The Biden administration is forming expert working groups with Canada, Mexico, the European Union and the United Kingdom to determine how best to safely restart travel after 15 months of pandemic restrictions, a White House official said on Tuesday. Another US official said the administration will not move quickly to lift orders that bar people from much of the world from entering the United States because of the time it will take for the groups to do their work. The White House informed airlines and others in the travel industry about the groups, the official said. "While we are not reopening travel today, we hope that these expert working groups will help us use our collective expertise to chart a path forward, with a goal of reopening international travel with our key partners when it is determined that it is safe to do so," the White House official said, adding "any decisions will be fully guided by the objective analysis and recommendations by public health and medical experts." The groups will be led by the White House COVID Response Team and the National Security Council and include the CDC and other US agencies. The CDC said on Tuesday it was easing travel recommendations on 110 countries and territories, including Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Africa and Iran, but has declined to lift any COVID-19 travel restrictions. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the US travel restrictions in place since 2020 are subject to "an interagency conversation, and we are looking at the data in real time as to how we should move forward with that."<br/>
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The US State Department loosened its travel warnings for dozens of nations including France, Canada and Germany, in a move that could ease airline restrictions for people wanting to go overseas as the coronavirus pandemic wanes in parts of the world. The department changed its travel warnings Tuesday for nearly 60 nations and territories from level 4, or “do not travel,” to level 3, “reconsider travel,” according to the agency’s website. In a statement, the department said it was updating the advisories after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed the methodology for its travel health notices. Countries affected by the latest change included France, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore. Another 16 nations were downgraded from level 3 to level 2, or “exercise increased caution,” while about a dozen were lowered to level 1 -- “exercise normal caution.” Tuesday’s change will “provide US travelers detailed and actionable information to make informed travel decisions,” the Department said. It amounted to the first major relaxation of such warnings since the Department slapped a Level 4 travel advisory on the entire globe in March 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic gained speed. The advisories aren’t binding but can help airlines and other nations set their own restrictions for travel. Other countries often reciprocate for American citizens based on the department’s advisories.<br/>
PM Justin Trudeau is preparing to ease Canada’s border restrictions for travelers who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to people familiar with the discussions. The government is crafting plans to loosen the current 14-day isolation period for border-crossers who’ve had two vaccine doses, said the people, speaking on condition they not be identified. Travelers entering Canada would still be tested for the virus and may be required to quarantine for a shorter period. The plan is expected be announced within days, though the timing could shift, according to the people. It isn’t clear when the changes would be implemented or whether Canada will open up its borders to non-US travelers at the same time. Pressure has been growing on the Canadian and US governments to relax restrictions that have been in place since March of last year, dramatically reducing land and air traffic between the two countries. A pact that limits non-essential travel is due for renewal on June 21. Stakeholders and government officials say there’s a sense of urgency now, given that it may be the last opportunity to open up the border in time for the summer season. An extension of the measures for another month would be a huge blow for the tourism sector, restricting movement for the July 1 national holiday in Canada and the July 4 weekend in the US.<br/>
The number of flights taking place in Europe has reached its highest level since the end of the summer 2020 season, as the continent’s travel markets begin to reopen. Cirium data for 7 June shows a seven-day average of 11,373 flights departing European airports. This represents a steady increase from the end of April, when the figure was just over 7,000, and the highest number since 20 September, when 11,420 flights departed. Although the figure remains well below the 26,415 flights of 7 June 2019, the gap with pre-pandemic levels has been narrowing in recent weeks. Analysis of another metric, aircraft tracked in flight, makes clear that carriers are pressing their equipment back into service. On 7 June a seven-day average of 3,125 aircraft were tracked making departing flights from European airports, against 2,349 a month earlier. On 7 June 2019, a weekly average of 5,576 aircraft had been tracked, using the same metric. Cirium data also shows that European airlines have overtaken their Chinese counterparts as measured by seven-day average for passenger flights, as China’s number of flights continue to decline. A total of 11,743 European flights were operated on 6 June, marginally above the corresponding 11,432 services operated in China. Increasing traffic levels in Europe reflect the gradually improving Covid-19 situation on the continent, as rising vaccination rates start to give consumers the confidence to travel again. <br/>
