Canada to Require Air Travelers to be Vaccinated
Beginning October 30, 2021 all customers on domestic commercial flights in Canada will be required to be vaccinated in order to be permitted to fly. The mandate also will apply to train customers and cruise ship passengers plus all staff and crew on each method of transportation. The government has not made a decision on a vaccination requirement for dog sledding in the Yukon but is expected announce its decision soon.
The rule will apply to all passengers 12 years old and older with what the Canadian government calls “very limited exceptions to address specific situations such as emergency travel, and those medically unable to be vaccinated.” There will be a one month trial period where those who have received at least one dose of the vaccine and produce a negative test can travel – this will only apply through November 30.
Of eligible Canadians, 89% have received at least one vaccine shot and 82% are fully vaccinated. If those 18% try to fly and falsify information, they will be subject to fines of up to C$5,000 per violation. In addition to the fine, violators will be given a one-year ban from watching hockey and — in a show of just how serious this is — will be barred from drinking Tim Hortons coffee for one year.
British Airways to Bring A380 Back Next Month
British Airways announced today it will bring the A380 back into service earlier than expected, now putting the widebodies into the air as soon as November. The carrier had held off on bringing the A380 back into service while CEO Sean Doyle tried to get a straight answer from previous CEO Alex Cruz on where in the office he kept the keys to the jumbo jets.
The aircraft will first operate to three destinations: Dubai, Los Angeles, and Miami. Those three cities were chosen because the carrier wants the planes to get some sun on their fuselage after becoming pale from so many months in storage.
In other news, BA is adding to its winter frequencies to the United States, increasing New York to five daily flights, and then as many as eight dailies beginning in December. Double daily service will resume to eight airports: BOS, ORD, LAX, SFO, IAD, DFW, MIA, and YYZ, with daily service being restored to PHL, PHX, SEA, ATL, DEN, IAH, and YVR.
Airbus Makes Plans for Larger A220
Airbus CCO Christian Scherer said at the IATA General Meeting in Boston this week that his company expects to create a higher-capacity version of its successful A220 in the coming years.
It looks as if this new plane will be the long-coveted, mythical A220-500, which will surely distract from the fact that’s its really the same size as an A320 – a plane Airbus manufactures quite regularly. Several airlines have expressed interest in the theoretical plane, including Korean and Air France. Air France plans to eventually transition the A220 and its 4.5 hour range onto all of its medium-haul routes, including those as far as Moscow and North Africa.
Airbus currently has 2,537 A320neo family aircraft on backorder, and it’s expected that A220-500 production would not begin until those deliveries are made. That is expected to be about a five year timeline for Airbus, allowing for the backlog to clear before starting anew, a strategy perfected by thousands every year at Las Vegas Strip buffets.
- Air India, AirAsia India, and Vistara are likely to be combined into one super brand if Tata Sons is selected to purchase Air India from the Indian government. It is rumored that the new mega-airline will be called Dysfunctional Air.
- AirAsia Group restructured its Airbus order to reduce the scope of the purchase to something it might actually one day be able to afford.
- Lufthansa sold 98.4% of the 59 million new stock it offered as part of its €2.1 billion capital increase. The carrier is also cutting free booze in long-haul economy. Contact your Congressman today about this injustice.
- MIAT is in desperate need of a bailout from the Mongolian government. It is asking quietly, hopeful that no one from Ryanair catches wind of the request.
- RwandAir and Qatar signed a codeshare agreement. Rwandair will also double its fleet size and look to grow within Africa thanks to the new agreement with Qatar.
- Spirit inaugurated service in Miami this morning with the first flight arriving at 8:54 a.m. and the first departure leaving at 10:54 a.m. Anyone — passengers included — wanting to know where the inaugural flights operated from or to will need to pay us $15 as we have decided to adopt Spirit’s ancillary model.
- United is dropping its oversized baggage fee. Spirit officials were confused by the move, having never heard of the concept of “removal of a fee.”
- WestJet is beginning 4x-weekly service between Toronto and Dublin on May 15. The route will upgrade to daily on June 2.
What always tastes better than it smells?
A tongue.