Airline, Organisations & Operators,

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported that passenger demand in July continued at critically low levels.
Measured in revenue passenger kilometres, or RPKs, passenger numbers were 80 per cent below levels seen in the same month last year.
This was somewhat better than the 87 per cent year-over-year decline recorded in June, primarily driven by domestic markets, most notably Russia and China.
Market reopening in the Schengen Area helped to boost international demand in Europe, but other international markets showed little change from June.
Capacity was 70 per cent below 2019 levels and load factor sagged to a record low for July, at 58 per cent.

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“The crisis in demand continued with little respite in July.
“With essentially four in five air travellers staying home, the industry remains largely paralysed.
“Governments reopening and then closing borders or removing and then re-imposing quarantines does not give many consumers confidence to make travel plans, nor airlines to rebuild schedules,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA director general.
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The International Air Transport Association has urged European governments to coordinate efforts to lift border restrictions and find alternatives to quarantine measures in order to avoid further economic damage.
The call comes as part of an update on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on air passenger numbers, employment and economies across the region.
Although the European market has seen an increase in the number of flights in recent months, supported by the reopening of borders between countries of the Schengen area and the non-Schengen EU states, flights are still more than 50 per cent below the same period in 2019.
Passenger numbers are currently forecast to fall by around 60 per cent in 2020, which represents about 705 million passenger journeys.
The near-term outlook for recovery in Europe remains highly uncertain with respect to the second wave of the pandemic and the broader global economic impact it could have.

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Passenger demand in Europe is expected to recover gradually and will not reach 2019 levels until 2024.
With air travel not recovering as originally hoped, the negative impact on employment has increased.
More than seven million jobs supported by aviation (including tourism) in Europe are now at risk (up from around six million estimated in June).
“It is desperately worrying to see a further decline in prospects for air travel this year, and the knock-on impact for employment and prosperity.
“It shows once again the terrible effect that is being felt by families across Europe as border restrictions and quarantine continue.
“It is vital that governments and industry work together to create a harmonized plan for reopening borders,” said Rafael Schvartzman, IATA regional vice president for Europe.
Governments must look at a coordinated way to lift travel restrictions and find alternatives to quarantine requirements, said IATA.
International cooperation to isolate and precisely manage risks is critical to rebuilding confidence in travel.
Of crucial importance is the layering of measures as an alternative to quarantine, including the universal implementation of the ICAO biosafety measures, comprehensive contract tracing, and the potential for testing regimes that are fast, accurate, scalable and affordable.
A stop-go-stop approach to lifting restrictions cannot be the answer, the body added.
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Pilots represented by the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) at British Airways are to be balloted on a new restructuring and redundancy agreement.
The deal has been reached after three months of negotiations.
British Airways had proposed to make up to 1,255 pilots redundant, while changing the terms and conditions of those that remain in response to a travel downturn following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new Balpa package involves pilots taking up some part-time working, severance and external secondments.
There will also be a pool of 300 pilots employed on reduced pay ready to return to flying if demand picks up.
The measures are funded by pilot pay cuts starting at 20 per cent, reducing to eight per cent over the next two years, then further reducing toward zero over the longer term.

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Under the terms of the deal, some 270 pilots will still be made redundant.
Balpa is recommending its 4,300 pilot members at British Airways accept these proposals as the “best that can be achieved” in the circumstances.
Brian Strutton, Balpa general secretary, said: “It is hugely disappointing that during our extensive negotiations British Airways would not accept the full package of mitigations we put forward which would have avoided any job losses at all, and at no cost to the airline.
“As a result there will be some compulsory redundancies among the pilot community and that is a matter of huge regret.”
The ballot of BA pilots will close next Thursday.
Stephen Gunning, chief financial officer with British Airways-owner International Airlines Group, said: “International Airlines Group welcomed an announcement by British Airways’ pilots’ union Balpa that it intends to hold a consultative ballot of its members in relation to the proposed restructuring and redundancy agreement reached between the union and the airline.
“This is in response to the Covid-19 crisis affecting the aviation industry.”
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