Kuwait Airways is no longer selling tickets for flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy airport and London’s Heathrow, after the Transportation Department threatened legal action for its refusal to sell tickets to Israelis.
“Today, Kuwait Airways informed the U.S. DOT that they will be eliminating service between JFK and London Heathrow,” Namrata Kolachalam, a department spokeswoman, said Tuesday.
The airline didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Sorry, we were unable to process your request due to either no operating flight or no seats available,” the airline’s web site replied Tuesday, when asked for flights from JFK to Heathrow. But other flights directly to Kuwait City or to other destinations connecting through Kuwait are available.
The end of the route came after the Transportation Department investigated the airline’s refusal to sell Eldad Gatt, an Israeli citizen, a ticket from JFK to Heathrow in 2013.
“It is unfortunate that Kuwait Airways has decided to suspend its service, instead of accepting Israeli citizens as passengers,” said Jeffrey Lovitky, a Washington lawyer representing Eldad Gatt, who was refused a ticket because of the policy. “This demonstrates Kuwait’s stubborn refusal to give up its boycott of Israeli citizens.”
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced Sept. 30 that the airline broke the law because it refuses to sell tickets to Israelis.
On Oct. 29, department ordered the airline to “cease and desist from refusing to transport Israeli citizens between the U.S. and any third country where they are allowed to disembark,” according to a letter from Blane Workie, the department’s assistant general counsel for enforcement.
But Kuwait Airways has said it declined to sell Gatt a ticket to avoid running afoul of Kuwaiti law, which prohibits its citizens from entering “into an agreement, personally or indirectly, with entities or persons residing in Israel, or with Israeli citizenship.”
The airline filed a petition Nov. 24 asking the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review the dispute. The airline contends that it isn’t discriminatory because it will sell tickets to passengers regardless of race, national origin or religion – so long as they hold a passport valid in Kuwait.
Because of that Kuwait law, the U.S. dispute boiled down to flights that didn’t land in Kuwait, such as the airline’s leg between New York and London. The threat was that the Transportation Department could block flights to the U.S. unless the airline changed its policy.
Kuwait Airways hasn’t withdrawn its lawsuit against the department, so it could potentially resume flights if it wins in court. Gatt will do everything in his power to ensure that the airline doesn’t resume flights between New York and London until it accepts Israeli citizens as passengers, Lovitky said.
USA Today
American Airlines passengers accidentally bypass CBP
What airheads!
Airline and security officials at Kennedy Airport let 150 passengers arriving from an international flight leave the airport without going through customs, the Daily News has learned.
American Airlines Flight 1671 arrived at JFK from Cancun, Mexico, at 8:50 p.m. Friday.
When the plane landed, passengers walked out of the airport without having their passports or bags checked by Customs and Border Protection, sources told The News.
A source familiar with the matter said passengers disembarking the plane “just followed” a gate agent. The security snafu came just two days after ISIS released a video threatening New York City with a terrorist attack.
“Some passengers on Flight 1671 did not complete immigration and customs process upon arrival when they were inadvertently directed to the domestic terminal,” American Airlines said in a statement.
American Airlines contacted the passengers and directed them to return to JFK for customs processing. An official told The News on Sunday that 144 passengers had returned to the airport and gone through customs. The six that remain are all U.S. citizens, the official said.
American Airlines is working with Customs and Border Protection to ensure they “complete the process and to prevent this from happening in the future,” the company also said in the statement.
“None of us went through immigration or customs,” a passenger told The News, adding, “There were no signs for customs or anything. The only signs we saw were baggage claim and exit.”
The passenger complained Saturday that agents have “been harassing me with phone calls — they’re coming from high-up people at American Airlines, (Transportation Security Administration) and customs . . . . They’re very aggressive.” Another passenger also said that agents had been reaching out constantly.
“They’re telling me that I am here illegally, that I’m trespassing!” the passenger said. “They said, ‘If you don’t come in Monday, we’re sending FBI agents to your house.’ ”
Both passengers said they had to come from Connecticut to JFK to clear things up.
A spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency is “aware of and looking into the incident and is working with our counterparts to resolve it.”
The TSA, which screens passengers before they fly, declined comment, while the Port Authority said that the clearing of arriving international travelers is a federal responsibility. The airlines, it said, direct travelers to security areas. With Graham Rayman
Daily News
Turkish Airlines flight TK2 diverted to YHZ over bomb threat
Turkish Airlines plane resumed its trip to Istanbul around 6:50 a.m. AT Sunday after being diverted to Halifax Stanfield International Airport because of a bomb threat.
Five passengers were too afraid to re-board the plane and will have to make their own travel arrangements to get to Turkey.
No explosives were found on the Turkish Airlines plane, said RCMP.
Turkish Airlines Flight #2 was travelling from New York City to Istanbul when the threat was made.
RCMP searched the aircraft and luggage with police service dogs. At 4:25 a.m AT on Sunday the RCMP completed their search and no explosives were found.
The plane was then released back to Turkish Airlines, said RCMP.
There were 256 passengers and crew members on board, the Halifax airport tweeted early Sunday morning. There were no injuries.
The RCMP said in a series of tweets that the threat came in at 11:50 p.m. AT on Saturday.
“RCMP is looking to establish the origin of the threat and identify the person or persons responsible,” one tweet said.
Police said they will not comment on the details of the bomb threat.
Peter Spurway, a spokesperson for the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, said the airport was notified of the diverted flight shortly after midnight. It landed at 12:53 a.m. AT on Sunday.
The passengers disembarked about an hour later and were transported by bus to the terminal, where Spurway said they would be interviewed by the RCMP and processed by the Canada Border Services Agency.
This is the second flight diverted to Halifax due to a bomb threat in less than a week. On Tuesday night, a bomb threat forced Air France Flight 55 to divert to the airport with 262 people aboard.
Police searched the plane and found no explosives. That flight left Halifax on its way to France around 3:45 a.m. AT Thursday morning.
The Halifax Stanfield International Airport is no stranger to hosting planes in trouble. The airport has said it receives a couple of diverted planes every month, or about 20 in the run of a year.
Those planes divert to Nova Scotia for various reasons, including mechanical trouble or medical emergencies.
CBC News
A plane of the Turkish Airlines to link Istanbul to New York was diverted to Canada because of a bomb threat. The transfer of passengers and crew members was carried out safely at the Halifax airport.
A bomb threat caused a change in flight plan for an aircraft company Turkish Airlines between New York and Istanbul. The aircraft, carrying 256 passengers and crew members, was diverted to Canada.
The Canadian mounted police (RCMP) said it had landed safely in Halifax, capital of Nova Scotia in the east. “The RCMP is trying to establish the origin of this threat and to identify the person or persons responsible,” she said on Twitter.
Police said no details would be given on the bomb threat. “This report to the investigation,” said the RCMP in Nova Scotia. The aircraft was searched by police with dogs trained to detect explosives. Halifax Airport has specified that the transfer of the 256 passengers and crew members of the aircraft was carried out without a hitch.
The bomb threat was received on Saturday at 10:50 p.m. local (2:50 GMT) after takeoff the plane of the Turkish company of the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The plane landed in Halifax shortly before 1 am (5:00 GMT).
This incident comes as civil aviation officials are on high alert following the attacks of 13 November which made 130 dead and 350 injured in Paris. Two Air France flights had been diverted earlier this week due to bomb scares.
With AFP and Reuters
France 24 (via Google Tranlaste)
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