Terrorist attacks have become both more frequent and more deadly. While their social cost is enormous and evident, economists are tallying up something more obscure: how much they reduce output. An analysis of the terror-spurred drag on air travel shows attacks depress long-distance air travel between affected countries, researchers find, assessing a sample of 57 source countries and 25 destination countries for the period of 2000 to 2014. The number of terrorist attacks has increased by a factor of 5 between 2003 and 2014 and the "number of people killed in terrorism related incidents also has been increasing exponentially," based on the dataset. Against that backdrop, an attack on average reduces bilateral air transport by 0.76%, controlling for distance. <br/>
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Technology firm Elbit Systems and Norway’s Nicarnica Aviation have performed ground trials on a new system, aimed at detecting volcanic ash up to 100 km ahead of an aircraft. The ClearVision Enhanced Vision System (EVS) alerts pilots when they may come into contact with volcanic ash, giving them time to avoid the affected area. It is based on Israel-based Elbit’s ClearVision EVS and Nicarnica’s airborne volcanic object imaging detector (AVOID) algorithms. “During the conducted trials, the system demonstrated unprecedented volcanic ash detection capability. The trial findings verify that the final product will achieve a successful detection at a range of 100 km in sufficient time to allow pilots to avoid the no-fly zone affected by the presence of volcanic ash,” the partners said. <br/>
The Dutch govt said Tuesday it had ended talks with the US over allowing "pre-clearance" of passengers traveling from Amsterdam Schiphol following president Donald Trump's curbs on immigration. Pre-clearance allows passengers to clear US customs and immigration before they fly, reducing delays when they land. The Dutch govt said in December it was in talks with the US govt to introduce the practice at Schiphol. But during a debate with parliament about the Trump administration's weekend decision to ban travel from 7 predominantly Muslim countries, Foreign minister Bert Koenders said those talks had now been ended. Monday, Ireland said following Trump's move the practice was under review at Irish airports. <br/>
Russia’s Pulkovo International Airport added 15 new destinations in 2016, comprising 6 domestic and 9 international routes. Croatia Airlines launched flights from Zagreb and Air Serbia began Belgrade-Saint Petersburg service. Ural Airlines started flights to Georgian capital Tbilisi, while Rossiya Airlines launched Rimini service. Last year, the airport, which is located in Saint Petersburg, handled 13.3m passengers and welcomed 11 new carriers, comprising 5 domestic and 6 international airlines that began scheduled flights to Saint Petersburg. This year, Pulkovo airport said it will continue to expand its route network. Several airlines will increase frequencies from Pulkovo and launch new domestic and international services. These include KLM’s second daily flight from Amsterdam beginning Feb 18. <br/>