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US Travel Group warns that closing Newark Airport to international travel will cost $8 billion per year
The U.S. Travel Industry Group said that the removal of immigration officials from Newark Airport would cause "immediate harm and lasting harm". It could also strand Americans and cost the U.S. $8 billion in annual spending by tourists. U.S. Travel Association reported that U.S. Customs officials process 5,000,000 Americans returning to the United States annually at Newark Airport in New Jersey, near New York City. The group warned that "Americans from all over the country could have their flights to the U.S. canceled or diverted." The group said that "millions of international visitors would face the same disruption and, with the FIFA World Cup just weeks away, the damage done to America's image as a welcoming country would be significant and long-lasting." The group also added that a shutdown could threaten billions of dollars worth of imported cargo. The head of Homeland Security warned on Thursday that the Trump administration may soon stop processing international passengers and cargo at the 'Newark Airport because local law enforcement officials are not helping federal immigration officials up north in New Jersey. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that local police did not ensure that federal immigration officials were able to enter and exit a New Jersey Detention Center and warned that he would reassign Customs Officials from the Airport. Mullin stated on Tuesday that the Trump administration was preparing plans to stop the processing of international travelers and cargo in major U.S. Airports located in "sanctuary Cities" which have refused to cooperate with a?immigration clampdown. This could effectively stop international air travel at major airports of 'Democratic States,' as millions of tourists are expected to arrive for the start of FIFA World Cup next month. The final will take place on July 19, in East Rutherford (New Jersey), about 12 miles away from Newark Airport. The U.S. Justice Department has published a list of'sanctuary cities and states. This includes many major cities with international airports, including Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, Chicago Los Angeles, New York City Newark, Seattle, and San Francisco. Last year, more than 50 millions international travelers visited the three main New York airports.
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There are some flights to the Middle East that have resumed but there is still disruption.
As regional carriers re-build their schedules following war-related disruptions, some airlines are gradually restoring flights to the Middle East. However, the conflict continues disrupting wider traffic flows. Middle Eastern airlines have increased capacity following severe disruption caused by the Iran War, but many carriers outside of the Gulf still divert Europe-Asia flights to avoid the area. The latest flight information is listed below alphabetically: AEGEAN AIRLINES The largest airline in Greece has cancelled flights between Thessaloniki and Tel Aviv up until June 26. Dubai flights are cancelled until August 31. Erbil, Baghdad and Erbil flights will be cancelled until July 2. AEROFLOT The Russian flag carrier announced that it would resume flights to the United Arab Emirates on June 1. AIRBALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, has announced that flights to Tel Aviv are cancelled until the 28th of June. Dubai flights are cancelled until 24 October. AIR CANADA The Canadian carrier has canceled flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai and Abu Dhabi until September 7. AIR EUROPA Spanish Airlines has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv up until the 28th of June. AIR FRANCE-KLM Air France has suspended Tel Aviv flights through June 7. Air France has suspended its flights to Tel Aviv until June 7. KLM suspends flights to Riyadh, Dammam and Dubai until July 12, and until August 2. CATHAY PACIFIC Hong Kong Airlines has suspended all flights to Dubai, Riyadh and cargo services until May 31, and until August 31, respectively. The airline plans to continue all scheduled flights after June. The U.S. carrier plans to resume New York JFK-Tel Aviv flights from September 6 and has extended the suspension of services on the Atlanta-Tel Aviv routes through December 18. The launch of the Boston-Tel Aviv flight, originally scheduled for late October, has been delayed. EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES All flights to Dubai have been cancelled until 31 May. FINNAIR It has cancelled all flights to Doha until October 2 and continues to avoid the airspaces of Iraq, Iran Syria, and Israel. The airline will only resume Dubai flights in October. British Airways, owned by IAG, has decided to delay the resumption of flights to Dubai, Doha, and Tel Aviv until August 1. It also plans to reduce Middle East flights when they resume and to permanently drop Jeddah from its list of destinations. The airline also plans to reduce the number of flights to?Dubai and Doha as well as Riyadh, Tel Aviv, and Riyadh to just one per day. Iberia Express, the Spanish low-cost carrier of IAG, has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until May 31. JAPAN AIRLINES Japan Airlines has suspended its scheduled Tokyo-Doha and Doha-Tokyo flight until August 1, as well as Doha-Tokyo until July 31. The Polish airline has suspended its flights to Tel Aviv till May 30. The airline has also cancelled its flights to Riyadh up until June 30, and to Beirut between March 31 and June 27. LOT will operate its winter route from Dubai to Riyadh in October. LUFTHANSA GROUP Austrian Airlines plans to restart flights to Tel Aviv on June 1. SWISS, ITA Airways, and Lufthansa plan to resume flights in July. Brussels Airlines suspended its operations until October 24, ITA Airways, SWISS, and Lufthansa will continue to suspend flights until September 13 Until October 24, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS have suspended their flights to Abu Dhabi and other destinations, including Amman, Beirut and Dammam as well as Riyadh. Erbil, Muscat, Tehran and Riyadh are also affected. Eurowings, the low-cost carrier, has suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Beirut and Erbil. ITA Airways has also extended its suspension of flights to Riyadh through June 30. MALAYSIA Airlines will resume limited service to Doha on July 2. NORWEGIAN AIR The low-cost airline has delayed the launch of its Tel Aviv, Beirut and Beirut services until June 15. PEGASUS Pegasus Airlines, Turkey's national airline, has cancelled all flights to Iran, Iraq Kuwait, Bahrain, Dammam Riyadh Abu Dhabi Sharjah until June 1. QANTAS Australia's national carrier has added flights to Rome, Paris and London to respond to a surge in demand on European routes. The number of flights to Paris will rise from three to five weekly return flights, and the Perth to Singapore service will go up from daily to ten a week. A new schedule will be implemented gradually for flights starting in mid-April. It will run through late July. ROYAL MAROC Moroccan carrier announced that flights to Doha and Dubai will be cancelled until 30 June. SINGAPORE Airlines To meet increased demand, the carrier has extended its Singapore to Dubai flight suspension until August 2. It also added services on Singapore-London Gatwick (late March) and Singapore-Melbourne (late March to October 24). TURKISH AIRLINES SunExpress, Turkish Airlines joint venture with Lufthansa has cancelled flights until June 30, including to Dubai, Bahrain and Erbil. WIZZ AIR Low-cost airlines resumed their flights to Tel Aviv from May 28, but flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as flights to Amman in Jordan remain suspended. All flights to Medina have been suspended permanently. (Compiled by Josephine Mason and Jamie Freed. Elviira Loma, Tiago Branao, Agnieszka Olenka, Bernadette HOG, Boleslaw LaSocki, Romolo Tosiani. Matt Scuffham and Alexander Smith edited by Milla Nissi, Susan Fenton, Jonathan Ananda, Milla Nissi-Prussak, and Jonathan Ananda.
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Poland arrests employee of arms manufacturer suspected of spying
Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ, the Polish Defence Minister, announced on Friday that a PGZ employee had been detained on suspicion of spying for a foreign'state. Poland claims that its role as the hub for military supplies and other goods?to Ukraine makes it a 'target' for Russian spies who are trying to gather information on Kyiv’s efforts to repel Russia’s invasion, as well?as to engage in sabotage. Kosiniak Kamysz reported on X that "On May 27,... the department of military affairs detained a Polish citizen, an employee of a PGZ Group facility, on suspicion of espionage for a 'foreign'state." The district court of 'Poznan' ordered, on May 29th this year, the implementation of preventive measures in the form of a?temporary arrest? for a period?of 3 months. (Reporting and editing by Hugh Lawson; Anna Wlodarczak Semczuk)
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Indian airline IndiGo reports quarterly loss due to capacity restrictions and declining rupee
IndiGo, India's budget airline, reported a loss for the fourth quarter?on Friday. The country's leading airline was struggling with a deteriorating rupee and soaring fuel costs. The airline reported a loss for the quarter ending March 31 of 26.62 billion rupies ($280.2m), compared to a profit of 30,73 billion rupies in?the previous period. The airline was forced to reduce its domestic capacity in the third quarter by 10% after being ordered to do so by the aviation regulator of the country. This followed a series of mass cancellations that occurred during December, which led to the worst aviation crisis of the country and the sudden departure of the CEO. The revenue for the quarter grew by 1.3%. However, expenses increased at a faster rate, nearly 31%. IndiGo spends over 60% of its costs in dollars, directly or indirectly. A depreciating currency has also increased the overall cost for the company. IndiGo's forex loss was 48.82 billion rupees in the third quarter. This compares to a gain of 1.38 billion rupees a year ago. The airline's margins were also affected by the rising fuel prices as a result of supply restrictions following the war in Iran. IndiGo and other airlines that do not hedge their fuel have been struggling with the soaring prices of jet fuel as the Iran War pushed crude oil to over $100 per barrel. ($1 = 95.0000 Indian Rupees) (Reporting and editing by Nivedita Battacharjee in Bengaluru)
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China is against any country that uses freedom of navigation as a means to undermine China's sovereignty
China responded to the passage of a Canadian warship through the Taiwan Strait on Friday by saying that it firmly opposed 'any attempt' to undermine its security and sovereignty "under the pretense of freedom of Navigation". Canadian?media reported last week that the frigate HMCS Charlottetown 'transited' without being accompanied?by any allied ships. China asserts sovereignty over Taiwan, a democratically-governed island, and the strategic Taiwan Strait despite Taipei rejecting the claims. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that China respects all nations' rights to navigation as per international law. Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that the Taiwan Strait was an international waterway and all countries enjoyed a right to freedom of navigation. The ministry said it "closely monitored relevant developments by using joint?intelligence and surveillance mechanisms" but did not disclose proactively the movements of military vessels from allies. The Canadian Department of National Defence didn't immediately respond to our request for a comment. Reporting?by Joe Cash, Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard from Taipei, Writing by Liz Lee and Editing by Himani & Ros Russell.
