The US Supreme Court let stand a ruling that said the Transportation Security Administration could require airline passengers to wear masks during the height of the pandemic, keeping in place a precedent issued by a key federal appeals court. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruling said TSA has broad authority to maintain security and safety during national emergencies. TSA scrapped its mask mandate in April after a federal judge in a different case said the requirement exceeded the agency’s power. The Supreme Court order is a defeat for Jonathan Corbett, a California lawyer and self-described frequent flier who sued to challenge the mask mandate. He asked the Supreme Court to either take up his appeal or declare the case legally moot and wipe away the DC Circuit opinion so it couldn’t serve as a precedent. President Joe Biden put the mandate in place on his first full day in office, issuing an executive order requiring masks in airports and on planes, trains, intercity buses and other forms of transportation. His administration urged the Supreme Court to keep the DC Circuit opinion in force. The DC Circuit handles an outsize share of cases involving the power of federal administrative agencies.<br/>
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A terminal at Los Angeles International Airport has been cleared and deemed safe after an apparent gas leak that sickened four people in Terminal 8, according to a tweet from the airport. The four people hurt in the incident Monday were all airport employees, according to an update provided by the Los Angeles Fire Department. The condition of the most severely sickened victim was upgraded from grave to critical earlier Monday. A woman and three men were working in or near a utility room “when a popping sound was heard, and the apparent release of Carbon Dioxide vapor took place,” an LAFD report said. A deluge of carbon dioxide from a fire suppression system inside a subterranean utility room displaced all of the oxygen inside the area, LAFD Capt. Erik Scott said in a news conference. The most seriously injured man, described as being in his 50s, was found not breathing and without a pulse inside the utility room. CPR was immediately performed and advanced life support given by emergency responders as he was taken to a nearby hospital, the Fire Department said in an incident report.<br/>
Airlines are blasting a new tax proposed by the Argentine government that will once again increase airfares. The so-called “airline security tax” of ARS 250 ($1.60) was approved by the lower house of the country’s legislature on 25 October. It is slated to help finance Argentina’s Airport Security Police (PSA). It’s the eighth such additional fee the country adds to every airline ticket sold. “This recurring policy of taxing the industry is becoming unsustainable,” said Peter Cerda, regional vice-president for the Americas at airline industry organization IATA on 28 October. He calls the new tax “a crippling blow” to the industry and travellers.<br/>“As an industry we have always demonstrated our commitment to collaborate with the government to build a post-pandemic sustainable aviation sector in Argentina,” he adds. “We had forecast that we could reach 2019 traffic levels by 2024, but rather than facilitating this process, the government is just placing more rocks onto an already rocky road.” Regional industry association ALTA echoes that sentiment, and says the new levy will dissuade passengers and hurt tourism. “Airfare is the great gateway to countries. Thinking systemically, it all starts with the search for tickets,” says ALTA chief executive Jose Ricardo Botelho. “If the cost is higher than other destinations, the passenger might decide not to travel or choose another place. Therefore, despite the efforts that operators in the region have been making for years to make their operating costs more efficient to pass those efficiencies on to users, we see a complex reality, which is the multiple taxes, fees, and charges that increase the final fare that passengers see and must assume.” <br/>
Attempts to prevent the closure of the UK’s Doncaster Sheffield airport appear to have failed, with the final passenger service set to arrive from Hurghada on 4 November, and a positioning flight departing for Manchester just after midnight on 5 November. Leisure carrier TUI, the airport’s remaining based airline, will operate the services. Doncaster Sheffield had been the subject of a strategic review after failing to turn a profit since opening in 2005. The review concluded that the airport was not commercially viable, and that operations would be wound down from the end of October. Parliamentarians discussed the situation on 24 October, with Conservative party member Nick Fletcher – representing the airport’s constituency – calling for a public inquiry to “get to the truth” regarding the facility’s demise. He particularly claimed that the airport’s owner, Peel Group, had sought financial support from the combined local authorities for three years, initially as a £20 million equity share, and then as a loan. Fletcher told Parliament that, according to Peel Group, the airport would not be facing closure if this funding had been made available earlier this year. He also pointed out that Peel Group was prepared to sell its Teesside airport to the local authority, and that – even if the combined authorities for Doncaster Sheffield could not replicate this deal, there had been a proposal to cover Peel’s losses for 13 months, but this was not accepted. Fletcher said a public inquiry would provide insight as to why these options have not succeeded in saving Doncaster Sheffield.<br/>
Central Asian demand for jet fuel is soaring as the region has become a key air traffic hub, taking over from sanctions-hit Moscow and as it handles an influx of Russians fleeing military service. Demand jumped after Russia and the West closed their air space to each other's aircraft after Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. It was further boosted after President Vladimir Putin declared a "partial mobilisation" on Sept. 21 and Russians fled the country in huge numbers, with more than 200,000 leaving for Kazakhstan alone. Industrial data seen by Reuters showed supplies of jet fuel from Russia to Central Asia rose in January-September to 385,590 tonnes from 194,444 tonnes in the same period in 2021. Central Asia, along with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, has become an alternative route for Russians trying to get to Europe, in the absence of direct flights from Russia to the EU. The region's airports have also increased Russian freight turnover and boosted servicing and fuelling of Russian aircraft. "They (Russians) started to fly more from Russia to Central Asia, transit has also risen, while kerosene demand has sharply jumped," a fuel trader said. The sanctions have also stripped Russia of its role as a transit hub for flights between Asia and Europe, and Turkey and Central Asia are now filling that gap. A spokesman for Kyrgyzstan's civil aviation agency said the numbers of flights to Turkey and United Arab Emirates had increased.<br/>
A fire alarm in the baggage hall of the international terminal of Auckland Airport has caused delays for new arrivals after 50 people were evacuated. An Auckland Airport spokesperson said the fire alarm sensor was activated at 12.55pm on Wednesday. Passengers were evacuated from the baggage hall for about five minutes while investigators went in. They discovered it was a false alarm. “Unfortunately, this created some congestion for arriving passengers in the Customs area for a short period, with a number of flights arriving at the terminal within a short timeframe,” the spokesperson said. “Safety always comes first at Auckland Airport and all fire alarms are investigated as a matter of priority. “But we appreciate delays can be frustrating and we apologise to any impacted customers.” Stuff writer Brook Sabin was flying back to New Zealand and got caught up in the delay. "Long queues formed at the Smart Gates as Customs shut down all processing,” he said. “The queues are starting to move now, but slowly,” he said about 1.20pm.<br/>