The Delta variant of COVID-19 has changed the way Australia has to deal with the pandemic.
Vaccination is now our only option to combat this deadly airborne “enemy.”
July edition of Rotorcraft Asia-Pacific e-News has an interesting report on the need to change our focus on how we handle the Delta version of the Covid virus.
Aviation journalist in APAC, Adrian Schofield was quoted as saying: :
Pandemic Retains Tight Grip on Asia-Pacific Airlines. This is due to vaccination rates growing slowly for most Asian countries. Also, governments remain reluctant to ease order restrictions. While other parts of the world are beginning to open up to international travel, most of the key Asia-Pacific markets are seeing very little growth. This is a major headache for Asian airlines anxiously waiting for revenue opportunities to help spark recovery.
European countries, in particular, have been removing travel restrictions as their Covid-19 vaccination rates reach high levels. But in the Asia-Pacific region, vaccination rates have generally been much lower. New waves of more infectious strains have also made Asian governments more cautious about opening borders, and in many cases, even the gains made in domestic markets have been eroded due to heightened restrictions.
It is now accepted that vaccination programs are crucial to airlines hopes because they are widely considered the best avenue for resuming travel.
When countries have vaccination levels of 70% or higher, their governments will have more options to remove restrictions. However, Air Asia CEO, Javed Malik does not believe, that current bilateral bubbles are the answer to restarting international travel. “Vaccination is the key,” he said.
“Travel bubbles are too much of a short-term and restricted type of travel.”
END.
APAC rotorcraft operators will always be troubled when their 'heavy metal' cousins are gathering dust in some remote parking lot. But overall, the anticipated recession in wobbly wing activities has not occurred - more on this soon. Good news for most. APAC has managed a 1.8% annual helicopter growth rate. Australia, part of APAC has managed a 4.5% growth rate due to their tourists having to send money on domestic tourism due to international travel restrictions. In fact, the cruise ship industry recently reported the amount not being spent overseas is AUD$60 billion US$44 billion. The ships look like being docked for a further year - maybe 2023 to 2024.