‘COVID-19 global wellness’ cover for all passengers travelling via Etihad Pg02 Aerion Supersonic signs BAE Systems for flight control of Supersonic Jet Pg07 Airbus celebrates five years of single-aisle production facility in Albama Pg12 Oct 01st, 2020 Boeing’s Confident Travel Initiative presents ‘UV wand’ to sanitize plane interiors oeing and Healthe entered into a a working model, and Healthe will now hospitals, offices, wherever pathogens patent and technology license under take that prototype and make it avail- go,” said Abe Morris, Healthe executive whichB Healthe will manufacture an ul- able to the world at large.” chairman. “As we ramp up deployment traviolet (UV) wand designed to sanitize Healthe will produce and distribute of our cutting-edge UVC and Far-UVC airplane interiors. Boeing designed and the commercial wand, helping airlines 222 light solutions across many sectors, developed the UV wand as part of the and potentially others combat the coro- this new commercial-grade wand will company’s Confident Travel Initiative navirus pandemic. The technology could be another powerful tool in the sani- (CTI) to support customers and enhance be available for airlines in late fall. The tization arsenal to protect passengers the safety and well-being of passengers device is an addition to sanitizing and against the spread of harmful viruses.” and crews during the COVID-19 pan- protective measures already in place, The UV wand uses 222 nanometer UVC demic. which include the use of high-efficiency light. Research indicates 222 nanometer “The UV wand is designed to be more particulate air filters that trap more than UVC inactivates pathogens effectively. effective than similar devices. It quickly 99.9 per cent of particulates and prevent Using the self-contained apparatus disinfects surfaces on an airplane and them from re-circulating back to the that resembles a carry-on suitcase, further strengthens other layers of cabin. crews can pass UV light over high-touch protection for passengers and crew,” “We are proud to be assisting Boeing surfaces, sanitizing everywhere the light said Mike Delaney, who leads Boeing’s as they work with their partner airlines reaches. The UV wand is particularly ef- CTI efforts. “Boeing spent six months to enhance in-cabin plane sanitization fective in compact spaces and sanitizes a transforming an idea for the wand into efforts. This could also benefit schools, flight deck in less than 15 minutes. www.mrobusinesstoday.com 1 Oct 01, 2020 COVID-19 NEWS ‘COVID-19 global wellness’ cover for will not only instil confidence to travel but also reassure our guests that we all passengers travelling via Etihad are doing all we can to keep them safe and protected. As more countries start opening their borders, we are making it as easy as possible for our guests to plan their next trip, hassle free.” All Etihad tickets regardless of date of booking, traveling between now and 31 December 2020 will include CO- VID-19 insurance. Guests with existing bookings don’t need to do anything they are automatically enrolled into the programme. The insurance is valid worldwide for 31 days from the first day of travel. Adelane Mecellem, Chief Executive Officer Asia, Middle-East, Turkey and Africa, AXA Partners said, “At AXA, we are focused on improving the customer experience and wellness of individu- irlines across the globe are offer- during their trips will be covered by als during these times. As such, we ing various deals to passengers to Etihad. are proud to partner with one of the encourageA travellers to fly again. These Duncan Bureau, Senior Vice President world’s leading airlines, Etihad Air- deals are over and above the various Sales and Distribution, Etihad Airways, ways, and provide their extensive loyal stringent safety and hygiene precau- said, “The safety, health, and wellbeing travellers with new protection solutions tions taken by the airlines to boost the of our guests and employees is our top when needed most.” aviation industry market. One such priority, during and beyond the flight. If you are diagnosed with COVID-19 unique attempt is made by Etihad Air- The introduction of global COVID-19 while you’re away from home, CO- ways. They have introduced COVID-19 insurance, in partnership with AXA, VID-19 global wellness insurance will global wellness insurance cover as a builds on stringent measures already cover up to EUR150K of medical costs part of Etihad Wellness. Under this all in place as part of our Etihad Wellness and up to EUR100 a day of quarantine medical expenses and quarantine costs programme, championed by our Well- costs in case of a positive diagnosis for of guests diagnosed with COVID-19 ness Ambassadors. This additional cover 14 days. Emirates standing strong on customer commitments, return over USD 1.4 billion in pending refunds n the current unprecedented COVID-19 Since the pandemic hit, Emirates has process quickly. But