The US government has restricted travel from eight countries in southern Africa to prevent transmission of Covid-19's highly infectious Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa on 24 November. US president Joe Biden said in a 26 November proclamation that entry into the country would be suspended beginning 29 November for non-US citizens who had been in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe during the preceding 14 days. "While new information is still emerging, the profile of the Omricron variant] includes multiple mutations across the Covid-19 genome, some of which are concerning," Biden states. "According to the World Health Organization, preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other variants of concern. Further, the WHO reports that the number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in the Republic of South Africa." United Airlines has been operating five flights per week between Newark and Johannesburg, and three flights per week between Washington DC and Accra, Ghana. United has so far not cancelled any flights. The Chicago-based carrier says that it is launching its Washington DC-Lagos, Nigeria route on 29 November as scheduled. Additionally, United will restart Newark-Cape Town, South Africa flights on 1 December as planned. "United continues to monitor how the new 212(f) travel restrictions to Africa may impact demand, and remains committed to maintaining a safe and vital link for essential supplies and personnel to transit between the African continent and the United States as feasible," the carrier says. "We don't have any adjustments to our schedule at this time." Delta Air Lines intends to operate 35 Atlanta-Johannesburg flights in December. "There are no planned adjustments to service at this time," the Atlanta-based carrier says.

Airline share prices have fallen sharply amid fears that a newly discovered coronavirus variant could disrupt global air travel again, after the UK put six southern African countries back on its red list and the EU proposed taking similar action.
The UK government announced late on 25 November that South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia would be added to its travel red list from midday local time on 26 November. Direct flights from the six countries will be banned until 04:00 on 28 November while the hotel quarantine system is put back in place. UK nationals arriving before that time after visiting any of these six countries within the last 10 days must self-isolate at home for 10 days and take PCR tests on days two and eight. Non-UK/Irish residents will be refused entry to England from midday on 26 November if they have visited any of the red-list countries, unless their visit was during transit and they remained airside. "As part of our close surveillance of variants across the world, we have become aware of the spread of a new potentially concerning variant, which the UK Health Security Agency has designated a variant under investigation," states UK secretary of state for health and social care Sajid Javid. "We are taking precautionary action to protect public health and the progress of our vaccine rollout at a critical moment as we enter winter, and we are monitoring the situation closely." British Airways says it will "be contacting affected customers and colleagues in South Africa and will update our website with the latest information". European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has indicated that similar action will be taken in the EU. In a 26 November Twitter post, von der Leyen wrote: "The EU Commission will propose, in close co-ordination with member states, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern [B11529]." The emergency brake mechanism can be enacted quickly for travel from outside the EU in the event that the epidemiological situation in a third country worsens, or a variant of interest or concern is detected. The Airlines Association of Southern Africa has urged the UK government to reconsider what it describes as a "hasty decision" to add the region to its red list. AASA chief executive Aaron Munetsi states: "With its announcement, the UK is delivering a body-blow to our region's travel and tourism sector. "The business and leisure air travel industry in southern Africa has only just begun to see green shoots emerge as governments have increasingly begun to relax and look to align and simplify their travel requirements and procedures. However, the UK's unilateral step is a major set-back that sets a worrying precedent." European airline share prices plummeted in response to the developments when markets opened on 26 November. British Airways parent IAG, EasyJet and Lufthansa all saw double-digit percentage drops in their share prices in early trading. Covid-19 infection rates in Europe had already been rising in recent weeks, prompting countries including Austria and the Netherlands to go back into full or partial lockdown.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency is commissioning research into the fire risk posed by lithium batteries in personal electronic devices (PEDs) of passengers and crew in aircraft cabins. EASA says the objective of the study, a tender for which has been issued, is to develop new emergency procedures and improve existing ones. Noting the constantly growing number of lithium metal and ion batteries on aircraft, the EU regulator states: "Lithium batteries, regardless of whether they are contained in equipment or not, are one of the main causes of incidents reported in the cabin. The main risks are fire and smoke, which can lead to catastrophic events." There are currently no limits on the number of lithium batteries that can be brought on board. Meanwhile, EASA says, battery power limits "are not based on any scientific data". Fire tests will be conducted as part of the project to provide "evidence for the establishment of limits (power output and quantity)" and to assess what effects battery number and energy have on fire risk. A key objective is to better understand causes, consequences and patterns of lithium-battery thermal runaways, EASA says. As lithium batteries can be both an ignition source and fuel for existing fires, the regulator also wants to determine fume toxicity and the risk of smoke penetration in the cockpit. EASA says it will separately assess fumes coming from batteries and materials in which batteries may be embedded. While tests will be focused on items that comply with current regulations, the study should additionally consider "risks posed by potentially undeclared items and predictions for future developments", EASA adds. With the EU-financed project, the regulator wants to support operators in assessing fire risks associated with lithium batteries and "identify the need for safety promotion for passengers", it says.