Category: Travel News Page 38 of 60

2020 will go down in the history books as the air transport industry’s most turbulent year to date, with massive fluxes in passenger volumes globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Runways emulating plane graveyards served as a visceral reminder of the vulnerable economics of the air transport industry.

Emerging from government-imposed travel bans and nationwide lockdowns during the first half of the year was not enough to prompt travelers to return to the skies en masse. After showing some positive signs over the northern hemisphere summer months, global passenger traffic at the end of November 2020 slumped back down to 48 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from 2019, according to SITA data. Regaining passenger confidence has become a critical factor for airlines to weather the ongoing economic storm. Read More

Many border security agencies aren’t ready to cope with a return to pre-pandemic levels of travel if they have to track additional pieces of information like traveler health. Blame the holdup on a debate about tactics and tech, not just budgetary shortfalls.

The pandemic has drawn governments worldwide’ attention to the need to track the visitors crossing their borders for more than immigration and security reasons. Yet many governments have decades-old technology and lack the flexibility to ingest new data sources such as medical information. Many nations also lack the latest techniques for verifying people’s identities. Read More

Uganda’s national carrier, Uganda Airlines, on Tuesday received the first of two Airbus A330-800neo aircraft at the Entebbe International Airport.

The planes were procured by the Ugandan government in preparation for building its international long-haul flight network which is due to commence next year. The second plane is scheduled to be received in January 2021.

The plane has a capacity of 20 passengers in business class, 24 in premium economy class and 210 in economy class, according to Uganda’s Ministry of Works and Transport. Read More

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) unveiled key design elements of the IATA Travel Pass. IATA Travel Pass is a mobile app to help travelers easily and securely manage their travel in line with any government requirements for COVID-19 testing or vaccine information.

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO said, “Testing is the immediate solution to safely re-open borders and re-connect people. And eventually this is likely to transition to vaccination requirements. In either case, a secure system to manage COVID-19 testing or vaccination information is critical. The IATA Travel Pass is a solution that both travelers and governments can trust. And it is being built with data security, convenience and verification as top priorities,”. Read More