careening between forced optimism and despondency made in germany. today details of. what secrets lie behind things will. discover new adventures in the 360 degree. and explore fascinating world heritage site. w world heritage 360 getting up now. a 99 percent drop in paying customers the coronavirus pandemic has been wreaking havoc in many sectors of the economy but the airline industry has been feeling the

turbulence even more severely than most and even with some of the fleet returning to the skies the impact on airlines an aircraft makers is set to be long lasting ground it over 1000 and the airline industry that's our focus this week on mate i'm chris colfer it's good to have you aboard. when covert 19 hit europe earlier this year it didn't take long for airlines to react as one country after the next imposed lockdowns flights were canceled all over the world take a look at how the crisis affected the aviation industry the 1st slump came as early as february by may and june there was a 70 percent decrease in global air traffic compared to the previous year it still hasn't recovered even in mid august air traffic was only at 50 percent of its pre-code $1000.00 levels now the pandemic marks a turning point for this trillion dollar industry carriers and many factors are in freefall putting the x. on jobs and former prestige projects take airbuses giant double decker

a $380.00 for example the 4 engine jet was always if you will thirsty undertaking now without paying passengers to fill a seats airlines have lost interest in the world's largest airline are now our business phasing out production and we went to say of what the last of its kind. whenever one of these huge planes was to be assembled at the nearby adams plant sections of the fuselage had to pass through a living yak villages turned out for the festive procession and to say hello this time in june it was also to say goodbye. number 270 was the last 8380 to be built then when the series was unveiled 15 years ago it marked a revolution the world's biggest passenger plane now it's being discontinued. i think that people would have loved to have the sec raf you know being produce for

a longer period of time anyway again i think that everybody is very proud about the aircraft and what it means to help us to know how the skills that we developed along those is very important then to pave the way for the future innovation like. for example. the a $380.00 is so extravagantly enormous it's positively 0 and inspiring. people have grown fond of it even if they don't work for adults. but. i think it's a it's it's a mixed feeling between a bit of sadness. but also a lot of a lot of pride. and again i'm very proud to have been part of this journey i think that you felt the passion of all the people i think that help us would not be a bus without a future yeah even worldwide i mean anybody is able to recognize the few 80 and

this is not a given for any aircraft flying around the work. being a 380 was designed to hold as many as 850 passengers on its 2 decks but times have changed and airlines. no longer aim to cram as many people as possible into huge planes smaller fuel efficient models the call for now. the end of the road for the a 380 came too soon for us the development costs less huge and can hardly have been offset by sales at the same time the pandemic is devastating the industry a large part of the global commercial air fleet remains grounded airlines that were doing well and now facing bankruptcy the german state had to rescue love to answer with a 9000000000 euro bailout orders for new planes have been cancelled or have failed

to materialize. production abas has been cut back sharply thousands of workers are working reduced hours. as they are still a beautiful thought but of course we've been hit hard as a manufacturer and we have to respond appropriately we've studied past disruptive events such as 911 and sars they all had a negative impact but not as great as the pandemic as we have to find a way to emerge from the crisis swiftly rise up from this low point given the enormity of the crisis we're talking about years not months but we won't get back to where we were until at least 202035000 there will be no return to normality before that. you know material for it so it's on if the take off we're going to be a quarter call it with what could of course. ever since pinning its hopes on its a 350 series introduced in 2015 it's quiet fuel efficient and state of the art

oil station i'm unpiloted this one on its 1st flight and bus in toulouse his and line of time so ordered it some years ago and this was the acceptance flight bang in the middle of the deepest crisis end of tenses history. before you fight an open mind accordion it's an important gesture for my colleagues at home on short time work. if if if we have applied. this is a difficult time but it's important to look ahead. before spending your money. doesn't quite work you. know tensor inspectors check every detail of the plane windows seats safety features. everyone tree sit down passenger seat belt security. the list price of an a $350.00 is $300000000.00 euros to for a purchase or paste the full amount its pilots put the plane through its paces.

right now live 10 so it is in the process of shrinking its fleet buying a new plane was controversial within the company. for devices and most see it as a glimmer of hope of course colleagues are asking why why now and why couldn't delivery be postponed but most appreciate as a contract is binding he can't just say i don't want the plane now it's a sign that we're getting going again pfeiffer doesn't call that it's. a glimmer of hope for the airline and for the manufacturer of us pilot thomasville hence says every plane gets built help secure jobs. that once is risky it's important for us to maintain production albeit at a lower level so it's a good feeling and a positive sign that we continue to deliver such big planes it also shows that love

