Update (17:17 Pacific time, 22 May 2026): On 22 May, the US government expanded the ban mentioned in the third paragraph of this story to include legal permanent residents of the USA. US citizens are not subject to the ban. Measures taken by the US government on 18 May to "protect the health and safety of the American public" in response to Ebola outbreaks in Africa have already forced one flight by a major airline to divert. On 20 May, an Air France flight from Paris to Detroit, Michigan was diverted to Montreal after it was determined that one of the passengers was from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to a 21 May report by CBS News. Entry to the USA by non-US passport holders who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan over the past 21 days has been restricted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for 30 days from 18 May. Subsequent to those measures, DHS said in a draft rule published to the Federal Register that all flights "carrying persons who have recently travelled from, or were otherwise present within" the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan must arrive at Washington Dulles. At that airport, the US government is "focusing public health resources to implement enhanced public health measures". CBS News reported on 20 May that it is "unclear how the new DHS rule impacts the CDC's order".Under the measures announced 18 May, the CDC and DHS will also co-ordinate with airlines, international partners and port-of-entry officials to "identify and manage travellers who may have been exposed to Ebola virus". Satish Pillai, the CDC's incident manager for Ebola response, said on 19 May during a call with media that the Ebola outbreak is a "fast-moving situation" and that the CDC had confirmed a case of an American infected with Ebola while working in the DRC. POTENTIAL DEMAND DESTRUCTION The restrictions on non-US passport holders could lead to some demand destruction on routes from Uganda, the DRC and South Sudan, as well as from other destinations to which persons who have recently been in those countries subsequently travelled. The latter case is tough to measure as it is difficult or impossible to track where those people went, but Cirium data can give insights into the former. The DRC, South Sudan and Uganda are all designated Level 4 by the US State Department in its travel advisories, indicating that people should not travel there. There are also no nonstop flights between the USA and Uganda, the DRC or South Sudan, Cirium fleets data shows, so only connecting traffic from those countries could be affected by the US government's measures. Some of the carriers that are exposed include Kenya Airways, which flies from Jomo Kenyatta International airport in Nairobi to John F Kennedy International airport, as well as Ethiopian Airlines, which dominates all three markets at the hub level, although its US services are routed via a West African tech stop, and so are not technically nonstop. Brussels Airlines, known for flying the DRC diaspora due to Belgium's historic links with that country, operates from Brussels to both John F Kennedy International airport and Washington Dulles International airport, the latter, of course, being the one to which DHS wants to route affected passengers. Those carriers could be forced to deny boarding to US-bound passengers that rub up against the CDC/DHS measures, possibly having to refund or rebook passengers. There may, therefore, be reduced load factors on their transatlantic legs while the measures are in place. UGANDA AND ENTEBBE INTERNATIONAL Uganda's main airport is Entebbe International, which serves both the town of Entebbe and the much larger capital Kampala. The airport offers multiple widebody and mid-gauge flights feeding potential US-bound itineraries. The below map shows to which African destinations Entebbe's passengers can fly with Uganda Airlines to connect onward nonstop to the USA. It excludes non-African connector destinations such as London and Dubai.

Air India chief executive Campbell Wilson has indicated that although he is eager to hand the reins to a successor, he is willing to wait for the right candidate. The carrier's recent difficulties have complicated its search for a successor to Wilson, who in April disclosed that he would be retiring from his role sometime in 2026. He joined Air India in 2022 amid the airline's privatisation under the Tata Group, after 70 years of government ownership. "In the last 12 months I had the occasion, for the first time in my 30-year aviation career, to learn that the collective noun for swans, black or otherwise, is a 'bevy'," Wilson said at a 21 May event at the Wings Club in New York. Nearly a year ago, on 12 June 2025, an Air India Boeing 787-8 crashed on take-off in Ahmedabad. It was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, with only one passenger surviving the accident. The crash also killed 19 people on the ground. "It was a devastating event for their [the victims'] families, for their loved ones, for the aviation community, and for us," Wilson says, adding: "The official investigations continue." That tragedy has been just one of several challenges for Air India over the course of 2025 and 2026. "We've contended with a kinetic war between India and Pakistan [and] the subsequent suspension of overflight rights over Pakistan that forces a much longer routing to Europe and North America," Wilson says. He notes that nearly half of Air India's deployed capacity has been affected by the change in flight paths. Additional recent challenges include "50% tariffs in the US", as well as "severely curtailed" visas for Indian students and businesspeople coming to the USA. He adds: "There have been two armed conflicts involving Iran and neighbouring states causing massive aviation disruption, whether it be to airspace, or a doubling of fuel price, or a 10% depreciation in the rupee." Nevertheless, he argues, over the last four years leadership at Air India has "taken an iconic airline that was on the brink of collapse and given it a future". Wilson expects to be leaving Air India "in a couple of months' time". "I was always very clear that this was a four-year term for me, and I want them [Air India's board] to go through it [the selection process]," he says. He adds: "I'm going to be flexible for as long as it takes for them to find someone and make sure that we do a good transition. We've gone from rebuilding a platform of an airline, which is now done, to now supporting an induction of some 600 new aircraft. "The next four years is going to be just as challenging as the past, albeit in a different way. And so the person that takes over will have their hands full, but I want to make sure the right person is in place to carry that forward."

Airbus will appeal a court ruling that found the airframer and Air France responsible for the crash of an A330 in 2009. The Paris court of appeal on 21 May decided that the two companies were guilty of manslaughter over the accident of Air France flight AF447, which killed all 216 passengers and 12 crew on board. The aircraft was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it crashed into the south Atlantic after a high-altitude stall triggered by unreliable speed indications caused by sensor icing. Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury says that "it is hard to understand the decision made by the Paris court of appeal, which stands in contradiction to previous judicial rulings". The manufacturer cites a 2019 judicial order to drop charges against Airbus and Air France, and their acquittal in 2023. Faury says that Airbus has since the crash been "steadfast" in its commitment to assist judicial authorities and technical investigators in understanding the accident and "draw every possible lesson" to enhance safety standards. "Safety is at the heart of everything we do," he asserts, adding: "It guides every decision we make and every action we take, every single day." French pilot union SNPL has welcomed the appeal court's decision, noting that it found it "unacceptable to place the responsibility for the outcome of this accident solely on the pilots". The ruling affirms that the crash "cannot be reduced to an isolated human error but is the result of multiple failures", the union adds.