The US on Monday completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan after a huge but chaotic airlift that cost the lives of 13 US troops and left behind thousands of Afghans and hundreds of Americans still seeking an escape from Taliban rule. In a first in the nearly 20 years since al Qaeda’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks plunged the US into war, not a “single service member” from the U.S. military was in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said in an afternoon news conference. “Heartbreak” was the word that US Marine General Frank McKenzie used as he described emotions surrounding the US departure from its longest war after dangerous and tireless efforts by US troops to evacuate American citizens and vulnerable Afghans. “There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure. We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out,” McKenzie, the head of the US Central Command, told a Pentagon news briefing.<br/>
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Kabul airport is without air traffic control services now that the US military has withdrawn from Afghanistan, and US civil aircraft are barred from operating over the country unless given prior authorization, the US FAA said Monday. The FAA said that "due to both the lack of air traffic services and a functional civil aviation authority in Afghanistan, as well as ongoing security concerns, US civil operators, pilots, and US-registered civil aircraft are prohibited from operating at any altitude over much of Afghanistan." Earlier this month, the US military said it had assumed air traffic control responsibilities in Kabul to facilitate the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan. The FAA said US civil operators "may continue to use one high-altitude jet route near the far eastern border for overflights. Any US civil aircraft operator that wants to fly into/out of or over Afghanistan must receive prior authorization from the FAA."<br/>
Repairs need to be made at Kabul airport before it can be opened to civilian flights, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday, as Ankara considers providing help to the Taliban to operate the airport. Ankara has been in talks with the Taliban about providing technical help to operate Kabul airport after the Aug. 31 deadline for troops to leave Afghanistan but said the recent bombing underlined the need for a Turkish force to protect any experts deployed there. Cavusoglu said on Sunday that inspection reports show runways, towers and terminals, including those in the civilian side of the airport, were damaged and that these needed to be repaired. "Personnel is needed for this. Likewise, the required equipment needs to be provided," he said. Turkey, which is part of the NATO mission, has been responsible for security at the airport for the last six years. Keeping the airport open after foreign forces hand over control is vital not just for Afghanistan to stay connected to the world but also to maintain aid supplies and operations. Cavusoglu said the airport initially needs to be operated to help send humanitarian aid into the country and continue evacuations. "But also for the airport to be open to civilian flights, including Turkish Airlines, the deficiencies we mentioned need to be taken care of and work needs to be done," he said, adding that the requests were being relayed to the Taliban.<br/>
European Union countries voted to subject the US to fresh restrictions on nonessential travel amid a surge in new coronavirus cases, dealing a blow to the tourism industry. A qualified majority of ambassadors voted to reintroduce the curbs, which had been lifted in June, according to an EU statement on Monday. The change appears most likely to affect unvaccinated Americans. The US had 588 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the two weeks ending Aug. 22, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, well above the limit of 75 set out in the EU guidelines. Airline stocks dropped in the US, likely in anticipation of the EU move. The guidance from the bloc is a recommendation and any decision on who to let in, and what restrictions to impose, ultimately rests with the governments of each member state. Countries can also choose to accept proof of vaccination to waive travel restrictions. While countries have largely followed the EU guidelines, there have been times when individual nations have diverged from them. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the US is still developing its international travel policy, including potentially strengthening testing rules and, “over time,” possibly requiring vaccination for all visiting foreign nationals. No final decision has been made, she said. <br/>
The Baton Rouge Metro Airport said all flights are canceled for Monday but are scheduled to resume on Tuesday. The New Orleans Airport said on social media that flights scheduled for Monday have been canceled. The airport reported there are already 141 cancellations for Tuesday. The airport said they have lost water pressure, are operating on generator power, the landlines are not working and repairs to jet bridges have begun. They also said crews are clearing debris from roadways and repairing damaged fences. Both airports asked that passengers should check with their airlines concerning the status of their flights.<br/>
