Flight Ban Research Articles

Banning short-haul flights and investing in high-speed railways for a sustainable future?

Long-distance mobility sustainability, high-speed railways (HSR) decarbonization effect, and bans for short-haul flights are debated in Europe. Yet, holistic environmental assessments on these topics are scarce. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on the Paris-Bordeaux transportation options in France: HSR, plane, coach, personal car, and carpooling. The overall ranking on four environmental indicators, from best to worst, is as follows: coach, HSR, carpooling, private car, and plane. Scenario analyses showed that increasing train occupancy decreases the environmental impact of the mode (-12 %), while decreasing speed does not. Moreover, worldwide carbon footprints of electric HSR modes range 30–120 gCO2eq per passenger-kilometer traveled. Finally, a consequential LCA highlighted carbon paybacks of the HSR project. Under a business-as-usual trip substitution scenario, the HSR gets net-zero 60 years after construction. With a short-haul flight ban, it occurs after 10 years. This advocates for generalizing short-haul flight restrictions and investing in HSR infrastructure.

Airlines' network analysis on an air-rail multimodal system

This article explores the potential impact of short-haul flight bans in Spain. We build the rail and flight network for the Spanish peninsula, merging openly available ADS-B-based data, for the reconstruction of air schedules and aircraft rotations, and rail operator data, for the modelling of the rail network. We then simulate a ban that would remove flights having a suitable train replacement, \ie representing a trip shorter than a threshold that we vary continuously up to 15-h. We study the impact in terms of 1) air route reduction, 2) aircraft utilisation and fleet downsizing for airlines, 3) airport infrastructure relief and rail network requirements, 4) CO2 emissions, and 5) possible itineraries and travel times for passengers. We find that a threshold of 3 hours (banning all flights with a direct rail alternative faster than three hours) presents some notable advantages in emissions while keeping the aircraft utilisation rate at an adequate level. Interestingly, the passengers would then experience an increase in their itinerary options, with only a moderate increase in their total travelling times.

Using Markovitz Model to Analyze Covid-19s Impact on Portfolio

In 2020, an unexpected pandemic struck the whole world. Covid 19 had a huge influence on the financial market, yet how it affected the performance of portfolios hasnt been systematically studied. In this paper, the Markovitz Model is utilized to study the portfolio performance before and after the covid 19. A recent 3 years of historical daily total return data for ten stocks are downloaded from Yahoo finance, which later are aggregated to the monthly observations. Then, based on the monthly observations, all proper optimization inputs for the full Markowitz Model are calculated. After that, minimal variance and max Sharpe are found under 5 cases of the additional constraints, and the regions of permissible portfolios are drawn. The results are presented in both tabular and graphical forms and the inferences and comparisons are made. It turns outs that the pandemic did jeopardize the stock market, with the return of the portfolio decreasing and risk increasing. The flight ban could be the reason for the poor performance of the portfolio. Fortunately, the low ebb was temporary. A well-diversified investment can offset the negative impact caused by covid 19.

A distributionally robust optimization approach for airline integrated recovery under in-flight pandemic transmission risks

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the airline industry hard, leading to heterogeneous epidemiological situations across markets, irregular flight bans, and increasing operational hurdles. Such a melange of irregularities has presented significant challenges to the airline industry, which typically relies on long-term planning. Given the growing risk of disruptions during epidemic and pandemic outbreaks, the role of airline recovery is becoming increasingly crucial for the aviation industry. This study proposes a novel model for airline integrated recovery problem under the risk of in-flight epidemic transmission risks. This model recovers the schedules of aircraft, crew, and passengers to eliminate possible epidemic dissemination while reducing airline operating costs. To account for the high uncertainty with respect to in-flight transmission rates and to prevent overfitting of the empirical distribution, a Wasserstein distance-based ambiguity set is utilized to formulate a distributionally robust optimization model. Aimed at tackling computation difficulties, a branch-and-cut solution method and a large neighborhood search heuristic are proposed in this study based on an epidemic propagation network. The computation results for real-world flight schedules and a probabilistic infection model suggest that the proposed model is capable of reducing the expected number of infected crew members and passengers by 45% with less than 4% increase in flight cancellation/delay rates. Furthermore, practical insights into the selection of critical parameters as well as their relationship with other common disruptions are provided. The integrated model is expected to enhance airline disruption management against major public health events while minimizing economic loss.

