Ryanair has announced it would be strengthening its connection between the UK and Portugal over the coming weeks (September 11โ October 24) with 14 additional flights to Faro every week from 12 UK airports:
| Increased Flights to Faro | Flights Per Week |
| Bournemouth | 4 (+1) |
| Bristol | 6 (+1) |
| Cardiff | ย 3 (+1) |
| Edinburgh | 4 (+1) |
| East Midlands Airport | 8 (+1) |
| Glasgow Prestwick | 4 (+1) |
| Liverpool | 6 (+1) |
| Londonย Southend | 3 (+1) |
| Luton | 5 (+1) |
| Manchester | 13 (+2) |
| Newcastle | 4 (+2) |
| Stansted | 15 (+1) |
On August 27, 2020 Air Serbia started the gradual recommencement of flights between Belgrade and Brussels. An Airbus A319 airplane of the Serbian national airline departed to the capital of Belgium this morning at 6:45 am. Flights which were discontinued from July 28 until today will in the coming period be operated twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. Depending on travel restrictions and demand, Air Serbia is planning to start operating three flights a week to Brussels by September 22, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
Flights from Belgrade will be operated on Thursdays at 6:45 am and Sundays at 5:15 pm.
Allegiant Air has announced seven new nonstop routes, including three new routes to Florida and two to Palm Springs, California.
Also, after a short hiatus, Allegiant will also extend its seasonal route connecting Nashville, Tennessee and Bozeman, Montana.
The new seasonal routes to Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) in Southwest Floridaย include:
The new seasonal route to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) in Floridaย includes:
The new route to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway International Airport (AZA) in Arizonaย includes:
The new seasonal routes to Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) in Southern Californiaย include:
The new seasonal route to Denver International Airport (DEN) in Coloradoย includes:
The extension on the seasonal route to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) in Montanaย includes:
The new nonstop routes will operate twice weekly.
Allegiant Air aircraft photo gallery:
Allegiant Air aircraft slide show:
Swoop has made this announcement:
As part of its continued recovery plans, Swoop is announcing the start of operations at Toronto Pearson Airport beginning on October 25, 2020. As Canada’s leading ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC), Swoop is well-positioned to serve price-sensitive travellersย while stimulating demand in Canada’s largest market.
Swoop’s service at Toronto Pearson Airport will include a mix of domestic and international routes. The winter schedule outlining the destinations and routes will be released in September.
Since the start of the pandemic, Swoop continues to deliver on its mission of providing accessible and affordable air travel. The airline helped to connect Canadians from coast to coast with essential travel at affordable airfares. Today’s announcement builds off those early recovery plans to remain Canada’s ultra-low cost carrier of choice. Swoop will continue to serve Hamilton as part of its network.
As part of the WestJet Group, Swoop has proven the ULCC model to be successful. The airline has welcomed 2.5 million travellers in its two years of operations, who have saved $159 million in direct fare savings in 2019, according to a recent economic impact study. These investments by Swoop have lowered fares and increased choice and competition within the marketplace.*
Southwest Airlines is planning to cut around 40 percent of its flight schedule in October.
This will translate to around 35,000 fewer flights due to a decrease in flying demand due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.
At this time, Southwest is not planning any employee furloughs.
World COVID-19 10 top hot spots. Source: John Hopkins.
American Airlines is planning to cut its workforce by 40,000, including 19,000 involuntary cuts, in October as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect air travel, unless the government extends aid for airline employee payrolls, according to Reuters.
American Airlines is planning to furlough 1,600 pilots and 8,100 flight attendants in October due to COVID-19 and decreased flying demand, despite attractive low fares.
The company has been aggressive with encouraging voluntary retirements in order to reduce the number of layoffs.
American Airlines willย fly less than 50% of its normal schedule in the fourth quarter, with international flying reduced to only a quarter of 2019 levels.
Fleet:
Alaska Airlines has made this announcement:
With hygiene and safety concerns top of mind, Alaska Airlines is making it easier for guests to travel touch-free. Through improved technology and innovation, Alaska is creating more convenience and less contact among guests and employees during travel.
Over the coming weeks, new touch-free options for Alaska guests and employees will include the ability:
The Alaska Airlines mobile app is still the single best tool to limit contact while traveling. The Android and iPhone app allows guests to check in for their flight, generate a mobile boarding pass, change seats and prepay for bags. Guests can also stay up to date on their flight status, gate changes and boarding notifications.