there are cases which times, the one thing Airlines can invested additional resources to ramp will take a bit more time for our customer blindlyI reply on is customer commit- up its processing capability. The airline teams to manually review and complete. ments, and standing strong on this also continues to work with industry We are grateful to our customers for their promise is Emirates Airways. In the partners to facilitate refunds for those patience and understanding.” recent announcement by Emirates, they who have booked their Emirates flights As global travel markets slowly re- have returned over AED 5 billion (USD through travel agents; this includes open, Emirates has gradually restarted 1.4 billion) in COVID-19 related travel re- enabling direct refunds processing via its passenger operations around the funds to date to customers to complete global booking systems (GDS). world, always ensuring that it provides pending refunds. Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline customers with a safe and smooth travel More than 1.4 million refunds requests said, “We understand that from our experience. have been completed since March, customers’ standpoint, each pending The airline has introduced a series of representing 90 per cent of the air- refund request is one too many. We are industry-leading initiatives to provide line’s backlog. This includes all requests committed to honouring refunds and are customers with additional reassurance received from customers around the trying our utmost to clear the massive and confidence when they travel – from world up until the end of June, save for a and unprecedented backlog that was bio-safety measures at every step of few cases which require further manual caused by the pandemic. Most cases their journey, to free COVID-19 medical review. are straightforward, and these we will cover, and flexible booking policies. www.mrobusinesstoday.com 2 Oct 01, 2020 COVID-19 NEWS Mumbai Airport becomes the first airport in India to install mobile- enabled kiosk n today’s times of touch-less travel and gain- ing passenger confidence in air travel, Mumbai AirportI has gone one step ahead and introduced about 50 of SITA’s mobile-enabled kiosks to deliver a completely contactless way for passengers to check- in for their flight. The technology allows passengers to use their mo- bile device to interact with kiosks. This significantly reduces the need to touch surfaces in the airport and meets the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s (MoCA’s) new passenger processing guidelines aimed at re- ducing the risk of spreading COVID-19 infections. Developed in response to rapidly changing pas- senger requirements as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the application is a cost-effective alterna- tive to significant investment in new low-touch infrastructure. The solution leverages existing common-use kiosks and does not require changes or modifications to airlines’ existing IATA CUSS stan- dard check-in applications. Rajeev Jain, CEO, MIAL said, “With the focus on pas- senger convenience, the new contactless technol- ogy has been developed in response to the rapidly changing passenger requirements due to the CO- VID-19 pandemic. We want to reassure our patrons of their safety at the airport and are willing to go the extra mile to alleviate any fear of travel during these challenging times.” Mumbai Airport handles more than 47 million passengers a year. With this technology, travellers passing through Terminal 2 of the airport can now simply scan a QR code on their mobile phone or tab- let to operate the kiosks. After scanning the QR code, they can then use their mobile device as a trackpad to control check-in and self-bag drop kiosks to print their boarding passes and bag tags. Maneesh Jaikrishna, SITA Vice President for the Indian Subcontinent, Dubai, Eastern & Southern Africa said: “In the aftermath of COVID-19, we are focused in delivering technology solutions that help our customers quickly deliver a safe and smooth passenger journey. We are pleased to have supported Mumbai Airport with this, and we’re subsequently rolling this solution to other airports in India too.” SITA has developed a broad range of solutions to help airports through the post-COVID environment. www.mrobusinesstoday.com 3 Oct 01, 2020 COVID-19 NEWS ‘Stop fighting pandemic battle in isolation’- IATA appeals to global governments ATA is striving to restore the aero- importing infection. With the exception of some domes- space industry to its former glory “Airlines have been largely grounded tic markets there is little evidence of andI in that attempt they have made an for a half-year. And the situation is an early industry recovery. Airlines urgent appeal to all the governments not improving. In fact, in many cases continue to lose billions of dollars and globally to work together and re-estab- it is going in the wrong direction.