Aviation Daily Roundup: October 16

Air Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu plans to retire in early 2021 after nearly 12 years at the helm and will be replaced by long-time colleague Michael Rousseau, the airline said Oct. 16.

Vienna Airport (VIE) operator Flughafen Wien AG is preparing a trial of COVID-19 rapid testing on departing passengers in cooperation with Austrian Airlines.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is confident business travel will eventually recover to pre-pandemic levels, but he thinks it will probably take another four years.

Renovation of Europe’s air traffic management (ATM) is progressing at a steady speed but with shifted priorities, as the backers of the Single European Sky Research (SESAR) project manage their budgets amid the pandemic.

Implementation of Germany’s plans to introduce mandatory 14-day quarantines for travelers from high-risk countries will be delayed by several weeks and could allow for substantial exemptions, mainly for business travelers.

The Japanese government has decided to significantly reduce domestic landing fees in order to help airlines weather the COVID-19 crisis.

Canada’s travel restrictions are resulting in the country’s airlines losing significant share to foreign operators, WestJet’s CEO said, adding the airline does not realistically believe the Canada-U.S. border will open before the end of 2020.

Recent comments by a senior Russian government official illustrate how authorities and aircraft manufacturers in the country are getting increasingly worried about losing access to Western technologies as political tensions between Russia, the U.S. and Europe rise.