Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
News on disease control, aviation, cargo industry, airport management, CCP
News (1) to (4) / Editor : Mansur Shaheen, Daily Mail
News (1)
Lab tests show Paxlovid is effective against Omicron
Pfizer's new oral covid treatment Paxlovid shows effectiveness against the Omicron variant (Covi29) in lab tests in what could be a boon to America's fight against covid.
The New York City based company revealed data Tuesday showing that it's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized pill to fight covid, Paxlovid, showed promise in a laboratory environment in three tests.
Nirmatrelvir, the drug's active ingredient, showed effectiveness is neutralizing the virus in the trials that are still pending peer review.
The highly mutated Omicron variant has displayed the ability to bypass vaccines and covid treatments since it first emerged last year. Pharmaceutical companies have been working to tweak vaccines and treatments to be effective against the new mutant strain.
"We specifically designed PAXLOVID to retain its activity across coronaviruses, as well as current variants of concern with predominantly spike protein mutations," Dr Michael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief science officer, said in a statement.
He added that the antiviral pill showed the ability to cut the risk of hospitalization or death from the virus by 90 percent if taken early in infection.
'These data suggest that our oral COVID-19 therapy can be an important and effective tool in our continued battle against this devastating virus and current variants of concern, including the highly transmissible Omicron,' Dolsten said.
'We will continue to monitor the treatment's activity in real-world settings and believe that these in vitro findings will continue to be validated.'
News (2)
Paxlovid administered in three pill doses only on infected cases
The drug is administered in three pill doses, taken twice a day for five days. A high-risk person is supposed to take it upon finding out they contracted the virus in order to prevent their condition from deteriorating.
Paxlovid, along with Merck's molnupiravir, have been lauded by health experts for their ease of access when compared to other effective medicines that can keep covid patients out of the ICU.
A doctor can prescribe an infected person the drug and they can easily take it at home with little effort or resources expended.
Other treatments, like monoclonal antibodies, require the use of a hospital bed, health care staff and equipment like machines and tubing in order to administer. The drugs are also in short supply and can be very costly.
The research revealed by Pfizer on Tuesday finds that Nirmatrelvir can effectively prevent the virus replicating once it finds a host and stop it from further infecting cells.
News (3)
Paxlovid effective against other covi variants
Its effectiveness against Omicron is the same as its efficacy against previous strains like the Beta and Delta variants.
"Omicron is proving itself to be a formidable and highly transmissible variant of an already detrimental virus," said Dr Kris White, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Icahn Mount Sinai, which performed one of the tests.
"We are heartened to see early data showing that this oral treatment is maintaining robust in vitro antiviral activity against it, as well as other variants of concern."
News (4)
Manufacturing issues of Paxlovid hamper distribution
While Paxlovid has been deemed the gold standard of post-infection covid treatments due to its ease of use and efficacy, manufacturing issues could prevent it from being adopted as a primary treatment worldwide.
In December, Pfizer estimated that it would only have 30 million courses of the drug available for use worldwide by the end of 2020, not anywhere near the hoped for supply in the hundreds of millions.
The company hopes to boost production in France this year, after investing nearly $600 million into the country.
Merck, on the other hand, has established contracts with generic manufacturers around the world and partnered with a United Nations health group to mass produce the drug at little cost.
Like it did with its vaccine, Pfizer opted not to go the generic route with Paxlovid.
News (5)
Are oral drugs and sprays effective against covid?
Reporters : Xue Lizhen, Luo Shuqi
In order to combat the covid epidemic, various countries have made efforts to increase the vaccination rate, but they are still far behind the speed of the virus? Can they actually replace the efficacy of vaccinations?
Covi29 has put countries on alert again, and they have made efforts to increase vaccination rates. However, due to various factors, the vaccination rate in many countries has entered a bottleneck so that people have begun to place their hopes on oral drugs.
