More than 280 flights delayed, diverted on New Year’s Day
Transportation chief blames power outage for failure
System partially restored, airlines offer free rebooking
MANILA, Jan 1 (Reuters) – Philippine authorities halted flights in and out of Manila on New Year’s Day due to a malfunction of air traffic control, which also prevented airlines bound to other destinations from using the country’s airspace.
A total of 282 flights were either delayed, cancelled or diverted to other regional airports, affecting around 56,000 passengers at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the airport operator said on Sunday.
It was unclear how many overflights were affected.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista apologized for the inconvenience to passengers as he blamed a power outage for the breakdown of the central air traffic control system that also affected operations at other airports in the country.
He said the outdated existing facility should be upgraded immediately and that a back-up system was also needed.
“This is air traffic management system issue,” he said in a media briefing. “If you will compare us with Singapore, for one, there is a big difference, they are at least 10 years ahead of us.”
As of 0800 GMT, “the system has been partially restored thereby allowing limited flight operations”, the Manila International Airport Authority said in a statement. By late evening, eight flight arrivals and eight departures had been allowed, according to the airport operator.
Video clips and photos posted on social media showed long queues at the airport and airline personnel distributing food packs and drinks to stranded passengers.
“We’re told radar and navigation facilities at NAIA down. I was on my way home fm Tokyo – 3 hours into the flight, but had to return to Haneda,” tweeted one passenger – Manuel Pangilinan, chairman of Philippine telecommunications conglomerate PLDT Inc.
“6 hours of useless flying but inconvenience to travellers and losses to tourism and business are horrendous. Only in the PH. Sigh.”
Budget carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB.PS) and Philippine Airlines (PAL.PS) said they were offering passengers due to fly on Sunday free rebooking or the option to convert tickets to vouchers.
Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Neil Fullick, Peter Graff and Alison Williams
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HONG KONG, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Hong Kong has asked Japan to withdraw a COVID-19 restriction that allows passenger flights from the financial hub to land only at four designated airports, saying the decision would affect about 60,000 passengers.
India, Italy, Taiwan and the United States require mandatory COVID-19 tests on travellers from China after Beijing’s decision last month to lift stringent zero-COVID policies that fuelled a surge in infections across mainland China.
Hong Kong, home to more than 7 million people, is recording around 20,000 coronavirus cases a day but lifted its COVID curbs on Thursday for the first time in three years.
Japan, a top travel destination for those in Hong Kong, said it would limit flights from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China to Tokyo’s two airports, as well as Osaka and Nagoya, from Friday.
The decision comes during a peak travel season ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday which begins on Jan. 21.
“It is understood that around 250 outbound flights of Hong Kong airlines will be affected between December 30, 2022 and the end of January 2023, affecting around 60,000 passengers,” the government said in a statement late on Wednesday.
City leader John Lee said the government had indicated to Japan that it was disappointed.
“We think that Hong Kong people should be allowed to use not just these four airports,” Lee said.
On Thursday, Hong Kong’s government said Japan would let passenger flights from Hong Kong also land in Hokkaido, Fukuoka and Okinawa provided that no passengers aboard had been in mainland China for the prior seven days, but said the condition was “unreasonable”.
Flights of Hong Kong airlines can still carry passengers back to Hong Kong from airports in Japan, the government said, to ensure their smooth return and “minimise the impact to Hong Kong travellers caused by the incident.”
In a statement, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK) said it would continue to operate flights to Japan, although it would reduce these to 65 a week, down 20% from its planned schedule for Jan 2023.
HK Express, which is owned by Cathay, said in a separate statement it would only be able to operate 60 scheduled flights a week to destinations in Japan due to the curbs, prompting the cancellation of 41 flights from Hong Kong to Japan in January.
Hong Kong Airlines and Peach Aviation said they would cancel some flight routes because of the rules.
In December, China began dismantling the world’s strictest COVID regime of lockdowns and extensive testing, putting its battered economy on course for a complete re-opening next year.