Fleeting Route Design with Uncertainty

During COVID-19, the air industry has shrunk due to drastically reduced demand and flight bans. Air transport network optimization is significant in fleet routing design, which helps the air company to make a decision to open the new routes while maximizing the profit. We want to study when an area is subjected to stability shocks that prevent air trac from entering, how air planners comprehensively consider the factors to design new fleeting routes while optimizing the profit. In this research, we start by developing a baseline model and then a networked model, both theoretical, to simulate the situation for an air company and provide optimization results. We find a simple situation to determine: if a route has a positive maximized expected profit, we will decide to open the route. The optimal results obtained from the model are proved to be optimal by mathematics analysis in the study. Several potential future study directions relevant to the research are discussed, including stochastic demand and network connection, which could be better explain the situation of air transport network design and thus be more applicable in reality.

Die ökonomischen Effekte von Sanktionen – Schlagkraft, Zielerreichung, Nebeneffekte

Abstract Sanctions represent a prominent coercive tool that has been utilised extensively in addressing political tensions between nations. These measures are imposed both unilaterally and in alliances of states, and have become increasingly prevalent since the Second World War. In the previous century, particularly before the WWII, trade restrictions and comprehensive economic blockades were the dominant tools to sanction. In contrast, in today’s more interconnected and globalised world, sanctions take on a variety of forms, such as international financial restrictions, travel bans, trade restrictions on specific goods, cancellation of military aid, and targeted measures like flight bans and port closures. The increasing demand for and use of international sanctions raises a fundamental question: Do sanctions lead to political success?

Traffic noise annoyance in the LIFE-adult study in Germany: Exposure-response relationships and a comparison to the WHO curves

BackgroundNoise annoyance is the second-highest cause of lost disability-adjusted life-years due to environmental noise in Europe. Evidence on exposure-response relationships (ERRs) for traffic noise annoyance with more accurate exposure values is still needed. ObjectivesIn an analysis of the population-based LIFE-Adult study in Leipzig, Germany, we aimed to investigate the effect of road, railway (train and tram), and aircraft noise on high annoyance (HA). MethodsTraffic exposure data was taken for 2012 and data on noise annoyance was evaluated between 2018 and 2021. HA was defined according to international standardized norms. We calculated risk estimates using logistic regression, controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic status, and compared our ERRs with those from the last WHO review on this topic. ResultsAircraft noise had the highest relative risk for noise-related HA (OR = 12.7, 95% CI: 9.37–17.10 per 10 dB Lden increase). The road and railway traffic risk estimates were similar to each other (road: OR = 3.55, 95% CI: 2.78–4.54; railway: OR = 3.31, 95% CI: 2.77–3.97 per 10 dB Lden increase). Compared to the WHO curves, the proportion of highly annoyed individuals was somewhat lower for road and rail traffic noise, but higher for aircraft noise. DiscussionAircraft noise is particularly annoying. There were differences between our study's ERRs and those in the WHO review, especially for aircraft noise. These differences may be partly explained by the improved accuracy of the exposure values, as we considered secondary road networks and tram noise, and by a lack of a nighttime flight ban at the Leipzig airport. Geographical, regional and climatic variations, inconsistency in HA cut-offs, as well as temporal developments in the annoyance experience may also explain the differences. Since ERRs serve as a basis for decision making in public policies, regular updates of the curves based on new evidence is recommended.

Impact of the closure of Berlin-Tegel Airport on ultrafine particle number concentrations on the airfield

Airports contribute substantially to ultrafine particle (UFP; <100 nm) concentrations on a local scale. These UFPs, which derive mainly from combustion processes, are generated during take-off and landing of aircraft, during aircraft movements on the tarmac, when engines and turbines are started, and by vehicles transporting goods and people on the airfield. UFPs are considered particularly harmful to human health as their small size enables them to pass far into the human body. This study investigates the extent to which particle number concentrations (PNCs) sized 7–2,000 nm respond to the cessation of air traffic due to the closure of a major airport. PNCs and wind data were monitored with a 5 s resolution at one location on the airfield of Berlin-Tegel Airport (TXL). The station was located 600 –640 m east of the runways and thus downwind of the runways for the predominant wind direction. Observations took place 24 h per day every day for about 3 weeks before and 3 weeks after the closure of the airport. During the measurement campaign, a total of 2,507 take-offs and landings took place. Including all wind directions, this study shows 30 %–40% lower PNCs on average, 2.5-fold lower maximum values as well as a 3-fold lower PNC spread after the closure of the airport. These differences are evident only during the day with active flight operations, and not during the nighttime flight ban. Downwind of the airfield, differences are even higher. After the closure of the airport, average PNCs drop by 70%, maxima by 85%, and variability is reduced by almost 90%. 70% lower and 30% less frequent PNC peaks occur downwind of the airport after flight operations are discontinued. This unique natural experiment allows for relatively clear conclusions about the relevance of airport operations on PNCs in the airfield area. The measurements carried out before and after the closure allow a direct comparison of the PNCs during airport operations and without any. Thus, our study reveals the change in UFP concentration that can be achieved through a reduction in flight operations.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TOURISM: RESEARCH IN VIETNAM AFTER COVID -19

