Global airline passenger traffic grew 6.8% in 2015, with the Middle East region growing the fastest, preliminary data released by ICAO showed. US carriers were ranked the top three in the world by revenue passenger kilometre, with American Airlines taking the top position. Atlanta Airport was the world's busiest airport by number of passengers, followed by Beijing Capital Airport and Dubai Airport, ICAO said. The global load factor hit a 10-year high of 80.2% in 2015, with North America recorded the highest load factor globally, at 83.5%. Global freight traffic grew more slowly last year, despite strong gains in passenger volume, reflecting stagnating world trade development, ICAO said.<br/>
general
Big airlines are making waves in the oil market for the first time since prices went into a tailspin nearly two years ago, betting this may be their best chance to lock in cheap jet fuel for years to come, industry and market sources say. A number of airlines moved last week to place significant oil price hedges for 2017, 2018 and even 2019, according to three trading sources familiar with money flows. They declined to specify companies, but said it was the largest flurry of such activity in more than a year. A fourth trading source indicated that bigger trades occurred in the over the counter market last week. While still small relative to previous years, when some carriers hedged as much as 40 percent of their fuel costs, the recent activity was robust and included larger players, the source added. The renewed interest suggests that airlines executives who were stung by billions of dollars in hedging-related losses last year are more confident that they're buying at the bottom, a further sign of shifting sentiment in the oil market after an over 60-percent price slump since mid-2014 . <br/>
Demand for global air freight dropped in February after a US port strike had boosted the previous year's figures and the timing of the Chinese New Year hurt volumes, IATA reported. Freight volumes traditionally increase in the weeks leading up to the New Year holiday, which last year occurred later in February. "The air freight business remains a difficult one. February's performance continues a weak trend. And there are few factors on the horizon that would see this change substantially," IATA Director General Tony Tyler said.<br/>
A US FAA advisory panel has recommended that regulators set new rules allowing drones to fly over members of the public if the aircraft meet new standards. A report issued by the 27-member panel, which included representatives from the drone, aviation and technology industries, recommended that the FAA limit the risk of serious injury to less than 1 percent but allow drone makers to determine whether their products meet the standard. An FAA official said the agency will consider the panel's recommendations as it crafts new regulations that could eventually allow commercial drone flights over people, an option that is vital to plans for package delivery services being pursued by online commerce companies Amazon and Google.<br/>
Airport security checks giving check-in staff a "board" or "no board" message for each passenger have been introduced for all travellers leaving Australia for international destinations in a bid to stop the flow of foreign fighters to Islamic State. The outbound passenger checks, which supplement long-running inbound checks, were mandated as part of a bill aimed at countering foreign fighters in 2014, but took time to roll out to all airlines. Taking just seconds the new technology gives a "board" or "no board" message to the check-in agent or automated kiosk. Carriers will receive a financial penalty each time they fail to provide advance passenger processing information for an outbound traveller, just as they do for inbound travellers. There are now 2m checks a month processed through the newly installed outbound database.<br/>