Intel in the Air: April Roundup of the Latest Aviation News
The month of April proved that the return of the travel industry is nowhere close to slowing down with more vaccinations, new additions to the airline industry, and large strides towards sustainable travel.
Read on for the latest ‘Intel in the Air’ news roundup, where we keep our users informed and in-the-know on the industry’s latest happenings.
Flying into the Return of Travel
After a busy last month of vaccination progress, April started strong with TSA recording 1.5 million travelers over Easter weekend — the highest checkpoint traffic since the start of the pandemic. Overseas, Qatar Airways made history by flying the first fully vaccinated aircraft including passengers, pilots, and cabin crew. Many airlines are reverting back to pre-COVID policies including United Airlines resuming their five-group, two-lane boarding system and American Airlines restarting full drink service on all flights, starting in May. United is making strides towards streamlining air travel by updating its app with a new COVID-19 feature that allows passengers to have their test results directly uploaded through over 200 testing providers.
The Airline Industry Celebrates Earth Month
In a month dedicated to taking care of the Earth, April came with many progressive announcements of airlines supporting sustainability. JetBlue has recently invested millions in Universal Hydrogen in the hope to begin working toward hydrogen-powered flights. Alaska Airlines has reaffirmed its commitment to reaching net-zero emissions by 2040 and signing a global carbon agreement. In France, lawmakers have voted to ban short flights that are under two-and-a-half hours in order to help the nation cut its carbon emissions. Here at App in the Air, we joined in on the fun with our Earth Week Challenge, where we dared our users to go carbon neutral for the chance to win sustainable luggage from Lo & Sons and more!
New Airlines Hitting the Runway
Two new airlines entered the scene this month, offering new options in low-cost flying. Avelo Airlines, created by former Allegiant Airlines president, is a low-fare, customer-focused airline that is scheduling services from smaller airports to serve large metro areas. Launching with their fleet of three Boeing 737’s, Avelo will begin flying to 11 destinations from Burbank, California on April 28th. Meanwhile, David Neelman, founder of five airlines including JetBlue, has created Breeze Airways. Designed to cater towards routes that currently don’t offer non-stop service — Breeze Airways will start their flights from airports heavily influenced by the pandemic.
Unique Ways to Dream of Travel
Brands are finding unique ways to support your wanderlust. Virgin Atlantic has created the ultimate virtual traveling experience with the release of their new ASMR video highlighting the satisfying sounds of travel. Louis Vuitton is keeping the love of flying alive with the release of their new handbag designed in the shape of an airplane and costing $39,000 — a price comparable to an actual Cessna plane. If space is your dream destination — Virgin Galactic has revealed the SpaceShip III, their third space plane model designed to take travelers on suborbital flights into space.
