A deal to limit carbon emissions from global civil aviation could be voluntary for the first five years instead of mandatory for certain countries under the current proposal, four sources familiar with the matter said. Facing an October deadline, countries have been unable so far to agree on the metrics that would oblige participants to be included, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are involved in the talks and the idea of a voluntary first phase has not been made public. ICAO meets Sept. 27 to Oct. 7 and it will be under pressure to finalise a deal that would cap the carbon pollution of all international flights at 2020 levels. Aviation was excluded from last December's climate accord in Paris when countries agreed to limit the rise in global temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. One source from an Asian member state of the ICAO said many countries were receptive to a voluntary first phase. A second source, a Western state negotiator, said that the deal would be effective if the countries that generate most of the world's aviation emissions join. "What's going to make or break this is knowing who is going to be in the first phase," the Western negotiator said. Airlines from countries that voluntarily participate would have to limit their emissions or offset them by buying carbon credits from designated environmental projects around the world.<br/>
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Typhoon Nida battered Hong Kong Tuesday, causing over 180 flight cancellations as the city virtually shut down, with low-lying areas put on flood alert. Nida, the first major typhoon of the season, has now been downgraded to a severe tropical storm and is moving inland. A limited number of flights arrived at Hong Kong Airport, with the first departures expected during Tuesday afternoon. Hong Kong carriers Cathay Pacific and Dragonair said flights had been cancelled during the storm, but were hoping to have limited departures from 14:00 (2 pm).<br/>
US airlines marked the second-sharpest decline on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, following a weak revenue report from Delta. Passenger revenue for each seat flown a mile fell 7% in July from a year earlier, the country’s second-largest carrier by traffic reported Tuesday. The Atlanta-based airline blamed bad bets on currency exchange, excess seat supply on trans-Atlantic flights and reduced prices for tickets booked shortly before travel. “The group is off on the fact that you’re probably going to have negative headlines on PRASM numbers for July, which should not have been a surprise,” said Stephens Inc. analyst Jack Atkins. Delta warned investors two weeks ago that revenue for each available seat mile could be weak. “Maybe there was some expectation that things strengthened in the back half of July. I was not assuming that.”<br/>Airlines’ so-called unit revenue has fallen for more than a year, in part because of heavy competition in certain US markets and an oversupply of seats in some regions overseas. Delta’s weak performance last month means it will need a sharp recovery in September to meet its outlook for this quarter, UBS Securities analyst Darryl Genovesi said. The company had forecast that unit revenue would fall 4 to 6% in the period and said it would trim capacity next month.<br/>
Australian travellers could face lengthy delays at the nation's airports next week as thousands of Department of Immigration and Border Protection staff walk off the job. The Community and Public Sector Union has notified the department its members will strike for 24 hours from midnight on August 12, with international airports, ports and other sites likely to be affected. Some CPSU members in other departments will also hold a one-hour stop work meeting on the day. The action is in protest over the continuing enterprise bargaining deadlock which has dragged on for nearly three years. Around three-quarters of the Commonwealth's 150,000 public servants remain without an enterprise bargaining agreement despite several attempts to break the deadlock and a series of failed votes. Many of the Commonwealth's largest departments are yet to reach an agreement with staff, with workplace rights and conditions central to the union's demands. The CPSU said the impacts of the nationwide strike would vary from location to location, but with 60-70% of front-line airport staff union members, the impact could be significant.<br/>"As with past strikes the impact of this action is likely to vary from place to place, but may cause delays for international air passengers," CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said.<br/>