Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights for Thursday and again Friday as Hurricane Matthew pelted the Florida coast with high winds and heavy rain. The Fort Lauderdale airport shut down on Thursday morning, and farther north the Orlando airport expected to do the same by nighttime. Before 2 p.m. Eastern time, flight-tracking service FlightAware.com reported that 1,500 Thursday flights within the US had been scrapped, with the largest numbers at Fort Lauderdale and Miami. American Airlines, which has a major hub in Miami, was the hardest-hit carrier, followed by Southwest and JetBlue. FlightAware said airlines had already cancelled 1,300 more flights scheduled for Friday. Delta Air Lines said cancellations were likely to spread to coastal Georgia and South Carolina Saturday. Airlines often cancel flights before storms hit to prevent passengers from being stranded at airports and to keep their planes in position to recover after the bad weather passes. Many airlines were letting passengers alter their plans and delay travel for a few days without incurring the usual fee for changing a ticket, which can be $200 for domestic flights. Some, including United, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, also said they would waive the fare difference for the new ticket.<br/>
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A UN accord to limit emissions from international air travel was formally adopted, the first global climate accord targeting a single industry. After nine days of debate, delegates from 190 nations approved the measure Thursday in Montreal, requiring companies to offset emissions growth after 2020 by funding environmental initiatives. It is the first global climate accord adopted since the Paris Agreement, which will enter into force next month. At least 60 nations representing more than 80% of aviation traffic have pledged to voluntarily participate in the system when it begins in 2020, including the US, China and most of Europe. The deal, which has drawn criticism from India and Russia, becomes mandatory for most nations in 2027. “What we have been able to do today is a bold decision. It is really a historic moment,” said Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu of Nigeria, president of the UN aviation agency’s council. The UN’s ICAO estimates the agreement would cost airlines between $5.3b and $23.9b annually by 2035. Exhaust from international flights accounts for about 2% of global greenhouse gases and is forecast to triple by 2050. The 15-year agreement would not force airlines to cut their pollution. Instead, companies would compensate for any emissions growth after the accord begins in 2020 by buying credits to support renewable energy development, forest preservation or other environmental endeavors. Airlines supported the accord. Despite the cost, companies said a single international standard would be cheaper and easier to follow than a patchwork of local programs.<br/>
China’s HNA Group, controlled by billionaire Chen Feng, agreed to buy the aircraft-leasing business of CIT Group Inc. for $10b in a deal that would create the world’s third-largest rental fleet. HNA’s Avolon Holdings will expand its lineup to 910 aircraft valued at more than $43b, including planes on order, the company said Thursday. The acquisition is scheduled to close in Q1 after regulatory and shareholder approval. “Our strategic objective is to build the No. 1 aircraft-leasing company in the world in terms of size, shape and scale,” said Domhnal Slattery, CEO of Avolon. “This transaction enables that journey,” he said, adding the CIT unit has a “top-class portfolio, great management team, well run and it was really the jewel in the crown of CIT’s non-banking business.” The purchase roughly doubles Avolon’s fleet and vaults it into the ranks of the top aircraft lessors. Founded in 2010, Avolon is betting on rising demand for global air travel and airlines’ desire to replace aging jets, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where China is poised to become the biggest aviation market within two decades. The deal doubles HNA’s more than $10 billion of acquisitions already announced this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and expands its travel and leisure business spanning airports, airlines and hotels.<br/>
Indian carriers have asked their pilots operating flights that overfly Pakistan to avoid landing there in an emergency situation. Unless there is an "extreme emergency", like fire on board, airlines have 'informally' told pilots to opt for Muscat or UAE flight information region on westbound flights, or head to Delhi, Mumbai or Ahmedabad on India-bound flights. "Flight despatchers are asking that Pakistani airports be avoided for emergency landings if possible. These instructions have not come in writing but verbally. Making an emergency landing in Pakistan is the last resort for us in an extreme emergency," said a senior pilot with a leading Indian carrier who regularly operates international flights. Confirming this, a senior commander of another big Indian airline said that such 'informal' instructions have been issued in the past too whenever relations with Pakistan have deteriorated.<br/>
Airbus sold 49 jets in September, but saw its net orders for the year knocked back by the cancellation of jets ordered by India's Kingfisher Airlines. Airbus cancelled 82 outstanding orders for jets for Kingfisher and its Kingfisher Red subsidiary, which had been among its most high-profile customers until the airline owned by drinks tycoon Vijay Mallya collapsed under large debts. Airbus said Thursday it had won 566 aircraft orders in the first nine months of the year but the net total fell to 380 from 438 a month earlier after 107 cancellations for Kingfisher. Boeing sold 460 jets between January and Oct 4, or a net total of 380, leaving the transatlanic rivals neck and neck after adjusting for cancellations. Although some analysts have criticized Airbus for clinging to orders for jets that won't be delivered, it had argued until now that leaving the commitments in place could help a potential buyer rescue Kingfisher. But prospects of a bail-out have faded. Airbus had already withdrawn a pledge to supply A380 and A350 long-haul jets to Kingfisher in 2014.<br/>