Officials say a woman bit, kicked and spat on six sheriff's deputies while refusing to exit a plane at an airport in Louisiana early Thanksgiving Day, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported Saturday. Authorities said the 25-year-old woman attacked Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, according to local news reports. Deputies were responding to Spirit airline workers' requests to remove the woman, who had reportedly grown irate and asked nearby passengers who she assumed to be Latino whether they were smuggling cocaine. Paramedics treated the deputies on site, according to local news reports. Police charged the woman with six counts of battery on a police officer, three counts of disturbing the peace, one count of resisting arrest by force and another count of remaining after forbidden, according to reports. The woman was released from Jefferson Parish Correctional Center later that day after paying $10,750 bail and is scheduled for a Jan. 23 court date. Reports of passengers' bad behavior have skyrocketed since air travel has increased after early pandemic shutdowns.<br/>
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Passengers may soon be able to make phone calls on flights in the EU thanks to a recent ruling by the European Commission. The ruling is one of two that would allow airlines and other transportation providers to provide the latest internet connection service on their trips. Still to be determined is how passengers would react to being forced to listen to fellow passengers converse in-flight on their phones without much freedom to leave the area. In the US, the Federal Communications Commissions has barred phone calls on planes since 1991 out of fear that they could interfere with flight operations. Some airlines in the Middle East and Asia already allow passengers to make voice calls during flights. But a 2019 CNN story captured the other side of the argument. “Pretty much across the board, people who work in airplane cabins say the idea of allowing passengers unfettered in-flight phone use would lead to chaos, conflict and downright craziness in flight,” the CNN story said. “As such, they oppose phone use vociferously.” Under the new rule, airlines in the European Union will be able use the latest 5G technology on their planes. Since 2019, 5G has been the latest generation technology standard for broadband mobile networks and offers faster internet speed and connectivity. With the technology, passengers may no longer have to put their mobile phones on airplane mode and can use their phones to their fullest capacity, using a wider range of services that would approach matching their experience on the ground.<br/>
EC regulators have approved a French ban on flying certain short-haul domestic routes, but only three initial connections will meet the criteria. The three routes are all from Paris Orly – to Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon – will be “prohibited for any carrier”, according to the Commission’s adoption. France’s government has taken the step to reduce the environmental penalty associated with short flights. The ban applies to routes for which there are several direct high-speed rail connections per day, with a duration of less than 2h 30min, and which allow at least 8h on-the-spot presence. Eight routes were identified in the initial notification. But two routes from Paris Charles de Gaulle, to Bordeaux and Nantes, are excluded from the ban because the rail times – respectively 3h 30min and 3h – exceed the threshold. Three other routes, from Charles de Gaulle to Rennes and Lyon, and Lyon to Marseille, have also been discounted “given the rail services available at present”, says the Commission in its 1 December implementation decision. Even if the journey times by rail can be less than 2h 30min on these three routes, they “do not make it possible” to reach or depart Charles de Gaulle or Lyon airports early or late enough. “Future improvements in the rail services, with services operating at sufficient frequencies and suitable timings – in particular for the purposes of connecting flights – will enable these air routes to be banned,” says the Commission. Application of the prohibition will be evaluated three years after its entry into force.<br/>
