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The US DoT on Wednesday said it will limit some flights from Chinese carriers to 40% passenger capacity for four weeks after the Chinese government imposed similar limits on four United Airlines flights. China told United on Aug. 6 it was imposing sanctions after it alleged five passengers who traveled from San Francisco to Shanghai tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21. The US order said the department will limit over a four-week period each of four Chinese carriers to 40% capacity on a single China-US flight. The US government says China’s “circuit breaker” policy violates the nations’ air services agreement and “places undue culpability on carriers with respect to travelers that test positive for COVID-19 after their arrival in China.” The department added carriers “have no means to independently verify positive test results alleged by Chinese authorities. Furthermore, there is no way to establish where or when a traveler may have contracted.” Chinese authorities gave United three options: cancel two San Francisco to Shanghai flights; operate two without passengers; or operate four flights with up to 40% of passenger capacity. The limits were imposed on four Wednesday United San Francisco-Shanghai flights, beginning with an Aug. 11 flight. The Biden administration said it will impose identical limits on four total flights over four weeks - one each from Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Xiamen Airlines.<br/>

The first Lufthansa plane carrying evacuees from Afghanistan landed in Frankfurt early on Wednesday with about 130 people aboard, the airline said. The Airbus A340 picked up passengers who had been taken by the German air force from the Afghan capital of Kabul to the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. After dramatic images of throngs at Kabul airport trying to flee after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban, US forces have secured the airport and started an airlift to fly out diplomats and civilians. Further special flights from Tashkent, Doha or other neighbouring nations in the next few days are due to evacuate more people from Afghanistan. Germany, which had the second largest military contingent in Afghanistan after the United States, wants to airlift thousands of German-Afghan dual nationals, rights activists, lawyers and people who worked with foreign forces. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved the deployment of up to 600 soldiers in Afghanistan to help with the evacuation, a government official said. “The situation is extraordinarily confusing. This has tangibly raised the threat posed to aircraft approaching and departing Afghan airports, especially Kabul,” said the document, drawn up in haste by the foreign and defence ministries.<br/>

Indian carriers saw domestic traffic bounce back in July, after bottoming out in the middle of the year amid a lethal surge in coronavirus infections. Data from the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation shows a 61% month-on-month rise in domestic passenger numbers in July, to just over 5m passengers. The figure also represents a two-fold increase in passenger numbers year on year. State-owned Air India carried 670,000 domestic passengers in July, a 30% month-on-month rise. Among the privately-owned Indian carriers, low-cost giant IndiGo flew the largest proportion of domestic travellers, at 2.9 million. This was followed by SpiceJet with over 450,000 passengers, and full-service carrier Vistara, with around 400,000 passengers. Since July, India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation allowed airlines to raise domestic flight capacity to 65% of pre-Covid levels, up from 50% the previous month. <br/>

All three local carriers - Singapore Airlines (SIA), Scoot and Jetstar Asia - will require at least their front-line staff to be vaccinated by the end of this year. SIA front-line staff based in Singapore, including pilots and cabin crew, will need to be fully vaccinated by Sept 1, said the Singapore Airlines Group in response to queries on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Scoot’s front-line staff based in Singapore will need to be fully vaccinated by Dec 1. The SIA Group - which includes Scoot - said these requirements are in line with a government advisory issued on July 2, which states that employers may make vaccination a requirement for staff in higher-risk settings. The SIA Group said that about 99% of its active pilots and cabin crew have been vaccinated. Meanwhile, all Singapore front-line ground staff have been vaccinated, it added. “Vaccinations further enhance the protection for them and everyone around them, on top of the stringent measures that have been put in place to minimise their risk of exposure to the Covid-19 virus at work,” said SIA. “For the employees who are unable to take the vaccine for medical reasons, or choose not to do so, the SIA Group will endeavour to find for them another position within the organisation that is commensurate with their experience and skills." <br/>

An Air New Zealand flight attendant has tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from Japan. The woman, aged in her 60s, returned a positive result on Wednesday night as part of the airline’s regular surveillance. As of yet, no link has been made to the current outbreak, of which 10 community cases have been found so far since a 58-year-old tradesman tested positive on Tuesday. Air NZ CE Greg Foran said the crew member was fully vaccinated, and had just returned from Narita Airport – on the eastern outskirts of Tokyo. “Our thoughts go out to her as we work through this with the Ministry of Health and obviously we’ve been busy making sure that any other crew that were on that particular flight are being tested as well,” he said. The infection was picked up through regular surveillance testing. Crew have to adhere to strict protocols when away, and on their return, they isolate at home and are tested on their second day. This testing was how her case was picked up, Foran said. Details of her case were announced in a statement on Wednesday night. Air NZ chief medical officer Dr Ben Johnston confirmed the woman tested positive on August 18 as part of the airline’s regular testing programme for international aircrew. The crew member had visited two Covid-infected countries since the start of August, including Japan.<br/>

Air New Zealand has asked the Government to extend its 48 hour amnesty timeframe for people who are wanting to return home for the COVID-19 alert level 4 lockdown, but are unable to due to the lack of flights. CEO Greg Foran said there's particularly high demand for flights back to Auckland from Queenstown. The airline has put larger aircraft on the route as well as adding three extra flights - but it's still not enough to get everyone home. "We got 15,000 passengers moved yesterday, and it would be fair to say that most of those were back to Auckland," Foran said. "Quite a lot of that is getting people back from the South Island to the North Island and Queenstown is probably the key pinch point at the moment." Level 4 restrictions mean everyone has to have returned home by midnight tonight, however Foran wants a little bit longer to enable Air NZ to get an additional 600 people back. "If we could potentially fly some of them back tomorrow, we are pretty sure there are a few hundred people who are keen to get back." He said the airline had asked the Government to allow it to continue flying people home on Friday.<br/>