Your weekly travel and aviation Quote-a

27 August, 2020

The Blue Swan Daily brings you a roundup of the most thought-provoking and interesting comments from those industry leaders in the know.

SAS: the ramp-up phase for the airline industry 'may last until 2022 before demand can reach more normalised levels'
SAS president and CEO Rickard Gustafson reported the carrier aims to continue to ramp-up production to 30% to 40% of 2019 ASK levels by the end of 4Q2020, but he added that "concerns remain" that could impact this target. "Our current expectation is that the ramp-up phase for the airline industry may last until 2022 before demand can reach more normalised levels, with a return to pre Covid-19 levels a few years thereafter", Mr Gustafson concluded.

Flight Centre Travel Group: Covid-19 and government restrictions created most challenging environment 'we have experienced'
Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) MD Graham Turner stated "Covid-19 and, specifically, government responses to it have created the most challenging trading environment that we have experienced in our almost 40 years in business". Mr Turner said: "We were forced to make some very tough decisions as this crisis unfolded". Mr Turner said on a near term basis: "Total transaction value is likely to be domestic and corporate travel weighted, given that heavy restrictions still apply to international travel, although we are seeing some travel bubbles or corridors open as countries learn to live with the virus".

Air New Zealand chairman: 'I am confident Air New Zealand will be ready when the recovery occurs'
Air New Zealand chairman Dame Therese Walsh stated she is proud of the way the business reacted to the coronavirus crisis. Ms Walsh stated: "The Board and I are fully supportive of the new strategy that Greg and his executive team have been working on in parallel to dealing with this crisis" and the airline has "a clear focus on where our business is heading, and I am confident Air New Zealand will be ready when the recovery occurs".

Airbus: 'We're going to see a lot of contactless features' to improve passenger confidence
Airbus responsible for 'Keep Trust in Air Travel' project Bruno Fargeon, speaking on the CAPA Masterclass: Redefining aviation in a post-Covid-19 world, commented on enhancing onboard features to improve passenger confidence, stating: "We're going to see a lot of contactless features, whether its safety cards you can read on your phone or call the crew via your mobile instead of touching a screen".

AAPA: Singapore testing regime 'sets a standard worth emulating'
Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) welcomed the decision by Singapore's Government to selectively relax restrictions on inbound travellers. AAPA director general Subhas Menon said: "Adopting a testing regime without onerous quarantine requirements sets a standard worth emulating in facilitating air travel and economic recovery in the region".

Air Arabia CEO: Social distancing has neither positive nor negative impacts on aircraft
Air Arabia CEO Adel Ali said he believes face masks will continue to be worn on aircraft for "some time', and could be around "forever". "We can all predict our own views at this stage, but time will tell. Wearing a mask on an aeroplane is a healthy thing regardless of having Covid-19 or not". Passengers are willing to return to "normality", he continued, but noted they "need to feel that it's safe to do so". Regarding social distancing, Mr Ali mentioned it is "not going to have any positive or negative impact on an aeroplane", as long as "people follow the procedures put in place". He added that social distancing across two metres is also not viable for commercial reasons.

Fiji Airways CEO: 'Fiji Airways is not insolvent by any definition of the word'
Fiji Airways CEO Andre Viljoen stated "Fiji Airways is not insolvent by any definition of the word, whether you look at our cash flow or our balance sheet". Mr Viljoen added: "I wish to assure the Fijian people that your national airline is not insolvent or facing liquidation or bankruptcy", and is preparing to be "Travel Ready".

Emirates Airline sees 'a lot of opportunity' for trade between UAE and Israel: COO
Emirates Airline COO Adel Al Redha stated many sectors are set to benefit from the agreement between the UAE and Isarel, including aviation. Mr Al Redha said there will be "a lot of opportunity" for trading and business between the two countries, but noted an agreement needs to be put in place between the UAE and Israel before plans are made to launch service to Israel. He said Emirates is watching the proceedings of the agreement and is "looking forward" to catering for more traffic and demand.