Belgium begins proceedings on Monday in its largest ever trial to determine whether 10 men played a part in the Islamist suicide bombings in Brussels in 2016 that killed 32 people and injured over 300. More than six years after the attacks, presiding judge Laurence Massart will confirm on Monday the identity of all parties to the case, including the defendants and lawyers representing around 1,000 people affected by the attacks claimed by Islamic State. She will then address the jury, selected from a pool of 1,000 Belgians last week in a process lasting 14 hours. The Brussels bombings' trial has clear links to the French trial over the November 2015 Paris attacks. Six of the Brussels accused were sentenced to jail terms of between 10 years and life in France in June, but the Belgian trial will be different in that it will be settled by a jury not judges. The twin bombings at Brussels Airport and a third bomb on the city's metro on March 22, 2016 killed 15 men and 17 women - Belgians, Americans, Dutch, Swedish and nationals of Britain China, France, Germany, India, Peru and Poland, many based in Brussels, the home to EU institutions and military alliance NATO. Nine men are charged with multiple murders and attempted murders in a terrorist context, with potential life sentences, and all 10 with participating in the activities of a terrorist group. They include Mohamed Abrini, who prosecutors say went to the airport with two suicide bombers, but fled without detonating his suitcase of explosives, and Osama Krayem, a Swedish national accused of planning to be a second bomber on Brussels' metro. Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the Paris trial, is also an accused, along with others prosecutors say hosted or helped certain attackers. One of the 10, presumed killed in Syria, will be tried in absentia. In accordance with Belgium court procedure, the defendants have not declared whether they are innocent or guilty.<br/>
Paris reopened its most iconic airport terminal as France prepares to welcome millions of visitors for the 2024 summer Olympics while the travel industry struggles to recover from the fallout of the pandemic. Aeroports de Paris, which operates Charles de Gaulle airport, spent E250m on works that lasted more than two years and created an additional 36,000 square meters of passenger space, ADP Deputy CEO Edward Arkwright told reporters on site during the reopening ceremony on Saturday. “It will allow us to get more passengers but also to improve travel experiences, quality of service, commercial revenues and operational performance,” he said, without elaborating on figures. Charles de Gaulle welcomed 76.2m passengers in 2019, making it one of the world’s busiest hubs. The oldest terminal, number 1, was opened in 1974 and is recognizable for its futuristic design and concrete circular structure. The iconic central building, which allows passengers to move from one level to the other thanks to suspended escalators in Plexiglas tubes, is surrounded by other satellite buildings. The newly created passenger space is reminiscent of Parisian bistros or cabarets, with sofas and chairs in plush red and greens, tables decorated with chess boards, tall brass lights resembling fireworks and smaller round lamps inspired by the terminal’s circular shape. Airport architects who worked on the revamp cited Ernest Hemingway’s book “A Moveble Feast,” set in the French capital of the 1920s, as their main source of inspiration. “People tend to view time spent in airports as wasted time but we are in Paris here,” Caroline Blanchet, ADP’s marketing chief, told reporters. Even transit passengers can get a feel for the city, she added.<br/>
Families flying abroad for Christmas face strikes at Heathrow airport, with baggage handlers set to walk out for three days just as the end of the school term triggers a mass exodus via the London hub. About 350 staff at Menzies Aviation, which provides ground-handling services for carriers including American Airlines and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, will strike from Dec. 16, the Unite union said in a statement Friday. The action will affect three Heathrow terminals as workers push for a pay rise. Unite said passengers face “disruption, delays and potentially cancellations,” though an earlier strike at Menzies over three days last month had little impact, according to airlines and Heathrow. That’s after the firm reached an outline deal with the GMB union representing the bulk of its handlers. The UK has been hit by a wave of strikes as labor groups campaign for pay deals matching inflation, with further action planned by rail, postal, and health workers every day in the run-up to Christmas. Unite says Menzies handlers haven’t received a 9.5% raise promised to the firm’s cargo workers at Heathrow. The airport said that it’s aware of the industrial action at Menzies and is encouraging affected parties to continue with their contingency planning to minimize the impact on passengers.<br/>
