your hands.

In Lexington, Kentucky, this week, two public-health experts took to the pages of the local newspaper to address readers who have been worrying about the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected patients in China and beyond, killing roughly 1,300 people. “While coronavirus is serious and its headlines are scary, the current threat level for this illness in Kentucky is low,” wrote R. Brent Wright, president of the Kentucky Medical Association, and Ben Chandler, CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. “Influenza is a much greater, deadlier virus that is already widespread.”

Their advice, boiled down: Get a flu shot and wash your hands a lot. But human psychology is working against their efforts to persuade. Were humans more rational, the Discovery Channel would dedicate weeks of programming to heart disease and road safety. Instead, there’s Shark Week. More unlikely killers often loom largest in our fears.

Occasionally, however, despite our imperfect brains, opportunities arise to prevent many deaths by taking what we know logically and building it into the design of modern life.That brings me to my proposal: a change to airport security that could easily save hundreds of thousands of lives while proving no more onerous to passengers than the status quo.

ISABEL PAVIA / GETTY

A study in the journal Risk Analysis inspired the idea. As David L. Chandler of MIT News puts it, its authors estimate “that improving the rates of handwashing by travelers passing through just 10 of the world’s leading airports could significantly reduce the spread of many infectious diseases. And the greater the improvement in people’s handwashing habits at airports, the more dramatic the effect on slowing the disease.”

They estimate that roughly 20 percent of travelers have clean hands. And if that rate could be tripled, they found, the spread of disease could be slowed by nearly 70 percent.

“Deploying such measures at so many airports and reaching such a high level of compliance may be impractical,” Chandler writes, “but the new study suggests that a significant reduction in disease spread could still be achieved by just picking the 10 most significant airports based on the initial location of a viral outbreak. Focusing handwashing messaging in those 10 airports could potentially slow the disease spread by as much as 37 percent.” What’s more, “even small improvements in hygiene could make a noticeable dent. 

Increasing the prevalence of clean hands in all airports worldwide by just 10 percent, which the researchers think could potentially be accomplished through education, posters, public announcements, and perhaps improved access to handwashing facilities, could slow the global rate of the spread of a disease by about 24 percent.”

Normally, I’m averse to central planning and coercive nudges. But assuming that washing hands would be even half as effective as the authors estimate, this is an exception. Airports already put travelers through all manner of intrusive and cumbersome security theater in the name of guarding against vanishingly rare terrorist attacks. I’ve waited in line for hundreds of hours, forgone the ability to carry liquids, and subjected myself to uniformed government employees prodding my genitals in search of weapons.

Meanwhile, pandemics are orders of magnitude more dangerous than terrorists on planes. And commercial air travel is obviously one of the ways that they spread around the world.

So here’s the pitch: For a long while, I removed my shoes every time I went through security, an inconvenience I am spared now that I’m enrolled in TSA PreCheck, as if a terrorist with enough resources to build a shoe bomb couldn’t infiltrate that massive program.

In U.S. airports, let’s put hand-washing stations at security and let travelers leave their shoes on if they wash their hands for the 15 to 20 seconds that doctors recommend. In bathrooms, make people pay a dollar to use the facilities if they don’t wash their hands. Put sinks at the gate, too, where people who won’t wash their hands must board last. We go to far more trouble at airports for measures that are more intrusive and burdensome and that save far fewer lives. As for the infrastructure costs, communicable diseases aren’t going away, and this onetime expense would pay dividends indefinitely.

Airports with abundant hand-washing stations—and sticks and carrots to encourage their use—would make far more sense as a focus of secure air travel than the system we have today.

So let’s trade some security theater for actual clean hands.

(Source: The Atlantic)