Boeing’s aircraft sales outpaced cancellations for a fourth consecutive month in May as customers like Southwest ordered more planes. The manufacturer last month logged 73 new orders, more than 60 of them for its bestselling Max aircraft as well as wide-body passenger and freighter aircraft last month, Boeing said Tuesday. Customers Aeromexico and Norwegian Air Shuttle canceled Max orders while an unidentified customer axed orders for five 787 Dreamliners. Deliveries in the month totaled 17. Boeing again halted deliveries of 787 planes last month as the FAA reviews the planemaker’s inspection methods. Handovers of those planes to customers, when Boeing usually collects the majority of a plane’s price, had been paused for about five months until April because of production flaws. “I don’t think we’re going to introduce as many changes as we did in this last five-month pause,” Boeing’s CEO, Dave Calhoun, said at Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference last week, regarding the latest Dreamliner delivery suspension. “So we don’t regret any of that, but ... it would be unfair of us to shove it down the FAA’s throat. That wouldn’t be right.” <br/>
The Boeing 737 Max is back in the air, and air travel is finally rebounding, helping restart orders for new planes. But Boeing is still facing a major problem that could cripple the company for years to come — US-China trade tensions. China is by far the largest and most important market for aircraft purchases. It is estimated the country will account for a quarter of commercial aircraft sales globally over the next 10 years. But in an age of US-Chinese trade tensions only 1% of Boeing's orders since 2017 have been reported as going directly to Chinese buyers. Aircraft deliveries to China, which happen years after plane orders are placed, are stronger, accounting for nearly 20% of Boeing's total since 2017. But China is still one of three major global markets where the 737 Max has yet to get clearance to fly from aviation regulators. (India and Russia are the others.) And that has kept the door shut on deliveries of Boeing's best-selling plane to the globe's biggest market. As a result, the share of Boeing's deliveries going to China has been falling as most of the rest of the world started accepting the Max once again. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun acknowledged that China is a major problem in a recent investor presentation, grouping it alongside the Max grounding and the Covid-19 pandemic as one of three "mountains" that Boeing needed to get over. And although he said he was pleased by the progress clearing the other two peaks, he admitted China remains a challenge. Calhoun has talked to the Biden administration and understands the broader issues at stake in negotiations with China. "We need the two governments to want to restore some of the trade," he said. "And I think it's in both parties' interests to want to do that."<br/>
Turkey has offered to guard and run Kabul's airport after the US and other NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan, but US officials say Ankara is imposing conditions which need to be resolved as their leaders prepare to meet next week. Turkish officials say Ankara made the proposal at a NATO meeting in May when the United States and its partners agreed a plan to withdraw troops by Sept. 11 after 20 years of war trying to defeat Taliban forces. Turkish and US officials have discussed possible requirements for the mission, some of which Washington has agreed to address, one Turkish official said. "Following the United States' decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, Turkey has made an offer to ensure the security of Kabul airport. In this framework, there are talks underway with NATO and the United States," the Turkish official said. A Turkish role securing the airport for international flights could help improve ties between Ankara and the West, sorely strained by Turkey's purchase of Russian defence systems and disputes with European countries over drilling rights in east Mediterranean waters.<br/>
Global air cargo demand in April was up 12% from its pre-crisis level, according to IATA, as the sector continues to offer a rare positive airline story during the Covid-19 crisis. Measured in cargo tonne kilometres, the performance was led by North American carriers, which contributed 7.5 percentage points to the 12% growth rate in April. All other regions, apart from Latin America, supported the growth, IATA notes. The improvements came amid helpful “underlying economic conditions” and “favourable supply chain dynamics”, the airline industry association explains. The continued low level of long-haul passenger operations in particular – international belly-cargo capacity was down 38.5% during the month – meant freight capacity remained 9.7% below pre-Covid-19 levels in April. IATA states that airlines are continuing to use dedicated freighters to “plug the lack of available belly capacity”, with international capacity from such aircraft rising 26.2% during the month. “Air cargo continues to be the good news story for the air transport sector,” says IATA director general Willie Walsh.<br/>