Tag: air travel

UK Airports Begin Replacing Passport Checks With Facial Recognition

In the UK, the government is now selling a switch to contactless facial recognition at airports as a time-saving measure for travelers.

And a major time-saving it is not – five seconds shaved off the previous 20 to 25 seconds it took to use an eGate.

The process of scanning your face instead of your passport is now in place at East Midlands Airport, and will be expanded to 13 airports by early 2027, the Home Office has announced.

The way it works is that your face is photographed as you approach the gate, and this is then compared to a gallery of passport photographs that the airlines have sent to border control.

But don’t think you can leave your passport at home – the government has made sure to inform citizens that they should keep it with them at all times.

This new “convenience” is available to British citizens first, with other nationalities to be onboarded in the coming months.

And what a win it is – for the government, that is. “This is a win for travelers coming to our brilliant country,” said Phil Douglas, Director General of Border Force.

He added, “Our digital transformation also builds on our work this summer to extend eGates to children aged eight and above, making life a little easier for families.”

The eGates are now available to children as young as eight, provided they are at least 120cm tall, and are traveling with an adult who is using the automated gates.

The government’s announcement was met with enthusiasm by the airports, with East Midlands Airport Managing Director Steve Griffiths declaring his facility to be “delighted” to be the first to introduce contactless eGates.

Keep reading

Air Traffic Control Captures Moments Before Plane Traveling From Bermuda to Boston Mysteriously Vanishes

Per The New York Post: “Crews from the Boston-based Coast Guard cutter William Sparling rushed to the scene off the coast of Massachusetts and were sifting through wreckage to identify parts of the downed aircraft, a USCG spokesperson told The Post Saturday night.”

A Canadian medical plane traveling from Bermuda to Boston, carrying six people, vanished very early Saturday morning.

No Americans were on the doomed plane, according to ABC News.

The Gulfstream G-100 departed Bermuda at approximately 12:40 Saturday morning and plunged 10,000 feet before it lost communication with the FAA shortly after 1:20 am.

The FAA issued a Search and Rescue alert, according to Fox News.

Air Traffic Control Audio captured the moments before the plane vanished.

The US Coast Guard is currently searching for the missing aircraft.

Four Canadians and two Bermudians were reportedly on the flight.

“You’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?” the Air Traffic Controller said to the pilot.

“You’re coming in a little weak so I didn’t hear what your response was, if you were declaring an emergency or not,” the air traffic controller said.

Keep reading

Israeli PM Netanyahu Makes Most Of FlyDubai Terror Attack As Elections Approach

It is too early to determine whether Iran was behind Monday’s alleged attempt to sabotage Flydubai Flight FZ1073, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in overnight media interviews.

However, the Israeli premier said his country would help determine the motives of the attacker and any other accomplices. Netanyahu spoke to Fox News’s Sean Hannity and CNN in the interviews, given overnight, after he had told the media earlier in the day that a co-pilot had stabbed the captain of the Boeing 737, which was carrying 174 people, including 174 Israeli citizens, and attempted to crash the plane over Israel.

He described the incident as “an extremely serious security incident” that had been averted by the “heroic” actions of the passengers and crew on board, preventing what he termed “a 9/11-type disaster.” Flight FZ1073 took off from Dubai’s Airport on Monday at 1:15 p.m. Local time, and had been en route to Tel Aviv, in Israel, when it suddenly began plummeting downwards, issuing a distress signal, as it dropped some 14,000 feet in less than half a minute, according to the flight-tracking service, Flightradar24, cited by the news service Reuters.

The plane managed to make an emergency landing at the Al Mulayah Airfield in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. All 174 passengers, including the majority of Israeli citizens on board, were safely returned to Israel.

The two pilots on board, including the captain, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, were hospitalized for wounds sustained during the attempt to sabotage the plane. The captain is reported to be in stable condition, according to the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

A Shin Bet delegation is set to travel to the UAE in order to conduct security talks with the Emirates’ authorities, ahead of the return of the hundreds of Israeli travelers who were stranded in Dubai following the Flydubai suspension of all flights to and from Israel pending an investigation into the causes of the near catastrophe.