The lifting of curbs following widespread protests has meant that COVID is spreading largely unchecked, probably infecting millions of people each day, some international health experts have said.
Reporting by Farah Master and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Stephen Coates
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LIMA, Nov 18 (Reuters) – A LATAM Airlines (LTM.SN) jet collided with a firetruck on the runway of Peru’s Jorge Chavez International Airport as it was taking off on Friday, the carrier said, resulting in the death of two firefighters.
No passengers or flight crew members were killed in the incident, the airline said.
It remains unclear why the firetruck entered the runway while the plane was taking off and the prosecutors’ office said it was investigating the incident as potential manslaughter.
Video posted on social media showed the jet colliding with the firetruck as it careened down the runway, then rapidly catching fire and smoking heavily as it ground to a halt.
Lima Airport Partners, which operates Jorge Chavez in Lima, the nation’s most important airport, said the airport will remain closed at least through 1 p.m. local time on Saturday.
The flight was LA2213, covering the domestic Lima-Juliaca route, LATAM Airlines said.
This is the second incident in less than a month involving LATAM Airlines, after one of its planes had its nose destroyed during a severe storm that forced it to make an emergency landing.
Reporting by Marco Aquino in Lima, additional reporting by Fabian Cambero in Santiago, Marcelo Rochabrun in Lima and Carolina Pulice in Mexico City; Editing by Anthony Esposito, Rosalba O’Brien and Matthew Lewis
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AMSTERDAM, Nov 5 (Reuters) – More than 100 environmental activists wearing white suits stormed into an area where private jets are kept at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Saturday and stopped several aircraft from departing by sitting in front of their wheels.
The protest was part of a day of demonstrations in and around the airport organised by environmental groups Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion to protest over greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution caused by the airport and aviation industry.
No delays to commercial flights were reported as of the early afternoon.
“We want fewer flights, more trains and a ban on unnecessary short-haul flights and private jets,” said Greenpeace Netherlands campaign leader Dewi Zloch.
The environmental group says Schiphol is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the Netherlands, emitting 12 billion kilograms annually.
[1/5] Climate activists protest against environmental pollution from aviation at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, in Schiphol, Netherlands November 5, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
Hundreds of other demonstrators in and around the airport’s main hall carried signs saying “Restrict Aviation” and “More Trains”.
Responding to the protest, Schiphol said it aims to become an emissions-free airport by 2030 and supports targets for the aviation industry to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Military police tasked with airport security said in a statement they had “made a number of detentions of persons who were on airport property without being allowed”.
The Dutch government announced plans in June for a cap on annual passengers at the airport at 440,000, around 11% below 2019 levels, citing air pollution and climate concerns.
Transportation Minister Mark Harbers told parliament last month his office could not control growing private jet traffic, and the government is considering whether to include the issue in its climate policy.
Reporting by Toby Sterling
Editing by Toby Chopra and Helen Popper
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LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) – The British government launched an “Aviation Passenger Charter” on Sunday to help passengers know their rights if they are faced with problems at airports after the widespread disruption seen this year.
Long queues and cancelled flights caused by staff shortages have caused chaos at times, prompting airlines to cut back their schedules as the industry struggles to keep up with a surge in demand after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new charter will help passengers know what to do if they are confronted by cancellations, delays or missing baggage, the government said, with guidance on how to complain if they feel they have been treated unfairly.
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“Passengers deserve reliable services, and to be properly compensated if things don’t go to plan, and the chaotic scenes we’ve seen at airports are unacceptable,” transport minister Grant Shapps said.
“The new charter will help to give UK passengers peace of mind as they enjoy the renewed freedom to travel, whether for holidays, business or to visit loved ones.”
Last month, the government published a 22-point support plan to avoid further disruption, including telling airlines to run “realistic” summer schedules and promising to speed up security checks. It said these were now being processed in “record time”.
