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The Biden administration said on Friday that it would suspend 44 flights from the United States to China operated by Chinese airlines in retaliation for China’s imposing similar restrictions on American companies in recent weeks. The Chinese government has canceled the flights, operated by American Airlines, Delta and United, after passengers on their planes tested positive for the virus after arriving in China. The passengers had tested negative before getting on their planes. In the order on Friday, the US DoT described the suspensions by China, which run through early March, as punitive and unfair. China’s aviation authority canceled the flights using a “circuit breaker” provision intended to allow the country to limit the spread of the virus. According to the U.S. order, China’s policies allow airlines that deliver passengers who later test positive for the virus to choose either a two-week suspension of the offending flight or a four-week limit on the number of passengers on that flight. The US companies were never given that choice, and were denied the four-week notice promised under Chinese policy, the Transportation Department said. “The Chinese government individually clears each and every potential traveler for travel to China prior to their departure from the United States, after verifying predeparture test results and other required documentation,” Carol A. Petsonk, a top aviation official in the department, wrote in the order. “U.S. carriers, who are following all relevant Chinese regulations with respect to predeparture and in-flight protocols, should not be penalized if passengers, postarrival, later test positive for Covid-19.” The order suspends 44 flights from the United States to China scheduled from Jan. 30 to March 29. The affected flights are operated by Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. Most were scheduled to depart from Los Angeles, with the others departing from New York. France and Germany have taken similar actions in response to China’s use of the circuit breaker policy.<br/>

A judge in Texas ruled on Friday that President Joe Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus and blocked the U.S. government from disciplining employees who failed to comply. It was the latest setback to White House efforts to require various groups of American workers to get vaccinated. Biden had issued an order requiring about 3.5m government workers to get vaccinated by Nov. 22 barring a religious or medical accommodation -- or else face discipline or firing. US District Judge Jeffrey Brown said the question was whether Biden could "require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment. That, under the current state of the law as just recently expressed by the Supreme Court, is a bridge too far." Brown, based in Galveston and appointed by then-President Donald Trump, said the government could protect public health with less invasive measures, such as masking and social distancing. The judge's ruling is the latest in a series of court decisions to go against government vaccine requirements. The White House said more than 93% of federal employees have received at least one vaccination and 98% have been vaccinated or are seeking a religious or medical exemption. "We are confident in our legal authority," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in response to the judge's ruling. The Justice Department on Friday said it would appeal the ruling. The government has noted numerous other courts that had rejected similar challenges and that federal agencies have said they will not discipline or punish employees with pending exemption requests. The judge said it was his understanding that the government was going to be begin disciplining non-compliant employees imminently. The White House said this month it wanted federal agencies to begin mandating regular COVID-19 tests weekly by Feb. 15.<br/>

Airline bosses are urging UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid to restore restriction-free international travel at least for the fully vaccinated, citing evidence that recent curbs haven’t been effective in preventing the spread of omicron. In a letter to Javid, chief executives of British Airways, Ryanair and other carriers asked for a clear protocol for managing future outbreaks “without recourse to knee-jerk universal testing or hotel quarantine.” They also called on the U.K. to rule out border closures and flight bans in response to future variants of concern. “Living with Covid means getting back to normality, being vigilant against variants and keeping the red list in our back pocket, but removing across-the-board restrictions in the same way we have done for hospitality and the domestic economy,” said Tim Alderslade, CE at Airlines UK. The UK saw a 71% slump in 2021 international departures compared to 2019, the trade body for British registered airlines said. Airlines UK also demanded the end of testing for fully vaccinated passengers, amid reports that Javid may scrap the requirement for a negative rapid test by day two of arrival in the UK as soon as this week.<br/>

