Global air travel demand is expected to recover to its pre-Covid-19 crisis levels in about two years though the share of corporate travel segment will diminish, Etihad Airways' chief commercial officer said.
Pent-up demand to visit family and friends will boost passenger numbers but global business travel is unlikely to bounce back to 2019 levels as companies embrace the use of video-conferencing technology, Robin Kamark, Etihad Airways' chief commercial officer said on Monday at the Global Aerospace Summit.
The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in "structural change" in the industry and the Abu Dhabi-based airline will adapt, he said at the two-day online conference hosted by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company and defence group Edge.
"You will not see business travel come back to the levels it was before this crisis. The number of travellers will, for sure, but they will travel for other reasons. Those daily flights in and out for one to three hours – flights for a meeting and back again – will not happen," he said. "We as an airline need to take on board and adapt thereafter."
In July, the International Air Transport Association said it did not expect passenger traffic to return to pre-Covid-19 levels until 2024, a year later than previously projected. The pessimistic projection was based on a number of factors including weak business travel.
"Short term business class travel will fall as businesses cut budgets and also look to focus on employee health," independent aviation consultant John Strickland told The National. "I'd expect some business travel to disappear permanently as we see a structural shift to video conferencing in place of a percentage of the previous market volumes."
The slump in corporate travel demand is expected to persist well into 2021 but will not be permanent, George Ferguson, senior analyst of aerospace, defense and airlines at Bloomberg Intelligence, said.
"We see the business demand cycle following typical downturns in that companies will restrict travel coming out of a recession as earnings recover," he said. "Once earnings recover, corporate travel will rise to a high just as the next recession sets in."
While technology such as Zoom will "peel away" some business travel volume, it cannot replace the process of building relationships that requires more personal interaction, Mr Ferguson said.
To counter the current weak travel demand, airlines have grounded some of their larger aircraft with premium cabins and will need to cut fares to stimulate demand, Mr Strickland said.
The weak business travel outlook could also result in airlines rethinking the premium class offerings onboard their aircraft, according to analysts.
"Medium term I'd expect a refreshed approach to what the business class product proposition represents and also work in strengthening the premium economy product," Mr Strickland said.
Re-configuring the cabins in the aircraft would be too expensive in response to a temporary change and airlines will instead offer business class seating at lower prices and try to attract price-conscious leisure travelers, Mr Ferguson said.
In previous crises, such as the 9/11 attacks, the airlines responded by slashing fares. However, the Covid-19 pandemic presents a different set of challenges such as travel restrictions, cancelled or postponed corporate events globally and weakened travel confidence in the absence of a vaccine – in which reduced fares or re-configured cabins may not work to boost demand, analysts say.
So far, some airlines have resorted to strategies such as blocking the sale of middle seats rather than change their cabins.
"The general view is that the airline business is much less viable with lower density seating, so the approach has been to survive on lower demand and government aid, until a vaccine is available," Teal Group consultant Richard Aboulafia said.
With vaccines against the virus expected next year and with various Covid-19 rapid tests to come available before that, airlines have not made major changes to their cabins, he said.
"The other view is that the problem hasn’t been fear of travel – it’s quarantine restrictions and cancelled events. So here again, cabin changes don’t matter much," Mr Aboulafia said.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
RESULTS
Bantamweight title:
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) bt Xavier Alaoui (MAR)
(KO round 2)
Catchweight 68kg:
Sean Soriano (USA) bt Noad Lahat (ISR)
(TKO round 1)
Middleweight:
Denis Tiuliulin (RUS) bt Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
(TKO round 1)
Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) bt Joachim Tollefsen (DEN)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 68kg:
Austin Arnett (USA) bt Daniel Vega (MEX)
(TKO round 3)
Lightweight:
Carrington Banks (USA) bt Marcio Andrade (BRA)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 58kg:
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) bt Malin Hermansson (SWE)
(Submission round 2)
Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (CAN) bt Juares Dea (CMR)
(Split decision)
Middleweight:
Mohamad Osseili (LEB) bt Ivan Slynko (UKR)
(TKO round 1)
Featherweight:
Tarun Grigoryan (ARM) bt Islam Makhamadjanov (UZB)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 54kg:
Mariagiovanna Vai (ITA) bt Daniella Shutov (ISR)
(Submission round 1)
Middleweight:
Joan Arastey (ESP) bt Omran Chaaban (LEB)
(Unanimous decision)
Welterweight:
Bruno Carvalho (POR) bt Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
(TKO)
Afro%20salons
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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
More on animal trafficking
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England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPayal%20Kapadia%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kani%20Kusruti%2C%20Divya%20Prabha%2C%20Chhaya%20Kadam%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
3%20Body%20Problem
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Voices: How A Great Singer Can Change Your Life
Nick Coleman
Jonathan Cape
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
