Two workers died at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Monday after being trapped under construction rubble, authorities said, adding the incident was being probed. All construction at the airport was shut down after the incident, which happened around 11:00 am ET (1500 GMT), the airport said on Twitter. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, was investigating the incident, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, calling the incident a tragedy. Emergency workers responded to the scene and removed the workers from the trench, authorities said. The workers, who were not identified, were declared dead at the scene itself, the airport added.<br/>
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Americans traveling abroad may need to wait more than four months for a new passport — and delays are likely to worsen as the busy summer travel season approaches. That means international travelers should act soon if they’re planning a trip later this year or in 2024, travel experts said. “The only way you can really deal with this is to get ahead of the problem,” said Charles Leocha, chairman of Travelers United, a nonprofit advocacy group. The passport backlog has grown in recent months as Americans unleash pent-up wanderlust and take trips abroad that they couldn’t earlier in the pandemic. The U.S. State Department must also restaff positions that were reassigned or eliminated as passport demand cratered in 2020. Passport demand has been “unprecedented,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress in March. Weekly applications have been about 30% to 40% above last year, he said. While demand is typically seasonal, with the busy season running from March to late summer, “basically it’s full time now,” he added. The department received 500,000 applications during some weeks over the winter — a record for that time of year and exceeding the State Department’s official projections.<br/>
Eurocontrol has revised slightly upwards its forecast for European flight movements in 2023 and 2024 but continues to predict that 2019 levels will only be reached in 2025. Outlining its latest seven-year forecast on 3 April, the European network manager cites “vivid pent-up demand” – reflected in “solid bookings and strong tourist flows in southern Europe” – as driving the upgraded forecast. “After a strong summer 2022, the industry is further recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic with China reopened since mid-January 2023,” Eurocontrol adds. It says, however, that overall flight numbers are continuing to track its “base” scenario, which means movements are still not expected to reach 2019 levels – 11.1m flights – until 2025, having hit 10.3 and 10.9m in 2023 and 2024 respectively under that scenario. There were some 9.2m flights in 2022, representing a huge improvement from the 5m and 6.2m recorded in 2020 and 2021 respectively. While the air travel comeback continues, factors influencing Eurocontrol’s forecast range include Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is contributing to a “degradation” of the economic outlook in Europe, higher energy prices and a “cost of living crisis” that might affect travel demand. Eurocontrol adds that the cargo segment has been “strongly” impacted by the war, ”due to constrained operations”. Furthermore, while long-haul flows are recovering well, the closure of Russian airspace is expected to weigh on Europe-Asia flows, while airlines and airports may again find capacity capped by staff shortages this summer, Eurocontrol explains.<br/>
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport plans to cut late-night flights as part of attempts to reduce noise pollution, newspaper Het Parool reported on Monday, citing the airport's CEO. Plans for the airport to be rolled out in the coming two years include closing it almost completely between midnight and 5 a.m., the report citing CEO Ruud Sondag said. A spokesperson for Schiphol could not immediately be reached to confirm the report, which said the airport is also planning to ban noisier airplanes and private jets. The Dutch government announced plans to cap flights at 440,000 per year in June 2022, below pre-COVID-19 levels of 500,000, following a years-long campaign by environmental groups over noise pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. But airlines including Air France's (AIRF.PA) Dutch subsidiary KLM have mounted a legal challenge to the plan, while Schiphol itself is pushing for a 460,000 limit. Any annual flight cap is theoretical for the moment, as Schiphol has imposed stricter daily passenger limits at the airport for the upcoming spring vacation season due to ongoing staffing shortages.<br/>
France could offer tax breaks and subsidies for producing climate friendly technologies in the country, according to proposals on Monday from lawmakers preparing a green industry bill. In the scramble to adopt more low-carbon, France's government is concerned that its companies could fall irrevocably behind U.S. rivals, boosted by the Biden administration's $430b Inflation Reduction Act. To avoid that, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has tasked a group of lawmakers and business leaders to come up with proposals to keep French firms competitive and reverse a long-term disindustrialisation trend in the country. The proposals, presented on Monday, included plans for tax credits and subsidies depending on the size of a company's investment or how much it produces in France. The measure could be offered as an advance payment to ensure the money flows quickly and would target producers of batteries and critical metals, electrolysers, heat pumps, next-generation nuclear plants, photovoltaic and wind generators, carbon capture and storage technologies, semiconductors and electricity networks. "Now is the time to find financing and invest. So we want to put public money on the table," Le Maire told a conference where the proposals were presented. "We want to look at tax credits as a way to speed up the investments." The proposals, subject to a public consultation before legislation is brought to parliament this summer, would be financed by reducing favourable tax treatment that some polluting industries currently have access to. In particular, a tax break on fuel consumption, which currently benefits the airline and shipping industry, could be reduced and tax on highly polluting car models could be raised further, the proposals said.<br/>
A UK airport has scrapped the 100ml liquid limit by using high-tech scanners which also allow electronics to be kept in hand luggage at security. London City Airport has brought in the technology which takes high-resolution 3D images of bags. Travellers can now carry on up to two litres of liquid, and toiletries no longer have to be put in separate bags. The government has set a June 2024 deadline for most UK airports to install the machines. Passengers at other airports, except Teesside which introduced new C3 scanners in March, currently have to remove items such as tablets, laptops and liquids from hand luggage for security checks. The current rules were introduced in November 2006, at the end of a ban on liquids in the cabin, when British police said they had foiled a plot to blow up as many as 10 planes using explosives hidden in drinks. London City Airport started trialling the new technology more than a year ago and went live with four of the new X-ray machines, similar to CT scanners used in hospitals, on Tuesday. Chief operating officer Alison Fitzgerald said screening staff had been retrained to use the technology, which presents 3D imagery, and the public can be assured it is safe.<br/>