In his initial assessment of the attempted sabotage, Netanyahu said that a pilot who was identified as the co-pilot of FZ1073, an Omani national, had attacked the captain with a weapon, in an attempt to bring down the plane carrying 174 people over Israel. The stabbed captain had managed to open the cockpit door and the passengers and crew, including another pair of pilots from Flydubai who were traveling on the plane as passengers, had collectively managed to overpower the co-pilot and take control of the plane in order to land safely in Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu said that he had spoken with Saudi authorities and that they had arrested the pilot and were questioning him in connection with the attempted sabotage of the plane carrying 174 people, mostly Israelis, on Monday. An Israeli passenger, Yaniv Hayun, had entered the cockpit and subdued the attacking co-pilot with the help of another crew member, enabling the two other pilots from Flydubai to take over the plane, in order to land safely with all 174 passengers on board, the premier said, hailing the heroic actions of the passenger and the two pilots in saving the lives of 174 people.

Netanyahu had written on his social media pages earlier in the day, saying that he had met the heroic Yaniv Hayun and captain Machchhar, who had fought back against his attacker and opened the cockpit door, enabling the passengers to overpower the co-pilot and take control of the plane in order to save 174 lives. The premier wrote that “we will get to the root of this attacker, whether he had accomplices, whether Iran was behind it.

It is too early to say.” In his interview with Hannity, Netanyahu said that he had spoken with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and that the two leaders had agreed that Israel would join the investigation into the cause of the attempted sabotage. The premier said that he had received no specific warning or intelligence about any possible threat to the flight, although there were threats of possible attacks by Iranian jihadist proxies against Israelis abroad, which were generally known to Israeli security services.

As a result of the attempted sabotage, Netanyahu said that he had instructed all relevant security institutions to prepare and to increase security in order to deal with any possible “worst case scenarios” that may arise, as well as to tighten checks on pilots flying into Israel.

The incident was described by Defense Minister Israel Katz as an “attempted jihadist attack” that had been thwarted by heroic Israeli passengers. Flydubai has suspended all flights to and from Israel, pending an investigation into the causes of the near disaster, and cautioned against speculating about the possible causes of the attempted sabotage of the plane.

Keep reading

Iran Vows To ‘Paralyze’ Regional Airports Which Prevent Its Flights From Landing

Facing crippling US sanctions against its aviation sector as part of the Trump/Bessent Economic D-Day initiative, Iran is warning that if regional countries join the sanctions action, their own airports could be targeted.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has on Wednesday put neighboring states who are allies of Washington on notice. The statement warned their airports will be “paralyzed” if they cooperate with US attempts to prevent the landing of Iranian airliners.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared on Monday that by Wednesday. Sept. 23, “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world.“

He warned that any airports or companies providing fuel, landing, and ticketing for sanctioned Iranian entities risk dollar-system exclusion.

Already Turkey has taken the dramatic action of canceling all flights in the foreseeable future for various Iranian carriers.

According to more of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council statement, delivered via its chief, Mohsen Rezaei, “We ask all the countries of the region not to join America’s adventure. If they do not allow Iranian aircraft to travel, their own airports will not be able to have flights either.”

“You are our friends, but you should not join America’s ranks. You should prevent the war from spreading,” he added. Throughout the prior seven months of war with the US, Iran has shown a willingness to target major civilian hubs, particularly in neighboring Kuwait.

Iran is defiantly planning to press forward with its commercial airline operations. While some countries are complying with the US order, China is clearly not…

Keep reading

Bessent Declares All Iran Airlines To Be ‘Shut Down Around The World’ Wednesday

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared on Monday that by Wednesday Sept. 23, “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world.“

“If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he described.

The new warning and ‘promise’ was issued after the US earlier this month imposed sanctions on “all remaining Iranian airlines” which had yet to face such penalties – thus Bessent’s new declaration is that these entities are about to collapse under the weight of Washington actions, which now is to include secondary targeting.

The Treasury Department has also lately targeted Iranian companies and industries supporting Iran’s aviation sector.

Some 27 airlines have already been sanctioned – also most recently the major Mahan Air has faced expanded sanctions (after first being targeted by Washington all the way back in 2011).