“These advancements help make the travel experience easy and almost entirely touch-free for our guests and are just part of the many ways we’re keeping our guests and employees safe during this time,” said Charu Jain, senior vice president of merchandising and innovation.
Recently, Alaska implemented nearly 100 actions to keep guests and employees safe. Flyers must always wear a cloth mask or face covering when at the airport or onboard Alaska aircraft and complete a health agreement at check-in to acknowledge and attest to their willingness to adhere to the mask requirement. Other layers of safety include: EO Essential Oils alcohol-based, relaxing French lavender-scented sanitizing wipes available on all Alaska and Horizon Air flights; enhanced cleaningย ย between every flight; hospital-grade HEPA air filters; an air filtration system that circulates fresh, outside air into the cabin every three minutes; limited onboard service to reduce interactions; hand-sanitizing stations throughout the journey and more. The actions are allย part of Alaska’s commitment to Next-Level Care.
From the Alaska Airlines blog:
With hygiene and safety concerns top of mind, weโve made it easy for your travels to be almost entirely touch-free.
With the Alaska mobile app, you can check in for your flight, generate a mobile boarding pass and so much more. Plus, our improved technology will soon allow us to scan boarding passes up to six feet apart, print bag tags without touching the check-in kiosk and purchase food and beverages on board using your stored payment preference.
See whatโs in the works to make your journey more convenient and touch-free:
Great trips call for great planning! Now available in First Class on select flights over 2 hoursโand coming soon to Premium Class and Main Cabinโguests can pre-order meals on flights (that have them) beforehand using the Alaska app or at alaskaair.com. You can also store your payment preference using your Alaska Airlines account so when it comes time to pay for your meal in the air, you can do so touch-free.
Unfortunately, our food & beverage service is still limited to reduce the interactions between our flight crews and guests. So your foodie favorites may not be there but hopefully will be back soon! Hereโs what weโre currently offering on board (for more details visit our website):
Soon, you will be able to print your bag tags by simply scanning yourย boarding pass (mobile or printed at home) at one of our kiosks. Hereโs how it works: Once you pay for your baggage fee(s) using the Alaska mobile app or online, you can simply walk up to our kiosk at the airport, scan your boarding pass and your tags will be printed from the kiosk where you can safely grab the tag from the machine to place it onto your bag(s). You can also print your bag tags from home if thatโs easier or ask one of our agents for assistance.
Once youโve placed your tag on your bag(s), you can safely drop off your baggage to one of our agents, while maintaining physical distance.
Currently, our agents are able to scan guestsโ boarding passes using a mobile tablet or scanner while boarding. To help create more distance between guests, weโre providing our agents with the ability to scan a boarding pass from six feet awayโif the conditions are just right. To scan from that far away, the boarding area will need to have good lighting and the barcodes need to be printed clearly. While we canโt achieve this laser-focus every time, our agents are working hard to โmind their wingspanโ and taking every measure to keep our guests safe.
Coming soon to an airport near you will be a messaging tool that our customer service agents will useโto avoid printing & handling boarding passes or receiptsโthat is capable of sending you a text message that includes all of your travel information with a link to your boarding pass, gate and seat assignment.
Agents can also email any receipts, such as bag fees, if needed.
Theย Alaska mobile app is still the single best tool to limit contact while traveling.ย You can make sure your trip is as smooth as possible every step of the way by using it to check in for your flight, generate a mobile boarding pass, change seats and prepay for your bags. The app also keeps you up to date on your flight status, gate changes and boarding notifications. Download the app today if you donโt already have it!
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Alaska has implemented nearly 100 actions to keep guests and employees safe, all part of Alaskaโs commitment to Next-Level Care. Some examples include:
Virgin Atlantic Airways has made this announcement:
Virgin Atlantic customers can book with confidence this year with the introduction of free COVID-19 insurance cover on all new and existing bookings.
The policy, which applies automatically to all flights booked with Virgin Atlantic, is designed to complement existing travel insurance and provide additional peace of mind for upcoming trips, whether customers are already booked or plotting a getaway.
In the event that they or anyone else on their booking becomes ill with COVID-19 while travelling, Virgin Atlantic COVID-19 Cover ensures related costs are covered, no matter how long the trip is or even if theyโre visiting another destination on the same overseas trip. The insurance policy is fulfilled by Allianz Assistance and covers emergency medical and associated expenses while abroad totalling ยฃ500,000 per customer โ the highest value of policy offered by any airline to date, with no excess payment required.
