US airports trotted out friendly companion dogs to calm jittery travelers and offered perks including free parking on Wednesday as throngs of people rushed toward their Thanksgiving holiday celebrations. Up to 2.8m people per day, about 600,000 more than average, are expected to fly in the US over the coming six days, making it a busy period for travel, according to the trade group Airlines for America. Airports will not be the only crowded places as some 48.7m people, the most since 2007, are expected to travel 50 miles or farther for the holiday, according to motor club AAA. It said the 1.9% increase from last year's level reflected an improving economy and low gasoline prices. To relieve passengers' anxiety, airports in cities including Chicago and Memphis, Tennessee, have deployed therapy dogs to wander around terminals with their owners to help ease stress among travellers. At Chicago's O'Hare and Midway International Airports, the dogs in service this week include a Jack Russell Terrier mix and a German Shepherd mix provided by a local charitable group, Canine Therapy Corps. "Just the entertainment of a dog distracting your attention for a least a little while helps to improve your experience at the airport," said Ann Davidson, the group's operations manager.<br/>
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Travellers flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport this holiday weekend may be getting through security screenings quicker than expected. The TSA and United Airlines have opened four new automated screening lanes to help speed traffic at the checkpoints in Terminal C. Two of the lanes opened Tuesday, while the other two started operating Wednesday. TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said new technology at the lanes will cut the time travelers spend in security screening by as much as 30 percent. She said the new lanes are the first to appear at airports in the New York City region. Seventeen new lanes overall are planned at Newark Liberty airport, which handles about 35m passengers a year. The remaining lanes should be installed in the near future.<br/>
Airbus is preparing to stage the maiden flight of its largest twin-engined airplane, the A350-1000, stepping up a war for sales in a market segment dominated by US rival Boeing. Barring bad weather that could lead to a postponement, Thursday's roughly three-hour debut will add a new 366-seat member to the lightweight carbon-fibre A350 family, which entered service with the smaller A350-900 early last year. It is part of a game of leapfrog at the top of the market for twin-engined long-haul jets, as the dominant planemakers vie to outdo each other in size and efficiency in a category expected to generate $1t in orders over the next 20 years. It is also at the center of a new subsidy row between Europe and the United States at a time of protectionist pressures on both sides of the Atlantic. The WTO is expected to rule in coming days that Boeing received at least one strand of banned support for its response to the A350-1000, known as the 777X. Airbus said the A350-1000, a stretched version of the model which entered service last year, was scheduled to take off from its Toulouse base at around 0930 GMT on Thursday, returning there later, in an outing that marks the start of roughly a year of flight testing. The US says the plane and its smaller A350 sister model could only get off the drawing board thanks to damaging European subsidies, in a dispute likely to rumble on long after the A350-1000 enters service in the second half of 2017. The aircraft, which sells for $356m at list prices, is designed to compete with Boeing's 777-300ER, the most successful version of the US planemaker's popular 777 family.<br/>
Bombardier has received the same type rating for its CS100 and CS300 airliners from Transport Canada and the European Aviation Safety Agency. The rating means minimum conversion from one type to the other for pilots and maintenance procedures. Bombardier said the CS100 and CS300 have over 99 percent of parts in common, with only the centre fuselage section longer on the CS300. The CS100 first flew in September 2013 and entered service in July 2016 with SWISS. The CS300 had its maiden flight in February 2015 and will enter service next month with airBaltic.<br/>
Federal safety investigators have been unable to identify the mystery object that prompted the pilots of a Porter Airlines flight to take evasive action over Lake Ontario. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has all but ruled out a drone, saying the description provided by the pilots doesn’t appear to match any drone on the market. While still classifying the Nov. 14 incident as a close call, the board has decided not to proceed with an investigation that would produce a formal report. “This incident will remain identified as a near collision with an unidentified airborne object,” agency spokesperson Karine Eyamie said. “The description and size of the object does not match any known commercial or consumer available unmanned aerial vehicle,” she said. The Porter Dash 8 turboprop aircraft was over Lake Ontario en route to Toronto when the pilots put their plane into a sudden dive to avoid a mid-air collision with an unidentified object. The manoeuvre caused minor injuries to two flight attendants.<br/>
Pilots for the Air Transport Services Group Inc. unit that hauls packages for Amazon.com Inc. and DHL Worldwide Express were ordered back to work by a federal judge, halting a strike that threatened to disrupt holiday deliveries. US District Judge Timothy Black in Cincinnati gave a nod to the holiday shopping rush in granting ABX Air’s request for a temporary restraining order for pilots to return to the cockpit. “The public expects that purchases and shipments will be delivered in a timely fashion,” Black said in Wednesday’s ruling. “Absent an injunction, ABX, its customers and the public will suffer immediate, irreparable harm. Imagine Christmas without Amazon!” The strike began Tuesday morning and forced the cancellation of dozens of flights. Julie Ford, a lawyer for the pilots union, said the union has withdrawn picket lines to comply with the order, which is effective for five days under federal law. “The union is obviously disappointed,” Ford said. The pilots will make a decision on how to proceed next week, she said.<br/>
Chinese online travel agent Ctrip has agreed to buy UK-based Skyscanner in a deal worth GBP1.4b. Skyscanner said Ctrip had signed a definitive agreement with the majority shareholders of Skyscanner Holdings and the Chinese company will offer to acquire the remaining shareholders’ shares. “Skyscanner is one of the largest travel search platforms in the world,” Ctrip chairman James Jianzhang Liang said. “Skyscanner will complement our positioning at a global scale.” Skyscanner’s CE Gareth Williams said the company will remain operationally independent after the deal closes at the end of the year.<br/>
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, has recently made Wi-Fi access available for all visitors in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 of the airport. Wi-Fi was previously available only for departing and arriving passengers, but now “those intending to pick-up comers and airport visitors who are not inside the terminals and need internet connection can use this Wi-Fi corner facility,” state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II president director Muhammad Awaluddin said. Provided by the airport in cooperation with state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom, the Wi-Fi corner reportedly offers internet speeds of 100MB per second. Soekarno-Hatta reportedly plans to integrate the quality of their internet and model all their business processes into a digital platform, as the name of the airport itself will be reintroduced as Soekarno-Hatta Digital Aeroplex.<br/>
A Cessna Caravan cargo plane skidded off the runway at Aminggaru Airport in Ilaga, Papua, on Wednesday, forcing authorities to temporarily close the airport to allow for the removal of the aircraft. The incident occurred when the plane belonging to airline company Jhonlin Air Transport was about to land at the airport at 8:52 a.m. local time. “We have to close the airport as an operation to empty the aircraft’s fuel tank is underway. It will be later moved to the airport apron. Hopefully, the airport can resume its operations tomorrow [Thursday],” Aminggaru Airport head Dani Joko said. He said the Caravan plane, which carried cargo weighing 1,300 kilograms, departed from Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika, Mimika, to fly to Ilaga. Only the pilot, Capt.Timothy, and co-pilot Deni Bagus were on board. “There was no fatality or injury in the incident,” said Dani. It was the third accident in the past two months.<br/>