Global carriers warned on Monday that concerns over blocked airline funds in Africa and elsewhere could lead to interruptions in air services if there is no progress in talks to unfreeze money owed. About $1.6b of funds are being withheld in various Africa countries due to currency shortages or other problems, the International Air Transport Association said in a briefing on the launch of an initiative to boost African aviation. "The people who suffer as a result of these blocked funds are consumers in these markets, because you cannot expect airlines to continue to provide services if in effect they're not being paid," IATA Director General Willie Walsh said. The issue of airline funds' being blocked in some countries where carriers operate has been rising as demand for hard currency outpaces supply, with IATA stepping up efforts to whittle down a deficit that grew 25% in the last six months of 2022 alone. According to the Geneva-based body, which represents most of the world's major airlines, Nigeria tops the list of countries holding back funds, with Algeria and Ghana also involved. A total of $2.4b is being blocked worldwide. Nigeria faces severe shortages of foreign currency, meaning airlines cannot easily convert local currency to repatriate revenues earned from ticket sales by foreign airlines. Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika has said he can only continue to urge the central bank to make dollars available to airlines.<br/>
Incheon Airport said Monday that it is expecting to turn a profit in the first quarter this year for the first time in nearly three years, largely driven by increased management efficiency and the gradual recovery of international travel. The exact earnings will be made available after mid-April, the airport said, adding that they are highly likely to see a profit, considering the January and February earnings as well as the estimated passenger revenue in March. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport took a downhill turn in response to the faltering demand in air travel. From 2020 to 2022, it logged 1.9t won ($1.4b) in operating loss, an all-time low since it opened in 2001. The airport's debt rate spiked almost twofold to 92.8% compared to 2019. Incheon Airport declared a management emergency in 2020 and has since strived towards management efficiency. It cut back on the expenses of under-prioritized projects by 264.2b won, and by 93.5b won in the marketing and event budgets.<br/>
Auckland Airport is calling upon travellers to be patient as it gears up for a particularly busy Easter period, warning of potentially lengthy wait times as refurbishment works continue and the aviation sector struggles to return to its pre-pandemic normal. More than 800,000 people are set to travel over the upcoming school holidays, which coincide with Easter, Anzac Day and the end-of-term breaks in several Australian states, the airport said. Auckland Airport chief customer officer Scott Tasker said passengers numbers are expected to exceed 80% of 2019 levels in both the domestic and international terminals. “It’s not often all these public holidays fall within the school holiday period, plus our end of term lining up with the Australian school breaks, so we’re seeing similar traveller numbers to the Christmas period,” he said. “For international travel, all through the Easter weekend and into that first week of the school holidays it’s going to be particularly busy for departures. On the arrivals side, it’s the last weekend of the school holidays that we’re going to see our busiest days.” The most popular regional destination over the Easter school holidays is Napier, with some 30,000 people set to fly to and from Hawke’s Bay as repairs to State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō and State Highway 2 between Napier and Gisborne continue in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.<br/>
European planemaker Airbus is negotiating a new round of plane orders with China, coinciding with a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the economic superpower later this week, government and industry sources said. The potential deal for dozens of jets comes amid worsening relations between Washington and Beijing, which have seen China's usually balanced airplane imports tilt towards Airbus in recent years. "Negotiations are under way," an official in Macron's office said, adding that any agreements by French firms would not merely consist of repackaging earlier announcements. An industry source cautioned there were several moving parts in the talks, with details not yet finalised. Macron is due to conduct the state visit to China on April 5-7, with a delegation of company chiefs from France-based companies, expected to include Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury.<br/>Airbus declined to comment on any airplane negotiations or the agenda of senior management. Shares in the planemaker outperformed, rising almost 2%. Diplomats say high-level visits by European or the US leaders frequently generate aircraft purchase deals that serve as a barometer of diplomatic ties, although announcements also tend to be scrutinised for their additional economic impact.<br/>
Making sure you pay a reasonable fare for flights often feels like a fool’s errand. If you’re lucky, you’ll snag a mistake fare or flash sale. More often, you’ll deliberate ad nauseam. Do you book? Do you wait? Can anyone actually beat airlines at their own game? Alphabet’s Google aims to change that. On April 3, the search giant announced a new price-guarantee feature that promises to monitor prices daily and pay customers the difference if their fare drops at any point from booking to departure. For now, it applies only to select US flights on Alaska, Spirit and Hawaiian airlines. If the round-trip flight itinerary you’re booking qualifies, you’ll spot a light blue-colored price-guarantee badge that shows up above the fare option, whether for basic economy or main cabin. You must then book the itinerary directly through Google, using the “Book on Google” link in search results. This means you enter your information and payment details on a Google-hosted platform that passes it to the airline, which then confirms and manages the reservation. “What we’re wanting to do is to take [our] price insights to the next level,” says Jade Kessler, product manager at Google Flights. “We have hopes to offer this to as many users as possible and expand it beyond just Book on Google.” Although there’s no official expansion timeline, Google says its long-term plan is to roll out the guarantee feature across as many US and international flights via as many carriers as it can. As for the rebates, customers will receive email notifications and see the payments appear automatically in their Google Pay accounts. From there, they will be free to transfer that money to personal bank accounts. Google declined to discuss how often it anticipates having to compensate customers for fare drops, only to reaffirm its confidence in the accuracy of its predictive algorithms.<br/>