The Week In Travel

A report published earlier this week shows that gender inequality is still prevalent in the aviation industry in the UK, with 30% of female aviation professionals stating that they have been discriminated against due to their gender. The report, carried out by the Royal Aeronautical Society and the University of the West of England, considered both survey responses and personal testimony, as well as focus groups, in an investigation into why there remains such a disparity in the ratio of female pilots to male – 1:19. Reasons given include the lack of female trainers and role models within the industry, and the lasting perception that aviation is an ‘old boys club,’ where promotions are based on who you know rather than the quality of your performance. The report was published in the same week as International Women’s Day.

However, on a more optimistic note, the UK reported its strongest week for business travel since the beginning of the pandemic. The final week of February saw an increase of 68% of departures for domestic UK business travel, and a 403% increase in new business travel bookings compared with the same week in 2021. The Business Travel Association (BTA) said that the data showed that ‘traveller confidence has returned,’ though it also put this news into perspective by underlining that there had still been a £2.7 billion weekly loss in GDP to the UK economy, due to lower levels of international corporate travel, compared with pre-Covid 2019 levels.

India has announced that it is to end restrictions on international passenger flights from the 27th of March. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken this action in recognition of the increased vaccination levels across the globe. International arrivals to India will need proof of their vaccination status or a negative PCR test taken 72 hours before the flight.

There was more good news from Singapore where the government has announced that it is to spend US$368 million in a rescue package designed to relieve pressure on the city-state’s suffering aviation industry. The OneAviation Resilience Package, will focus on manpower support, cost relief and support for public health safeguards, as well as industry and workforce transformation support. There will be extended rebates on fees and charges payable to the government, and a Workforce Retention Grant which will pay 10% of workforce wages for a period of 6 months. The Singaporean government wishes to hold on to its status as an international travel hub, hence the investment in its aviation industry.

And finally, Air Canada this week began to fly emergency medical supplies to Ukraine in a bid to alleviate the shortage caused by the conflict. The carrier has dedicated one of its Dreamliner planes to the task of delivering hospital beds, humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Warsaw, which will then be taken by transit to the city of Lviv. The support operation is in coordination with disaster relief organisations Project CURE and GlobalMedic, as well as the disaster logistics non-profit organisation Airlink.