body-container-line-1

Aviation This Week – January Edition 4

By Mark Ofosu, Aviation Enthusiast
Maritime, Port & Aviation Aviation This Week – January Edition 4
JAN 23, 2021 LISTEN

This week’s update summaries topical events from January 18, 2021, to January 23, 2021. The summaries read as follows:

Aviation Ministry Rejects BA’s Decision to Switch Accra-London-Accra Flights from Heathrow to Gatwick

The “Aviation Ministry” this week made known its strong opposition to British Airways’ (BA) decision to switch its flight operations between Accra and London from Heathrow to Gatwick Airport.

The “Aviation Ministry’s opposition was borne out of what it calls a decision which was taken by the airline without consultation. However, some aviation analysts have argued that the Government of Ghana has no business interfering in the affairs of private businesses.

In a latest development, some news sources have stated that the Ministry may resort to reciprocal action should BA insist on switching airports.

Emirates to Begin Trial of IATA Pass

Emirates is among the first global airlines in the world to begin a trial of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass Mobile Application. The Travel Pass forms part of IATA’s plan to have a common platform where passengers can keep up with travel requirements from the various government’s across the globe as they travel. Again, the pass enables passengers to share their COVID-19 test results stored on the application with airlines to enhance convenience particularly for international travels.

Emirates will begin the trial in April for its customers traveling from Dubai.

Turkish Airlines Updates Passengers on requirement for travels into Netherlands

Turkish Airlines has advised its passengers travelling to the Netherlands to submit a rapid PCR antigen or LAMP test along with the negative COVID-19. PCR results. The rapid PCR, antigen or LAMP test should have been taken at most 4hours before flight.

The airline further admonishes passengers to have both test results and distributed forms kept ready in their passports for presentation to relevant staff upon arrival.

Denmark Bans Flights from Dubai

Denmark has for five days banned flights from Dubai starting January 22, 2021. The move follows a discovery of the new strain of the COVID-19 virus from a South African who arrived in Copenhagen via Dubai.

Subsequently, the health authorities in Denmark have expressed doubts over the credibility of tests done in the United Arab Emirates and intends to use the ban period to investigate the matter further.

Emirates Vaccinates Workforce against COVID-19.

Emirates this week joined the list of airlines to vaccinate their staff against Covid-19. For Emirates, the vaccination gave priority to its flight crew and operational staff who frequently come into contact with people.

KLM halts all Inter-Continental Flights

Dutch airline KLM on Friday, January 22, 2021 said it was suspending all of its intercontinental flights due to a new directive by the Dutch Government for all persons, including airline crew arriving in Netherlands to present both a PCR and antigen test before flying.

The move the airline believes could lead to its crew being stranded overseas and has therefore taken the necessary steps to halt operations, however, the airline did not state how long the suspension will be.

IATA Calls for a Common Digital Vaccination Certificate

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on the European Union to adopt a common digital certificate for persons vaccinated against COVID-19. This IATA believes will help in the safe reopening of borders hence aid the free movement of people.

Update on Ethiopian Airlines vs Boeing

United States Attorneys representing Ethiopian have advised the airline to reject a compensation amount of around $500 million to $600 million by Boeing.

The amount the attorneys think is not enough for the damages the plane maker, Boeing has caused to the airline.

In 2019, Ethiopian Flight 302 operated with a Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed, leaving 149 passengers and 8 crew on board dead. The manufacturer of the plane, Boeing later accepted the blame for manufacturing defects.

Authored

Mark Ofosu || Aviation Geek || Twitter: M__ofosu

body-container-line