The policy also covers expenses incurred up to ยฃ3,000 if a customer is denied boarding, at either departure or in destination, orย has to quarantineย due to positive or suspectedย COVID-19 during a trip.
Customers booked to travel from 24 August 2020 up to and including 31 March 2021 will automatically receive the new COVID-19 Cover and Virgin Atlantic Holidays customers will also benefit, where the flights on their holiday booking are with Virgin Atlantic. Providing the customer is travelling on a Virgin Atlantic ticket, if the flight is operated by a partner airline or a Joint Venture carrier – Delta Air Lines or Air France-KLM – the cover will also apply. Tickets can be booked via virginatlantic.com, by phone or through a travel agent, including reward tickets on Virgin Atlantic flights.
โOur priority is always the health and safety of our people and customers and this industry-leading Virgin Atlantic COVID-19 Cover ensures customers can continue to fly safe and fly well with us.
โFollowing our return to the skies to much-loved destinations like Barbados, weโre planning more services in the autumn, as travel restrictions continue to ease, including London Heathrow to Montego Bay, Antigua, Lagos and Tel Aviv. Whether itโs to visit friends and relatives or take a well-deserved break, we believe this complimentary cover will provide some added reassurance for our customers as they start to plan trips further afield. It applies in parallel to existing travel insurance policies which may now exclude COVID-19, and provides comprehensive cover for coronavirus, recognising the needs of our customers as we restart services.โ
Virgin Atlantic COVID-19 Cover joins the airlineโs flexible booking policy to give as much choice as possible to customers as they make their future travel plans. Customers booking with the airline have the option to make two date changes to their flights, with rebooking available up until 30 September 2022. These date changes have the associated change fee waived, though potential fare differences may be incurred if the new travel dates are after 30 November 2020.
The cover starts from the point of booking and ends whenย the customer returns homeย or to a hospital or nursingย homeย inย theirย homeย country.ย One-way trips are also included, with the insurance cover valid until the end of the journey, which is defined asย 12ย hours after theย arrival ofย the customerโsย finalย flight.
For a full breakdown of Virgin Atlantic COVID-19 Cover and more information on the policy visit the Virgin Atlantic website: https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/news/coronavirus/free-global-cover-for-COVID-19.html
As part of its multi-layered approach to public health measures, and for customer convenience, peace of mind and confidence, Virgin Atlantic will direct customers towards a list of recommended companies that offer COVID-19 ‘PCR Antigen’ testing, where itโs required to travel.ย This list will be constantly reviewedย by the Medical, Health and Safety teamsย to ensure theย highest standards. Information about the testing requirements for destinations that Virgin Atlantic currently flies to can be found on the website: https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/news/coronavirus/travel-restrictions.html
From Reuters:
“Delta Air Lines is set to furlough 1,941 pilots in October, the carrier said in a memo to employees on Monday that noted the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and plunging air travel demand.”
Lufthansa Group has made this announcement:
The airlines of the Lufthansa Group are restricting the exceptions from the obligation to wear a mask on board their flights. From September 1, 2020, an exemption from the obligation to wear a mask during the flight for medical reasons will only be possible if a medical certificate is presented on a form provided by the airline. Passengers can download the document from the airlines’ websites. In addition, passengers who are unable to wear a mask during the flight must present a negative covid-19 test, which is not older than 48 hours at the scheduled begin of the journey. This ensures maximum safety for the passengers travelling with them.
As of today, passengers will be comprehensively informed about the new requirements, including on the airlines’ websites and social media channels, as well as via e-mail and via SMS. This is intended to give customers the opportunity to adapt to the changed rules in good time.
The airlines in the Lufthansa Group already introduced compulsory masks on board their flights at the beginning of May, making them one of the first airlines worldwide to do so. Exceptions to this rule were previously only possible with a medical certificate. The new rules on the compulsory wearing of masks now ensure even better protection for all passengers.
The airlines in the Lufthansa Group have introduced extensive hygiene measures on board and on the ground. They are also in close contact with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and national authorities to promote the ongoing development and harmonization of health standards in air transport during the corona pandemic.
In principle, the risk of contracting the on board of an aircraft is very low. The cabins are equipped with filters that clean the air of contaminants such as dust, bacteria and viruses.
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