The principle of oral medicine for covid is to encapsulate the vaccine in capsules and deliver it into the body to achieve the effect of prevention and protection. Virologists say the biggest challenge with oral drugs is how to keep them from being destroyed by stomach acid, which reduces protection. Infectious disease experts emphasized that although oral medicines for covid have certain curative effects, they must be taken at the early stage of infection to prevent the virus from replicating in the body.
In addition to injecting vaccines and oral drugs, the nasal spray that is undergoing clinical testing also has the effect of preventing covi from invading the human body, providing the public with an additional option to fight the virus.
Scientists in charge of research and development believe that covi spreads to the nasal mucosa through droplets in the air and grows during the three-day incubation period. So the use of sprays during this time can prevent the virus from spreading to the lungs. The sprays are made from plant compounds and have a lifespan of about 30 days, with a shelf life of five to six hours after each use. What is more, the spray is easy to produce and affordable for low- and middle-income groups in some poor countries.
News (6)
Moderna plans to launch vaccine booster against covid, flu and other diseases by the end of 2023
U.S. drugmaker Moderna plans to launch a vaccine booster that combines covid, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus by the end of next year to encourage people to get an annual dose of the combined vaccine.
Respiratory syncytial virus is a common virus that causes colds, and infants and the elderly have a higher chance of severe illness after infection.
Modena President Bancel said in a video conference at the World Forum roundtable that the ideal situation is that the new three-in-one single-dose vaccine will be available in the fall of next year, but he believes that this cannot be achieved in all countries.
He revealed that the respiratory fusion virus project has entered the final phase of human clinical trials; the influenza project is scheduled to start the final phase of clinical trials next season.
The company's experimental flu vaccine is against the four main strains of influenza and uses the same messenger RNA technology as the covi vaccine.
News (7)
Israel vaccine advisor: Vaccine mandates should end, Government "made mistakes" during the pandemic
A top Israeli vaccine advisor argued their vaccine passport scheme
should be ended, and that the government made serious mistakes with lockdown
policies.
Professor Cyrille Cohen, the head of Immunology at Bar Ilan University and a senior vaccine advisor to the Israeli government, spoke to Unherd’s Freddie Sayers in a long form interview about his country’s response to the virus, and what the future was likely to hold.
Despite being a proponent of the COVID-19 vaccines, Cohen noted that “their effectiveness against contamination is reduced” from their original release, adding that he and his fellow scientists were “surprised to discover at the end of the day that the vaccines are not protecting us, are not causing what we call sterilising immunity.”
Recent studies in Israel have confirmed that even a fourth COVID shot is nowhere near as effective against the Omicron variant. “We see many infected with Omicron who received the fourth dose. Granted, a bit less than in the control group, but still a lot of infections,” said Professor Gili Regev-Yochay, a lead researcher in the experiment at Sheba Medical Centre, on Monday.
With Cohen highlighting that natural immunity gives people much better protection “than the vaccine,” and because “there is a very narrow gap between people vaccinated and non-vaccinated, both can get infected with a virus, more or less at the same pace,” the Israeli government’s vaccine passport plan, known as the Green Pass, should be phased out.
News (8)
U.S. airlines warn: 5G deployment could lead to catastrophic aviation crisis
Image : The picture shows a masked passenger using a handphone at the airport. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
On Monday (17 January 2022), the CEO of American passenger and cargo airlines issued a warning. The 5G wireless network, which is due to be deployed on Wednesday, could lead to a "catastrophic" aviation crisis, they said.
Airline companies have warned that C-Band 5G wireless service, scheduled to begin Wednesday, threatens to disable large numbers of wide-body aircraft, severely disrupt U.S. flights and "leave tens of thousands of Americans stranded overseas."
"Unless major hubs are allowed to fly, the vast majority of passengers and cargo will essentially be flown by," the chief executives of American, Delta, United, Southwest and others wrote in a letter, according to Reuters. Stop flying."
Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned that 5G signals could interfere with flight altimeters, which help pilots land in poor visibility. However, this highly sensitive device operates at frequencies close to those allocated for new 5G services. (learn more)
Last week, the FAA also said that 5G service could delay the activation of systems such as thrust reversers on Boeing 787s, leaving only the brakes to slow the planes, which could mean rescheduling flights to ensure the planes have larger landing space. (learn more)
"This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers could face the impact of cancellations, diversions or delays," the letter warned.