In a sign of the problems, London’s Heathrow Airport this week asked airlines to stop selling tickets for summer departures and capped the number of passengers flying from Britain’s busiest hub at 100,000 a day. read more
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Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Nick Macfie
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WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) – The United States late Friday rescinded a 17-month-old requirement that people arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19, a move that follows intense lobbying by airlines and the travel industry.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky issued a four-page order lifting the mandate, effective at 12:01 a.m. ET (0400 GMT) Sunday, saying it is “not currently necessary.”
The requirement had been one of the last major U.S. COVID-19 travel requirements. Its end comes as the summer travel season kicks off, and airlines were already preparing for record demand. Airlines have said that many Americans have not been not traveling internationally because of concerns they will test positive and be stranded abroad.
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the CDC decision is based on science and available data, and said the agency “will not hesitate to reinstate a pre-departure testing requirement, if needed later.”
The CDC will reassess the decision in 90 days, an administration official said.
The United States has required incoming international air travelers to provide pre-departure negative tests since January 2021. In December the CDC tightened the rule to require travelers to test negative within one day before flights to the United States rather than three days.
The CDC has not required testing for land border crossings.
Many countries in Europe and elsewhere have already dropped testing requirements.
An American Airlines Boeing 777 plane takes off from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy-en-France near Paris, France, December 2, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo
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The CDC is still requiring most non-U.S. citizens to be vaccinated against COVID to travel to the United States.
Two officials told Reuters the Biden administration had considered lifting the testing rule only for vaccinated travelers.
JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) Chief Executive Robin Hayes told Reuters on Friday that the testing requirement was “the last obstacle to a really full international travel recovery,” saying that it “served no purpose anymore.”
IATA, the world’s biggest airline trade group, said it was “great news” that the administration is “removing the ineffective pre-departure COVID test for travel to the US.”
In April, a federal judge declared the CDC’s requirements that travelers wear masks on airplanes and in transit hubs like airports unlawful and the Biden administration stopped enforcing it. The Justice Department has appealed the order, but no decision is likely before fall at the earliest.
The CDC continues to recommend travelers wear masks and get COVID-19 tests before and after international flights.
Raymond James said in a research note that lifting the restrictions “is an important catalyst for international travel.”
Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) Chief Executive Ed Bastian told Reuters last week that dropping the requirements will boost travel, noting that 44 of 50 countries Delta serves do not require testing.
U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow said Friday’s move will “accelerate the recovery of the U.S. travel industry,” which was hard hit by the pandemic.
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Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler
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April 30 (Reuters) – A Russian missile strike on Saturday knocked out the newly-constructed runway at the main airport in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, a strategic Black Sea port, military and civilian officials said.
“The Odesa airport runway was destroyed. We will, of course, rebuild it. But Odesa will never forget Russia’s behaviour towards it,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a late night address.
Odesa regional governor Maksym Marchenko said Russia had used a Bastion missile, launched from Crimea.
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“Thank God no one was hurt. Anti-sabotage measures are being carried out in the region,” he said in a video posted online.
Odesa mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said it had taken 10 years to design and build the new runway, which was formally opened last July.
“Thanks to the new runway we were expecting a colossal influx of tourists from all over the world. Instead, we got a rocket strike,” he said on Facebook.
“But Odesa is not a city which surrenders to difficulties. We will absolutely restore the runway after our victory and even more tourists will come to us.”
Russia’s military has not yet confirmed the strike.
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Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Chris Reese
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Travellers wait in lines at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport as an unannounced strike of ground staff caused many delays and cancellations, in Amsterdam, Netherlands April 23, 2022. REUTERS/Anthony Deutsch
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AMSTERDAM, April 23 (Reuters) – Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport urged travellers to stay away for several hours on Saturday as a strike by ground personnel at the start of a school holiday caused chaos at Europe’s third-busiest airport.
“The terminal is too full at the moment … Schiphol is calling on travellers not to come to the airport anymore,” airport authorities said in a statement issued shortly before noon (1000 GMT).
Almost three hours later the airport said passengers were welcome again but would still face long waiting times and possible delays or cancellations.
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Police closed down highway exits to the airport briefly on Saturday afternoon as lines at departure gates stretched out of the airport buildings.
