The US Wednesday imposed new sanctions on Iran’s biggest airline and its shipping network, accusing them of transporting lethal aid and weapons of mass destruction proliferation. The new sanctions come just days after a weekend prisoner swap between the historic foes, a rare act of cooperation since tensions escalated after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord. The US State Department targeted Shanghai-based ESAIL Shipping Company, which US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “knowingly transports illicit materials from Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, which oversees all of Irans missile industry” and has worked with Iranian organizations subject to UN sanctions. The sanctions on ESAIL and additional sanctions on Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines will take effect in June 2020. New sanctions were also imposed on Mahan Air and three of its general sales agents by the State Department and the US Treasury Department over its alleged role in weapons of mass destruction proliferation, expanding on counterterrorism sanctions imposed in 2011 over support it provided to the IRGC forces, Pompeo said.<br/>
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Ryanair’s aircraft allocation procedures mean passengers will not be told during the booking process whether or not their flights are due to be operated by Boeing 737 Max jets, according to group CE Michael O’Leary. He suggests, however, that the Irish carrier’s customers are unlikely to view this as a problem because “confidence in this aircraft will restore very rapidly”. “The reality is [if people want to know whether or not they are due to fly in a Max jet], the answer is that you won’t,” O’Leary said. “Because we won’t know. We do our aircraft allocations on a nightly basis. You’re booking your ticket six, eight weeks in advance.” Other Max operators, including Southwest and United, have indicated that customers will be made aware of the aircraft type they are due to fly on in advance of the travel date. But noting that he would place another order for Max jets “tomorrow, if the price was right”, O’Leary cites the example of consumers quickly regaining confidence in the Boeing 787 following the type’s grounding over safety fears in 2013.<br/>
On a Thomas Cook flight from Varadero Airport, Cuba, to Manchester Airport in the UK earlier this year, sudden unexpected severe turbulence caused two cabin crew members to suffer injuries -- with one flight attendant breaking an ankle and the other receiving bruising to their back and shoulders. A recently released UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch report revealed that turbulence lasting just 90 seconds resulted in this crew member's foot and ankle getting trapped underneath a catering cart. "Their foot remained wedged until the turbulence subsided sufficiently to allow other crew members to help free them," reads the report. The incident took place mid-Atlantic in August 2019, while the plane was cruising at 37,000 feet. The turbulence resulted in a 500-foot altitude gain and autopilot disconnection. Once it ended, autopilot reconnected and the flight carried on the journey to Manchester, where the injured crew member went to hospital upon arrival. The aircraft, an Airbus A330-243, received minor surface damage. Thomas Cook ceased flying in September 2019 when the British tour operator went into compulsory liquidation. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch Report concluded there could have been further injuries had the seat belt signs not been turned on during the incident.<br/>
EasyJet is resuming flights to Tunisia for the first time since the 2015 Sousse massacre. The airline announced it will operate two flights a week from Gatwick to the beach resort of Enfidha, starting on May 2, 2020. UK airlines stopped flying to Tunisia when the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised against all but essential visits, following the June 2015 Sousse attack in which 30 Britons were killed. The guidance was withdrawn for the majority of the North African country in July 2017. Thomas Cook resumed package holidays there for UK customers in February last year. EasyJet’s flights to Enfidha have been made possible by its acquisition of the collapsed travel firm’s take-off and landing slots at Gatwick. Next summer will also see easyJet fly to Tirana in Albania, from the UK, for the first time.<br/>