A Palestinian car thief rammed through a checkpoint on the way to Israel's main airport on Sunday, authorities said, setting off a security alert in what they described as the result of poor navigation on his part rather than an attempted attack. Video circulated on social media showed passengers in Ben Gurion Airport's departure terminal crouching alongside their luggage as instructions sounded over loudhailers. Police said the suspect, a Palestinian in Israel illegally from the occupied West Bank, arrived at the airport checkpoint in a stolen car and raced through toward the main terminal. During a brief pursuit, he was shot and arrested. It was at least the fifth such incident in recent months, an Israel Airports Authority spokesperson said. As in previous cases, the suspect was believed to have taken a wrong turn off the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, Israeli officials said. That meant his attempted getaway accidentally brought him to one of the country's most protected facilities. "It happens almost every week," a police spokesperson said.<br/>
India’s dog-eat-dog aviation sector is on the cusp of a transformation. After years of cut-throat pricing wars between Indian airlines, the landmark merger of former national carrier Air India with Vistara will shake up the fast-growing industry. In a boom and bust sector where some analysts argue consolidation has been overdue, the deal will challenge the dominance of the country’s biggest domestic flyer IndiGo, analysts said. An enlarged Air India group, with an estimated value of $4.4b, will have just under a quarter of the domestic sector, making it the country’s second biggest carrier after IndiGo, which commands well over half of the market. “The competitive dynamics in India are moving towards a two-pillar system around the Air India Group and IndiGo,” wrote CAPA India, an aviation advisory. Significantly, it expects the two carriers between them will grow to claim about half of India’s international market, which is dominated by foreign carriers. “You can’t have six to seven airlines competing, offering uneconomical fares and perishing,” said Air India’s former executive director Jitender Bhargava. The merger of Air India and Vistara, after owners Singapore Airlines and Tata on Tuesday announced that the companies were set to combine, concludes a chapter started 22 years ago. Singapore Airlines, which holds 49% of Vistara, announced it would invest about $250m in Air India group, giving it a 25.1% stake in the entity, which will be “four to five times larger” than Vistara. Story has more.<br/>
A volcano erupted in Indonesia on Sunday spewing a cloud of ash 15 km into the sky and forcing the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people, authorities said, as they issued their highest warning for the area in the east of Java island. There were no immediate reports of any casualties from the eruption of the Semeru volcano and Indonesia's transport ministry said that there was no impact on air travel but notices had been sent to two regional airports for vigilance. "Most roads have been closed since this morning and now it is raining volcanic ash and it has covered the view of the mountain," community volunteer Bayu Deny Alfianto told Reuters by telephone from near the volcano. Semeru, the tallest mountain on Java, erupted last year killing more than 50 people and displacing thousands.<br/>
A world with flying vehicles, like the 1960s sitcom The Jetsons, might be closer than you think. Companies across the US, including several startups, are developing electric air taxis that aim to take cars off the road and put people in the sky. Commercial airlines, specifically, are investing in this type of technology to make trips to and from the airport shorter and faster for consumers. In October, Delta joined the list of airlines backing EV technology startups, with a $60m investment in Joby Aviation, a company developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs), intended to operate as an air taxi service. In 2021, when Joby announced its plan to launch its Uber-like air taxis by 2024, it generated criticism from industry analysts on the ability to launch by that date. But Delta’s investment in Joby is a five-year partnership to operate eVTOLs exclusively in Delta’s network. United Airlines is also partnering with a Swedish-based startup, Heart Aerospace, to have electric aircraft flying regional routes by 2030, adding to two other eVTOL investments from the airline. One is for $15m with Eve Air Mobility for 200 aircraft, and another for $10m with Archer Aviation for 100 eVTOLs. American Airlines invested $25m in Vertical Aerospace, a UK-based company, with an order for 50 aircraft. While major airlines enter agreements with global startups, it’s important to remember these are conditional. It depends on the certification of these aircraft and how fast companies can manufacture them, said Savanthi Syth, managing director of equity research, covering global airlines and mobility at Raymond James. Once these aircraft get certified and start ramping up production, Syth said the potential market size largely depends on how close companies can get eVTOLs to where consumers are. “Initially, eVTOLs are supposed to replace your personal car,” Syth said. “But it’s going to be different for people, based on where eVTOLs are going to be.”<br/>