South African Airways to resume operation in September 2021.SAA will continue to be a safe carrier and adhere to COVID-19 protocols.SAA is restarting with a formidable business case. The wait is finally over. In just under a month, the striking and familiar livery of South African Airways (SAA) will once again be visible in the skies as the airline resumes operations. The carrier has confirmed the first flights will commence on Thursday, September 23, 2021. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, 26 August 2021. Voyager bookings and Travel Credit Voucher redemption will be available from Monday, 6 September 2021. South African Airways Interim CEO Thomas Kgokol Interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo says, “After months of diligent work, we are delighted that SAA is resuming service and we look forward to welcoming on board our loyal passengers and flying the South African flag. We continue to be a safe carrier and adhering to COVID-19 protocols.” South African Airways will as an initial phase operate flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Accra, Kinshasa, Harare, Lusaka and Maputo. More destinations will be added to the route network as it ramps up operations in response to market conditions. Kgokolo added, “there is a profound feeling of enthusiasm within Team SAA as we prepare for takeoff, with one common purpose -to rebuild and sustain a profitable airline that once again takes a leadership role among local, continental, and international airlines.” Notes Kgokolo, “The aviation sector is currently going through a testing period, and we are aware of the tough challenges that lie ahead in the coming weeks. We thank South Africa for the support we have received in getting us to where we are today. As we are now poised for takeoff, we see this as a major milestone for SAA and thecountry.” According to the chairman of the SAA’s Board, John Lamola, since the national carrier came out of business rescue at the end of April 2021, the Department of Public Enterprises together with the Board and the Management team have been seized with planning for the relaunching of a restructured and fit for purposeairline that South Africans can again be proud of. “The airline is restarting with a formidable business case”, says Lamola. Cuthbert Ncube, the chairman of the African Tourism Board (ATB), said upon receiving the news, that African Tourism Board is glad to see South African Airways restarting its operation and returning to the skies. The return of such a major regional and international player as South African Airways to business is essential for the tourism industry in the southern part of Africa to restart and begin its recovery from all the damage done by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Hong Kong toughens entry requirements for foreign travelers.Reducing mandatory quarantine time is no longer possible.Hong Kong recognizes Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. Frederic Gollob, President of the European Chamber of Commerce (ECC), said new tough rules for entering Hong Kong could undermine the city’s status as an international business and financial center. EU: New Hong Kong entry rules threaten its international status “We believe the city should open earlier, otherwise this new quarantine regime could make many in the international community question whether they want to remain locked down in Hong Kong at a time when the rest of the world is relaxing,” ECC head said. This week, the Hong Kong authorities again tightened the rules for entering the country. In particular, the possibility of reducing the quarantine period in the presence of a serological test for antibodies was canceled. When boarding a flight for Hong Kong, the travelers must present a vaccination certificate, a negative test result for COVID-19, submitted no earlier than 72 hours before departure, as well as a reservation at one of the government-recommended hotels where quarantine measures are allowed. The Hong Kong government has also officially placed Russian-made Sputnik V on the list of coronavirus vaccines recognized in this Special Administrative Region of China. Now, the mandatory quarantine for residents of the city jabbed with the Russian-made vaccine, will be reduced from 21 days to 14 days.

Alaska Airlines is accelerating its fleet growth.Alaska Airlines exercising options early on 12 Boeing 737-9 aircraft.Option aircraft are now firm commitments for 2023 and 2024. Alaska Airlines announced today it is accelerating its fleet growth by exercising options early on 12 Boeing 737-9 aircraft. The option aircraft are now firm commitments for 2023 and 2024. This additional commitment brings Alaska’s total firm 737-9 order to 93 aircraft, five of which are currently in service. Alaska Airlines brings in 12 new Boeing 737-9 jets Alaska Airlines announced a restructured agreement with Boeing in December 2020 to acquire 68 Boeing 737-9 aircraft between 2021 to 2024, with options for another 52 deliveries between 2023 and 2026. This year, the airline has exercised 25 of the options, including 13 planes in May. As part of this transaction, Alaska will add 25 options to backfill the ones that have been exercised. “We are excited to accelerate Alaska’s growth, building on our solid financial foundation that enabled us to weather the pandemic,” said Nat Pieper, Alaska Airlines senior vice president of fleet, finance and alliances. “These aircraft are a prudent, long-term investment in our business that we can make while simultaneously maintaining our strong balance sheet.” Deliveries2021202220232024TOTALOriginal Firm Order1231131268May Option Exercise––9413August Option Exercise––10212TOTAL1231321893 “Boeing continues to be a terrific partner for Alaska. We began flying our first 737-9s this past spring, and we’re extremely pleased with the operational, financial and environmental performance of the aircraft,” said Pieper. “The planes are exceeding our expectations – from how quiet the engines run to the greater range they provide – and our guests love them.” Alaska’s 737-9s are configured to carry 178 guests with 16 First Class seats and 24 Premium Class seats, which provide the most premium legroom of any other U.S. airline. 