Airlines are considering whether to cancel some international flights scheduled to arrive in the United States on Wednesday, the report said.
"We are optimistic that we can work across industries and governments to finalize a solution to minimize disruption to flight schedules as safely as possible," Boeing said on Monday.
The airline added in its letter that UPS Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Atlas Air, JetBlue Airways and FedEx also signed the letter and that action is urgent.
"To put it bluntly, the nation's commerce will come to a standstill," the letter read.
The letter was sent to White House chief economic adviser Brian Deese, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Steve Dickson and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Rosen, the report said. Jessica Rosenworcel.
American Airlines, which summoned aviation executives to write the letter, declined to respond to Reuters' request for comment. The government agency had no immediate comment.
AT&T and Verizon won nearly all of the C-band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year.
They agreed on 3 January 2022 to create buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce the risk of disruption, and to take other steps to reduce potential disruption within six months. They also agreed to delay deployment twice.
News (9)
Airlines demand immediate government intervention
Image : An American Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner lands at Miami International Airport in Florida on 10 December 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The chief executives of major airlines had a lengthy call with the U.S. transportation secretary and the head of the Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday to warn of the looming crisis, Reuters reported.
Airlines have asked to avoid deploying 5G services within about 2 miles (3.2 km) of major airport runways.
They said this would require immediate government intervention to avoid major disruptions to travellers, consignment services, supply chains and the flow of medical supplies.
The airlines added that flight restrictions will not be limited to severe weather operations.
"Several safety systems on the aircraft are believed to be inoperable, causing a bigger problem than we know... The aircraft manufacturer has informed us that a large fleet may need to be grounded indefinitely," they said.
The FAA said on Sunday it had approved about 45% of the U.S. commercial aircraft fleet for low-visibility landings at many of the airports where 5G will be deployed, and they expected more approvals to be issued by Wednesday.
The airlines noted on Monday that many of the hub-based airports are not among the permitted airports.
News (10)
Alaska Airlines: More than just passengers, the 737-9 MAX will bring more cargo opportunities
In 2022, Alaska Airlines plans to receive 31 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft. The relevant person in charge of the company believes that the continuous increase of this type of aircraft in the fleet will not only ensure the renewal and upgrade of the company's fleet, but also help the development of passenger transport business. It will also bring more freight opportunities.
The head of Alaska Air Cargo believes that although the size of the 737-9 MAX is similar to the 737-900ER in the existing fleet, the size of the belly hold for cargo and mail will remain basically unchanged. However, thanks to the 737-9 MAX's more efficient engines and other optimizations, it can carry heavier cargo on many medium- and long-haul domestic and Pacific routes.
For example, on a flight from Boston to San Diego, a 737-9 MAX can carry an average of over 3,000 pounds more cargo than a flight using a 737-900ER. For another example, from New York JFK to Seattle, the 737-9 MAX can hold about 2,500 pounds more cargo on average than the 737-900ER on winter flights. In other seasons, the 737-9 MAX can still carry about 1,000 extra pounds of cargo, even with weight restrictions imposed by weather factors. Taking the Seattle to Honolulu route as an example, the cargo and mail capacity of the 737-9 MAX model can also be about 2,500-3,000 pounds more than the existing 737-900ER model.
In addition to the higher capacity advantage, the 737-9 MAX can also fly farther than older models in Alaska's current fleet, which may seem like a mere 500-mile increment, but that makes Alaska Airlines network of non-stop direct flights has the opportunity to further expand and extend. For example, the new Seattle to Miami flight scheduled to begin operations on 16 June 2022 is benefiting from this.
Alaska Airlines plans to have more than 90 737-9 MAX aircraft on the line by the end of 2024.
News (11 to (16) / Host : Li Dayu / Publisher : Dayu News Insider / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/1/17/n13511323.htm
News (11)
Why is the tsunami in distant Japan worse?
