Day: May 3, 2021

May 3, 2021

European Commission Announces Plan to Welcome Vaccinated Travelers

The European Commission formally recommended that its member states ease travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers and those coming from countries where the pandemic is contained. The commission released its plan which includes:

  • Visitors must be two weeks past their final recommended dose of vaccine.
  • The vaccine must have been authorized for use in the EU (which applies to all U.S. vaccines).
  • When the country waives a negative PCR test or quarantine for returning residents, the same action should be taken for visitors.
  • Children who are unable to get the vaccine can travel with parents provided they have a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival in the EU.
  • Travelers agree not to wear a fanny pack at any time and will not awkwardly hover around the Mona Lisa when visiting the Louvre in Paris.
  • If you want ice in your drink, bring your own.

The European Council will meet tomorrow to discuss the proposal from the European Commission at which point they will either decide or pass it off to another vaguely named gathering of European government officials. If it is passes as expected, EU countries will reopen their borders to most international travelers – including Americans – as soon as late this month.

Mask Mandate to Remain Through September

The TSA extended the mask requirement for airports, train stations, buses, trains, and commercial flights through September 13.

The mandate was originally set to expire next week but will now remain in place through the summer for U.S. travelers.  The government put the requirement in place last year based on guidance from the CDC, NIH, and Party City.

Airlines For America, the trade group representing most U.S. airlines and flight attendant labor unions both lauded the TSA decision declaring that by having passengers wear masks, Americans can more safely return to the skies in large numbers and people don’t have to look at each other’s faces as much.

All aspects of the mask requirement including exemptions and penalties for those who do not comply remain in effect. Fines start at $250 for travelers who do not comply with the requirement and rise up to $1250 per incident. Once a traveler passes the $1250 threshold, any further violations will banish them to the middle seat of the last row of a different redeye on Spirit every night for two weeks.

Sweden’s Third Largest Airport Closes Permanently

Stockholm’s Bromma Airport (BMA), located just four miles from downtown, will end operations and close in the coming weeks. The exact date is not yet determined, but the airport is currently home to just five airlines operating to eight destinations — three of which are fictional.

After hosting 2.4 million passengers in 2019, it dropped to 480,000 passengers in 2020 and then just 6,000 travelers passed through in March 2021.

The pre-pandemic plan was for the airport to close in 2038 when Stockholm/Arlanda, the major airport in the city, was expected to receive a second runway and United was planning to finish installing Polaris Business Class, but the timeline is being moved up. The small amount of remaining traffic at BMA will be shifted to Arlanda (ARN).

Most Basic Economy Waivers Are Kaput

At the height of the pandemic last year, most U.S. airlines put change fee waivers in place for all ticketed itineraries, regardless of what cabin had been booked. These included basic economy fares, allowing cheapskate customers who bought the bottom-of-the-barrel priced tickets the ability to make changes without a fee.

American was first to return Basic Economy tickets to the world of the damned last month, ending their waiver and once again making them nonrefundable and non-changeable… but then it promptly removed all domestic basic economy fares to make the end of the waiver moot. Alaska, Delta, and United all saw their Basic Economy waivers end over the weekend on May 1, leaving JetBlue as the lone remaining airline allowing changes on basic itineraries. Now we wait to see if American refiles Basic Economy fares once again.

JetBlue’s policy will remain in place through the end of this month, not expiring until May 31, giving additional freedom to its Basic Blue customers to change their itineraries to their hearts’ content.

New Zealand Opens Second Bubble

New Zealand will open its second bubble on May 17, this time with the Cook Islands. Residents of the Cook Islands, better known as Chefs, have been able to visit New Zealand without quarantine since the start of 2021.

With the bubble now going both ways, Air New Zealand will begin operating 3x-weekly service to Rarotonga (RAR) using B787-9 aircraft. Beginning June 7, the flight will upgrade to 4x-weekly.

The Air New Zealand weekly lifeline connecting Raratonga to Los Angeles remains suspended.

  • airBaltic took delivery of its 26th A220-300 aircraft, the first of seven it expects to receive in 2021.
  • Air China and Air New Zealand have extended their strategic alliance for an additional five years.
  • Delta announced a new agreement with Sabre that includes lots of punctuation, marketing buzzwords, and quotes from excited executives.
  • flybe is closer to its relaunch as the airline obtained Heathrow slots from British Airways to operate to Aberdeen (ABZ) 3x-daily and Edinburgh (EDI) 4x-weekly through the end of the summer.
  • ITA – the one in Brazil that actually exists, not the one in Italy that doesn’t actually exist—secured an Air Operator’s Certificate as it prepares to launch operations.
  • JetSMART Peru applied for both a Peruvian Operating License and an Air Operators Certificate as it hopes to begin domestic service in Estonia Peru.
  • Lufthansa placed an order today for five A350-900 and five B787-9 aircraft, the latter of which is because it was thinking that its fleet rationalization had given it too few aircraft types.
  • Mack Air began domestic operations within Botswana on Saturday.
  • Neos plans to begin 2x-weekly scheduled passenger ops between Milan and New York/JFK this June.
  • Norwegian aims to fly 50 aircraft this year once it collects its winnings from Bankruptcy Bingo.
  • PRAGUSA.ONE is an entity that claims to be an airline. It currently plans to fly airplanes with paying passengers on it between Dubrovnik and Los Angeles 3x-weekly beginning June 22, and then adding 3x-weely service to Newark next year.
  • Ryanair hadn’t taken anyone to court since (checks notes) last week, so it filed a complaint in EU court against Alitalia. Once it’s done suing the carcass of Alitalia, it’s expected the next move for the airline will be to go to a schoolyard and beat up little kids.
  • Singapore completed a sale and leaseback for 11 aircraft, raising $1.5 billion in cash which it promptly spent on buying a Singapore Sling for every resident of the city-state.
  • South African has exited bankruptcy protection with its administrators declaring the airline both solvent and liquid. SAA’s subsidiary Mango respectfully disagrees.
  • Sri Lankan Airlines is making plans to lease new A350 aircraft.
  • Starlux Airlines received approval from the DOT to operate between Taipei and Los Angeles.
  • VistaJet is unimpressed with Alaska, United and others, and has pledged carbon neutrality by 2025.

I once stumbled across the mass grave of a thousand snowmen, it turned out to be a field of carrots.