A strike by airport workers at Kenya's main airport continued Thursday, but the East African country's flagship airline says operations are returning to normal. Members of the National Youth Service and military personnel are performing screening and security services in response to the sudden strike Wednesday by the Kenya Aviation Workers Union. The strike paralysed operations at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as police fired tear gas at aviation workers striking over the proposed takeover of the Kenya Airport Authority, which runs Kenya's airports, by the country's loss-making airline, Kenya Airways. Kenya Airways said late Wednesday that its flights "have progressively gone back to normalcy." James Macharia, the transport secretary, called the strike "a serious criminal activity."<br/>
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China has approved plans by China Eastern Airlines, Xiamen Air and Capital Airlines to fly out of Beijing's new mega-airport from September to cities such as Moscow, Cairo and Busan. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement on its website on Thursday that it had approved 32 new airline routes, 10 of which will be from Beijing Daxing International Airport in September and October. Of the 10, five were proposed by Hainan Airlines unit Beijing-based Capital Airlines, one by China Southern Airlines subsidiary Xiamen Air and four by China Eastern Airlines. The airport, due to open in September, can handle 72m passengers a year by 2025 and is expected to become one of the world's busiest airports upon completion. This will be the city's second such facility and help relieve pressure on Beijing Capital International Airport, whose annual capacity has reached 100m passengers. Airlines including China Southern, China Eastern, Capital Airlines and China United Airlines will be relocated to the new airport, while carriers such as Air China Hainan Airlines and Grand China Air will stay at the old facility.<br/>
Britain said Thursday that flights to and from the European Union would continue after Brexit, even if it leaves without a deal, as it agreed to match an offer by the European Union to protect flying rights. The Department for Transport said the government was still working to secure a withdrawal and transition deal with Brussels but that as part of its preparations for all eventualities, it had agreed to reciprocate EU plans. The EU executive has proposed allowing British airlines to fly to and from EU airports for 12 months after March 29, assuming Britain offers equivalent rights to EU airlines. Britain said Thursday for the 12-month period it intended to grant EU air carriers a level of access to the UK at least equivalent to the rights that would be granted to UK airlines under the EU’s regulation. “This includes traffic rights, ownership and control, leasing of aircraft, cooperative marketing arrangements and fair competition,” the transport department said. It would also go further and allow member state airlines to operate wholly within the UK for the IATA summer season 2019, which ends on Oct. 27, to maintain connections between regional bases.<br/>
Two months into 2019, Airbus has logged cancellations for 103 jetliners and garnered a grand total of four new sales — and the sales were for the A220 plane manufactured in Canada by Bombardier Inc. The deal for the A220s — formerly the Bombardier C Series — with Pacific Ocean carrier Air Vanuatu represented Airbus’s only new business in February and broke an order drought in January. Cancellations last month included 42 A350 wide-bodies jettisoned by unprofitable Persian Gulf carrier Etihad Airways and 25 single-aisle A320neos that had been ordered by Germania, which has filed for bankruptcy. February also featured 23 cancellations for the A380 superjumbo after Airbus said the flagship program would be wound up early: 20 at leasing firm Amedeo and three originally ordered by Russia’s now defunct Transaero and later assigned to Air Accord. Those losses follow the scrapping in January of eight A380 orders at Australia’s Qantas Airways and five A220s contracted to a private buyer. Airbus said it won’t record the cancellation of 39 A380s at Dubai-based Emirates until details are finalized. That should also allow it to book its first major orders this year, for 30 A350s and 40 smaller A330neos that the Persian Gulf carrier has said it will buy.<br/>
Authorities are finding ways to keep tourists at Mai Khao beach off the adjacent Phuket airport's runway after the area became known as the "unseen Phuket", where beachgoers take selfies with landing planes but create safety concerns over their close-up shooting. A new safety zone near the runway is being developed and will soon take effect, deputy Phuket airport chief Wichit Kaeothaithiam said Thursday. "People and tourists will not be allowed to enter this area to take photos," he said. At present, planes flying across the sea to the resort island generally land on runway 09, approaching directly over Mai Khao beach. The sight of aircraft flying over the beach as they land has become a must-see for many tourists. However, officials believe taking photos with the planes is dangerous. Wichit insisted authorities must apply strict safety rules as required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. <br/>