Fully vaccinated and planning to fly? You still need to wear a mask. The CDC Thursday said fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors and don’t have to physically distance in that setting either. But a federal rule that requires that all air, rail and bus travelers over the age of 2 to wear a mask is still in effect, the TSA said Thursday. They are also required in bus and rail stations as well as airports. That policy is set to expire Sept. 14. Airlines began requiring masks about a year ago at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and have banned hundreds of customers who have failed to comply. Carriers are now expecting travel to continue rebounding through the summer after more people have been vaccinated and attractions reopen. United said the carrier will lift its mask requirement when the federal government does. For now, it will “continue to abide by this mandate and remind our customers that masks must be worn on our planes and in our terminals while this requirement is in effect.” Other airlines could follow suit, indicated Airlines for America, the lobbying group that represents United and other major US carriers.<br/>
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Canada on Thursday condemned Tehran's "unconscionable" conduct since Iranian forces shot down an airliner last year, killing 176 people, including dozens of Canadians, and vowed to keep pressing for answers as to what really happened. The comments by Foreign Minister Marc Garneau were among the strongest Ottawa has made about the January 2020 disaster. "The behavior of the Iranian government has been frankly unconscionable in this past 15 months and we are going to continue to pursue them so we have accountability," Garneau told a committee of legislators examining what occurred. Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight shortly after it took off from Tehran Airport. Iran said its forces had been on high alert during a regional confrontation with the US. Garneau complained it had taken months of pressure for Iran, with which Canada does not have diplomatic relations, to hand over the flight recorders for independent analysis and said Tehran had still not explained why the airspace had not been closed at the time.<br/>
Finnish airport operator Finavia is making an investment of nearly $8.45m to improve the air traffic area of Helsinki Airport (HEL) in the coming months. The scope of the renovation works includes the surfaces of the taxiways and the apron, the aircraft parking stands, as well as the stormwater sewer system. The overhaul in the air traffic area would result in provisional changes in the use of runways, taxiing and parking of aeroplanes. Finavia VP Jani Elasmaa, who is responsible for Helsinki Airport’s runway and apron operations, said: “We are taking advantage of the lower traffic volumes caused by the pandemic and renovating areas that are easier to work on now compared to the normal traffic situation. The effect on traffic and the management of aircraft noise will be minor.” <br/>
BA, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and Iberia all cancelled flights to Tel Aviv as European carriers joined US airlines in avoiding flying to Israel, which has activated a back-up airport in the far south as a precaution against rockets from Gaza. Palestinian militants have repeatedly shelled the Tel Aviv area during hostilities that erupted on Monday, raising safety concerns over Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main airport, and prompting it to reroute some flights to Ramon Airport, some 200 km to the south, which serves Eilat. "The safety and security of our colleagues and customers is always our top priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely," BA said after cancelling its flights to and from Ben Gurion for Thursday. Hamas militants in Gaza said they had launched a rocket at Ramon Airport on Thursday, but the Israel Airports Authority said that no rocket had struck Ramon and that it was operating as normal. The airport, which opened in 2019, can handle about 2m passengers a year. It is connected by bus routes to the north, although there is no train service. Its arrivals board showed several El Al flights from abroad that had been originally scheduled to land at Ben Gurion. An Israeli official said the two airports were operating in sync. Ben Gurion was handling cargo, private and some other flights, and Ramon is "open for landing international commercial flights" and running scheduled domestic flights, he said.<br/>
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati said Thursday that China-backed plans to upgrade an airstrip on a remote island about 3,000km southwest of Hawaii were a non-military project designed to improve transport links and bolster tourism. The project involves revamping a near 2km runway on the tiny island of Kanton, a coral atoll strategically located midway between Asia and the Americas, deep in territory that has been aligned with the US and its allies since World War Two. "The Kiribati Government has clarified the rehabilitation project for Kanton Island stating that the project is purely initiated for civilian use only," the government said . The statement said that the Chinese government had provided grant support for a feasibility study. The airstrip, formerly a major stop on commercial trans-Pacific airline flights and a military aircraft base during World War Two, is now rarely used. The island has about two dozen residents.<br/>
Boeing on Wednesday won approval from US regulators for a fix of an electrical grounding issue that had affected about 100 737 Max airplanes, clearing the way for their quick return to service after flights were halted in early April, the planemaker said. An FAA official confirmed that the agency had approved the service bulletins and associated instructions. Boeing sent two bulletins to air carriers on Wednesday on the fixes. “After gaining final approvals from the FAA, we have issued service bulletins for the affected fleet,” Boeing said. “We are also completing the work as we prepare to resume deliveries.” The announcement is a relief for US air carriers that have been anxiously waiting to get the planes back into service before the traditional late May start to the summer travel season as air travel demand increases. The top three US 737 Max operators — Southwest, American Airlines and United — removed more than 60 jets from service after the notice from Boeing. The carriers did not immediately comment. Earlier on Wednesday, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told US lawmakers that the electrical issue, which had grounded about a quarter of the Max fleet, would need a “pretty straightforward fix.”<br/>
Canada’s Cargojet Inc has threatened to move work to the United States unless it wins exemption from rules aimed at preventing pilot fatigue because of their cost, according to a deal rejected by its pilots. Cargojet has said it wants to reduce costs and grow in the United States as Canada’s largest cargo carrier benefits from an increase in air freight demand due to a decline in “belly capacity” from passenger aircraft grounded during the pandemic. The Ontario-based company, which reported 30% higher quarterly revenues this month, has hired more than 60 pilots in the past three to four months to meet stronger demand and comply with Canadian rules that went into effect in December. Those shorten the number of hours pilots can work at night and extend their rest periods, among other conditions. But 65% of Cargojet’s 283 pilots on Wednesday voted against supporting the company’s bid for an exemption from regulator Transport Canada, their union Unifor said by email. The company does not need union support for the exemption but hoped to have it. Cargojet, which operates certain flights for Amazon.com Inc, had offered to protect jobs as part of the deal. Cargojet CE Ajay Virmani told analysts this month he was seeking a US investment or partner for its “growth strategy across the border.”<br/>