Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, has announced plans to return to 40 per cent of normal flight schedules from Wednesday, July 1, subject to Government restrictions on intra-EU flights being lifted, and effective public health measures being put in place at airports.

Ryanair says it will operate a daily flight schedule of almost 1,000 flights, which covers 90 per cent of its network.

Full details of these routes, frequencies, flight times, and promotional prices are available on www.Ryanair.com

Since the Covid-19 flight restrictions in mid-March, Ryanair has been operating a skeleton daily schedule of 30 flights between Ireland, the UK and Europe.

READ Exciting COVID-19 vaccine update. 

From July, Ryanair will restart flying from most of its 80 bases across Europe. There will be fewer daily/weekly frequencies on trunk routes, as Ryanair works to restore some services on the widest number of routes, rather than operating high-frequency services on a small number.

To inform passengers Ryanair has also released a return to flying video, (click here) or visit the www.Ryanair.com homepage, encouraging passengers to observe effective health measures to limit the Covid-19 virus.

These include fewer checked bags, check-in online, downloading boarding pass to the passenger smart-phone, as well as undergoing temperature checks at airport entry and wearing face masks/coverings at all times in the terminal and on-board aircraft.

The airline reminds passengers that all its aircraft are fitted with HEPA air filters (similar to those used in critical hospital wards) and all aircraft interior surfaces are disinfected every night with chemicals, which are effective for over 24 hours.

While temperature checks and face masks/coverings are the cornerstones of this healthy return to service, social distancing at airports and on board aircraft will be encouraged where it is possible.

Onboard its aircraft, Ryanair says cabin crew will wear face masks/coverings and a limited inflight service will be offered of pre-packaged snacks and drinks, but no cash sales.

Queuing for toilets will also be prohibited onboard although toilet access will be made available to individual passengers upon request.

Ryanair encourages passengers to regularly hand wash and use hand sanitizers in airport terminals.

As a temporary further public health measure, while EU States emerge from their respective Covid-19 lockdowns, Ryanair will require all passengers flying in July & Aug to fill in details (at the point of check-in) of how long their planned visit will be, and also their address while visiting another EU country, and this contact information will be provided to EU Governments to help them to monitor any isolation regulations they require of visitors on intra-EU flights.

Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said;

“It is important for our customers and our people that we return to some normal schedules from 1 July onwards. Governments around Europe have implemented a 4-month lockdown to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus. After 4 months, it is time to get Europe flying again so we can reunite friends and families, allow people to return to work, and restart Europe’s tourism industry, which provides so many millions of jobs.

“Ryanair will work closely with public health authorities to ensure that these flights comply, where possible, with effective measures to limit the spread of Covid-19. As already shown in Asia, temperature checks and face masks/coverings are the most effective way to achieve this on short-haul (1 hour) within Europe’s single market.”

This very exciting COVID19 vaccine search update comes with permission from website theconversation.com. **

There are 102 candidate vaccines being explored as a means of ending the COVID-19 pandemic, as of April 30. Eight of these have already made it to clinical trials in humans, and another 94 are in the pre-clinical evaluation stage.

These candidates also fall into eight different categories of vaccine development strategy that are being explored. While it still doesn’t guarantee success, this is in effect the biological equivalent of hedging our bets in the hope that one of the strategies will pay off.

But if and when a successful vaccine is found, we still have to manufacture enough of it to immunise huge numbers of people all around the world. And how long this will take, and what is involved, will depend on which strategy is found to work, because different vaccines are made in different ways.

Despite arguments about lack of preparedness concerning PPE and testing, the UK has been on the front foot when it comes to identifying suitable candidate vaccines. It is leading the charge to ramp up production, having invested more than any other country in doing so, according to the health secretary, Matt Hancock.

The UK’s two leading candidate vaccines, being developed by the University of Oxford and Imperial College London respectively, both use very different approaches that were already under investigation in the lab for other diseases.

Oxford’s candidate, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, uses a genetically modified chimpanzee adenovirus as a “vector” to carry the genetic sequence of a protein from the COVID-19 coronavirus to the human body. The body can then learn to recognise the coronavirus and start producing antibodies to fight it. This is the same technique the team previously developed for the closely related Mers coronavirus, which showed promise in animal and early-stage human testing.

The Imperial candidate, in contrast, is what’s known as a self-amplifying RNA vaccine. It is designed to induce muscle cells to produce the coronavirus protein, which then stimulates the immune system to produce the antibodies.

