There is promising new science on the horizon as NASA’s nimble Osiris-Rex sample return spacecraft prepares for a daring brief encounter on Oct. 20 with its distant target, the primitive asteroid Bennu.
Cathay Pacific predicts that its passenger capacity will still be less than half pre-COVID-19 levels in 2021, even assuming best-case outcomes prevail.
Chinese LCC Spring Airlines will take delivery of up to seven Airbus A320 family aircraft by the end of 2020, increasing its fleet by about 7% as it expands its business by redeploying international capacity to domestic routes.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Flight services provider DroneUp has announced a pilot program with Walmart and Quest Diagnostics to deliver COVID-19 test sample collection kits by drone.
Vienna Airport operator Flughafen Wien AG is preparing a trial of COVID-19 rapid testing on departing passengers in cooperation with Austrian Airlines.
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.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said the air transport industry has “turned a corner” in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, although that newfound optimism was not reflected in the carrier’s latest quarterly results.
Eurocontrol may have to further revise its traffic forecasts downwards—after already cutting them once—as tightening COVID-19 restrictions and rising infection numbers in many European countries lead to a deteriorating situation for the region’s airlines.
The arrangement will also have no restrictions on the reason for traveling, meaning Hong Kong and Singapore could potentially be the first pair of cities available for international leisure travel in the region.
AirAsia X envisages operating a much smaller fleet of Airbus A330s in the long term following its planned resumption of flights with just a handful of aircraft early in 2021.