Airlines will be forced to fly more regularly this summer to retain their take-off and landing rights at UK airports, in a sign that ministers expect a rapid recovery in air travel in the coming months. The Department for Transport said carriers would have to hand back airport slots if they were not used 70% of the time from March 27, up from the current threshold of 50%. Airlines are allocated specific time slots at busy airports to help ensure that runways are used as efficiently as possible. These landing rights are some of airlines’ most lucrative assets, and can be traded for tens of millions of pounds. In normal times the “use it or lose it” threshold is set at 80 per cent, but the rules were waived at the start of the pandemic to stop carriers from flying empty planes just to maintain their landing rights, a phenomenon known as “ghost flights”. “As demand for flights returns, it’s right we gradually move back to the previous rules while making sure we continue to provide the sector with the support it needs,” said Robert Courts, aviation minister. The typically arcane and highly technical issue of airport slots was thrust into the spotlight earlier this month after German flag carrier Lufthansa said it would run 18,000 half-empty “ghost flights” this winter to comply with the EU’s slot rules. Brussels, like the UK, set a usage threshold of 50 per cent on slots this winter, and has said this will rise to 64 per cent in the summer. But Lufthansa said the sudden impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant and travel restrictions meant it would operate uneconomical flights to maintain its slot portfolio. The reports attracted criticism from European politicians and climate activist Greta Thunberg. The DfT insisted its new rules would help reduce ghost flights, while ensuring that slots were used where there is demand. The changes unveiled on Monday also included a waiver to allow airlines additional flexibility if destinations are hit by new travel restrictions.<br/>

Hong Kong is permitting airline operators to restart the use of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft in the city's airspace, its Civil Aviation Department said in a directive on Friday, lifting its ban on the aircraft after nearly three years. The 737 MAX is integral to the Boeing's ability to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic and a safety scandal caused by two fatal crashes. Hong Kong had temporarily restricted use of the aircraft in 2019 following a deadly plane crash in Ethiopia that claimed 157 lives. Airlines that intend to fly the 737 Max in Hong Kong's airspace and to the international airport need to comply with the airworthiness directive from the US FAA or a similarly stringent directive from the country where the plane was registered, said Victor Liu, the director-general of CAD. The airline must also carry a valid certificate of airworthiness that meets International Civil Aviation Organization standards, the directive added.<br/>

A stowaway was discovered in the wheel section under the front of a Cargolux freight plane that arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport from Africa on Sunday, Dutch military police said. "The man is doing well considering the circumstances and has been taken to a hospital," the police, who are in charge of Dutch border control, saidt. Marechausse spokeswoman Joanna Helmonds said the man's age and nationality had not yet been determined. "Our first concern of course was for his health," she said. "This is definitely very unusual that someone was able to survive the cold at such a height - very, very unusual." A spokesperson for freight carrier Cargolux confirmed in an email that the stowaway had been on a flight operated by Cargolux Italia. "We are not in a position to make any further comment until the authorities and the airline have completed their investigtion," they said. The only Cargolux freight flight arriving at Schiphol on Sunday was a Boeing 747 freighter that travelled from Johannesburg and made a stop in Nairobi, Kenya, according to Schiphol's website and flight tracking data. A spokesperson for the airport declined to answer questions about the incident.<br/>

It’s an age-old question: “Business or pleasure?” For airline passengers these days, the answer increasingly is both. The growth in so-called “bleisure” trips blending personal getaways with remote work has helped fill seats on planes during the coronavirus pandemic and marks a shift in travel patterns for an industry used to clear divisions between briefcase-toting road warriors and sun-tanned vacationers. Such excursions have been on the rise as the spread of the omicron variant has delayed the return to offices, especially among larger employers. The share of business trips that include a weekend has increased 23 percentage points to 38% since 2019, according to corporate travel manager TripActions Inc. “Many of our customers that we’ve historically called leisure travelers are actually flying for reasons beyond just vacation,” American Airlines Group Inc. President Robert Isom said on a conference call Thursday. “They may travel to a beach or a mountain destination, but they’re actually going to work remotely for the week. The lines between leisure and business travel are definitely blurred.” In response to the growing demand, TripActions added a dedicated personal trip booking platform in 2020. It averaged 22% monthly growth last year, said Kelly Soderlund, TripActions’ senior director of communications. A plunge in traditional business travel during the pandemic has hurt the bottom line of carriers that count on large corporate customers as a key source of profit. Their absence has been felt most deeply on international routes, as well as key cross-country travel corridors like New York to Los Angeles. Overall business travel bookings are 66% below pre-pandemic levels, according to industry trade group Airlines for America.<br/>