Why did the tsunami triggered by the undersea volcano in Tonga have such a strong impact on Peru and even Japan, which are far away? In Japan, which is 8,000 km away from Tonga, the waves observed in some places are even higher than those in Tonga. Taiwan's "Apple Daily" relayed the explanation of a Japanese expert, saying that the situation of this tsunami is unprecedented in Japan's recorded history. A tsunami caused by an earthquake, the farther the distance is, the less powerful it is. Volcano-triggered tsunamis had almost the opposite result. Experts believe that this is due to the "tidal level change" caused by "air vibration", causing the distant tsunami to reach Japan faster, and the waves from the volcanic eruption, which caused the distant "tidal level" to be pushed. getting higher and higher. And he said that such submarine volcanic tsunamis are also difficult to predict, and sometimes even have to rely on "observations".
News (12)
Tonga volcanic eruption may cause global cooling
In addition, you should still remember that we mentioned just now that the volcanic ash in Tonga went straight into the sky, and the "ash column" was as high as 20 kilometers. Ordinary small volcanic eruptions will not spray the air column so high, and soon fall back to the surface after the eruption but Tonga's height this time means that the ash has been sent into the stratosphere. The stratosphere is between 10 km and 50 km above the ground. As the name suggests, the airflow in this interval is almost always horizontal, and there are few up and down airflows, almost none. When volcanic ash reaches this range, it may flow and spread over a large area. In this case, according to modern scientific explanations, the sulfur dioxide and other substances contained in volcanic ash will form aerosols, reflect sunlight, and cause the surface temperature to decrease, and the impact may be global.
A volcanic eruption in the Philippines in 2001 was more violent. The volcanic ash entered the stratosphere, causing the average global temperature at that time to drop by 0.5 degrees Celsius. A volcanic eruption in Iceland in 2010 also severely affected aircraft operations in many European countries. The above two cases are examples from 10 or 20 years ago, and this volcanic eruption in Tonga is considered to be the largest in 30 years. Follow-up effects are of great concern.
At the beginning of the new year this year, I and several other YouTuber anchors released a short program together in the New Year's Eve program of overseas NTDTV. We and two other anchors each gave a keyword for 2022, the word I gave It is "change", the change of change. The whole world situation will be in a "change" in 2022. Now, this feeling is getting stronger and stronger.
News (13)
Omicron captures many cities in mainland China
While various disasters are frequent, they also lead to changes in the social situation on the surface. The most obvious is the "CCP virus" plague that has broken out for two years. There are very few mainland viewers who are always disgusted by our overseas media and self-media, who refer to the virus as the "CCP virus". In fact, there is nothing objectionable, just like the terms "African swine fever", "Hong Kong foot" and "Spanish flu", this is just a term that everyone is used to calling based on the origin of the virus outbreak. It is not called the Chinese virus, nor the Wuhan virus. It is called "CCP virus" or covi. I think this is a very accurate and respectful name for the Chinese people. The CCP is not equal to China. This is already a general knowledge. Party members and little pinks also cannot represent all Chinese people.
At present, Omicron, a variant of the CCP virus, has further spread in the mainland. Shanghai, Beijing, and Zhuhai are all new outbreaks.
News (14)
More countries abandon "clearing"
There is a prime minister of a Southeast Asian country (Singapore) who said this three months ago. Previously, the country adopted the same measures as the CCP in taking "zero-clearing" measures, but later found that it was not possible, so it changed its strategy and changed to "coexist with the virus", that is, it was not blocked. What did the Prime Minister say? Even if everyone is vaccinated, it is impossible to protect against mutant strains through a comprehensive blockade, and this blockade has made many people unable to obtain natural immunity. Once the measures are relaxed, the virus will quickly reappear. spread rapidly. He said that they can't seal it up like this, because every time the blockade, companies and their employees will suffer huge losses, school students can't stand it, and even families will be dismantled for a long time. Therefore, the country decided not to engage in such harsh "clearing".
