Flying business class has always been beyond the means of most fliers. Now even companies can’t afford fares that have soared as the world tries to reconnect in the wake of Covid. A return business-class flight on the longest routes, between New York and Sydney, for example, can cost more than $20,000, about double the price from pre-pandemic days. “Demand is clearly outstripping supply,” said Nick Vournakis, executive vice president at corporate travel management firm CWT. “At some point, corporates are going to say enough is enough.” As Covid restrictions eased around the world, airlines struggled to reactivate their fleets and bring back staff fast enough to cope with the growing appetite for air travel. That’s limited capacity and seat availability. Higher fuel costs have also pushed up fares. According to CWT and the Global Business Travel Association, business-class air fares will be up 45% in 2022 and another 6.2% next year. Business-class tickets for flights leaving the US jumped 52% between January and August, a steeper increase than in economy and premium-economy, travel manager TripActions said.With companies balking at the costs, corporate travel is back on shaky ground, having not yet recovered from virus-related lockdowns. That’s bad news for airlines. Business travelers represent 75% of a carrier’s profit but only 12% of passengers, according to travel software firm Trondent Development Corp. “We are seeing a hyper-awareness around spend,” said Marcus Eklund, global managing director at corporate travel-management company FCM.<br/>
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Venezuela on Friday welcomed home a dozen flight crew members detained in Argentina since June after their plane was held for suspected terrorism ties, according to state television. "We are celebrating (their) arrival," Venezuelan Transportation Minister Ramon Velasquez told Telesur from Maiquetia Airport, near the capital of Caracas, praising the crew as "an example of revolutionary struggle." An Argentine judicial chamber on Tuesday authorized the departure of 12 of 19 crew members. The Emtrasur cargo plane, sold to Venezuela by Iran's Mahan Air, arrived in Buenos Aires in early June, according to flight tracking data, with both Venezuelan and Iranian crew members. Its arrival caused a diplomatic stir for Argentina. The country was accused of supporting Iran and Venezuela, which are both under US sanctions. Argentina grounded the plane then seized it in August after a request from a US court. Of the 12 released crew members, 11 are Venezuelan and one Iranian. A further three Venezuelan and four Iranian crew are still not allowed to leave Argentina.<br/>
Hurricane Fiona left most of Puerto Rico without power on Sunday, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides on the island before barreling toward the Dominican Republic, a government agency said. The storm, hitting Puerto Rico five years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, ripped up asphalt from roads, swept away a major road bridge, closed airports, swamped cars and dumped rain in such quantities that some rivers were rising 20 feet in just hours, according to eyewitnesses. The center of the storm made landfall on the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico near Punta Tocon at 3:20 p.m. ET (1920 GMT) with maximum sustained winds of about 85 miles (140 kilometers) per hour, clearing the threshold for a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.Several landslides had been reported, officials said. Roads were closed and a highway bridge in Utuado, a town in the center of the island, had been washed away by a flooding river. Puerto Rico's ports were closed and flights out of the main airport canceled.<br/>
Airlines canceled flights across France on Friday as air traffic controllers went on a one-day strike to demand higher wages. The lack of pay increases for workers was “unjustifiable,” the air traffic control union, SNCTA, said in a statement. The union said the strike action came after months of negotiations over wages and recruitment plans stalled, and added that rising inflation was one reason for the strike. Another strike, lasting for three days, would take place starting Sept. 28, SNCTA said. More than 400 flights departing from or arriving to Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly airports had been canceled, and about 200 had been delayed, by midday on Friday, according to FlightAware, which provides flight tracking data. Hundreds of flights to and from Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux and Toulouse had also been canceled or delayed. Ryanair said Thursday that the strike had caused it to cancel 420 flights on Friday, a move that would affect 80,000 passengers. Neal McMahon, the airline’s operations director, called on the European Union to take steps to prevent strikes from disrupting the plans of travelers, noting that flights departing from countries outside of France with routes in French airspace had also been disrupted. “It is time that the EU step in and protect overflights so that European passengers are not repeatedly held to ransom by a tiny French ATC union,” McMahon said, using an acronym to refer to air traffic controllers. Over recent months, as energy prices surge and the cost of living increases, strikes have become more frequent, with airport and other transport workers demanding better wages and working conditions. France has had one of the lowest rates of inflation in the eurozone, but at 6.6% in August, the country’s annual pace of inflation has roughly doubled since the start of the year.<br/>
