Iran's return to the world economy is helping planemakers cope with a downturn in global demand, providing homes for airplanes orphaned by reversals in the growth plans of airlines elsewhere. Planemakers are also gambling that the early delivery of such aircraft could help prop up a nuclear sanctions deal between Iran and world powers, threatened by conservative opponents in both Washington and Tehran, Western sources said. Since sanctions were lifted under the deal to reopen trade and curb Iran's nuclear projects, the Islamic Republic, trying to boost its economy after years of isolation, has joined a waiting list of up to eight years for 200 new aircraft. But efforts to meet its most immediate needs have been boosted by financial problems facing other airlines across the globe as new airplanes come onto the market at bargain prices. "We hunt opportunities in the market. If there are opportunities, we can take advantage of that," Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan said. Despite denials by manufacturers that the downturn is hurting, Iran's return to the market has brought to light pockets of surplus aircraft. With presidential elections looming in May and keen to show the 2015 nuclear deal is working, Iran has proved only too keen to take up the slack. So far it has taken delivery of three Airbus jets. Industry executives say they were left on the planemaker's books when their Colombian buyer, Avianca, balked at taking delivery. Such orphan planes are often known as 'white tails'.<br/>
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Nigeria reopened the capital's airport in Abuja on Tuesday, officials said, following a six-week closure for runway repairs that disrupted international air traffic to the country. During the shutdown, authorities diverted flights to Kaduna, a provincial airport 160 km away, where carriers including British Airways, Lufthansa and South African Airways refused to fly on security grounds. Ethiopian Airlines was the only foreign carrier to use Kaduna airport during the closure. Other international airlines continued to fly into Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos. Abuja is the political nerve centre of Africa's most populous nation and a major business hub in the continent's biggest economy. "Abuja runway 100 percent completed and certified by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. Consequently the airport is open for operations," aviation minister Hadi Sirika said in a message posted on Twitter.<br/>
Airlines are running late more often than last year, but they are cancelling fewer flights and complaints are down sharply, according to the latest government figures. Delta had the best on-time rating, followed by American Airlines. Virgin America, which is now owned by the parent of Alaska Airlines, finished last. The DoT said Tuesday that 82.6% of flights in February arrived within 14 minutes of schedule, the government's definition of on time. That's down from the 83.6% on-time rate a year earlier. Airlines cancelled 1.5% of US flights in February, down from 1.6% in February 2016. Passengers were most likely to have a flight cancelled on JetBlue Airways. The figures for delays and cancellations count only the 12 largest US airlines and exclude Allegiant and some regional carriers. Consumers filed 596 complaints with the government about US airlines in February, down nearly half from 1,111 in the same month last year.<br/>
Korean airports have seen an “alarming” drop in air traffic coming from China since mid-March, according to the Korea Airports Corporation Tuesday. The decreased numbers have been most visible in places like Jeju International Airport, which serves the tourist-friendly island. In the first quarter of 2017, the airport posted a 24.1% drop in international passengers, following a five-year compound annual growth rate of 26.1%, according to the airports corporation. Overall, passengers on Chinese routes serviced at eight international airports in Korea, excluding Incheon Airport, has fallen from 4.41m passengers last year to 4.17m passengers in Q1. The sharp decrease in passenger numbers is attributed to the implementation of a travel ban to Korea imposed by Beijing over disputes regarding the installment of an American anti-missile system on the Korean Peninsula. “Our local airports are facing unprecedented traffic decrease with the Chinese government’s ban on travel to Korea and this poses great challenges,” said KAC VP Park Soon-cheon.<br/>