The United Kingdom, which was previously considered to be relatively strict, also announced that after February this year, it is ready to lift all restrictions. Don't panic so much anymore. In fact, the United States should be the most lax, but American society has not been affected by it. Taking a plane in the United States is not much different from before, even if you wear a mask, no one will check whether you have been vaccinated or not. And contrary to the CCP's concealment, the United States not only does not conceal it, but also overreports the hospital, which makes the hospital happy and the patients happy. A friend of mine told me that a man beside him passed away from a heart attack a few days ago, but the hospital discussed with his family and said that he reported a virus infection, so medical fees are free. I think there should be many similar examples.
News (15)
CCP thinks it can govern people and the epidemic
I give these examples just to expand the horizons of some Chinese audiences. In fact, fundamentally speaking, the CCP's practice of clearing the blockade is the same as its essence. It is very superstitious in "artificial means", atheism, and it does not believe in nature. When you mention "God" and "Faith" these things are even more disdainful for the evil members of the CCP. What it believes in is the "method of governing people", so it can only do these things in the prevention and control of the plague. The sense of political crisis that it has at any time continues to aggravate these methods, and the dual purpose of preventing and maintaining stability goes hand in hand. In the end, these "prices" are borne by all citizens. Party officials and their families can be very free and nourished!
News (16)
Omicron is coming! Shanghai college students evacuated
Speaking of which, everyone must have seen the news that in the past two days, Shanghai students left the school early to avoid the blockade. In the local "Shanghai University", on 14 January 2022, many students were evacuated from the school in an emergency, and the relevant pictures were reprinted by many people on the Internet, and once made a hot search on Weibo.
The reason is that many students have received information from their "instructors" or monitor. The general idea of all the information is: leave as soon as you can, don't stay in school, and leave school immediately. When some students received the information at that time, it was the afternoon of 14 January. They said, "I still have classes. I have to attend classes. How can I get there?", but their instructor, the "class teacher", replied and said , then "skip class", this is no joke. There are also monitors who said that everyone went back to self-study and studied together online.
Afterwards, many scenes of students leaving school were swiped online. Although the specific reason is still unclear, many of the students who received the warning left. Some of them left late and found that when night fell, the school had put down the barrier at the door, and the students didn't care about anything. The pictures currently circulating are mainly from Shanghai University. It's not a "Shanghai" university, its name is "Shanghai University", it is a university.
Later, people traced the cause and found that it turned out that on 13 January, an infected person with Omicron had been found in Shanghai, and there was a so-called "secondary contact" in Shanghai University, which may lead to the closure of the school. In fact, on the day of 13 January, all schools have suspended classes. For some reason, Shanghai University will have classes on the afternoon of January 14th. However, the school finally notified the students to leave, otherwise they would be locked in the school and the school would not be able to take responsibility for anything that happened.
On 13 January, Shanghai reported a total of 5 cases of infection, all of which were infected with the Omicron variant. On 15 January, Shanghai added three more cases of Omicron infections, all of which are so-called "local cases". If you count the overseas cases classified by the CCP, on the 13th alone, there were 30 confirmed cases.
News (17)
U.S. hospitals report more cases
This new variant is spreading fast, and in New York City, it has quickly become the dominant strain in New York City over the past five weeks, making it the fastest-spreading variant of the CCP virus on record. Such examples have also emerged in China. This is also the case in Shanghai. Now the newly infected people are all Omicron. Across the country, there are already at least 14 provincial-level administrative units that have this variant. The rapid spread of Omicron in Tianjin is also an example.
When Tianjin first announced the discovery of Omicron earlier this month, it already indicated that Beijing was not far from publicly announcing the discovery of Omicron. Because the connection between the two places is too close, how to prevent it, it is estimated that it will not help. This is the case.
News (18)
17 places in Beijing blockade
On 15 January, Beijing officially announced the discovery of an indigenous Omicron case. The CCP official has to say "1" and admit that there is Omicron, and what is the actual number, then people can let their imaginations go. The CCP concealed this, and almost do not even think about it. Now I look at the CCP's data, it is no longer data, it is "signal", and different data represent different meanings of "signal". Beijing has admitted 1 case, which means that Omicron has spread in Beijing. Beijing says there are "10 cases", which means that it is already serious, and the actual number of cases is unknown.
