Five people were killed on Tuesday when a cargo plane carrying fuel for the UN's World Food Programme crashed near South Sudan's capital Juba, airport officials said. The aircraft -- a Soviet-era Antonov An-26 transport plane -- crashed shortly after taking off from Juba's international airport, killing everyone onboard. "One is a South Sudanese, two are Sudanese and two are Ukrainians," David Subek, head of the South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority, told AFP. The cargo plane belonging to a local operator was reportedly carrying 28 barrels of fuel for the WFP to Maban, a district housing more than 100,000 refugees. According to the airport's director general Kur Kuol, it hit a mango tree and caught fire. "The people on board were burnt. They are in bad shape," said Kuol. South Sudan Red Cross said emergency workers had collected five bodies that were "burned beyond recognition". South Sudan, a young nation that achieved independence in 2011 and has been in the throes of a chronic economic and political crisis, lacks a reliable transport infrastructure, with plane crashes often blamed on overloading and poor weather. President Salva Kiir on March 3 ordered the suspension of an airline after one of its planes crashed in the country's east, killing all 10 people aboard including the two pilots.<br/>
general
The holidays are usually a busy season for US airlines, but this year will present a particular test. Airline executives are puzzling out how many seats to sell in the period falling roughly between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day while they contend with historic staffing constraints, a legacy of the coronavirus pandemic. Passengers returning to the skies have already encountered problems on some carriers. American Airlines on Monday was struggling with a fourth straight day of delays and cancellations after high winds blew across Texas last week, hitting more than a third of its flights. Southwest and Spirit have also had service failures in the past three months. The common denominator is a tight labour market that has affected the broad US economy, but is particularly acute for airlines that encouraged staff to take early retirement or voluntary leave when traffic collapsed last year. Now the companies are facing worker shortages across job categories, from pilots and flight attendants to gate agents, baggage handlers and customer service representatives. “They’re going to want to fly as much as possible, and the staffing shortages that have been a problem aren’t going away overnight,” said Joseph Rohlena, a Fitch Ratings analyst. “So it seems like there’s probably a higher possibility of trouble around this holiday season than there would have been.” Meanwhile, airlines are under pressure to sell more seats to domestic leisure flyers because many higher-paying business travellers are still staying at home. As air traffic declined 22% in Q3 from Q3 2019, according to the US TSA, average revenue at the four big US airlines was down a more severe 27%. Story has more.<br/>
The FAA said Tuesday it had issued a special information bulletin alerting manufacturers, operators and pilots that action may be needed to address potential interference with sensitive aircraft electronics caused by the use of 5G telecommunications technology. The FAA has been in discussion with the Federal Communications Commission about its air safety concerns over the plan to begin using some additional spectrum for 5G wireless networks starting Dec. 5. The FAA said on Tuesday operators "should be prepared for the possibility that interference from 5G transmitters and other technology could cause certain safety equipment to malfunction, requiring them to take mitigating action that could affect flight operations." The bulletin said "there have not yet been proven reports of harmful interference due to wireless broadband operations internationally." It also recommends pilots remind passengers that all portable electronic devices equipped with 5G be should be turned off or switched to airplane mode during flight. The FAA warned of the potential of the "degradation to the capabilities of safety systems and other equipment that depend on radio altimeters, particularly during low-altitude operations." The FAA said equipment manufacturers should also continue their testing to determine the susceptibility of specific radio altimeters to 5G interference and should explore design changes that could mitigate the effects of interference.<br/>
The FAA is moving forward with a rule mandating that airline flight attendants be given at least an extra hour of rest following duty periods. On 2 November, the agency released a proposed rule that, if adopted, would set the minimum rest period at 10h for flight attendants working duty periods up to 14h. That marks a change from current FAA regulations, which require attendants working such duty periods receive either 9h of rest, or a reduced-rest of 8h if they later receive 10h. The proposed changes does not include any reduced-rest option. The FAA is changing the rules in response to a requirement in the agency’s 2018 funding bill. In regulatory documents, the FAA estimates the change could cost each of the four largest US airlines about $23m annually, with total industry costs of between about $67m and $118m annually. The move has strong support from unions. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and other labour groups cite the important safety roles performed by flight attendants and say some airlines already grant attendants 10h of rest, “without incurring additional costs”. Airlines for America pegs the cost of the proposal at $1b over ten years for all US carriers, according to regulatory documents. <br/>
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that current global targets around sustainable aviation fuel were "pathetic" and that the world could do more as he announced plans to drive the adoption of green technology globally. While admitting the challenge was a "tough nut to crack", he said "guilt free aviation" was possible, citing a joint deal with billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates to spend GBP400m on the problems of low-carbon aviation. "The target at the moment is to get to 10% sustainable aviation fuel for the whole world by 2030. How pathetic is that? We can do better than that, folks," he told delegates at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.<br/>
Airlines are reopening airport lounges with higher-end service to lure back premium travelers after the pandemic, while increasingly opening the VIP experience to tourists - for a fee. Premium travel plummeted during the COVID-19 crisis, depriving airlines of higher-margin fares. But with traffic rebounding in certain regions and U.S.-bound travel set to reopen on Nov 8, lounges are a crucial weapon in airlines' post-crisis strategies for retaining their more profitable clients. United Airlines opened its first Polaris lounge at Washington Dulles on Oct 21 and announced plans last Thursday to reopen existing lounges in New York, Chicago and Houston by end-year, with the rest set to follow in early 2022. Air France has inaugurated a 3,000-square-metre temple to French design in one of its main terminals at Paris Charles de Gaulle. Dubai's Emirates and Air Canada both plan upgrades to lounge dining and service. "A lot of the narrative around 2022 is really going to be around that food program, how we serve our customers and elevating that aspect of the experience," said Mats Winter, director of product for Canada's largest carrier. Air Canada wants a "competitive product" for its business clientele but also for leisure travelers who are making up a growing part of premium-fare purchases, he said. "The mix has changed, but our commitment to making sure we have a great premium product hasn't. We are obviously keeping a very close eye on the traffic we are seeing in our lounges," Winter added. Designed as an oasis for premium travelers, lounges could attract more passengers looking to avoid crowds during COVID, said Michael Di Corpo, managing director of Montreal-based firm IEG, which sells software for managing airport lounges. Story has more.<br/>
The Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific has warned that airports in the region could face a $34b revenue decline, if travel restrictions remain and border reopenings fail to gather pace. Against pre-pandemic forecasts, airports in the region are also expected to see a 56% plunge in passenger numbers, to around 1.6b passengers. “Asia-Pacific, already adversely affected by constant lockdowns, stringent travel and quarantine restrictions, is forecasted to close out the year with around 56% passenger losses, despite resumption of some domestic travel in a few markets,” says the ACI in a 2 November statement. The industry notes that airports experienced a “slower-than-expected” recovery in the first quarter of the year. While domestic traffic recovery gathered pace in the first half of 2021, it plunged again in the third quarter amid a resurgence in infections in several markets. To this end, the industry body is urging governments to “reopen borders and relax quarantine requirements especially in countries which have reached satisfactory vaccination rates, to prevent repeat of a dismal year” for airports.<br/>