towns are and the aviation industry and air bus are confident that things will take off again even if the steps are small and slow including dozens with all threats. on this but this is optimism is all well and good but nobody actually knows what commercial aviation. well look like in the future for example love tensors switching some planes from carrying passengers to freight and has therefore removed rows of seats social distancing may be with us for some time and passenger planes too might be facing a redesign less sardine tin more limousine angles look at so designs cabins for advice he says it's crucial to make passengers feel safe so they're willing to fly even during the pandemic but i'm here in the ventilation system exchanges and filters the air in the cabin every 2 or 3 minutes. it's circulates downwards to

help ensure the air is free of viruses. on the air quality is comparable to that in a hospital surfaces in the washrooms have antibacterial coatings and there are no touch controls so that is a very good starting point a strong basis for ensuring hygiene safety in the air. as it had to flee. the maiden flight of its new a 350 may have gone well but abbott has announced it intends to cut 15000 jobs worldwide. there. are. tens of thousands of jobs on the chopping block that's been one of the results of the dramatic decline in international air travel giant fields of unused aircraft have become an eye catching indicator of the

problem here are some more facts to illustrate the full extent of the industry's crisis. before the coronavirus an average of more than 1000000 people were traveling by plane at any given time the pandemic reduced the number to less than 100000. the u.s. and britain have been especially hard hit by the aviation crisis. the industry accounts for 3 percent of their g.d.p. . it's estimated that up to 64 percent of commercial aircraft were grounded and lines attempts to sell off aircraft are usually unsuccessful carry is all over the world have declared bankruptcy a few received government bailouts germany's lift answer was given a rescue deal of 9000000000 euros. hong kong's cathay pacific received 4500000000 the us bailout plan for airlines is worth 42000000000 euros

but it may not be enough the international air transport association has warned that the crisis could last year's. especially if rather than sending staff to their customers and business partners around the world companies continue to hold more video conferences instead. video conferences are something we here have also been getting used to they help us stay on the air. for staying in the air freight business is the one bright spot for abuse and right now it's booming and no wonder as a result of the pandemic people are shopping online like never before our reporter . paid a visit to leipsic airport logistics trying operates an international air freight

hot. d.h.l. freighter arrives crammed full with express packages. manager eve on the side of the who's in charge of unloading and rerouting. his planes just arrived from zagreb . the ramp team has just one hour to unload and reload the plane. the number of flights has definitely risen this year and there are more known night landings. on the numbers going up to 65 and sometimes there are more than 70 and croft. expressed in livery service d.h.l. is international business in the eastern german city of lights. for years business has continued to improve for what is the world's largest logistics company. during the car and make it specialists have to use every centimeter of available cargo space in their dedicated transport planes. as the coronavirus crisis broke global

passenger flights screech to a halt vastly slashing capacities for air freight as well that's work to do you charles advantage if you're saying we've been experiencing growth for years but especially now you're in the coronavirus crisis we've seen all the airlines reduce their capacity and if you consider that 60 to 70 percent of freight volume is normally transported in the holds of passenger planes you can imagine that if the airlines disappear and that capacity goes that things will start piling up elsewhere instead. tonight's assignment involves sorting 400000 express packages and bulky items. after arriving in leipzig the packages are then loaded on to other planes for the next leg of their journey.

2000 employees work the night shift here. pay to be counted is in charge overnight they have 2000 tonnes of parcels to process on this shift that's my god we have to make sure that no parcel is left behind this is a trans shipment of goods come in and they go straight out again all over the world you know it's what. sends out freight to more than 500 airports every day using the main commercial flight routes flying 1st to major hubs and then on to smaller airports. the pace of work is fast 30 containers have to be unloaded from the whole of the plane. he runs idle deals with 8 planes a night. yes we did touch the clock to the plane and it's

counting down the aim is to empty it in that time off but the matching at the end. she has 30 minutes to do that. the night shift is the busiest here and goes from 9 pm to 6 am. it's when the largest number of staff members work. and as most of us my pocket people pay good money to have beds in livery by 6 in the morning or by noon we are in charge of making sure everything leaves as fast as possible especially of a typical delivery looks like this at 2 pm someone or 9 or he says she wants to send a parcel to rome an hour later it's collected from the customer a truck takes it to the d.h.l. gateway hit hanoi airport. by 7 pm it's on a d.h.l.

cargo plane to hong kong for sorting in the d.h.l. hub. around midnight local time it sets off for leipzig. and arrives at 2 am central european time it's then loaded onto another plane and sets off at 5 am for baggage in northern italy. it gets there at 7 am. then the parcel is taken by a truck to a sorting office in rome were a d.h.l. courier collected. the courier delivers the parcel to the recipient at 10 30 am. but back to life. once the cabin container loading has been completed he runs idle has to monitor the loading of the planes holds this work is done by hand.

