COVID-19 Antigen Tests Right Before Boarding?

This week, Mexico’s new Santa Lucía Airport is expected to reach overcapacity in only five years, informs an industry association. Some Canadian are airlines planning to resume activities in the summer of 2021. Also, an economic aid package was approved to support Alitalia, an Italian airline gravely affected by the pandemic.

In other news, a US university assures that COVID-19 in-flight contagion would decrease by 90 percent if airplane passengers took a quick antigen test before boarding a plane.

This and more in your weekly aerospace roundup!

Top MBN

Santa Lucia Will Reach Overcapacity in Five Years: Almaguer

The Felipe Angeles International Airport in Santa Lucia has been subject to criticism since its announcement. According to David Almaguer, President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Aeronautical Engineers, the problem is that the airport only has three runways, which will not allow for simultaneous operations. He explains that many studies made since the 1980s project that the growth of the Mexican aviation industry will be exponential, so Felipe Angeles International Airport might be unable to keep up. The Texcoco airport offered the best option to tackle these future problems, said Almaguer. He also hinted that it would be necessary to have another airport in addition to AICM and Santa Lucia to satisfy the demand for long-term operations.

New Galileo Information Center Coming Soon to Mexico

Telespazio announced that the new Galileo Information Center (GIC) for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean is going to launch by the end of March. It will operate for 36 months to expand the ecosystem of existing Galileo centers in Latin America. The center will provide alternatives to the US’s GPS and allow for deeper cooperation between the region and Europe. Telespazio will lead this new center under its Ibérica branch. The company hopes it will help understand specifications, the needs and the potential of the GNSS market while providing new opportunities for the EU. It will also contribute to outreach activities to promote the use of space programs from the EU in Latin America.

International

COVID-19 Tests Will Reduce Virus Spread by 90 Percent: A21

If quick-tests were to be administered before boarding a plane, COVID-19 contagion would dramatically decrease, claim scientists from the University of California in San Francisco. They also argue that after arrival, passengers should do a five-day quarantine when getting to their destination. According to the Lancet, on Twitter, if passengers were to take a rapid antigen test on the day of travel and then on the fifth day after their arrival they took a PCR test, the most dramatic decrease in contagion rates would be achieved.

Green Light Given to State Support for Alitalia: A21

The Italian government’s EU€24.7 million (US$28.2 million) package to aid troubled airline Alitalia was approved by the European Commissión. The package aims to ameliorate the financial losses the airline suffered due to the restrictions to contain the propagation of COVID-19. The package approval grants Italy a measure to compensate for additional losses suffered by the airline. 

Canada’s WestJet Airlines Restores Routes as COVID-19 Shots Raise Hope of Summer Travel: Reuters

Optimism about vaccination programs is motivating Canadian airlines to resume activities. WestJet Airlines plans to resume flights to five airports starting on June 24. The country’s biggest carrier, Air Canada, is also expected to resume service during the summer to certain seasonal destinations, reports Reuters.