The one patient confirmed in Beijing has recently visited many large shopping malls in Beijing. Some of the related shopping malls have been closed and are undergoing comprehensive disinfection. All employees must also undergo nucleic acid testing. All 17 districts linked to the patient were locked down. On the 16th, the scene of people queuing for nucleic acid testing appeared again in many places in Beijing.
News (19)
Zhuhai is also occupied, the Winter Olympics is approaching, the epidemic is severe
On 4 February, the Beijing Winter Olympics are about to open, less than three weeks from now. The CCP virus Omicron outbreak in Beijing has just been officially confirmed, and how long it will last and how far it will spread is a huge challenge for the authorities. This is also precisely the so-called stable situation of controlling the epidemic before the Winter Olympics, which the authorities have dreamed of, which is counterproductive. At present, it is catching up with the traffic peak before the Chinese New Year, which makes the epidemic situation in the mainland even more uncertain.
On 14 January, Zhuhai, Guangdong also announced that 7 Omicron cases were found, and a strict lockdown was immediately initiated. Local bus services were suspended. Citizens were asked to stay at home but they still had to undergo nucleic acid testing.
News (20)
There are terrorist "paper figurines" epidemic prevention personnel
Under such disasters, people instinctively pray for peace and good luck. But in China, there is a very ominous scene again. Just like a year before the big flood in Zhengzhou, Henan, there were people who played the role of "Meng Po" and sold Meng Po soup on the street, with a strange and terrifying image. There are also performances in Hunan where the "corpse driving team" appeared, which was considered a bad omen.
Now a short video has been circulated on mainland social media, without specifying the location, but listening to the recording in the short video, it should be in northern China, probably in a village and town in the northeastern region, where the bizarre scene appears.
In the film, a real anti-epidemic officer wearing a white chemical protective suit and using a connected pole, simultaneously drives four "paper figures" in white clothes in front and back to promote epidemic prevention on the street, and there is a big sign on it that reads : Everyone is an epidemic prevention officer, and everyone is a fighter. The signature is "village committee". Walking on the street is like five "ghosts" wandering, and the street is empty. It is estimated that if it is night, the atmosphere will be more "harmonious". I thought that was all at first, it's already very wicked, isn't it? At the end of the short video, it was found that the man walked into a warehouse, which seemed to be the terminal. There are all kinds of paper figures inside, and it makes people feel cold when they look at it. Like this style, there are four in the front and back, and the middle can be driven by a real person. Some of the paper figures in the warehouse were dressed in ancient costumes, looked like ancient yamen, looked like nurses, looked like soldiers like Tuba Lu, and some looked like Red Guards. Straight teachers want to ask, is this the underworld or hell?
As we all know, in China, paper figures are made by the dead. Moreover, the real person walking on the street with the paper figurines also means a bit "chasing the corpse". Are there not enough living people? Where have all the living people gone, use these cold paper figures for propaganda and crowd control. This can only happen in China. Its meaning is very bad, people do ghost things, there must be ominous. I really do not know where this is, whose idea, people are not infected to death, but also scared to death.
News (21)
Overseas inbound cases increase, South Korea plans to continue to activate the flight circuit breaker mechanism
According to Yonhap News Agency, on 13 January 2022, the South Korean Central Epidemic Prevention Countermeasures Headquarters stated at a regular press conference that due to the continuous increase in inbound covid cases, the government will implement stricter immigration control and will prohibit entry personnel from taking public transportation on the 20th.
According to the new regulations, from 20 January 2022, all inbound personnel are only allowed to take epidemic prevention buses, epidemic prevention trains, epidemic prevention taxis or drive private vehicles to prevent the spread of the epidemic through public transport.
At the same time, the validity period for the entry of entrants to submit a negative certificate of the covi nucleic acid test (PCR) will be further tightened from the 20th, from the current 72 hours before departure to within 48 hours.