and then you are loading so-called flew straight into the belly here the same way passenger baggage is loaded in passenger planes because this plane only has 15 positions the securing launch containers up in the cabin. and within the allotted hour the plane is ready to take off again this time for frankfurt just one of $65.00 takeoffs and landings on this one night at leipzig airport. one way or another the aviation industry is going to have to reinvent itself not only because of the bend demick with more and more traffic clogging up streets of cities all over the world urban air mobility is no longer the stuff of science it's airbus is just one of the company's hard at work on a design for a flying taxi which the topes will be ready for takeoff within just 3 years. to go through the to. the new airbus flying taxi performed its 1st public flight

demonstration this summer or early release. the fully electric city air bus reaches a cruising speed of 120 kilometers an hour and can carry up to 4 passengers. it's currently operated by joystick but he said to fly autonomous late later on. right now it can't go that far the battery is only enough for 15 minutes of flying time. but team of 30 engineers is working to change that. go further than this but it could still be a while before the city air bus goes into regular operation in europe there's no legal framework for that yet still airbus expects to get certification by 2023. every corner of the aviation industry is reeling from the coronavirus crisis

including the 10s of thousands of people who work in europe's airports for the last few months to have felt like ghost towns all report a militant schmidt went to frankfurt airport to find out how retail concessions the shops and food service outlets that normally thronged with people buying snacks and last minute gifts have been fairing since the pandemic hit. it's great to be up in the air again this is my 1st flight in many months before the pandemic and the lock down i used to take a trip every 2 or 3 weeks. the mood on board is surprisingly good when the coronavirus crisis started most passengers were really nervous flights are a lot more expensive now. i've come to frankfurt to find out how the retail concession shops and food service outlets at the airport have been faring since the pandemic hit and.

this is kind. of so much this place used to be a hive of activity always crowded a mass of people from around the world well it isn't anymore. almost half the shops in terminal one are shut or the other trudeau closed down in april. the. sales at the shops that are open have slumped many people from the far east and the united states were keen to buy lots of products made in germany but they're nowhere to be seen now. head phones for a 1000 euros 1000 the manager of the 9 shops here tells me they don't stay open all the time like they used to. opening hours are matched to arrivals and departures from. the airport management tells us about flights and how many passengers are on board and we open accordingly i'm calm and. that means there are

certain times of day when we're closed. here we tend to open at midday in other sections we are open in the morning and evening but closed around midday there's no point worrying whether it's all going to be over soon that would just hasten the end better to stay positive and focus on the progress we're making. on department. there almost no long haul flights at the moment almost all are within europe. but the last german sausage used to sell like hotcakes at this fast food stand 500 portions a day that is prepared demick the airport made the sausage stand stayed open throughout the lock down it's been losing money for months. he's a father of the money you people keep saying every crisis presents an opportunity when you've just been hit really hard by

a crisis that sounds really offensive. that's how i felt. on the other hand there is something to it to clyde. this is think it helps if you. understand closes that bank he produces a cookery show with a friend there donuts will soon be on you tube. for such concessions to stem the bloodletting and make some money again many more people would have to come and buy something but passenger numbers are not expected to rise either fast or soon. wouldn't calling it a day be a good idea. to get to the for one thing there are contracts that say i have to carry on. with i have also invested hundreds of thousands of euros in this place. that i can't just walk away and. i still think frankfurt airport is one of the very

best locations in germany. and things will eventually get a lot better on the kits that i construct of. the airport operator says it's going to reduce the rents for the shops and the food outlets to help tide them over but it hasn't done it yet negotiations. there are still underway i wanted to ask the operator about these plans. but the press people are all working reduced hours and none were available for an interview which is a pity. nobody has a clear idea how things will develop it's a scary situation recovery scraping by for a while longer or bankruptcy it's anybody's guess.

looking at things from above often gives you a new perspective and some space something that's very these days my colleague or nothing or likes to share his view on life's challenges and here he is to tell us what getting a bird's eye view from a full size glider. limited freedom. i have total freedom in the world is at my feet.

but what direction should i take this way but that way. that you know where i'm headed what should they do. people make up to 20000 decisions every day so much pressure every day do i even want to do this i chopped off. why am i doing this to myself who am i trying to prove something to all these possibilities all these choices don't make it any easier. to trust i know i want to go that way. once in a compost will show us the way we just have to trust it all. funked up and then we can all fly and each of us knows where. i've.

just seen this coming i'm coming oh. yeah. that's our show for this week thanks for watching stay healthy.

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this is deja vu news live from berlin a military grade nerve agent was used to poison a leading critic of the kremlin that according to the german chancellor the russian opposition figures election of all the remains in a coma and a berlin hospital where live to our correspondents for now. also coming up. a verdict is expected today in slovakia and a case for adding to corruption at the very highest levels of our businessman is up

on murder charges prosecutors say cube ordered the killing of a reporter.