The conflict zone information repository created a year ago in the aftermath of the 2014 shoot-down of Malaysian Airlines MH17 over Ukraine has come under criticism by airlines for what IATA characterises as its hurried and unconsidered implementation. “It was implemented too quickly without really giving it the appropriate level of thought and consideration of what was actually required by industry,” said IATA senior VP Nick Careen. Careen called the initial version of the online repository, hosted by the ICAO, “useless” because the information “was not timely and relevant.” ICAO, IATA, and other industry organisations therefore have taken a step back. “We are now surveying the industry to understand where they are getting their information and from whom,” said Careen. <br/>
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Satellite-enabled signalling by aircraft transiting oceanic routes offers a near-term solution to curbing aviation emissions, asserts a Purdue University study. Aireon is a joint venture developing a space-based surveillance system based on automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) position reporting. Beyond the reach of land-based radar, aircraft flying on oceanic routes must report their position by satellite link or HF voice radio when they arrive at predetermined waypoints. With less frequent information on the whereabouts of such aircraft, air navigation service providers (Ansps) keep them separated laterally by 50 nm and longitudinally (in trail) by 10 minutes, or about 80 nm. Space-based ADS-B will enable aircraft to constantly signal their position over remote expanses. <br/>
It was Christmastime at Los Angeles International. Security lines were long, passengers crowded the terminals and restaurants ran short of food. Airlines delayed and canceled several hundred departures and arrivals because of bad weather. Outside, traffic was so heavy it often took an hour or more to drive the 2 miles between the 405 Freeway and the terminals. The 19-day holiday season for LAX and its unprecedented surge in travellers will end Tuesday. But the experience of several million passengers passing through its gates might be an indicator of what lies ahead if the nation’s third-busiest airport continues to expand at a record pace. An estimated 80m passengers will travel through LAX this year — an increase of about 8% over 2015 and about 30% since 2010. <br/>
Virgin Trains has vowed to take on airlines for a share of the lucrative London to Edinburgh route after rail passenger numbers swelled to 1m a year for the first time. The train operator said that it was gaining share of the travel corridor after an 8% increase in passengers compared to last year while air travel traffic has remained static. Passengers travelling by rail now make up a third of the traffic between the capital cities, up 2 percentage points from last year, and Virgin Trains plans to gain half the market by 2023. The ambitious goal would reverse a 40-year trend that has seen airlines dominate the route. Virgin’s ambitions for the East Coast Line come amid growing criticism of the operator over its plan to hike the price of unregulated fares by an average of 5.5% in 2017. <br/>
Flight recorders revealed no evidence of an explosion on board a Russian plane that crashed into the Black Sea, killing all 92 on board, but investigators haven’t ruled out foul play, a military official said Thursday. Sergei Bainetov, who heads the Defence Ministry commission conducting the crash probe, said that a cockpit conversation recorder contained the captain’s words that indicated a “special situation” that began unfolding on board the plane. Bainetov wouldn’t elaborate on what may have led to the crash, but noted that it likely had been caused by several factors. “After deciphering the first flight recorder we have made a conclusion that there was no explosion on board,” Bainetov said. <br/>
An angry mob ransacks a terminal. A frustrated passenger tries to leave the plane while it taxis. A pilot, who has had it up to here, advises fliers to leave the plane and mill about the tarmac — and they do. Welcome to China’s unfriendly skies. The world’s second-largest economy boasts some of the world’s worst flight delays and missed connections. Angry passengers have become such a fixture of flying in China that the govt has developed a blacklist for the dangerously unruly. Chinese leaders are aware of the problem. Spurred by the strain on the air traffic system as well as a slowing economy, China has begun a huge airport building project that could give the country 60 more airports beyond the current total of about 200 by 2020. China committed to spending US$12b on airport construction and revamping this year alone. <br/>