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The US Justice Department on Monday asked a federal appeals court to allow the Biden administration to resume enforcing a federal employee vaccine mandate that had been blocked by a lower-court judge in January. A 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Thursday reinstated President Joe Biden's executive order mandating that federal civilian employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. The White House last week had told federal agencies they "must continue to take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement" pending additional procedural steps by the court.On Monday, the Justice Department asked the appeals court to take "appropriate steps so that the government may resume implementation and enforcement" of President Joe Biden's executive order. It said the appeals court should issue its order immediately to allow the ruling to take effect, arguing it is "justified by the serious ongoing harm to the public interest and to the government." Biden in September said he would require about 3.5m government workers to get vaccinated by Nov. 22, barring a religious or medical accommodation, or face discipline or firing. The Biden administration argued the federal trial court had no power to hear the dispute. It told the appeals court that employees were required to raise their grievance through the Civil Service Reform Act. The panel's 2-1 majority said the plaintiffs had sought "to circumvent the CSRA's exclusive review scheme."<br/>

The Biden administration faces an April 18 deadline on whether to extend or end a mandate requiring travelers to wear masks on airplanes, trains and in transit hubs. Industry groups and Republican lawmakers want the White House to end the 14-month-old mask mandate. But it comes amid a spike in COVID-19 cases - including numerous U.S. officials who attended a recent white-tie dinner in Washington. New White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said Monday that US CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will decide whether the mandate should be extended. "I know the CDC is working on developing a scientific framework for how to answer that. We're going to see that framework come out in the next few days," Jha said, adding extending the mandate "is absolutely on the table." The CDC, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, in February eased its guidance for face covering and now says nearly all of the US population live in counties where they do not need to wear masks indoors. Airlines, travel groups and the US Chamber of Commerce in a letter to Jha released on Monday reiterated a call to end the mask mandate. "The science clearly supports lifting the mask mandate, particularly in the context of recent CDC guidance, which found that the overwhelming majority of the US population no longer needs to wear masks indoors," the letter said.<br/>

US airports made up eight of the 10 busiest hubs around the world last year, according to new rankings released Monday, as a jump in domestic leisure travel displaced some of the world’s bustling international hubs during the Covid pandemic. Delta hub Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest before the pandemic, maintained its top spot on the Airport Council International’s 2021 preliminary ranking, with 75.7m passengers last year. American Airlines-dominated Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport ranked second with 62.6m passengers. Denver International Airport vaulted to third place last year with 58.8m people, up from eighth place in 2020 and 16th in 2019. Orlando International Airport in Florida jumped to seventh place with 40.3m people —a big improvement after ranking 27th in 2020 and 31st in 2019. The rankings show how international travel remained subdued last year even though some countries, including the US, loosened pandemic travel restrictions. While US airports topped the ranking, passenger traffic was down across the board. ACI estimates airlines carried 4.5b people last year, down 50% from 2019 but up 25% from 2020. Domestic US leisure travel has been a bright spot in the pandemic for the country’s airlines, though executives have said they expect at least trans-Atlantic travel demand to be strong this spring and summer. Renewed lockdowns in China have cast doubt on a resurgence in demand there, however. In 2019, airports in Beijing, Dubai and Tokyo ranked second, third and fifth on the list, respectively. Dubai continued to top international passenger traffic rankings last year. The other two hubs didn’t make the cut. Story has rankings.<br/>

The Russian military completely destroyed an airport in Ukraine and injured five people in a bombing in the Luhansk and Dnipro regions, Reuters reported. The Governor of the Central Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Reznichenko, stated that rockets fired by the Russian military completely destroyed the airport in Dnipro, as well as nearby infrastructure. Reznichenko added that emergency workers are investigating the infrastructure facility that was hit by Russian rockets in the Zvonetsky region. Additionally, Dnipro Region Council head Mykola Lukashuk said that five staff members belonging to the state emergency service had been wounded by the strike at the airport. In a separate development, carrier Air India suspended their flight between New Delhi and Moscow, The Indian Express reported, citing two people familiar with the development. The move was made by the airline after insurance underwriters told Air India that its flights operating in Russia would not be valid for insurance due to the threat situation raised on account of the Ukraine conflict.<br/>

The European Commission has added 21 Russian airlines to a list of carriers banned from operating in the 27-nation bloc because they do not meet international safety standards, the EU executive arm said on Monday. "The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has allowed Russian airlines to operate hundreds of foreign-owned aircraft without a valid certificate of airworthiness," Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean said. "The Russian airlines concerned have knowingly done so in breach of relevant international safety standards. This ...poses an immediate safety threat," she said. She said the decision to ban the airlines certified in Russia, which include Aeroflot, was not another sanction against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, but a measure taken only on the basis of technical and safety grounds. The Commission said that after the addition of the 21 Russian airlines, the EU black list of carriers banned from EU skies now contained 117 companies.<br/>

European operators will not be permitted to use temporary conversions of passenger aircraft to freighters beyond the end of July. Approvals for the modification were introduced by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in 2020, as the pandemic led carriers to convert dormant passenger aircraft to address the demand for cargo capacity. EASA issued approvals on a case-by-case basis but imposed a time limit which is set to expire 31 July 2022. The authority needed to ensure an adequate safety margin to keep the risk of a catastrophic cargo fire to an acceptably-low level. EASA has reviewed the operational environment for such modified aircraft and found that the logistical obstacles created by the pandemic – and which led to the conversions – “no longer exist to the same extent”. Given this improvement in the cargo situation, EASA has decided that it will not extend the validity period for the freighter approvals. Several aircraft types were authorised under the scheme to transport freight in their passenger cabins. But while EASA had estimated that a maximum of 2,500 aircraft would be modified by the end of 2021, the authority has found the actual number to be significantly lower.<br/>

