The prohibition on carry-on electronics for certain flights to the US and Britain shows both the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda remain able to mount potent threats to civil aviation despite tighter airport security, experts say. On Tuesday, US authorities ordered a ban on laptop computers, tablets, cameras and other items larger than cell phones in passenger cabins of direct US-bound flights from certain airports in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan. Britain imposed similar restrictions on flights from six countries, while France and Canada said they were considering their own measures. Analysts say an intelligence tip was likely behind the announcement. The New York Times reported that US counterterrorism officials have intelligence that IS operatives are developing a bomb to be hidden in laptop computer batteries. Doing so would bring the group up to the technological level of rival Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), where so-called expert bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri has spent years on a similar effort. Airport security is much better than just a few years ago, said Jay Ahern, the former acting director of the US Customs and Border Control. "But clearly terror organizations continue to target air travel, and they have shown a clear ability to innovate," Ahern said. Recent attacks on aircraft in Somalia and Egypt are evidence of a focus by jihadist groups on developing harder-to-detect bombs -- and getting them on flights. Story has more details.<br/>
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the US and Britain on Thursday to drop what he said were "exaggerated" new aviation restrictions imposed on flights from some airports, including Istanbul. In a live television interview, Erdogan said the two countries were right to "dwell on security" but said the bans on some electronics, including laptops, on board flights from some Middle East and North African airports were excessive. Erdogan said he discussed the ban in a telephone call with British Prime Minister Theresa May, while Turkey's foreign minister took up the issue during a recent visit to the US. "My hope is that they abandon this error as soon as possible," Erdogan said. Earlier, a senior Turkish official said the government was taking steps to keep Istanbul's main airport and its national carrier, Turkish Airlines, outside of the scope of the restrictions. Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu also criticized the two countries for not consulting with Turkey before deciding on the ban. Muftuoglu said taking measures "against people that pose a threat instead of punishing normal passengers would be more effective."<br/>
The cabin baggage ban on laptops and tablets on some direct flights to both the US and UK has been questioned over its fire safety by one airline analyst. In the United States, the ban affects planes coming from airports in Egypt, Turkey, Kuwait City, Qatar, Morocco Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. John Strickland, an aviation expert, and director at JLS Consulting, said Thursday that there was a real danger to loading a plane's hold with lithium battery items. "If these batteries are damaged they could have this thermal runaway fire and that itself is a security challenge of a different kind that the airlines would have to wrestle with," he said. Last year the UN aviation agency blocked cargo shipments of lithium-ion batteries, used in many such electronic devices, from being carried in the cargo holds on passenger planes. Strickland added the fact that the EU has not followed suit, raised questions over the ban's efficacy. "Why are we not getting a follow through in Europe? Because there are other itineraries that customers can follow. "And if they still wish to achieve a terrorist aim they can do it," he said. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents most of the world's major airlines, hinted the electronics ban may not have been thought through. "Safety and security are the top priority of everyone involved in aviation," it said Tuesday. "Airlines comply with government requirements and they can do this most effectively when measures are well coordinated."<br/>
Passengers will have to contend with fewer flight choices, longer taxiing times and more delays at Beijing Capital International Airport when one of its runways undergoes four weeks of repairs next month. The repairs to one of the three runways at the airport, the second busiest in the world, will be carried out from April 2 to April 29, according to a statement from the facility. The work on the middle runway, which carries about 40% of the airport’s traffic, will cut about 300 flights a day, reducing the total number of flights to about 1,400. Flights of 19 airlines, including Air China, China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines, will be affected, state-run China Central Television reported. The number of passengers through the facility was expected to drop by between 10 pand 15%. Wang Yanling, the manager of a control centre at the airport, was quoted as saying international flights would not be affected but some domestic flights would be less frequent. “Airlines will cope by using bigger aircraft and having fuller flights,” Wang was quoted as saying. The runway closure would not affect services by Cathay Pacific Airways and Cathay Dragon, which operates 10 flights daily between Beijing and Hong Kong, an airline spokeswoman said.<br/>
German union Verdi has struck a wage agreement with Spanish ground handling services group Acciona, averting strikes at Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest. Verdi has been seeking higher pay for ground staff at a number of German airports, including Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Berlin, and has organised strikes that led to hundreds of flight cancellations and stranded passengers across Germany. In Frankfurt, hub to German flagship airline Lufthansa , around 800 ground crew will receive a pay increase of 1.15 euros an hour in three steps, equivalent to an average wage hike of around 9 percent, the union said on Thursday. In addition, workers will receive an additional day of paid vacation from their fifth year with the company, plus one more a year later. The union said talks were complicated by the fact Acciona's concession agreement for Frankfurt airport will run out soon and the German state of Hesse has tendered a new contract.<br/>
TSA agents at Midway Airport have discovered four firearms in a three-week period this month — what TSA officials describe as an unusually high amount. The most recent firearm was discovered Wednesday at the airport's TSA checkpoint, where agents found a loaded 9 mm Springfield firearm inside a 41-year-old Phoenix man's luggage as it was screened, officials said. TSA officials alerted Chicago Police and the man was arrested, the federal agency said in a news release. Before Wednesday's arrest, TSA agents found firearms in carry-on luggage and bags on three other occasions this month — March 8, 12 and 20. Three of the four firearms were loaded when detected by TSA officers. So far this year, six firearms were discovered by TSA agents as travellers were heading through the South Side airport's security checkpoints. Officials at the TSA called this three-week spike at Midway unusual, noting that 16 firearms were discovered each year in both 2015 and 2016 at Midway. What prompted this month's spike isn't entirely clear. "Some of the increase may be attributed to the overall increase in passenger volume," TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy said.<br/>
Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) executive director Eduardo Iglesias will be stepping down and leaving ALTA “in a couple of months,” ALTA said. Iglesias became ALTA’s executive director in September 2013, replacing Alex de Gunten, who had led the organization for a decade. Iglesias had been VP-legal for Colombian airline Avianca prior to taking over the leadership position at ALTA. Iglesias presided over the last four ALTA Airline Leaders Forums, the annual gathering of Latin American and Caribbean airline executives. Even as the region’s air traffic demand slumped because of faltering economies in a number of Latin American countries, particularly Brazil, Iglesias expressed confidence that Latin America’s air transport market had bright long-term prospects, and pushed the region’s governments to make investments in aviation infrastructure. “We continue to suffer from the lack of investment in infrastructure,” Iglesias said. “A lot of investment has been done [on the ground at airports]. But we are only catching up with traffic. We are not making sure we have room to grow in the future.” ALTA said its executive committee has begun the search process to find a successor to Iglesias.<br/>