A return to a freer level of international air travel likely won’t be possible until there’s greater agreement among nations on the COVID-19 tests and vaccination documentation needed to travel abroad, experts say.
“Every country wants to do its own thing and they really have to get over that and get on the same page,” said Marion Joppe, a professor at the University of Guelph’s School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management.
The European Union developed a digital certificate for residents across the 27-country bloc, but it has restrictions in place for non-essential travel from many third countries due to COVID-19 concerns.
The varying border-crossing and travel restrictions imposed by nations around the world in the wake of COVID-19 have left airlines and passengers alike coping with the resulting uncertainty.
And while more people are flying abroad today than in the early days of the pandemic, passenger levels are still far below pre-pandemic levels.
A long way from 2019
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported that the world saw a 60 per cent dip in the number of passengers who flew in 2020 as compared to 2019.
A sign on display at Regina International Airport in May of 2021 reminds people arriving from outside of the country about the rules that were in place at the time amid COVID-19 concerns. (Mark Taylor/The Canadian Press)
In Canada, there is hope among airlines their industry will see clearer skies ahead, though the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic makes it tough to forecast exactly when.
At Air Canada, there is optimism now that new travel rules allow international visitors — at least those who are fully vaccinated — to enter the country for non-essential travel. The change took effect Sept. 7.
“We look forward to welcoming customers from around the world back on board,” Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesperson for the airline, told CBC News via email.
Peter Fitzpatrick, an Air Canada spokesperson, says the airline has seen steep revenue declines during the pandemic on the international side of its business. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Fitzpatrick said the airline has seen steep revenue declines during the pandemic on the international side of its business — with its international passenger revenue less than one-tenth of what it was just two years ago as of the second quarter of 2021.
WestJet told CBC News that it’s “working diligently to predict the balance in demand and to support our guests’ needs” as vaccination rates rise and travel restrictions ease.
“To get to where we need to go, it’s going to take a continued focus on the safe restart of travel,” WestJet spokesperson Morgan Bell said in an email.
Air Transat self service check-in kiosks are seen at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, on July 31, 2020. The company went six months without operating commercial flights this year. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)
“Particularly as we look forward to a winter season that promises to be much busier than the last one.”
The airline, however, does not expect its operations to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2023.
Toronto’s Porter Airlines is preparing to restart service to four U.S. cities later this month after a lengthy suspension of flights due to pandemic-related restrictions. The company expects its flights to reach 60 per cent of its 2019 capacity by early October. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
“We believe demand for these routes will gradually return as flights are reintroduced across our network,” Porter spokesperson Brad Cicero told CBC News via email.
“Flights are returning in phases, growing to approximately 60 per cent of 2019 capacity by Oct. 6.”
How to move forward
The use of vaccine passports is one possible tool to encourage international travel.
The federal government has said it “recognizes that proof of vaccination credentials will support the re-opening of societies and economies.”
Joseph Ali, associate director for global programs at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics in Baltimore, believes support for such vaccine documentation is growing — though it may not be “strictly required” for all travellers in the immediate future.
A worker waits for arrivals at the COVID-19 testing centre in Terminal 3 at Toronto’s Pearson airport in February 2021. Some experts believe implementing vaccine passports will encourage international travel. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
“Until there is sufficient supply and distribution of vaccines globally … it won’t be appropriate to require vaccination passports for all passengers,” Ali said in an email.
Such a system would also depend on nations recognizing the vaccines being used outside their borders, as well as on the evolving circumstances of the pandemic.
“Vaccine passport systems won’t definitively solve all COVID-related travel challenges, but they may help get us closer to doing things that are important to many,” said Ali.
Each federal party has its own idea of how to safely reopen for international travel.
Canada’s federal government, prior to the election call, made arguments for such a system of proof-of-vaccination documentation for international travel. Each party has different plans for reopening the skies. (Lars Hagberg/Reuters)
The Conservatives, according to their platform, would require “rapid testing at all border entry points and airports” for all travellers, vaccinated and unvaccinated, without exception. The party says it also intends to help rebuild the country’s airline sector.
The New Democrats told CBC News that Leader Jagmeet Singh supports Canada developing a national vaccine passport enabling travel around Canada and abroad.
The Greens did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A British Airways captain walks through the International arrivals area of Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport last month. Co-ordination of passport systems among nations will be crucial to the plan’s success, some travel experts say. (Peter Nicholls/Reuters)
Arvind Magesan, a University of Calgary economics professor, said it’s imperative to develop co-ordination among nations on vaccine passports for obvious reasons — as there’s “no point in getting on a plane” if your vaccine isn’t recognized by the place you’re trying to fly to.
“That’s a really hard problem, trying to co-ordinate policy across different countries,” Magesan said in an interview.
A different future?
Some observers think the pandemic may spur permanent shifts in airline travel patterns.
The industry may see fewer work trips in future, according to Marc-David Seidel, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.
A airport airline limo driver waits for customers in a nearly empty Toronto Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto in April of last year. Some people believe business travel will not return to pre-pandemic levels. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Seidel said people have become accustomed to using technology to conduct business in new ways and the advantages of not having to travel are clear to them.
“Do I really want to have to fly halfway around the world to have a four-hour meeting?” said Seidel, who sees the current moment as an opportunity to rethink what kinds of travel are truly necessary.
The University of Guelph’s Joppe, on the other hand, believes business travel will eventually recover.
“People want to travel and our whole lifestyle has become one of mobility,” said Joppe.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