After a surge in bookings early this summer, US airline passengers are planning fewer trips as the spread of the coronavirus delta variant continues to discourage travel. Spending for the Labor Day holiday was down 16% from 2019 as of Aug. 21, while bookings were off 15%, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index. The weekend typically marks the end of stepped-up summer travel for US carriers and demand often rises as families seek to squeeze in a last trip before school resumes. Adobe’s findings line up with recent warnings from airlines saying that increased illnesses tied to the variant are slowing sales and prompting customers to cancel reservations, threatening to derail a recovery from last year’s collapse in demand. Southwest has said the weakness may make it difficult to turn a Q3 profit. American Airlines Group said August revenue is coming in below its expectations. “We expect spend in the month of August to be significantly under July,” Vivek Pandya, Adobe Digital Insights lead analyst, said Monday. “These two months historically have similar spend levels.”<br/>
Several major US airlines have reported worse-than-expected August performance amid the surge in Covid-19 cases caused by the Delta variant across the country. But the bite of the latest surge may prove short-lived as case numbers in early hotspots have already peaked and Americans try to cram in one last summer trip this September. “While the Delta-variant has caused August to underperform expectations and the anticipated step function improvement in business travel likely to be delayed, encouragingly, the demand impact has not been as big as prior Covid waves,” wrote Raymond James Analyst Savanthi Syth in a report on August 29. Citing restaurant data, Syth noted that where the surge has peaked consumers are “quickly returning to ‘normal,'” where normal is pre-surge levels. And, in a report on August 26 citing similar Covid-19 case trends, Cowen Analyst Helane Becker said the trend “could drive a demand rebound as travelers look to squeeze in a vacation before the end of summer.” A last-minute bump in September leisure travel could be one reason why American Airlines declined to revise its guidance for the rest of the year after missing revenue its forecast in August. Speaking on August 25, American Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja reiterated that the recovery is and will be “very choppy” but added that, despite the slowdown, “there will still be a recovery.” This is not to say airlines will avoid a fall slowdown. Historically, capacity decreases after Labor Day as leisure demand drops with kids returning to school. Business travel typically picks up some of that slack but not enough to avoid schedule reductions; however, it is unclear when this will occur due to later-than-expected return to office plans at many large companies. <br/>
The suspension of scheduled international flights in and out of India has been extended until September 30, the country's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced. It does not affect flights that resumed to the UAE from India earlier this month. The ban has been in place since March last year because of the pandemic. In early August, thousands of Indian residents rushed to book tickets to return to their homes in Dubai after the easing of travel rules, which were in place from April because of surging Covid-19 cases in India. About 300 flights a week were operating between the UAE and India before the suspension was announced. As per the latest announcement, international scheduled flights will still operate “on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis”, the aviation authority said. Special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May 2020 and under bilateral “air bubble” arrangements with selected countries since July 2020.<br/>
For the first time ever, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport has been named the world's busiest international airport, according to aviation data analysts OAG. As Europe opened up more for its summer season, the Dutch airport took out the top spot during August ahead of the previous number one, Dubai. The United Arab Emirates hub drops to second. OAG measures the scheduled capacity in any given month. In August, Schiphol had a 2,511,321-seat capacity, while Dubai had 2,312,381 seats. European airports take out most of the top 10 spots as tourism started to rebound, despite the ongoing pandemic. The biggest increase was Turkey's Antalya which is in 10th place, up from 30 in August 2019. OAG said: "Antalya is a popular coastal resort in the south of Turkey and just over two-thirds of its international market comes from the Russian Federation and Germany". Heathrow Airport has been busy with passengers following the easing of travel restrictions, which mean people are not required to quarantine upon return from green and amber list countries. In terms of airports being measuring using both domestic and international flights, the busiest in the world during the month was Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson with a capacity of 4.6m seats, ahead of fellow US hubs Dallas/Fort Worth and Denver.<br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has reiterated standing orders to the country’s carriers to sharply curtail domestic flights amid a major coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air, and Pacific Airlines, CAAV states that they must continue to comply with orders originally issued in late July, which basically stops the sale of air tickets. In addition to curtailing domestic routes, the order limits scheduled passenger flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to just two daily, operated by Vietnam Airlines. Exceptions are made for cargo flights, as well as flights that are undertaken for “disease prevention and public service.” Other flights can be approved on a case by case basis. On 31 August, flight tracking site Flightradar24 shows a complete absence of domestic flights in the Southeast Asian country. The Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi route was formerly among the world’s busiest routes. Traffic flows to Vietnam’s third biggest city, Da Nang, were also substantial. Vietnamese media reports that drones have been deployed in Da Nang to enforce a strict lockdown there.<br/>