Usually vaccine development takes years, but human clinical trials for the Oxford vaccine candidate are underway, just three months after the genetic sequence of the coronavirus was released for study. This is thanks to a specialist adenovirus manufacturing platform adapted as part of work by the EPSRC UCL-Oxford Future Vaccine Manufacturing Research Hub (Vax Hub), as well as next-generation gene sequencing methods that have enabled the team to proceed at breakneck speed.

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has announced it will develop, manufacture and distribute the vaccine (if it’s successful) around the world. But to do this, it will need to find a way to scale up production without critically affecting the supply of other vital vaccines.

Global manufacturing facilities are adept at producing millions of vaccine doses against influenza, measles and polio. They have strategies in place to step up production at times of increased demand, such as for the annual winter flu season. But we are in unprecedented times, and the global demand for a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine will be on a scale never before seen, likely resulting in key production and distribution bottlenecks.

Vaccine production requires complex manufacturing processes involving the production of living organisms that, in turn, generate the genetically-modified virus on which the vaccine is based. And we must get the manufacturing right. These vaccines will be administered to healthy people to generate immunity to the virus. Any faults would risk their safety and a long-term loss of public confidence.

But there is cause for cautious optimism. As we await the clinical trial outcomes for the Oxford vaccine, behind the scenes there has been a flurry of activity to adapt existing manufacturing technologies and processes to make the adenovirus vector it relies on.

Alongside AstraZeneca, established UK-based viral vector production companies such as Oxford Biomedica and Cobra Biologics have adapted their manufacturing sites. The UK government has launched a vaccine task force to coordinate scale-up efforts, funded a £14 million industry-led vaccine manufacturing group and fast-tracked a £65 million Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC).

Vaccine manufacturing process

The manufacturing process for the Oxford vaccine will begin by encoding the coronavirus surface protein into the adenovirus vector. “Producer cells”, usually human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells, will then be used as mini-factories to produce the vector particles. The producer cells will be grown at scale in a bioreactor, a vessel that tightly controls the environmental conditions to optimise cell growth.

The cells will then be put through a series of steps to purify and concentrate the final adenovirus vector, including filtration and centrifugation (spinning it very fast in order to separate different particles). Finally, the solution will be formulated into a usable product and kept stable by storing it between 2°C and 8°C.

However, the final concentration of the solution can vary significantly, and it is the lack of an effective manufacturing process to resolve this problem that limits current production on a mass scale. This will be the significant challenge AstraZeneca will face in translating the lab-based Oxford process to something akin to industrial manufacturing.

Importantly, the groundwork for this has already been established by UK engineers and scientists. Sustained, flexible research funding for vaccine manufacture will be critical to mitigate the impact of this coronavirus and prepare for future outbreaks.

Of course, all these efforts will only come into play if the Oxford vaccine (or potentially another in the same category) is found to work. Other vaccine candidates, such as that being developed by Imperial, will require a substantially different manufacturing process. In these unprecedented times, the world’s vaccine experts will have to work with unprecedented speed and innovation to deliver a way to save potentially millions of lives and start returning society to normal.

**PLEASE NOTE FULL DISCLOSURES ON WEBSITE. 

Airlineratings.com editor Geoffrey Thomas says he sees the Queensland government “marrying themselves” to another major bidder for Virgin Australia and “being part of a consortium moving forward” that could save the embattled airline.

See the whole interview here;

The Queensland Investment Corporation will spearhead the Palaszczuk government’s bid for the airliner, while 19 bidders in total are believed to have expressed interest after Virgin entered voluntary administration last month.

“I think it’s a great move by the Queensland government,” Mr Thomas said. Virgin Australia went into voluntary administration with $7 billion worth of debt, while administrators Deloitte say it’s ready to relaunch and resell the airline.

Mr Thomas told Sky News the “real value in Virgin Australia is its staff” along with its 12 million frequent flyer members, so any move to break up the airline and thus lose those “two great assets,” would make the purchase redundant.

“If it’s not kept pretty much intact, then why buy it? “There’s more money to be made at the top end of the market than the bottom end”. Image: AP

See the whole interview here;

Air New Zealand is set for take-off and has issued the following details of what passengers can expect.

Its  press release is reproduced in full:

Air New Zealand has revealed the ways it is planning to keep customers and employees safe with more flights taking to the skies when the country enters Alert Level 2.

The airline plans to operate around 20 per cent of its usual domestic capacity (compared to pre-COVID-19 levels) during Alert Level 2, with flights to the majority of its domestic airports.

Air New Zealand General Manager Customer Experience Nikki Goodman says the airline is looking forward to welcoming more people on board again and has been looking at all stages of the customer journey to reassure those travelling in the coming weeks that they can do so safely.