Delta to charge unvaccinated employees extra for health benefits.Delta’s new health insurance policy kicks in on November 1.Average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person. Delta Air Lines announced today that all airline employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will have to pay extra $200 per month for health insurance coverage. Delta Air Lines CEO’s memo to staff said the “surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company.” According to Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian , the “average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person” and “in recent weeks since the rise of the B.1.617.2 variant, all Delta employees who have been hospitalized with COVID were not fully vaccinated.” Although 75% of Delta Air Lines employees are vaccinated against the virus, Bastian argued that the “aggressiveness” of COVID-19’s Delta variant “means we need to get many more of our people vaccinated, and as close to 100 percent as possible.”  The changes will come into effect from November 1, while, from September 12, unvaccinated employees will also have to take weekly COVID-19 tests. Unvaccinated employees must additionally wear face masks indoors. Public and industry reaction to the airline’s decision was mixed. Some praised Delta’s decision, saying it was an “appropriate” way to encourage vaccination and could make “a real difference.” Others, however, warned that it could set a bad precedent claiming that the decision was ultimately based on financial greed, not concern for the public. Other airlines, including United Airlines, Air Canada and Australia’s Qantas, are making vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory for employees. Earlier this month, United CEO Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart told staff that, while they know some employees would disagree with the decision, “everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.” 

Unions want decent working standards within Lufthansa Group.Lower standards of working conditions violate labor rights.Internal competition within Lufthansa could be solved by enforcement of collective agreements. Defining the minimum standards of working conditions for the people working across all of the Lufthansa Group is the first step to stop the ongoing social dumping actions the German air company is shamefully, but consciously, tolerating outside its mainline carriers. European transport union demands minimum working standards within Lufthansa Group In a recent letter addressed to the Chairman of Deutsche Lufthansa, Mr. Carsten SPOHR, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) condemns ‘’the lower social and labor standards for workers’’ approach, which Lufthansa Group management continue to tacitly implement in its Eurowings Discover operation. The Group believes that such actions are the only immediate and possible solution to face the current economic pressures of the market, which the ETF rejects. According to the ETF’ affiliates  – Kapers (Switzerland), Vida (Austria), Aircrew Alliance and ver.di (Germany) and B.United (the Czech Republic) – this solution is generating a so-called “internal group cannibalism”, and supports a race to the bottom approach.  Meanwhile the lower standards of the working conditions imposed so far by most of the low-cost airlines in Europe grossly violate the fundamental labor rights, and the group is racing to a similar faith. This is why the European Transport Workers Federation and its affiliates imperatively ask for this model not to be considered as a blueprint for the new entities, such as it is the case in Eurowings Discover, the newest airline company who started to operate within Lufthansa Group last month. Instead, we consider the internal competition within Lutfhansa Group could be rather solved by the enforcement of collective agreements inclusively at Eurowings Discover, and this enforcement model should then further be implemented also across all its European operations. The unions representing the Lufthansa Group’ workers and the ETF – representing 5 million of transport workers within Europe and beyond – are of opinion that the very first step into this direction would be: restarting the social dialogue in all carriers where this is not active, including Eurowings Discover andfinding the common ground for setting up minimum standards regarding the labor conditions for the thousands of workers of Lufthansa Group who currently do not have a collective agreement. Eoin Coates, Head of Aviation at ETF declares: ’’Crucially, both workers and employers need to come out of this crisis together, and therefore we must engage in social dialogue early to ensure the smooth creation of any new entities and the transition through any necessary change processes with fairness and openness at the core of such discussions.’’ ETF and its affiliates within the Lufthansa Group imperatively ask the management teams of all airline companies operating within the Lufthansa Group to restart the social dialogue with the representative unions in a coherent, efficient and permanent way. This would be a clear signal that Lufthansa Group is actually taking concrete steps towards changing the completely wrong direction the group is taking by deciding to drive down social and labor standards for its workers in new companies.

Taliban cancels all departures from Kabul airport.Kabul International Airport departures “temporarily suspended”.All flights were recommended to not fly over Afghanistan. Taliban representatives announced today that the departure of all flights from Kabul International Airport was “temporarily suspended” until further notice. Taliban halts all flights from Kabul International Airport According to local reports, Taliban units have come in direct proximity to the airport and fired several warning shots to disperse the people that have flocked there. Earlier, all commercial flights from the Kabul airport were cancelled, while all transiting planes were recommended to reroute and not fly over Afghanistan. On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the situation in the airport was calming down. On August 15, the Taliban moved into Kabul and imposed full control over the city in a matter of hours. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down, as he said, to avoid bloodshed and fled the country. Western countries are evacuating their nationals and embassy staffers.