Six US airlines will begin regularly scheduled flights to Cuba starting as soon as this fall under a landmark agreement opening travel between the two countries. The action Friday by the DoT follows an agreement reached with Cuba last February to resume scheduled air service. While some US airlines have been flying to Cuba, flights were for limited purposes that did not include tourism. The US cities with flights to Cuba will be Miami; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Chicago; Philadelphia and Minneapolis, according to DoT. The airlines are: American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines. They will fly to 9 Cuban cities, not including Havana. The DoT is still determining which carriers will be allowed to fly to the Cuban capital. <br/>
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Taking serious note of the indiscriminate policies of some domestic airlines on flight cancellations and refunds, the Civil Aviation Ministry Saturday proposed a number of steps to rein them in and said such charges won’t be allowed to exceed the base fare. Civil Aviation minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the proposals, which will be finalised soon, also call for airlines to ensure that refunds on cancelled tickets are made within 15 days, even if the bookings were made through agents or portals. “All taxes, levies and user and airport development fees shall be refunded in case of no-show and cancellations,” the minister said. “The compensation has also been significantly enhanced to up to INR20,000 in case of denied boarding due to overbooking,” Ashok said. <br/>
An explosion in the check-in area of Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport injured at least 4 people Sunday, according to the police and airport authorities, who said the blast was set off by a man carrying a homemade explosive. The airport is one of China’s busiest, and travellers described fearful moments in the early afternoon when sharp cracking sounds reverberated through the Terminal 2 departure area and plumes of smoke rose to the ceiling. Police quickly cordoned off the vicinity of the explosion, but the airport remained open, suggesting that officials were confident the episode was not part of a wider attack. By late Sunday afternoon, the airport was calm. Twelve of the next 18 flights scheduled to land were listed as delayed for as long as 4 hours. <br/>
Aided by industry consolidation in recent years, the Philippines is set to catch up with regional peers and become the third-fastest growing market for commercial aviation in 2016, according to an aviation think tank. Capa said in a report the country already posted "high" single digit growth in terms of passenger volume in 2015. The top three growth markets were Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, each with double digit growth, it said. However, Capa noted Cambodia's tourism sector was showing a slowdown, while the Philippines was seeing an upswing in demand "boosted by a surging economy." Last year, the Philippines saw domestic passenger growth at 8.5% to 22.1m flyers, and 10.5% on the international side to 19.8m. That means total passenger growth last year was at 9.4%. <br/>
Dubai International closed its airspace for 69 minutes due to unauthorised drone activity Saturday, causing 22 flights to be diverted, aviation authorities said. Dubai Airports CE Paul Griffiths said thousands of passengers suffered disruption to their journeys. Sixteen of the diverted flights went to Dubai World Central, Dubai’s other main airport The flying of drones is prohibited within 3 miles of airports, helipads, landing areas or manned aircraft in the UAE. Around the world the use of civil drones, whether for commercial purposes or just as a leisure activity, is rising. That popularity has led to increasing reports of near-misses with commercial aircraft, such as when a Lufthansa plane was approaching Warsaw airport last month. <br/>