Travel watch – what the world is saying about a sector recovery

INTERNATIONAL. As the world edges towards the nascent stages of an international travel recovery, we  bring you a regular update of relevant stories from mainstream and industry media around the world.

 

Airbus sees medium-haul air travel recovery by 2023

30 March

Soundbite

European planemaker Airbus sees demand for flying on the industry’s most-used jets – the medium-haul A320 and Boeing 737 families – recovering to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, amid concerns over the shape of demand for bigger models.

Leisure travel recovery ‘in full swing,’ helping airlines

30 March

Soundbite

A recovery in leisure travel is “in full swing” and airline bookings are in upswing, analysts at Bank of America said in a note Monday, raising their expectations for share prices for a few of the U.S. air carriers.

Click on the image to read the full story from Market Watch

Coronavirus: Hong Kong to lift ban on residents stranded in Britain; quarantine rules to be eased for arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore

29 March

Soundbite

The government also announced on Monday the extension of the “Return2HK” programme – which currently exempts quarantine only for those returning from Guangdong and Macau – to include all airports in mainland China.

Click on image to read the full article from the South China Morning Post

Covid passports: What are different countries planning?

26 March

Soundbite

The certificate, either digital or on paper, will enable anyone vaccinated against Covid, or who has tested negative, or recently recovered from the virus, to travel across all 27 member states. The EU also wants to include non-EU countries such as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

For any such certificate or passport to work, it is going to need two things – access to a country’s official records of vaccinations and a secure method of identifying an individual and linking them to their health record. And if such a digital certificate is to be accepted by the border force of another country, it will probably have to adhere to common standards set by organisations such as the WHO or the EU.

How the Seychelles is racing to become the world’s safest destination

25 March

Soundbite

From Thursday (March 25,) the Seychelles is lifting restrictions for all visitors, other than those traveling from South Africa.
Although incoming arrivals are required to present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to their departure, travelers are no longer subject to any quarantine requirements or movement restrictions during their visit.

“We are comfortable that we’ve achieved the immunity that we deserve,” says Sylvestre Radegonde [Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism for the Seychelles]. “We’ve trained the establishments. We have the facilities in place.

“The health facilities are there and the measures we have implemented are working. We are comfortable that we’ve achieved the immunity that we deserve. So we’re comfortable to reopen.”

Singapore and Australia airline stocks surge after talks on air travel bubble

15 March

Soundbite

Both Singapore and Australia appear to have brought the infection under relative control, while vaccination programs are also underway.

“We are also discussing the possibility of an air travel bubble which will allow residents of Singapore and Australia to travel between both countries without the need for quarantine.”

When can we go on a cruise again?

15 March

Soundbite

“The imposition, if you will, of a vaccination requirement, having that documented, and testing everybody who gets on board, would very substantially reduce the risk and would contribute in a very important way to the rejuvenation of the cruising industry.”

How vaccinated travelers became hot property

13 March

Soundbite

With its out of control infection rates and deaths heading past the 125,000 mark, the UK started 2021 as Europe’s Covid pariah.

Now though, after a vaccination program that has seen more than a third of all adults receive at least one dose, countries across Europe, and tour operators who have struggled over the past 12 months, are falling over themselves to welcome weary Brits for a dose of summer sun.

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