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Georgia uncovers the worth of Stalin's wine collection, which includes 40,000 bottles
In a?dim, dim light, cobwebs are tangled from the ceiling and a musky, pleasant sweetness fills the air. This repository once housed a valuable?wine collection that was owned by 'Georgia’s most infamous child,?Josef Stalin. The?Georgian Government, which owns 40,000 French and Georgian rareties, opened the wine vault in Tbilisi this week for the first. The collection includes some wines dating back to the early 19th century. It will be auctioned off and the proceeds used to fund a wine school in Georgia. Irakli Gilauri of Gilauri Wines, who worked on the project with Georgia's Agriculture Ministry, said that the auction will help "put Georgia on collectors' maps". South Caucasus is marketed as the birthplace for wine. Archaeological?evidence shows that winemaking has been a tradition in this region since 8,000 BCE. Stalin, born in Georgia, led the Soviet Union between 1924 and 1953. He was a passionate wine collector and drinker. The collection includes wines from Bordeaux estates once owned by Russia's Tsar Alexander III, and his son Nicholas. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Soviets took over the Imperial Romanov Collection. Stalin then became its guardian and slowly added his favourite Georgian varieties. Victor Chen was excited to see the amber liquid in the dusty bottles. He had travelled from Dallas, Texas to 'Tbilisi. He said: "I feel like Indiana Jones opening a cave. It could be nothing or it could be something." He was referring to the fictional archaeologist from the film franchise. There aren't many historical moments left at this time. This could be one. Reporting by Lucy Papachristou, editing by Barbara Lewis
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BHP Electrical workers vote to strike at key Australian Iron Ore Export Hub
A union announced on Friday that hundreds of BHP's Electrical Workers at Port Hedland, in Western Australia, will vote on a potential strike action. This could disrupt iron ore exports from one of the largest export hubs of the world. Electrical Trades Unions (ETU) has begun the process to allow its members to authorize a strike. This could happen "very likely" by the end June if no pay deal is reached. After six months of stagnant talks, workers are now considering a strike after a failed attempt to reach an agreement with BHP, "the world's largest listed miner" in order to come up with a new labour contract. They want better pay and working conditions. Adam Woodage, state secretary of the union, told a Perth press conference: "Our members didn't take this lightly." BHP has stalled the negotiations for six months. The company has made little progress, and the movement that has occurred has been insulting to our members. Woodage said that a strike could have "significant impacts on operations" as well as bring the export hub to a standstill. BHP's spokesperson confirmed that the miner is negotiating with its port operation teams a "new agreement". The spokesperson said that "in the event of union disruptions on our sites, we will have contingency plans to protect our employees and continue operations in a safe, reliable manner." Port Hedland, Australia's largest iron ore port, is among the world's largest. It is connected to several BHP mines located in the Pilbara area and is used by BHP for all its iron ore in Western Australia. BHP's collective agreement covers 450 port workers. Around 200 of them are ETU members. The ETU announced that unionised workers would vote within the next two weeks on whether to approve work stops ranging between 15 minutes and 24 hours. Woodage stated, "We expect they'll support taking this action." BHP made a profit of?A$15billion ($10.73billion) last year. There's plenty in the bank to share with workers. Our members want a piece of this money. BHP shares were up 1.4% to A$61.45 during afternoon trading, following the benchmark?S&P/ASX 200, which was also up 1.2%. Separately the ETU and the Offshore Alliance, a union representing workers at the Ichthys Gas Plant in Darwin, are in negotiations with Japan's Inpex. The Offshore Alliance, a coalition of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), announced on Friday that the planned strike action would be delayed until the 2nd of June as negotiations progressed. $1 = 1.3978 Australian Dollars (Reporting from Helen Clark in Perth, Christine Chen in Sydney and Sherin Sunny at Bengaluru. Additional reporting by Alan Barona and Rashmi aich in Jamie Freed's office).
