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US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping new travel restrictions on Europe in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus. In a televised address, he said all travel from European countries would be suspended for the next 30 days. But he said the "strong but necessary" restrictions would not apply to the UK, where 460 cases of the virus have now been confirmed. There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths. "To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe," Mr Trump said from the Oval Office on Wednesday. "The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight," he added. Trump said the EU had "failed to take the same precautions" as the US. A Presidential Proclamation, published shortly after Trump's address, specified that the ban applies to anyone who has been in the EU's Schengen border-free area within 14 days prior to their arrival in the US. This implies that Ireland, as well as the UK, is excluded from the ban, as Ireland is not a Schengen country. Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania are also EU members without being part of the Schengen area. He spoke just hours after Italy announced tough new restrictions. It will close all shops except food stores and pharmacies as part of its nationwide lockdown. Trump said the travel suspension would also "apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo" coming from Europe into the US.<br/>

The US FAA said Wednesday it will temporarily waive minimum flight requirements at US airports through May 31 to help airlines facing a steep decline in travel demand due to the coronavirus. Airlines can lose their slots at congested airports if they do not use them at least 80% of the time. The FAA said it will waive the requirements for US and foreign airlines and expects that US carriers will be accommodated with reciprocal relief by foreign authorities at airports in their countries. The waiver applies to New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. At four other US airports where the FAA has a formal schedule-review process - Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty, Los Angeles and San Francisco - the agency will give credit to airlines for flights that were cancelled due to the coronavirus through May 31, as though those flights had been operated.<br/>

Three airport security screeners based at Mineta San Jose International Airport in California have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first detected among TSA workers, the agency said Wednesday. The three TSA agents are being treated for the illness and are quarantined at home, the agency said in a statement. Security checkpoints at the California airport are still open. “The agency is working with the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], as well as the California Department of Public Health and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department to monitor the situation as well as the health and safety of our employees and the traveling public,” it said. The TSA recommended travelers put their personal items such as wallets, keys and phones in their carry-on bags instead of using a bin and to wash their hands before and after going through security. “TSA will continue to follow guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regarding workforce protection,” the agency said.<br/>

The global business travel sector is expected to take a revenue hit of about $820b, with China accounting for nearly half of the losses, as corporates curb travel plans in the face of the coronavirus epidemic, an industry body said Tuesday. Business travel to Asia has been the worst hit, with at least three out of every four companies reporting they have cancelled or suspended all or most business trips to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other Asia-Pacific countries, according to a survey by Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). The industry group’s latest estimate is sharply above its February forecast of a $560b hit. “Coronavirus is significantly impacting the business travel industry’s bottom line,” GBTA COO Scott Solombrino said. “The impact to the business travel industry – and to the broader economy – cannot be underestimated.”<br/>

Kuwait’s government has suspended all flights to and from the emirate from 13 March. The suspension over the coronavirus outbreak will remain in effect “until further notice”, the government has declared. Only Kuwaiti citizens and their immediate relatives will be permitted to fly into the Gulf state. Kuwait Airways has yet to respond publicly to the decision – which comes a day after the Kuwaiti civil aviation authority claimed there was no truth in rumours that the airport would be shut. But the flag-carrier had already been implementing blanket cancellations to Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and Egypt, and a number of specific flights to other destinations. Jazeera Airways says that all its flights will be suspended when the ruling takes effect. Jazeera says it has offered passengers “flexibility” to amend bookings given the uncertainty over the coronavirus situation.<br/>

Iran has agreed to send black boxes from a downed Ukrainian jetliner to Kiev for analysis, an Iranian official said on Wednesday, a move that would end a two-month standoff over the recordings from the jet. Top Iranian officials have until now refused to hand over the flight recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines flight, which was shot down by the Iranian military on Jan 8 with the loss of all 176 people on board. Farhad Parvaresh, who heads Iran's delegation at the UN's ICAO, said Teheran's civil aviation authority had also invited other interested countries to participate in reading the data. This effectively opens the door to the United States, Ukraine, Canada and ICAO itself. Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne described the move as a step in the right direction. "We welcome those words, but we will judge Iran obviously by their actions," he told reporters. Ottawa has repeatedly pressed Iran to hand over the damaged boxes from the crash, in which 57 Canadians died.<br/>

