PARIS - France is preparing to put plans for new environmental taxes on the airline sector on hold, officials said, despite a government push to speed up moves towards a greener economy. Before the coronavirus crisis brought air traffic to a standstill, the sector had been fighting a losing battle against emissions taxes in Europe.

DUBLIN - The Irish government on Thursday tightened its COVID-19 travel restrictions by imposing quarantines on travellers from major holiday markets Italy and Greece, angering the country's dominant airlines Ryanair and Aer Lingus. A safe arrival "green list" cannot mitigate airline frustration.

DUBLIN - Ryanair expects the European Commission this week to unveil a new system of Covid-19 travel advice that will open up most regions of the continent to travel without quarantine, Chief Executive Eddie Wilson said. A regulatory patchwork in Europe caused Ryanair to curb its winter schedule.

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina could resume international and domestic commercial flights in October, a transport ministry source said this week, indicating a potential light at the end of the tunnel for one of the world's strictest travel bans due to the coronavirus. The country isolated itself early on in the crisis.

WASHINGTON - Major airlines want the U.S. and British governments to launch a passenger testing trial for the coronavirus for flights between London and New York to pave the way for a resumption of more international travel. The group pushes more testing of passengers as the "most effectice frontline defense".

TEL AVIV - El Al Airlines will on Monday fly Israel's first flight to the United Arab Emirates by a commercial carrier, an airline spokesman said on Friday, as the countries forge ahead with a deal to normalise ties. Exact flight route and landing times were still being worked on days before the historic flight.

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Israel is preparing for direct flights, over Saudi Arabia, to the United Arab Emirates as part of its normalisation deal with the UAE. The prime minister mulled air links from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi and Dubai amid easing tensions.

LONDON - In a reshuffle of its travel corridors list Britain removed Portugal from its Covid-19 quarantine restrictions on Thursday, but said rising infections elsewhere meant travellers arriving from Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago would have to quarantine themselves for two weeks.

DOHA - Qatar Airways is seeking at least $5 billion in compensation from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain for blocking it from their airspace, the state-owned carrier said on Wednesday. The airline has been banned from the airspace of the four countries since June 2017.

WASHINGTON - Indian ministry of civil aviation said on Tuesday it was considering allowing some international carrier flights to resume after Washington accused India of "unfair and discriminatory practices." The government is looking to establish "travel bubbles" to re-connect to country.

LONDON - Britain published new guidance for airlines and airports on how to operate safely to minimise the risks from coronavirus, adding to hopes that the country will soon agree deals to allow quarantine-free travel. The move show the government is preparing for a restart of aviation.

PARIS - France launched what it billed a 15-billion-euro ($17 billion) support plan in a bid to "save" its aerospace industry on Tuesday, accelerating research on a green jetliner and warning 100,000 French jobs could be lost due to the coronavirus crisis. The plan also involves aircraft financing for airlines.

LONDON - Spain is not in talks with Britain to allow unrestricted travel via "air bridges" and would prefer a Europe-wide approach to tourism this summer, a foreign ministry source in Madrid said, potentially complicating the UK's plans for the season.

LONDON - Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said he believed Britain's coronavirus quarantine will be struck down by the courts or dropped within weeks as some of Europe's biggest airlines prepare to file a legal challenge by the end of Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's administration plans to bar Chinese passenger carriers from flying to the United States starting in mid-June as it pressures Beijing to allow U.S. air carriers to resume flights, three U.S. and airline officials briefed on the matter told Reuters.

MUMBAI - Three large Indian states have sought to delay the planned opening of their airports on Monday as new cases of the novel coronavirus jumped by a record, complicating the federal government's plan to resume flights after a two-month lockdown.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government largely shut down international travel to the United States in March with a series of rapid-fire moves, but restarting it will likely be a longer, more piecemeal process that could be complicated by rising tensions with China.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. said there was "no valid basis" for the European Union to retaliate against U.S. goods in a long-running subsidy row after Boeing lost state tax breaks, but the EU said it was pressing ahead with its demand for tariffs. The WTO is expected to issue a decision on the EU tariff request in June.

SYDNEY - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joined Australia's coronavirus cabinet meeting on Tuesday as the neighbouring countries discuss reopening their borders to trans-Tasman travel following successes in containing the disease - a move that could serve as a "good model" for the international market.

PARIS - A common set of rules is needed to help facilitate the restart of global air travel, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said, adding that new measures must still allow airline operations to be economically viable.