Following the removal of a United Airlines passenger from an airplane by force last month, 2 New Jersey Democrats are proposing new legislation that would take aim at airlines’ practice of overbooking flights and denying service to ticketed passengers. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez said their bill would sharply reduce instances of overbooking and impose other new regulations ahead of the June 30 deadline to reauthorize the FAA’s agreements on funding and policy priorities. Changes include doing away with the $1,350 cap on pay-outs for ejected passengers and forbidding airlines from rejecting travellers who have already boarded the aircraft. “It should be a cost consequence to the airline and their bottom line,” Menendez said of the bill. <br/>
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Amsterdam‘s rapidly growing Schiphol airport is reaching its limits for the safe movement of planes on its busy airstrips, the Dutch safety watchdog warned recently, saying runway risks needed to be addressed before any further expansion. “There are no indications that the airport is unsafe at this point, but stakeholders need to act to reduce the safety risks,” the OVV said in the 215-page report. The aviation hub is now one of the top 5 busiest in Europe. Last year, some 63.6m passengers passed through Schiphol, up from 58m in 2015, according to airport figures. The safety watchdog launched a probe after “several incidents over the last few years”, it said, including so-called “runway incursions”, planes taking off from taxiways, or taking off or landing without permission from air traffic control. <br/>
Passenger traffic through Thailand's 6 main airports grew at a slower rate in Q1 of this year compared with the same period last year. Newly-released figures from the Airports of Thailand showed that a total of 34.9m passengers passed through airports operated by AoT from January to March, an increase of 7.96% from the same period last year. In comparison, the Q1 of last year saw a 13.7% rise in passenger traffic from the previous year's figures to 32.3m. In tandem, aircraft movements in Q1 2017 rose 6.64% to 211,054, compared with 9.47% growth registered in last year's Q1 with 197,913. According to industry analysts, the Q1 2017 traffic results reflect a more traditional growth pattern as capacity constraints at 3 airports -- Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Phuket -- restrict growth. <br/>