INDUSTRY NEWS
CDC requests public input on return to cruising
The CDC said the input may be used to inform guidance and preventative measures related to cruise travel.
The 28 questions may be indicative of some of the restrictions the CDC might be considering, such as should cruise ship operators limit shore excursions; should cruise ship operators decrease the length of voyages and, if so, by how much; and several questions about reducing capacity, cabin occupancy and whether crew members should be provided single-occupancy rooms.
The questions are as broad as asking what steps cruise lines should take to prevent the introduction of Covid-19 on ships and as specific as whether specimens should be tested onboard or onshore.
Comments, accepted until Sept. 21, will be published in the Federal Register and part of the public record.
CLIA said last week that the CDC had signaled a willingness to starting meaningful dialogue with the agency about the resumption of sailings and that its previous engagement with the CDC had been focused mostly on the health and repatriation of crew members who were still aboard ships in U.S. waters.
Air travel not expected to recover until 2024
Global air travel is recovering more slowly than expected and it will take until 2024 to return to pre-pandemic levels, the trade association for the airline industry said Tuesday.
IATA pushed back its prediction by one year due to the slow containment of the outbreak in the U.S. and in developing countries.
The industry is seeing a rebound from the depths of the shutdowns in April, but the bad news is that any increase “is barely visible,” IATA chief economist Brian Pearce said during an online briefing for journalists.
Pearce said that air travel is not rebounding along with rising levels of business confidence in Europe, the U.S. and China. Traffic was down 86.5% in June from the same month a year ago, compared with a drop of 94.1% in April, measured as revenue passenger kilometers, or the distance traveled by all revenue-generating passengers.
That improvement is “nowhere near the increase in business confidence,” Pearce said. China is bouncing back more than some other places, while an upturn in the U.S. has been knocked back by the recent upsurge in Covid-19 cases in a number of states.
Besides renewed outbreaks, travel is also being held back by weak consumer confidence and constrained travel budgets at companies that are struggling.
“Furthermore, there is little sign of virus containment in many important emerging economies, which in combination with the U.S., represent around 40% of global air travel markets,” IATA said in a statement. “Their continued closure, particularly to international travel, is a significant drag on recovery.”
Despite parking many of their planes, airlines are struggling to fill seats with enough people to make money. Planes were only 62.9% full on domestic flights around the world, well below levels at which airlines make money, and an abysmal 38.9% for international travel.
The U.S. is seeing more coronavirus cases after some states moved to lift restrictions on public life and business. The summer vacation season in Europe has seen more people move around. There has been a rise in cases in Germany, which had earlier done better than many other countries in mitigating the outbreak.
Germany has issued a travel warning for three regions in Spain and the U.K. has imposed a 14-day quarantine for travelers returning from Spain, a popular holiday destination.