Boeing lost close to a fifth of its market value on Wednesday as the aircraft manufacturer took measures to preserve cash in the face of a coronavirus pandemic that has caused turmoil in the aviation industry and threatens to further weaken its balance sheet. The company, already dealing with the costs of the grounding of its 737 Max aircraft, has tapped the full amount of a $13.8b loan arranged barely a month ago, according to people familiar with the arrangement. Boeing also instituted a hiring freeze and limited overtime for all employees except for those working to return the Max to service and on “other key efforts” to support customers, according to a memo from Boeing’s top two executives. It also restricted travel and discretionary spending to activities critical to the business. The plane maker’s stock fell 18% to below $200 for the first time since July 2017 and has now more than halved since the day in March 2019 when the Max suffered its second deadly crash, triggering a worldwide ban on its use. “The year ahead is shaping up to be as challenging for our business as any in the recent past,” David Calhoun, CE, and Greg Smith, CFO, wrote in a message to employees. “On top of the work of safely returning the 737 Max to service and the financial impact of the pause in Max production, we’re now facing a global economic disruption generated by the Covid-19 coronavirus.”<br/>

Boeing plans to separate 737 MAX wiring bundles, flagged by regulators as potentially dangerous, before the jet returns to service, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The decision to change clusters of wiring that control key aircraft systems marks a reversal from the US planemaker’s initial recommendation to the FAA and poses a fresh hurdle to the jet’s already-delayed return to service. The FAA and Boeing first said in early January they were reviewing a wiring issue that could potentially cause a short circuit on the 737 MAX, and in certain remote circumstances lead to a crash if pilots did not react in time. Earlier Wednesday, FAA chief Steve Dickson confirmed that the agency had rejected Boeing’s initial proposal to leave wiring bundles in place and said the decision on next steps was up to the planemaker. Pending final approvals from the FAA, Boeing will move to physically separate the wiring bundles before the MAX is cleared for service, two people familiar with the matter said. Boeing does not view the retrofits as delaying the plane’s estimated return to service in the middle of the year at the earliest, one of the people added. Boeing expects changes to take roughly one week per aircraft, but it will do some of the work as it goes through the process of removing aircraft from storage, he said.<br/>

Heathrow airport has reported a significant fall in passenger traffic in February and March as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the aviation industry. Britain’s largest airport said that total passenger numbers fell 4.8% last month compared with the same period in 2019, to 5.4 million, once the extra leap year day is stripped out. The airport said demand has continued to weaken, with another year-on-year decrease in passenger numbers expected in March. Heathrow blamed lower demand on Asian and European routes, regions where airlines have significantly cut back or halted flights because of the spread of the coronavirus. The traffic figures show that Asia-Pacific passenger numbers fell by 28.4% in February, with EU traffic down 4.9%, stripping out the extra leap year day. The amount of cargo passing through Heathrow in February fell by 9.5%, to 115,800 tonnes, as the effect of the virus hits global trade. “The threat of coronavirus is an increasing challenge for the UK and we are working day and night to ensure Britain’s front door is open and safe for our people and passengers,” said John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s CE. “We will continue to work with the government to limit the impacts this will have on UK plc.” Processes in place include an “early warning system” to allow airline crews to report an illness during a flight ahead of landing.<br/>

