Aviation

Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd has set up pre-departure coronavirus tests for passengers through its booking platforms as part of efforts to revive travel demand destroyed by the pandemic. People flying from Singapore as well as those traveling to the city-state from Jakarta and Medan in Indonesia can take tests at clinics and get results within 36 hours. If negative, they ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong no longer has the busiest airport for international traffic in Asia after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out travel, leaving South Korea’s Incheon International Airport in top spot, albeit with drastically fewer numbers than previous years. Hong Kong International Airport handled 8.84 million passengers in 2020, an 88% plunge from the previous year. That sent it down two ...

Bloomberg Air Lease Corp is considering reinstating some previously canceled Boeing Co 737 Max orders, though not until more regulators clear the jet’s return, Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy said. Los Angeles-based Air Lease, one of the world’s largest aircraft leasing firms, had committed to 195 Max purchases as of year-end 2019, including orders, options and planes already delivered. Then came the ...

Bloomberg Billionaire Richard Branson’s orbital-rocket system put its first satellites into space, after a previous attempt failed in May. Virgin Orbit said a Boeing Co 747 named Cosmic Girl took off from California carrying the company’s LauncherOne rocket, which was then released and ignited before successfully reaching orbit. It then deployed its payload: nine miniature satellites known as CubeSats developed ...

Bloomberg The beginning of a new year is always a good time to rethink your travel rewards strategy—but never more so than 2021. With the travel industry experiencing continued disruption from the coronavirus pandemic and hamstrung vaccine rollouts threatening to extend border closures even longer than expected, airlines and hotels are offering unprecedented deals to secure business (and loyalty) in ...

Bloomberg Singapore will require all inbound travellers to take a Covid test upon arrival in the city-state from January 25 amid a resurgence of cases globally, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. Citizens and permanent residents of Singapore who return from either the United Kingdom or South Africa will also be subject to an additional seven-day self-isolation at ...

Bloomberg The new wave of lockdowns around the world is sending US jet fuel prices slumping and exports slowing to a trickle all over again. It’s not as bad as the crash last April, but the headwinds the aviation market still faces before vaccines bring life to normal are increasingly showing. Benchmark jet fuel prices in New York and Houston ...

Bloomberg When Boeing Co ended a long commercial drought last month by handing over 737 Max jets to two top customers, the transactions marked a little-noticed break with tradition. The planes were built in 2019 but recorded as 2020 models when they were delivered, having sat dormant during the longest jetliner grounding in US history. The seemingly innocuous distinction could ...

Bloomberg Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd sold two Boeing Co 787 jetliners to fund the repayment of a loan from hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management that formed the basis of a hard-won rescue last year. The planes were bought by Griffin Global Asset Management and Bain Capital Credit, Virgin Atlantic said in a statement. The sale and leaseback deal, which ...

Bloomberg The UK said it will close its travel corridors with countries around the world, meaning all visitors from overseas will require a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours of travel to enter Britain. Visitors may be checked when they arrive in the UK and could face substantial fines if they don’t comply, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a ...