The Treasury has famed all of this as part of efforts to deny the Iranian government the ability to move “weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo”.

Bessent stated to CNBC that all Iranian airlines will be shut down globally on Sept. 23 – given that any fuel, landing, and ticket providers involved with the companies risk dollar-system exclusion.

Ironically, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and his delegation is expected to fly into New York City just the day prior, on Tuesday – to attend the UN General Assembly. He is set to give a formal address to the UN body on Wednesday.

This will provide rare opportunity for potential White House diplomacy to take place on the sidelines, which could happen as early as Tuesday.

As for the heavily sanctioned aviation industry, in recent years the Islamic Republic has suffered some significant aerial disasters, which included the May 19, 2024 death of President Ebrahim Raisi. His military helicopter went down in a rugged, mountainous area of northwestern Iran.

Keep reading

Trump Declares an End to Selling Canada’s Bombardier Planes in the US Unless They Build in the US as Trade War Escalates

President Trump on Monday escalated the trade war with Canada, announcing that Bombardier, a Canadian airplane manufacturer, will no longer be allowed to sell its jets in the United States unless they build in the US.  

Last month, Trump slapped 50% tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods. Canada’s Mark Carney, in response, reportedly announced plans to impose tariffs of 15% to 50% on American goods.

Now, Trump is threatening to decertify Canadian business jets if manufacturing isn’t moved to the United States.

“NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren’t good enough!” Trump said, accusing the company of “treating America like a piggybank.”

“Over 50% of their revenue comes from the United States — They live off American Buyers, American Companies, American Airports, and American Service — All while Canada blocks our GREAT American Banks, and Companies, throughout the U.S.A.”

“BUY AMERICAN. FLY ON AMERICAN AIRLINERS. ENJOY AMERICAN LIQUOR AND BEVERAGES. SAIL ON LAKE AMERICA. AMERICA FIRST!” Trump added.

NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren’t good enough! Over 50% of their revenue comes from the United States — They live off American Buyers, American Companies, American Airports, and American Service — All while Canada blocks our GREAT American Banks, and Companies, throughout the U.S.A.

They even blocked Gulfstream Aerospace from doing business in Canada — Completely unjust and unfair! That Era is OVER! If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a “piggybank.”

BUY AMERICAN. FLY ON AMERICAN AIRLINERS. ENJOY AMERICAN LIQUOR AND BEVERAGES. SAIL ON LAKE AMERICA. AMERICA FIRST! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP

Keep reading

Zelensky Threatens To Make Russian Airspace Unsafe For Civilian Aviation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a warning to airlines, their insurers, and airport operators around the world Monday — saying Ukraine’s drone campaign over Russian territory has made it too dangerous for commercial flights to enter Russian airspace.

The statement was notable for its candor. Zelensky insisted Ukraine was not threatening civilian aircraft — but then made clear that Ukraine’s drone operations would intensify to a point where civilian planes simply have no safe place in Russian skies.

“Drones in Russian skies will be such that this must be taken into account. There are no more safe moments in Russian skies. Civilian aviation has no place among drones.”— Volodymyr Zelensky

Zelensky added that Russian airspace “will de facto be closed — the war Russia started is closing its skies.” The framing offers political cover, but the operational reality is plain: Ukraine is deliberately escalating drone operations over Russian territory in ways that endanger commercial aircraft, and Zelensky is telling the world to plan around it.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry announced it will brief international aviation bodies including ICAO, pressing for a formal airspace closure designation. The move affects dozens of airlines — primarily from Asia and the Middle East — that have continued routing flights over Russia to save fuel costs. Zelensky is now putting them on notice: fly over Russia at your own risk.

The warning came the same day Ukraine launched what Russian officials described as a 516-drone assault across multiple Russian regions. Some of those drones crossed into Estonian airspace — NATO territory — prompting a scramble of alliance fighter jets. Ukraine also struck Ust-Luga, Russia’s largest Baltic Sea oil export terminal.

Whether framed as a warning or a threat, the effect is the same. Zelensky is deliberately creating conditions in which civilian aviation cannot safely operate over Russian territory — and using that as a weapon of economic and diplomatic pressure. The airlines, insurers, and regulators who ignore that signal do so at their own risk.

