A second Qatar Airways passenger flight, which arrived in Afghanistan on Friday, has now departed for Doha from Kabul Airport, a day after more than 100 foreign nationals left on another plane with the Taliban's approval. Friday's flight was carrying 158 passengers, including US, German, Canadian, French, Dutch, British, Belgian and Mauritanian nationals, a Qatari official said. The passengers will land in the Qatari capital at 8 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) and be transported to the compound facility currently hosting Afghans and other evacuees. According to US National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne, 21 US citizens departed Afghanistan Friday, including 19 via the chartered Qatar Airways flight out of Kabul and two via land passage to a neighboring country."We are continuing intensive work across the U.S. government to facilitate the safe transit of these individuals and other US citizens, LPRs, and Afghans who have worked for us who wish to leave Afghanistan," Horne said. "We will continue to provide proven options for leaving. It is up to Americans who remain whether they choose to take them," she added. Earlier on Friday, the aircraft was seen landing in Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport on Qatari-funded Al Jazeera Arabic television, and aid was seen being unloaded before passengers boarded the plane. This is the second such flight to depart from the airport. <br/>
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American Airlines urged employees to get vaccinated as it prepares for the impact of President Joe Biden's efforts to boost vaccination rates. "Based on what we see so far, it appears we will be impacted by these federally mandated efforts to increase vaccination rates," the carrier told employees in a memo. "While we will review the details of the plan and determine the path forward for American, what we know is that the president’s actions underscore the importance of team members getting vaccinated against COVID-19 — and sooner rather than later."<br/>
Australia's competition regulator on Monday denied authorisation for Qantas and Japan Airlines to coordinate flights between the two countries, citing competition concerns as international travel is set to resume. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chairman Rod Sims said the regulator was not satisfied that the public benefits of the proposed joint business agreement would outweigh harm to competition. "Preserving competition between airlines is the key to the long-term recovery of the aviation and tourism sectors, once international travel restrictions are eased," he said. The agreement - which would allow the airlines to coordinate fares and schedules - would make it very difficult for other airlines to operate on routes between Australia and Japan, ACCC said. Japan's ANA is the only other airline that flies non-stop between Japan and Australia. "Virgin Australia told the ACCC that it would be more difficult to enter the Australia-Japan route if it is required to compete with Qantas and Japan Airlines acting jointly rather than as individual competing airlines," the regulator said. After a negative draft decision by the ACCC in May, Qantas had offered to commit to a new service between Cairns and Tokyo once demand thresholds were reached.<br/>