Tourism has become a leading economic sector in Vietnam, is termed a "smokeless business," and generates substantial money for the government. However, the present complex evolution of the Covid-19 epidemic has had a significant effect on the whole Industry. Tourism models must be bolstered by the variety of Vietnam's ecosystems, wildlife, and cultural heritage. Nonetheless, the complex dynamics of the present Covid-19 outbreak have had a significant influence on Vietnam's whole tourism economy. Many hotels, restaurants, and retail chains in tourist sites become empty as a result of flight bans, travel restrictions, and tourists' dread of the pandemic's effects. This forewarns of a decline in the tourist industry's earnings in numerous nations, including Vietnam. By synthesising statistics, this article evaluates the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourist development in Vietnam and makes some recommendations for the post-Covid-19 sustainable growth of Vietnam's tourism business.

Ghostbusters: Hunting abnormal flights in Europe during COVID-19

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in airline history, with irregular flight bans, the inability for accurate demand estimation, several turns in the epidemiological evolution, and a wide range of downstream effects on all aviation stakeholders. While most airlines have increasingly entered a recovery stage, compared to the utmost disruption around April 2020, the airline business is far from back-to-normality. Throughout the past two years, recurrent statements have been made regarding the existence of so-called ghost flights, where airlines operate nearly empty aircraft on markets with insufficient demand, partially with the aim to avoid losing precious airport slots. This study investigates the extent of such abnormal market service during the COVID-19 pandemic through an explorative, data-driven analysis, based on actual load factor data of European airlines for the years 2017 to 2021. We break down the observed deviations by airlines, markets, and airports. We find that low-cost carriers are most-likely to have performed abnormal flights during the pandemic; and that abnormal flights have mostly occurred on frequently-served markets. In addition, we show that airline responses, in terms of departure and yield changes, are largely heterogeneous across the 24 airlines in this study. Our study is the first one to shed light on the important issue of load factor deviations, and we hope that our findings can contribute to a better understanding of the existence of abnormal flights during the pandemic, as well as deriving appropriate policies for dealing with the ubiquitous threat and impact of ghost flights in the future.

Understanding Airline Passengers during Covid-19 Outbreak to Improve Service Quality: Topic Modeling Approach to Complaints with Latent Dirichlet Allocation Algorithm.

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected the airline industry, as it has many sectors, and has created tremendous financial pressure on companies. Flight bans, new regulations, and restrictions increase consumer complaints and are emerging as a big problem for airline companies. Understanding the main reasons triggering complaints and eliminating service failures in the airline industry will be a vital strategic priority for businesses, while reviewing the dimensions of service quality during the COVID-19 pandemic provides an excellent opportunity for academic literature. In this study, 10,594 complaints against two major airlines that offer full-service and low-cost options were analyzed with the Latent Dirichlet Allocation algorithm to categorize them by essential topics. Results provide valuable information for both. Furthermore, this study fills the gap in the existing literature by proposing a decision support system to identify significant service failures through passenger complaints in the airline industry utilizing e-complaints during an unusual situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factors analysis slowing down the recovery of international tourism after COVID-2019

Taking into account the significant impact of tourism on the development of society and the current crisis, the study of factors affecting the speed of its recovery requires great attention. Previous outbreaks of infectious diseases were smaller in scale, so their impact on international tourism was local. In addition, the current state of society has new circumstances. The subject of the study is the modern factors of recovery of international tourism after COVID-2019. The goal is to study the current features of the recovery of tourism after COVID-2019 and to determine the factors that slow it down. Tasks: research on the importance of international tourism, the impact of COVID-2019 on its development and the identification of negative factors for recovery. The method of systematic review of scientific publications on this topic, as well as informative materials of various international organizations, was used in the research process. The results of calculations of relative indicators of the development of international tourism are presented using a graphical method based on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Research results have shown that international tourism is recovering after COVID-2019 at a rather slow pace. Quarantine measures, the emergence of a new strain of the virus, economic factors and the war in Ukraine are preventing faster recovery. Conclusions: the main risk for the recovery of international tourism is Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, which has a negative impact on the recovery of international tourism due to flight bans, rising oil prices, and disruption of food supply chains. In the near future, this will affect the decrease in incomes of the population and the reduction of the number of jobs and, as a result, the decrease in the tourist flow. The increase in oil prices requires the transition to renewable energy sources and the introduction of energy-saving technologies. This reinforces the need for greening the tourism industry and requires increased investment, as well as the application of a comprehensive policy aimed at increasing the number of international tourists and expanding the use of clean energy.