Keep reading

DEI Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Still Playing COVID Theater, Performatively Masked Up at DC Airport

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was filmed being escorted through a DC airport this week, still performatively wearing a face mask.

The video shows the Justice walking through the terminal with security as if it were still 2020.

Her security team was not wearing masks.

No declared public health emergency has required or justified airport masking in 2026.

Keep reading

Dallas Airport Cancels Plans to Install Islamic Foot Washing Stations After Governor Abbott Intervenes

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Friday evening canceled plans to install Islamic “Wudu” foot-washing stations.

As TGP reported this week, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the project “consists of adding Ablution stations to existing concourse level restrooms in Terminal D, one Men’s ablution station in existing men’s restroom and one Women’s ablution station in the existing women’s restroom,” and is privately funded.

The construction was set to begin in about a week and would have cost $300,000.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) earlier Friday evening announced he was working to block Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) from installing Islamic wudu washing stations.

Governor Abbott ordered a review of all state grants to DFW and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) for possible revocation.

“These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal,” said Governor Abbott in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Keep reading

No Fourth Amendment In American Airports?

Do you, as an American citizen, have to hand over your cell phone — along with the access code to open it — upon a (warrantless) demand by a border agent at the airport?

There’s a case grinding through the courts about that right now because one man, a Mr. Sam Tunick, refused.  

Not only did he refuse but he had an app on his phone that triggered its erasure once you keyed in a particular code to open it.  That was the code he gave CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) when they demanded his code to open it.  And then his phone was, indeed, erased right there on the spot, in the hands of the CBP agent.

That’s when CBP got really p***ed off.

According to the reporting on his case, this man was not a criminal.  He was not under suspicion or surveillance for anything, so far as we know. He is not related to Spencer Tunick, an artist who famously creates mass nude photo shoots in public places. He was, in point of fact, a left-wing activist with environmental interests, but, again, without any contact with or prior interest from law enforcement that we know of.

He was just a guy.  Coming home from an international trip (the Dominican Republic.).

You may well be thinking, “A left-wing activist with an erasure code?  Sounds suspicious!”

Let me pause to explain why I don’t think so.

A “right-winger” I know just traveled internationally recently and she traveled with a burner phone to avoid exactly this kind of search in another country.  It was England specifically.  

In England there is no Fourth Amendment and they can search your phone when you land.  They also have no First Amendment and they have terrible censorship laws now.  You can be arrested and jailed for social media posts.  Even some perfectly benign ones, like “Islam is incompatible with Liberty” — that kind of thing.

The Dominican Republic also has no Fourth Amendment and if they simply suspect you have contraband or are engaged in some other illegal activity (so a very wide berth), they have every right to inspect your phone.  Maybe this young man just didn’t want the hassle. Maybe this app was this “left-winger’s” choice instead of a burner, and in the heat of the moment, decided to deploy it once facing our own CPB here in the U.S.

In short, I don’t find it suspicious at all knowing the legal overreach climate we are living in now.  And we certainly can’t be searching American citizens and seizing their devices based on politics alone.  I hope we can all agree on that.

Back to the case:

One attorney, Mike Fox of the Cato Institute characterized Mr. Tunick’s situation this way: “This is new, uncharted territory.”

The Supreme Court has never ruled on your Fourth Amendment rights as they specifically relate to your cell phone at American airports/border crossings.  They have ruled on whether or not your phone is searchable in the interior of the United States and the answer is “no” — not without a warrant.

But somehow an American in an American airport on American soil has to surrender his rights to an American customs agent?  What is this sorcery?

Let’s review the Fourth Amendment, in its entirety:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Supreme Court has ruled on Fourth Amendment exceptions at border crossings, but not cell phones in particular.  That’s why you have to go through customs and scanners and open your luggage, etc.  We’ve all been doing it forever without a thought.

But your phone ought to be a separate matter entirely, containing as it does, your digital “papers and effects.”  According to the available reporting, there was no “probable cause” to search Mr. Tunick. CPB wasn’t looking for anything specific, which is what a warrant would demand.  They just wanted to go out on a scenic drive, seeing what they could see on his phone.

Hell. No.

Keep reading