“We’ll be encouraging customers to check-in for their flight via the Air New Zealand app, but for those checking in at our larger airports, every second self-service kiosk will be operating to support social distancing. There will also be floor markers for queuing at our check-in counters, service desks, bag drops and departure gates, and we’ll be boarding and disembarking fewer customers at a time.

“Inflight, we’ll be allocating seating to allow an empty seat between customers travelling alone. We’ll do our best to keep families and some travelling companions together, so you may notice some people sitting together with no additional space.

“Food and beverage services will not be available until at least 25 May on our flights within New Zealand to minimise contact between customers and cabin crew, and you won’t see our inflight magazine Kia Ora in seat pockets or our iconic lolly inflight just yet.

“High touch surfaces will be cleaned regularly, and we are taking extra steps to ensure all our aircraft, lounges and airports are cleaned throughout the day. Our jet aircraft are fitted with hospital-grade air systems that filter out viruses. Hand sanitiser will also be available across the airport, kiosks, service desks and all our aircraft for both customers and staff to use as they wish.

“Our domestic lounges and valet will re-open from 25 May. In accordance with government regulations, our self-service buffet will not be available in lounges. However, we will offer packaged snacks along with beverages and our popular coffee station.

“Finally, it would be appreciated if customers could exercise a bit of patience as everyone gets used to this new way of travelling. We’d also advise allowing a little more time to navigate through the airport process and be mindful of social distancing requirements. Customers should not travel if they are unwell or have COVID-19 symptoms – flights can be changed free of charge if needed.”

Customers can find details on how to download the Air New Zealand app here.

Further details on the customer journey for Alert Level 2 can be found on the COVID-19 hub on the Air New Zealand website. Customers travelling in the coming weeks will receive an email on their day of travel outlining what to expect before they fly and while onboard.

Sadly it appears that the end is nearing for the Airbus A380 superjumbo that is the darling of passengers but a challenge for airline accountants.

The giant of the sky was already on borrowed time with Airbus pulling the plug on production early last year as far more fuel-efficient and flexible twin-engine aircraft have emerged such as the Airbus A350, Boeing 787 and 777X.

Now with the massive decline in travel due to COVID19 the A380 fleet is essentially grounded.

READ: Qatar Airways to give away 100,000 tickets to health professionals

READ Air travel on the rise

Qatar Airways chief Akbar Al Baker told AirlineRatings.com that “Qatar Airways is parking its 10 A380s and they will not return for at least a year, and maybe never.”

Emirates President Sir Tim Clark told The National, last week that “we know the A380 is over.”

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker says that COVID-19 is going to reshape travel with business getting used to using online conference calls.

Speaking with AirlineRatings.com yesterday Al Baker said that the 2008 GFC spelt the demise of first-class travel and he feels that business travel will be severely impacted going forward.

“Yields will fall as premium traffic declines,” he warned.

However, the upside for business is that social distancing is guaranteed particularly with the airline’s Qsuite, which it will continue to deploy.

And with the decline in business travel, the global A380 superjumbo fleet will also be under pressure.

READ: Qatar Airways to give away 100,000 tickets to health professionals

READ Air travel on the rise

“Qatar Airways is parking its 10 A380s and they will not return for at least a year, and maybe never.”

And he sees the decline of many airlines.

“There will be consolidation and bankruptcies and a huge reduction in capacity,” said Al Baker.

Qatar Airways like most airlines will also seek aid from its government owners.

Al Baker said that the airline was burning through cash and only had enough to sustain operations for a “very short period of time”.

“We will surely go to our government eventually for equity,” said Al Baker.

On the future, he said that “some people say that the industry will not recover to 2019 levels till at least 2023.”

“But I think it will be sooner.”

Al Baker is upbeat on the work that is going on in Israel and the UK for cures and vaccines.

“I think Israel will be first.”

“The world’s best scientific minds are working on COVID19 and I am confident it will be sooner than later.”

However, getting passengers comfortable with flying is a challenge.

“Airlines will have to mount an aggressive campaign to promote the cleanliness of the airport and aircraft.”

Al Baker says Qatar Airways is leading the world in aircraft and airport hygiene.

“We have complete social distancing on our aircraft and all our flight crew have PPE”

Al Baker said that the airline has changed its service delivery to virtually eliminate contact.

“Our airline has implemented industry-leading hygiene practices and commercial policies enabling our passengers to book and travel with confidence.”

The airline has maintained flights to at least 30 destinations – including Perth – during the crisis helping to take over 1 million people home.

Qatar Airways will soon begin a phased increase to 80 destinations by the end of June in line with passenger demand and the expected relaxation of entry restrictions around the world.