Amsterdam's Schiphol airport will reduce daily passenger numbers by 18% until at least Oct. 31 due to labour shortages, it said on Friday. Schiphol, one of Europe's busiest airports, continues to grapple with long lines mainly due to a shortage of security staff, leading to some travellers missing their flights. "This decision is bad news for passengers and for airlines," said Hanne Buis, COO of the Royal Schiphol Group. "The reduction is necessary to guarantee the safety of our passengers and employees." Airline KLM, which is part of Air France-KLM, said Schiphol's decision was "disappointing". The airport said its decision would reduce average passenger numbers through the airport to 54,500 a day for the rest of September and to 57,000 in October. On Thursday, the airport's CE, Dick Benschop, handed in his notice after measures he took to overcome the crisis proved insufficient.<br/>
London’s Heathrow Airport will change about 15% of its Monday flights to avoid noise during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. “As a mark of respect, operations to and from the airport will be subject to appropriate changes in order to avoid noise disturbance at certain locations at specific times on Monday,” Heathrow said Thursday. British Airways said it will cancel about 50 short-haul flights throughout the day. The airline said that the cancellations are on routes where it operates multiple flights a day and that it plans to utilize larger planes to accommodate passengers. A spokeswoman said the carrier doesn’t expect long-haul flights to be canceled. Britain’s busiest airport said flights would be diverted around Windsor Castle during a private family service. Airlines agreed to pause arrivals and departures from 11:40 a.m. GMT to 12:10 p.m. GMT to cut noise during a moment of silence, and arrivals from 1:45 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. during a procession of the queen’s hearse. Departures will also be on hold from 3:05 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. during a ceremonial procession to Windsor Castle. Virgin Atlantic also said it would cancel four flights to and from the airport from Los Angeles and San Francisco: two departures on Sunday and two westbound flights on Monday. <br/>
Hong Kong may scrap hotel quarantine and pre-flight Covid PCR test requirements for incoming travelers, local media reported, in what would be the financial hub’s most significant moves yet to end years of global isolation. An announcement spelling the end to hotel quarantines, which was cut to three days from seven just weeks ago, could come as soon as this week, Oriental Daily reported. New arrivals may be asked to do rapid antigen tests rather than bring a copy of a negative PCR lab result conducted within the previous 48 hours, removing another hurdle that made travel inconvenient, Sing Tao Daily said, citing unidentified people. The implementation date for removing the hotel quarantine will affect existing operations for the airline and hotel industries and hasn’t yet been decided, according to Oriental Daily. Travelers will instead be required to undergo self-monitoring for seven days, the newspaper said, citing unidentified people. The changes may come before a raft of major international events designed to trumpet Hong Kong’s revival are scheduled to take place starting in late October. Removal of the travel curbs that isolated the city for the past two-and-a-half years, and kept Covid-19 largely at bay until a sweeping outbreak this spring, were considered a prerequisite for many of the visitors Hong Kong was hoping to welcome. <br/>
A powerful typhoon slammed ashore in southern Japan on Sunday as it pounded the region with strong winds and heavy rain, causing blackouts, paralyzing ground and air transportation and prompting the evacuation of thousands of people. The Japan Meteorological Agency said Typhoon Nanmadol was heading north after making landfall in Kagoshima city on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu. It was packing maximum winds of 162 kilometers per hour and is forecast to reach Tokyo on Tuesday. The weather agency predicted as much as 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rainfall by Monday evening and warned of flooding and landslides. It also alerted residents in the affected areas of “unprecedented” levels of powerful winds and waves, urging them to evacuate early. Hundreds of domestic flights have been canceled and more are planned to be grounded in western Japan through Tuesday as the typhoon headed northeast, according to Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.<br/>