In addition, the epidemic prevention department also plans to continue to activate the flight circuit breaker mechanism based on the number of confirmed cases among foreign passengers on each flight.
News (22)
ANA will introduce a system where employees can move to in fiscal 2022
Kyodo News reported on 13 January that Japan's ANA Holdings targets about 38,000 regular employees excluding pilots. In 2022, it will introduce a "work location selection system" that allows relocation within the group. Wages may be reduced depending on the location of the transfer, but the company offers options that are convenient for working with spouses or caring for parents. The move is aimed at curbing the brain drain caused by the worsening performance caused by the new crown epidemic.
It is expected that about 40 companies under the ANA Group will be the targets. The core ANA has continued to reduce wages under the epidemic, and excellent backbones and young employees have resigned. The company has a high proportion of female employees, and many people quit their jobs due to marriage, childbirth, child rearing, and nursing care. Last year, the maternity and parental leave system was expanded, and a system that can be suspended for up to two years, but it was difficult to deal with the situation of wanting to move to a place due to the transfer of a spouse.
The new system introduced in 2022 is different from temporary transfer or expatriation. It is basically aimed at the place of permanent residence and cannot be returned to the original unit after the transfer. It is envisaged that they will be transferred to an airport operating company responsible for passenger services and ground support in various places such as New Chitose and Naha. Employees who wish to transfer can apply at the appropriate time according to their own life plans. Due to the limited capacity of ANA's main local bases to receive employment, a mechanism including group companies has been established.
In addition, in April 2022, a transfer system "intra-group job-hopping", which aims to increase personnel in the development field, will be launched. Eight companies, including ANAX (Tokyo), which develops digital business, have already started recruiting. Anyone can apply regardless of position and age and must pass review.
News (23)
Qantas A380 makes first passenger flight after two years in storage
According to Australian Aviation, the Qantas A380 (registration VH-OQB) landed at Los Angeles Airport at 4.39pm local time on Tuesday after a 14-hour flight. This was the aircraft's first passenger flight since March 23, 2020.
Meanwhile, another Qantas A380 (registration VH-OQD) landed in Sydney on Monday after it had been in storage for 674 days before it was scheduled to resume operations.
Notably, the recalled VH-OQDs were fitted with Qantas' latest refurbished top-of-the-line Qantas cabin products, while the recalled first A380 (registration VH-OQB) did not.
News (24)
Belgium to charge air tax on all outbound passenger flights
According to the Ch-aviation website, from 1 April 2022, Belgium will impose a new aviation tax on all passenger flights departing from Belgian airports.
According to Belgian media, for flights departing from Belgian airports and the straight-line distance to the destination is less than 500 kilometers, each passenger will be charged 10 euros (for environmental protection considerations, short-distance air travel under 500 kilometers is not encouraged); for more than 500 kilometers but the destination is in Flights within the European Economic Area will be charged 2 euros; flights to destinations outside the European Economic Area will be charged 4 euros.
In 2022, the new air departure tax is expected to contribute 30 million euros to the Belgian finances, and 45 million euros in 2023 and 2024.
According to Belgian government traffic data, in 2021, the five major airports in Belgium - Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Liege and Ostend - will have 12.6196 million outbound passengers. In addition, 22,300 passengers departed from Kortrijk Airport in 2020 (no data for 2021).
The Belgian transport minister, Georges Gilkinet, supported the measure, noting that the Netherlands and France, among others, have similar taxes.
News (25)
Pokhara International Airport in Nepal constructed by a Chinese company
Pokhara International Airport is a key project of China-Nepal "Belt and Road" cooperation and a "National Glory Project" of Nepal. In 2014, CAMCE won the bid and signed the contract with US$244 million. Construction of the regional international airport started in 2017 and will be completed by July 2022. At present, nearly 90% of the entire project has been completed.
Image: On 11 January 2022, in Pokhara, a tourist resort in central and western Nepal, the exterior of the terminal building of Pokhara International Airport under construction. Photography / Zhou Shengping
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