Despite declining growth rates for GDP around the world in 2017, the ICAO expects low air fares, driven by suppressed oil prices, to continue to spur increased demand for air transport this year. The organisation now expects global real GDP growth for 2017 to be around 2.4%—down from its earlier 2.9% projection. In preliminary figures for 2016 released Monday, ICAO reported that the total number of passengers carried on scheduled services last year reached 3.7b, which was 6% up on 2015. The number of departures in 2016 climbed to 35m globally and revenue passenger kilometres saw an increase of 6.3% (to 7.015t RPKs). RPK growth was down from the 7.1% increase achieved in 2015. All regions of the world, apart from Africa and the Middle East, posted slower RPK growth in 2016. <br/>
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Airbus and Boeing are bracing themselves for a challenging 2017 after struggling to reach sales targets in the past year. Later this month the two companies will reveal the final tally for last year’s orders and deliveries, but both look set to fall short of their goal of achieving a book to bill of about one — essentially replacing almost every aircraft delivery with a new order. This would be the first time since 2009 that either aircraft maker has fallen below the threshold of one. Neither company is including the recent multibillion-dollar orders from IranAir as firm sales, although contracts were signed in mid-December. By December 20, Boeing had 470 orders net of cancellations, against expected deliveries of about 750 aircraft. Airbus had net orders of 410 at the end of November. <br/>
Many airlines are now issuing "weather waivers", recognising that they can make life easier for themselves and their passengers by anticipating weather delays and putting travel changes in the hands of their customers (and their smartphones) before the situation escalates into an act-of-God crisis. Airline passengers used to go to airports as storms brewed, hoping that their flights would be able to depart, then enduring long rebooking lines if they were canceled. Now, airlines are notifying customers, sometimes days in advance, of a potential disruption and giving them online ways to change their own flights. Weather waivers generally give several options to ticketholders planning to use affected airports. <br/>
Early morning foggy weather conditions continued to disrupt airport operations in the UAE Monday, with dozens of flights to and from Dubai reported to be delayed or cancelled on the second day of the New Year. As of 8am, at least 28 incoming flights bound for Dubai International from India, New York, United Kingdom, Oman, Sri Lanka and Kuwait were expected to be delayed. Flydubai also cancelled 9 outgoing flights as of Monday. The airline had earlier cancelled 21 trips on New Year’s Eve. Monday also happens to be one of the busiest times to travel back to Dubai. UAE-based carriers had warned that flight disruptions due to bad weather, which left hundreds of passengers stranded in the last few days in the UAE, were expected to continue today. <br/>
Taiwan's transportation ministry has commissioned a feasibility study into whether Songshan Airport in Taipei should be closed and its flights moved the country's main international airport in Taoyuan. The study is focused on "technical" issues, such as whether Taiwan Taoyuan International should be categorised as a dedicated international airport or one that accommodates both international and domestic flights, and also the impact of expanding its services. The study is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It will also examine whether the Taoyuan airport will be able to handle the additional flights if Songshan Airport is closed. Since the 2015 crash of a passenger plane in Taipei's Nankang District, there have been calls for the closure of the airport in the city's downtown area over safety concerns. <br/>
China may continue to ratchet up its retaliation against South Korea over Seoul's decision to allow the deployment of a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) battery here, analysts said Monday. In what was likely a retaliatory manoeuvre last week, Beijing abruptly banned South Korean airlines from operating chartered flights between the two countries beginning this month. Chinese airlines also withdrew their plan to run chartered flights to Korea. Beijing's decision, made ahead of the busy travel season on the occasion of the Lunar New Year in late January, was the latest in a series of measures that are believed to be protests over the deployment of THAAD. Analysts said China may expand its political attacks on Korea to foreign affairs and security policies. <br/>