Vietnam-based airlines have been forced to cut salaries and encourage their employees to take unpaid leave as carriers struggle with the impact of coronavirus on travel demand, three sources familiar with the situation said Wednesday. The carriers have recently suspended all flights to China and South Korea and scaled back flights to other international destinations in the wake of an epidemic that has killed more than 4,200 people worldwide. Tourists from China and South Korea accounted for more than half of the 18 million foreign visitors coming to Vietnam last year. “Vietnam Airlines has to take necessary steps to cut costs, including reducing salaries for senior positions and encouraging employees to take unpaid leave,” one of the sources said. A second source said salaries for senior positions at Vietnam Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, have been cut by at least 20%. Vietjet Aviation has told its flight attendants to take at least one week of unpaid leave each month, two employees of budget airline said under the condition of anonymity. <br/>

The Norwegian government plans to help airlines secure funding that will allow them to remain in operation while bookings fall due to the coronavirus outbreak, PM Erna Solberg said Wednesday. “We aim to find targeted measures, particularly to ensure that they have liquidity to operate,” Solberg told parliament during a question and answer session, without elaborating. Norwegian Air on Tuesday scrapped thousands of flights for the next three months and called on the government to help protect jobs. The other two major carriers in Norway, Scandinavian airline SAS and local player Wideroe, have also sharply cut their schedules for the coming months. In a news conference Tuesday, the prime minister and finance minister promised a series of measures aimed at stimulating the economy and specific industries, including airlines, but offered few details. The government’s first proposals will be presented to parliament on Friday, although the more specific help for airlines and the tourism industry will likely come later, it said.<br/>

The only person found guilty for the bombing of an American airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988 can have his conviction appealed posthumously, according to a decision by a legal review panel. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, or SCCRC, decided in May 2018 to review the case because it said Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi abandoned his appeal because he believed it would secure his release from prison and help him return to Libya. “Mr. Megrahi’s family is now entitled to instruct an appeal against his conviction,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday. It has referred the case to the High Court and it’s now a matter for the prosecution and defense to decide how to proceed, it said. Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 for the killing of 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. <br/>

Consultation on a review into the UK air passenger duty levels is now expected in “spring 2020” the country’s new chancellor Rishi Sunak disclosed in delivering his first budget. Sunak’s predecessor Sajid Javid had announced plans for the review in January, part of a deal struck with backers of struggling UK regional Flybe to keep the airline flying. Javid though resigned in February, whilst backers of Flybe pulled the plug on the carrier in the early hours of 5 March. The UK government came under fire from some quarters for allowing the carrier to collapse, especially given its ‘levelling up’ pledge to regional connectivity. In delivering the budget, Sunak provided an update of the air passenger duty review - but no firm decision. ”In January 2020 the government announced that it would undertake a review of APD ahead of the budget to ensure that regional connectivity is supported while meeting the UK’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050,” the government said today. ”As a result, the government will consult on aviation tax reform in spring 2020. The government will consider the case for changing the APD treatment for domestic flights, such as reintroducing a return leg exemption, and for increasing the number of international distance bands.”<br/>

A Europe-wide poll on attitudes to flying and climate change has revealed a large majority of people now support a ban on short-haul flights and even more would support a carbon tax. The European Investment Bank (EIB) polled 28,088 people, across all 28 EU member states (including Britain, which was a member at the time) with 62% stating they supported a ban on short-distance flights, and 72% said they would support a carbon tax on flights. The poll, carried out between September and October 2019, did not specify a maximum length of the flights which should be banned, but asked simply about support for a ban on short-distance flights.<br/>

Private jet operator GlobeAir has seen a nearly 30% jump in bookings since the coronavirus started spreading widely in Italy and elsewhere in Europe and international airlines cut back flights, the Austria-based company said on Wednesday. “We are registering a 27% year-on-year increase in bookings over the past three weeks alone,” said CE Bernhard Fragner. New bookings are coming in from all over Europe, with a major focus on London, Paris, Switzerland and France’s Côte d’Azur, GlobeAir said. The virus epidemic has hit the global airline industry hard, with international bookings to Europe plunging nearly 80%. There was a massive increase in new business and individual customers who normally travel business class and now use GlobeAir services to travel safely and avoid crowds of people, said the company, which only operates on demand. <br/>