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DHS chief warns US that it could stop international flights and cargo at Newark due to immigration dispute
The U.S. Homeland Security Department announced on Thursday that the Trump administration could soon stop processing international passengers and cargo at Newark Airport because local law enforcement officials are not assisting federal immigration authorities in northern New Jersey. Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security at Fox News' "Fox and Friends", said that if things do not change soon we will have to take this step. He was referring to United Airlines' major hub near New York City. Mullin claimed that local police did not ensure that federal immigration officials were able to enter and exit the New Jersey detention centers and warned that he would reassign airport customs officials. Mullin stated that if (Customs), is not there to 'process international flights', those individuals will not be allowed into the United States when the airlines land. U.S. Airlines are taking this threat "very seriously" and have made calls to officials in the administration and legislators, warning them that a suspension of flights could be devastating. United declined to make a comment. Later, Acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche stated on Fox News that the option of stopping processing flights in all airports within sanctuary cities was "extreme", but it should be considered. Blanche stated, "We need to discuss all our options." "Whatever makes sense will be the answer, and what President Trump believes we should do." Mullin said on Tuesday that the Trump administration is preparing plans to stop international passengers and cargo from being processed at major U.S. Airports in "sanctuary Cities" which have refused to cooperate with a crackdown on immigration. This could have a major impact on international air travel, and the commerce of airports in Democratic States. Millions of tourists are expected to arrive in these states for the FIFA World Cup next month. The final will take place on July 19, in East Rutherford (New Jersey), about 12 miles away from Newark Airport. Mullin was reported to have privately informed U.S. Travel executives that his department may opt to stop processing international travelers' customs and immigrations. The U.S. Justice Department has published a list containing many major cities, including Boston, Denver and Chicago. Also included were Los Angeles, Newark, Seattle, San Francisco, Newark City, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles. Mullin first publicly made this threat in April. Democrats claim reforms are necessary to curb abuses committed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. This includes the murder of two U.S. Citizens in Minneapolis, Minnesota in January. The U.S. Travel Association stated that halting international flights at major airports could have devastating effects on the travel industry as well as communities who depend on international visitors. Last year, more than 50 millions international travelers visited the three main New York airports. Airlines for America, an association of major cargo and passenger airlines, stated that reducing?customs personnel at major airports could disrupt operations?for carriers and travelers, as well as the flow of international freight. Sean Duffy, the Transportation Secretary, did not support the idea of halting international travel at certain airports during a hearing before Congress last week. Duffy stated that "we shouldn't stop air travel in states where our politics are not supported." (Reporting and editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Nick Zieminski).
South Bow aims for a decision in 2027 on Canada-US oil pipe revival
The company announced on Friday that it had secured the shipper agreements it needed to move the project forward. The proposed 550,000-barrel-per-day Alberta-to-Wyoming pipeline, dubbed Prairie Connector, could increase Canada's crude exports to the U.S. by 12%, ?adding much-needed Canadian pipeline capacity.
South Bow, in collaboration with its U.S.-based partner Bridger Pipeline, has said that it had'secured 20 year binding contracts' from oil companies, through a process started this year to gauge interest. This?month, sources said that South Bow is close to achieving its goal of 450,000 bpd or 80% initial pipeline capacity.
PIPELINE - PARTLY ASSEMBLED in Canada
South Bow was spun off by TC Energy, the former Keystone XL promoter, in 2024 to takeover its oil pipeline business.
The new pipeline will not use the same route in the United States as an earlier project, which was canceled by former President Joe Biden in 2021. However, some of the Keystone XL pipe that has already been assembled on the Canadian border would be used.
The new proposal has been granted a cross-border permit by U.S. president Donald Trump. South Bow CEO Bevin Wizba said on Thursday that the company could not proceed until it had evidence of a "durable" permit, and that it would not be revoked in the future by another administration.
TPH Energy analyst AJ O'Donnell said that while the open season was successful in securing?shipper's commitments, there are still lingering risks with the U.S. Permit.
O'Donnell stated that "without assurances" that the new U.S. government would not revoke permits in 2029 as Biden did for KXL, it is likely the project will be stalled.
South Bow hasn't publicly disclosed the price of its project. However, ATB Capital Markets analysts estimated that it would cost $2.2 billion ($3 billion C$) and could take between two and three years to complete after an investment decision.
Canada is the fourth largest oil producer in the world, producing 5.5 million barrels per day. Forecasts indicate that this could rise to 6.1 millions bpd in 2030. Reporting by Amanda Stephenson, Calgary; Arathy Smasekhar, Houston Editing Rod Nickel
(source: Reuters)