The Week In Travel

This week the EU’s ruling putting an end to mandatory mask wearing on planes came into effect. Having announced last week that it would be scrapping its mask mandate for air travel, which had been in place since 2020, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) formally took away the legal obligation for member states. The ruling marks a major milestone in the relaxing of restrictions. However, countries including Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain have kept the mask rule for the indefinite future. The EU is the third largest domestic travel market in the world by volume after China and India.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged Asia-Pacific states to further ease border measures to accelerate the region’s recovery from COVID-19. Willie Walsh, the Director General of the organisation, called on Asian governments to prepare for the easing of restrictions and, if they haven’t done so already, to allow vaccinated travellers entry into their countries. He singled out China and Japan as the two major markets which, he argued, would significantly aid the travel industry if they reopened to tourists. Walsh cited the impact of ‘pent-up demand’ on the quick recover of European and North American markets in his statement.

The Terminal 5 (T5) project at Changi Airport in Singapore is set to restart after being stalled for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Singaporean government has signalled that with travel now returning to normality in the city-state, which eased covid restrictions in April, funding will be in place for the project. The new terminal is set to be larger than the existing terminals combined, with annual passenger carrying capacity of 50 million. The project is set to be ready by the mid 2030s.

India’s second-largest carrier, Go First, announced this week that it plans to raise capital with an international public offering. The debt-laden company aims to raise $464 million with the float, much of which would go towards servicing debt which it took on over the pandemic. Travel is rebounding in the South Asian state, however, and the market outlook is generally positive – pre-pandemic it was the fastest growing aviation market in the world.

And finally, a British man spent his entire holiday to Croatia in a police cell, after he mistakenly boarded his flight using his stepdaughter’s passport. The man in his 50s was perplexed as to how he managed to get to Zagreb with the wrong passport in the first place. The Croatian border force eventually allowed him to leave on a flight back to Manchester, but only after five days of detention. Though concerned for her husband, his wife reportedly had a lovely and peaceful five days on the Croatian coast.