Heathrow Airport has recorded its highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic, but warned that “resources are stretched” as the travel industry struggles to handle resurgent demand for flying. The London airport was used by 4.2 million passengers in March, up nearly seven times on a year ago, after the UK government abolished restrictions on travelling. “It is fantastic to see the airport coming back to life after two years,” said Heathrow’s CE, John Holland-Kaye. The rebound in passenger numbers in March follows a weak January and February. However, the aviation industry has struggled to cope with the revival in demand after cutting staff during two years of disruption with passengers returning faster than travel companies can rehire. The industry cut tens of thousands of employees during the height of the coronavirus crisis. Executives warn many staff have permanently left an industry known for long and anti-social hours, and said it was taking much longer than usual for staff to pass government-required security checks. Unions argue the industry is suffering the consequences of sacking too many staff during the pandemic, leaving it with little resilience to handle disruption. Demand at Heathrow was driven by weekend holidaymakers and travelling during the school breaks, as Britons “make the most of the freedom to travel”, with many using trips cancelled because of the pandemic, the airport said. “Inbound leisure and business travel remain weak due to high Covid-19 levels in the UK and the requirement to test before returning home,” it added.<br/>

Dozens of UK flights were cancelled on Monday as airlines continue to struggle with staff shortages. British Airways axed at least 64 domestic or European flights to or from Heathrow. Affected UK routes were between the west London airport and Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle. Among the international routes affected were services to and from Berlin, Dublin, Geneva, Paris and Stockholm. BA said passengers were given advanced warning of the cancellations. The airline decided last month it would reduce its schedule until the end of May to limit the need to cancel flights at short notice due to staff shortages. It has focused on routes with multiple daily flights, meaning passengers can be offered alternative departures on the same day they booked. EasyJet cancelled at least 25 flights to or from Gatwick, affecting routes between the West Sussex airport and Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Glasgow and Milan. The low-cost carrier said cancellations are being made "in advance to give customers the ability to rebook on to alternative flights".<br/>

Every airline operating international direct flights to Ramon Airport near Israel's Red Sea resort city of Eilat will be awarded E60 for each arriving passenger, the Ministry of Tourism said Monday. The reward will be offered for the flights between September 2022 and May 2023, except for two one-week Jewish holidays in October and April, the ministry said. "The procedure will bring back hundreds of thousands of tourists from abroad to Eilat in the winter," the ministry added. In early January, Israel allowed the entry of COVID-19 vaccinated and recovered passengers, and then in early March, of all passengers including the unvaccinated.<br/>

Capital A, the parent of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia, has taken the first step toward bringing flying taxis to the masses in Southeast Asia while taking another leap toward transforming its brand. "Urban Air Mobility is a new concept, therefore the focus is on creating and enabling an ecosystem and the building blocks for future development and growth," said Ling Liong Tien, chief safety officer at AirAsia. AirAsia Aviation Group signed a memorandum of understanding in February to lease a minimum of 100 VX4 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft from Avolon, a leasing company based in Ireland. Avolon ordered the VX4s from British developer Vertical Aerospace. A team formed by the three companies will hold its first meeting this month in Kuala Lumpur, aiming to deliver the VX4s in 2025. To launch the business, the air taxis will need type certificates, along with specialized aviation rules and infrastructure for landing, takeoff and parking. Vertical Aerospace is in the process of obtaining type certification in Europe. The company plans to initiate test flights as soon as this month. In Singapore, the government has designated an air mobility hub at the Seletar Aerospace Park for testing flying taxis. Under AirAsia's model, the operation will start as a link between Kuala Lumpur's city center and the international airport, which will reduce the hourlong trip by car to a mere 17 minutes. The fare is expected to cost less than $50 per person if four people share the same air taxi.<br/>

Singapore-based BOC Aviation has ordered 80 A320neo family planes from Airbus, the European manufacturer said on Monday, a contract estimated on paper to be worth nearly $10b. "Global aircraft operating lessor BOC Aviation ... has signed a firm order for 80 A320neo Family aircraft comprising 10 A321XLR, 50 A321neo and 20 A320neo," Airbus said. According to the latest available catalogue prices, the deal is worth nearly $10b, although such deals are usually subject to discounts. BOC Aviation said it expected the aircraft to be delivered between 2027 and 2029. CEO Robert Martin said this was "the largest single order" BOC Aviation had ever placed. It takes to 546 the number of Airbus planes purchased by the company since it started operating, Martin said. BOC Aviation, which is listed on the Hong Kong stock market, says it currently owns 530 planes, which it leases to 73 airlines across 36 countries and regions. Its deal with Airbus enables the latter to almost double its net orders since the start of 2022. These stood at 83 planes as of end-March, according to the latest figures from Airbus, which hopes to deliver 720 in 2022, against 611 last year. Airbus said in total it had clinched more than 7,900 orders from over 120 customers for its A320neo family planes, which rival Boeing's 737 MAX.<br/>

Dozens of flights have been cancelled from Sydney Airport, with many more delayed, as staff shortages continue to wreak havoc on the fledgling aviation industry. A total of 39 flights at Sydney Airport have been cancelled so far since Sunday morning alone, as the country’s largest airport sees its busiest day since the beginning of the pandemic. On Monday, 784 flights were scheduled to arrive and depart from Sydney airport, the highest day for aircraft traffic the airport has seen since flights began to stall in March 2020. It marks a nearly 30% increase on traffic seen in April 2021 – amid a brief period of relief for the industry before Omicron took hold – and a massive 393% jump from the same day in 2020. It comes as the airport enters its fifth day of chaos, as wait times at check-in and security continue to blow out. Passengers on Monday morning continued to report that check-in and security lines, across both domestic and international terminals, were adding hours to their travel itineraries.<br/>