A Schiphol spokesperson said the temporary closure was necessary to guarantee safety and to get as many as possible of the thousands of frustrated passengers aboard their often-delayed flights.
Baggage handlers for KLM, the Dutch arm of airline Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), had early on Saturday gone on a previously unannounced strike to press demands for higher pay and better working conditions.
KLM ground staff handle about half of all luggage coming through Schiphol, Europe’s third busiest airport after Paris Charles de Gaulle and London Heathrow.
Labour union FNV said the walkout had ended around noon.
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Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Writing by Bart Meijer; Editing by David Holmes
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Missile remnants fall in some areas around Abu Dhabi
Houthis tell investors UAE ‘has become unsafe’
Yemen largely seen as Iran-Saudi proxy war
DUBAI, Jan 24 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates on Monday said it had foiled another Houthi missile attack following last week’s deadly assault on the Gulf state as the Iran-aligned group takes aim at the safe haven status of the region’s tourism and commercial hub.
Yemen’s Houthis, battling a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE, have said they aim to make Abu Dhabi pay a high price for backing militias that are blocking Houthi attempts to capture prized oil regions.
The Houthis have repeatedly carried out cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, and on Jan. 17 the group raised the stakes with an unprecedented assault on the UAE.
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The UAE defence ministry said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles on Monday with no casualties. It said remnants fell in separate areas around the capital Abu Dhabi and that it was taking protective measures against attacks.
The Houthi military spokesman said the group fired Zulfiqar ballistic missiles at al-Dhafra airbase in Abu Dhabi, which is used by the United States, alongside other “sensitive targets”. The group launched drones at Dubai, he added.
“We advise foreign companies and investors in the UAE to leave as it has become unsafe,” spokesman Yahya Sarea said, adding the group was ready to “meet escalation with escalation”.
The coalition has in the past week conducted deadly air strikes in Yemen it says are aimed at crippling the capabilities of the movement in a conflict that is largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The U.S. embassy, in a rare security advisory for the UAE, on Monday urged its citizens to “maintain a high level of security awareness”. read more
Monday’s attack was the second on UAE soil since last week’s strike that hit a fuel depot in Abu Dhabi, killing three people, and causing a fire near its international airport.S8N2QO04R
James Swanston of Capital Economics said further attacks could unnerve tourists planning trips to the UAE, and that any major hit on the OPEC member state’s oil production facilities would pose a downside risk to GDP growth.
Remains of ballistic missile that was intercepted in an industrial area are seen, in south of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, January 24, 2022. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
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ESCALATION
The UAE, a major international travel hub, had so far escaped violence that has engulfed other Middle East states.
The Dubai benchmark stock index was down 2%, while the Abu Dhabi stock index declined 0.3% as of trading on Monday. Higher oil prices were providing support to markets, analysts said.
“It’s pretty surprising (the attacks)…Overall I feel safe but I don’t know how it will escalate,” American medical student Talia Rivera, 19, told Reuters at an Abu Dhabi shopping centre.
Spanish tourist Arabela Fernandez Rabena, 30, said she did not plan to cut short her holiday in one of the few countries open during the pandemic. “I think the Emirates is very strong and defend the people that live here.”
The UAE, which has an advanced anti-missile interception system, on Monday published a video of what it described as an F-16 warplane destroying a Houthi missile launcher in Yemen.
The Houthis said Monday’s operation also struck Saudi Arabia, where state media said remnants from an intercepted missile caused damage in a southern industrial area.
On Sunday night, state media said a ballistic missile fell near another region in the south, injuring two foreigners and causing damage in an industrial area. read more
The United Nations, which along with the United States has struggled to engineer a ceasefire for Yemen, has called for maximum restraint by both sides.
Coalition air strikes on Yemen killed at least 60 people in Saada province on Friday, and about 20 people in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday.
The coalition intervened in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa. The group says it is fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
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Additional reporting by Lilian Wagdy, Lisa Barrington and Saeed Azhar; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Michael Perry, Kirsten Donovan, William Maclean
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