Two US senators on Monday asked the Transportation Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about "troubling reports" of unfair and deceptive practices in airlines’ frequent flyer and loyalty programs. Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, and Republican Roger Marshall cited reports "airlines are changing point systems in ways that are unfair to consumers, including by devaluing points, meaning it takes more points than initially marketed to achieve the promised rewards." Durbin, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, earlier this month asked the CEOs of United Airlines and American Airlines to answer questions on rising passenger complaints and higher ticket prices and fees.<br/>
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The US State Department said the last planned charter flight to help Americans depart Israel will leave Tuesday from Tel Aviv. The US government on Oct. 13 began chartering flights from Tel Aviv to Athens to help Americans depart Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the region. U.S. airlines have halted all flights to Israel and earlier this month added flights to Athens to help Americans return home. There are still other limited international commercial flights available from Tel Aviv, the State Department noted. Demand for the flights has fallen sharply, which is prompting the end of the flights. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday at a press briefing that a US charter flight on Sunday had just five passengers. "It is purely a demand issue... We have consistently seen the demand for our charter flights go down," Miller said saying only about 25% of seats offered on US charter flights have been filled by Americans and relatives seeking to leave Israel. Miller said the State Department despite the end of the flights, it will continue to assess the situation and "whether circumstances change on the ground and if we need to make additional arrangements."<br/>
Haiti's government has suspended all Nicaragua-bound flights leaving its capital, the Miami Herald reported on Monday, putting at least a temporary end to a key route for would-be Haitian migrants seeking to reach the U.S. The Miami Herald cited a bulletin sent to the aviation community that was then shared with the newspaper as the source of the information. The government of Haiti - the poorest country in the Western hemisphere - has made no public announcement about the flights and did not respond to a Reuters request for comment about the flight suspensions. According to publicly available data on flight tracking website FlightRadar24, no flights appeared on Monday on the Port-au-Prince to Managua route, compared to 12 flights between the two capitals on Sunday. The Port-au-Prince to Managua flights began in August and have mostly been operated by charter carriers. In recent weeks, as many as 15 flights per day have ferried thousands of Haitians to Nicaragua, which does not require Haitians to present a visa to enter the Central American country.<br/>
Spanish airport operator Aena said Monday that airlines have increased seat supply by 15% for flights to and from Spain this coming winter compared with last year. Carriers have booked a capacity of 126.6m seats during the winter season, which runs from October to March, even more than the level in 2019 before the pandemic, Aena said. Leisure travel has boomed since pandemic restrictions ended last year, despite a squeeze on household incomes from high inflation and rising interest rates. Between April and September, the number of passengers at Spanish airports, at around 163m, was 1.2% above 2019 levels, according to industry data. The head of Spain's Airlines Association, Javier Gandara, said two weeks ago that airlines expected a 13% supply increase compared with 2019. The strong recovery in tourism was led by travellers from cooler climates seeking warmer temperatures in southern Europe, according to the association. Traffic to other European countries, where business travel represents a bigger share, was still slightly below pre-pandemic levels.<br/>
Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya said on Monday that flights from Tel Aviv to Makhachkala and Mineralniye Vody, both in Russia’s heavily Muslim North Caucasus, would be temporarily redirected to other cities. The interior ministry said earlier that 60 people had been arrested after an anti-Israeli mob stormed Makhachkala airport in the Dagestan region on Sunday as a plane arrived from Israel.<br/>
Saudi Arabia plans to open its domestic aviation industry to more competition, part of an overhaul that the government estimates will drive a $100b investment in the sector by the end of the decade. Among the plans laid out by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, airports and ground-handling operations will be allowed to be privatized, and airports will also receive an incentive plan to raise their quality standards, according to a statement. License processes for ground handling and air cargo service providers will also streamlined. according to the release. “The regulations create an open, dynamic and competitive market, setting a level playing field for global operators and investors in the Kingdom,” said GACA President Abdulaziz Al-Duailej. As part of Saudi Arabia’s bid to diversify income away from oil, it aims tourism to account for 10% of gross domestic product by 2030 while transforming the country into a logistics hub. To help hit that target, the country aims to invest billions of dollars in airports and aircraft to boost transport links. Saudi Arabia recently introduced a new airline, called Riyadh Air, which aims to bring more tourism to the country and provide a level of service and connectivity that equals regional champions Emirates and Qatar Airways. While Saudia, the main airline, has been around for decades, the carrier mainly serves local travelers and those focused on pilgrimage. The aviation regulator has already fielded inquiries from potential investors in aviation assets, though the formal unveiling of the new plan will only accelerate interest, said Awad AlSulami, GACA’s executive vice president for economic policies and logistics services. The new policy expands the qualifying rules for airport operators to support the Kingdom’s plans to privatize all Saudi airports by 2030. Abha International Airport, Taif International Airport, Ha’il Regional Airport, Al-Qassim International Airport have commenced this process.<br/>