Two House Democrats urged the TSA on Thursday to crack down on the growing threat of firearms at airports, days after a Republican congressman was caught bringing a gun to a TSA checkpoint. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., was cited Tuesday on a misdemeanor criminal charge after the TSA intercepted a loaded 9 mm handgun as it passed through a security checkpoint at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Just over a year earlier, Cawthorn reportedly had an unloaded Glock 9 mm handgun taken from him at another North Carolina airport after TSA workers found the weapon in his carry-on bag. A criminal defense lawyer said after the latest incident that carrying a gun at the Charlotte Douglas airport is a violation of city ordinances that “more often than not” leads to arrest. In Thursday’s letter, the House Democrats urged TSA Administrator David Pekoske to “act decisively to ensure repeat offenders like Rep. Cawthorn face the full extent” of the agency’s “enforcement actions.” “Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle agree that those who break the law and endanger the safety of other passengers — and especially repeat offenders such as Rep. Cawthorn — must be held to account,” read the letter from Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and transportation subcommittee Chair Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.<br/>
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Polish air traffic controllers have reached a deal with the government that means they will keep working until July 10, a union representative said on Thursday, averting mass flight cancellations ahead of a busy May bank holiday weekend. Travel chaos had been expected from May 1, the day after the end of a notice period for air traffic controllers who chose to quit rather than accept new working regulations that they said threatened safety. "We have managed to reach an agreement," a union representative told a parliamentary commission. "We must realise that this is not the end of the battle." Under the terms of the agreement, the air traffic controllers have had their notice period extended to July 10, while the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) will start an organisational audit and restructuring. The parties will continue to discuss regulations over pay and working practices. The Polish government had passed a decree that would have drastically cut the number of flights at Warsaw's two airports from May 1. "I hope the effects of this decree will be withdrawn tomorrow," said Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk. He said PANSA had agreed to the controllers' pay returning to pre-pandemic levels. Controllers' salaries had been cut due to fewer flights flown during the pandemic.<br/>
Russia may be forced to ground between half and two-thirds of its commercial aircraft by 2025 in order to cannibalize them for spare parts, Kommersant newspaper reported, citing an unidentified person at the Transport Ministry. In the ministry’s base case, at least 70% of the country’s foreign-made planes will still be flying by the end of 2025, Kommersant said, citing an internal report on the airline industry to 2030. However, in a worst-case scenario, Russia could begin to face severe shortages starting in the second half of this year as sanctions prevent the airline industry from importing components, the report said. The ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Even in the most optimistic scenario, passenger volumes will not recover to the pre-crisis level of 100m people a year by 2030, Kommersant reported. <br/>
An American family set off a bomb scare at Israel's main airport on Thursday when they showed security inspectors an unexploded shell which they found while visiting the Golan Heights and had packed for their return trip, authorities said. Video circulated on social media showed panicked passengers scattering at Ben Gurion Airport's departure hall. The Israel Airports Authority said a man was hospitalised with injuries sustained as he tried to flee over a baggage carousel. It said the family was allowed to board their flight after an interrogation by security staff, who declared an all-clear. Israel, which boasts high levels of aviation security, clashed with Syria over the Golan during the wars of 1967 and 1973.<br/>
Korea plans to build the country's first floating airport in the southern port city of Busan by 2035, the land ministry said Tuesday. Last year, the National Assembly approved a bill on a mega state project worth 13.7t won ($10.97b) to build the new airport on Gadeok Island, the biggest island off the coast of Busan, to handle growing air traffic demand and facilitate prosperity in the country's southeast region. According to the detailed plan announced by the ministry Tuesday, the new facility will be an offshore airport, which is to be built on a floating structure at sea. The government is pushing to skip a preliminary feasibility study to expedite the construction procedures, and a review committee under the finance ministry will make a final decision on the exemption later this week. The land ministry plans to begin drawing a detailed construction plan within this year following an environment survey. If the process goes without a hitch, the construction is expected to kick off in 2025, and the new airport will be put into operation in June 2035.<br/>
The 300-baht tourism fee is scheduled to begin being collected between August and September this year using the Thailand Tourism Fee (TTF) system implemented by airlines. Airlines raised concerns about the budget for the system and manpower to handle the process, as they are still struggling with the pandemic impact and weak passenger flows. "The tourism fee is in line with the revised National Tourism Policy Act of 2008, which granted permission to set up the fund from the fees collected from foreign visitors. The fund will be used to develop tourist sites and offer tourists insurance," said Chote Trachu, permanent secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry. He said the fee is meant to help tourists in case of emergency, such as a sudden sickness, accident or political unrest while travelling in Thailand. Mongkon Wimonrat, assistant tourism permanent secretary, said the TTF system will integrate with airlines' websites to display an additional screen for fee collection for foreign passport holders. People exempt from the tourism fee collection include diplomats, government officials, people with work permits from nationalities under a memorandum of understanding with Thailand, and children under 2 years old. Speaking at a meeting with airlines on Thursday, Mongkon said airlines have to help screen tourists who pay the fee before issuing tickets, submitting the final passenger manifest to the data link 15 minutes after flights take off.<br/>
Twelve people charged over alleged drug smuggling at New Zealand’s border will face a High Court trial. Back in November, 13 men and two women were charged after a police operation codenamed Operation Selena. The accused include six Air New Zealand baggage handlers and two King Cobras. The accused face an array of charges, including importing hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine from Malaysia, participating in an organised criminal group, possessing the class A drug for supply, and selling the drug. They appeared at the High Court at Auckland on Friday where Justice Sally Fitzgerald set a six-week trial date and remanded them on bail and in custody to appear again in September. Police previously said the operation began after baggage handlers at Auckland International Airport drew suspicion. Police and New Zealand Customs estimated the baggage handlers received more than 250kg of drugs from overseas over the past 10 months. They said the group tried to smuggle 200kg of methamphetamine from Malaysia, but those packages were stopped at the border. Police carried out searches at 20 addresses and found more than $500,000 in cash and two guns. Detective Inspector Paul Newman previously said the arrests showed organised crime was resilient and resourceful.<br/>
Brazilian airframer Embraer lost $32m in Q1 2022, logging steep declines in military, executive and commercial aircraft revenue. The company attributes the results partly to a production interruption stemming from the failed sale of its commercial aircraft business to Boeing. The loss marks a significant slide from Embraer’s Q4 2021 profit of $57m. But the Q1 results are up from Q1 of 2021, when Embraer lost $90m. “The first-quarter result [continue] to show that our planned execution and company turnaround remains underway,” Embraer CE Francisco Gomes Neto says during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on 28 April. Embraer generated $601m in Q1 revenue, down 26% year-on-year. Revenue from its commercial aviation division tumbled 38% year-on-year to $169 million. The company delivered six E-Jets in the first quarter, down from 16 in the final quarter of 2021, and eight executive aircraft, down from 39 in the previous quarter. “Deliveries in the quarter were negatively impacted by [an] almost-one-month shut down due commercial aviation reintegration,” says Embraer.<br/>