Rapid displacement of SARS-CoV-2 variant Delta by Omicron revealed by allele-specific PCR in wastewater

On November 26, 2021, the B.1.1.529 COVID-19 variant was classified as the Omicron variant of concern (VOC). Reports of higher transmissibility and potential immune evasion triggered flight bans and heightened health control measures across the world to stem its distribution. Wastewater-based surveillance has demonstrated to be a useful complement for clinical community-based tracking of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Using design principles of our previous assays that detect SARS-CoV-2 variants (Alpha and Delta), we developed an allele-specific RT-qPCR assay which simultaneously targets the stretch of mutations from Q493R to Q498R for quantitative detection of the Omicron variant in wastewater. We report their validation against 10-month longitudinal samples from the influent of a wastewater treatment plant in Italy. SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations and variant frequencies in wastewater determined using these variant assays agree with clinical cases, revealing rapid displacement of the Delta variant by the Omicron variant within three weeks. These variant trends, when mapped against vaccination rates, support clinical studies that found the rapid emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant being associated with an infection advantage over Delta in vaccinated persons. These data reinforce the versatility, utility and accuracy of these open-sourced methods using allele-specific RT-qPCR for tracking the dynamics of variant displacement in communities through wastewater for informed public health responses.

Value Engineering Role in Construction Sustainability During COVID-19 Pandemic in KSA

Objectives: The study aims to evaluate COVID-19 pandemic implications on the construction sector in the Eastern region of KSA and identify how Value Engineering strategies mitigate those implications. Methods: A survey questionnaire was distributed among the Eastern region’s construction organizations. The samples of the study were selected randomly. The items’ consistency and stability in each grouped category of the questionnaire were checked using Cronbach’s Alpha value. Statistical analysis was performed using MS Excel, and the Relative Importance Index was calculated to determine the pandemic implication size on the elements of the construction projects. Findings: The survey’s integrated results revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected laborer productivity (ranked from the most affected element to the least affected element depending on the element’s RII value), project schedule, project budget. The least affected element is the project scope respectively. The pandemic consequences were more harmful to the contractors than to the consultants, primarily due to the different nature of their work. The implications of the civil roaming ban on construction organizations were more extensive than the flight ban. 84% of the participants agreed that Value Engineering has an essential role in the construction sector’s sustainability during the pandemic. The study findings agreed with the previous studies done in other countries. Since the study was conducted immediately after the Saudi government imposed civil roaming and the flight ban, its results were distinguished by exclusivity. Novelty: The COVID-19 pandemic implication size on the construction industry in the Eastern region of KSA was utilized in providing a statistical equation based on the induction of the participants’ responses. Keywords: Value Engineering (VE); COVID19 Pandemic; Construction Projects; Financial Losses; Sustainability

Travel measures in the SARS-CoV-2 variant era need clear objectives

The rapid global spread of new SARS-CoV-2 variants despite travel restrictions has revealed deficiencies in existing strategies and a need to evaluate them.1 Such strategies—eg, vaccine passports, reactive flight bans, isolation of travellers who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 or blanket quarantines, and major changes to travel protocols—have often had weak accompanying justifications. Many governments continue to adapt various combinations of international travel measures and, increasingly, scale them back (figure) without stating clear objectives or the evidence behind them.

Occurrence and in vitro toxicity of organic compounds in urban background PM2.5

This study describes the chemical composition and in vitro toxicity of the organic fraction of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at an urban background site, which receives emissions either from Frankfurt international airport or the city centre, respectively. We analysed the chemical composition of filter extracts (PM2.5) using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometer, followed by a non-target analysis. In parallel, we applied the bulk of the filter extracts to a Microtox and acetylcholinesterase-inhibition assay for in vitro toxicity testing. We find that both the chemical composition and toxicity depend on the prevailing wind directions, and the airport operating condition, respectively. The occurrence of the airport marker compounds tricresyl phosphate and pentaerythritol esters depends on the time of the day, reflecting the night flight ban as well as an airport strike event during November 2019. We compared the organic aerosol composition and toxicity from the airport wind-sector against the city centre wind-sector. We find that urban background aerosol shows a higher baseline toxicity and acetylcholinesterase inhibition compared to rural PM2.5 that is advected over the airport. Our results indicate that the concentration and individual composition of PM2.5 influence the toxicity. Suspected drivers of the acetylcholinesterase inhibition are i.e. organophosphorus esters like triphenyl phosphate and cresyldiphenyl phosphate, and the non-ionic surfactant 4-tert-octylphenol ethoxylate. However, further research is necessary to unambiguously identify harmful organic air pollutants and their sources and quantify concentration levels at which adverse effects in humans and the environment can occur.

On the Effectiveness of Flight Ban Strategies in the Fight Against COVID-19 Variants of Concern

On the Effectiveness of Flight Ban Strategies in the Fight Against COVID-19 Variants of Concern

Delayed reaction towards emerging COVID-19 variants of concern: Does history repeat itself?

After more than a year with COVID-19, it becomes increasingly clear that certain variants of concern have the potential to be game changers, determining the future of our aviation. These variants pose significant health threats and possibly undermine ongoing vaccination efforts. Recent research showed that flight bans on the initial SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in January 2020 were implemented too late and therefore, turned out to be largely ineffective, enabling a swift turn into a fully-blown pandemic. In this study, we investigate the following question: How effective were existing flight bans against the newly emerged variants of concern? In other words: Do airlines and countries happen to repeat the same mistake again? We analyze the spread of the three most prevalent variants of concern right now: B.1.1.7 (known as the UK variant), B.1.351 (known as the South African variant), and P.1 (known as the Brazilian variant). We find that many countries, again, implemented flights bans once the mutated virus had enough time to be imported via air transportation. To support our empirical analysis further, we designed and implemented a compartmental network spreading model on top of worldwide flight data for the years 2020 and 2021. We observe that the model predictions are rather accurate and confirm our findings. Overall, we hope that our study encourages air transportation stakeholders and policy makers to avoid repeating earlier mistakes in the future, with the ultimate goal to overcome COVID-19 entirely.

Benchmarking the Devastating Effects of COVID-19 on Economies and Social Life in the EU and In Selected Countries Mostly Affected By the Pandemic

Background: Life will not go on same after the pandemic since the countries are negatively affected economically, socially and politically due to coronavirus pandemic so that states, entrepreneurs, consumers and individuals will exhibit different behaviors than they showed before. As the social state raised during the pandemic, governments announced many economic and social packages to prevent both the real sector and their citizens. Aim: This study aims to investigate the growth rates of confirmed cases and deaths related to COVID-19 in the World, Europian Union and some selected countries mostly influenced by the pandemic, the health indicators for the countries and to analyse the effect of the pandemic on economy, trade and tourism. Methods: The data for the COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths was gathered from European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for the world, EU-27, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, UK, USA and was smoothed with Simple Moving Average process to reduce volatility.The daily and cumulative empirical growth rates for COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths were calculated for each country to make comparison by logarithmic scale. The health infrastructure and human resources and the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and foreign trade for the countries are examined. Results: The number of deaths in Italy, France, Spain, UK and USA which were heavily affected by the pandemic exceeded ten thousand in a couple weeks. In some countries, it was clearly seen that the health system was not sufficient to fight against pandemic. The disruptions in the supply chain of the countries caused their production and external trade to halt and the mobility of goods, services and people in and outside the countries have been minimized due to the pandemic. Both the manufacturing industry and the service sectors have contracted in this process. Flight bans have hit mostly the tourism and transportation sectors so that this will have negative effects on the balance of payments for many countries especially for developing ones disrupting both export and tourism revenues. Conclusion: COVID-19 not only affected the individual’s daily life but also have influences on social and economic life of the countries. After the outbreak, it is seen that people cannot travel as comfortably as they are used to and that they will maintain social isolation for a while by standing against each other even for their family, relatives and friends. In addition, there will be a big change in production and consumption habits in the economy. It seems that it will take a long time for people to regain their psychology.

Indonesia’s Diplomacy on Flight Safety Issues

This paper aims to explain the development of aviation safety in Indonesia prior to the removal of the ban on flights of Indonesian Airlines by the European Commission during the 2007-2018 period, and to examine the diplomatic steps taken by the Indonesian government concerning the removal of the ban. This article employs a qualitative approach which is a literature study. Data were obtained from various official documents and reports, as well as articles and news related to the issue of Indonesian airline's flight ban by the European Commission. The results exhibit a lengthy diplomacy process that took place in the year 2007-2018, illustrating the weakness in the aviation safety aspect of Indonesia's aviation that must be improved. The Indonesian government must continue to strive for the independence of the country's national aviation sector so that it is able to take a prominent role internationally and not to heavily depend on the global transportation business. Economic integration in the aviation sector with all ASEAN countries must also be strengthened to balance the strength of the aviation industry in the European countries and the United States, especially following the horizontal agreement. With such integration in the aviation sector, it is hoped that Indonesia will be able to focus on regional market forces.