Airlines are preparing for an anticipated widening of a US ban on bringing laptops and other large electronic devices on board planes bound for American airports. Officials from United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and A4A are scheduled to meet with Department of Homeland Security secretary John Kelly Thursday afternoon to discuss details of a possible expansion. It wasn’t clear whether there would be an immediate announcement of new electronics restrictions on flights to the US from Europe or other airports. The US Travel Association called on Homeland Security officials to announce their plan as soon as possible. “It is critical that the US govt clearly communicate the details of this new policy and the reasons why it’s needed,” the group’s spokesman said. <br/>
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Safran said inspections of new-generation LEAP engines supplied to Boeing for the latest version of its 737 aircraft are expected to be completed within a few weeks and ruled out a design fault as the cause of problems that halted test flights. The engine maker is scrambling to transport dozens of engine turbines back from the US, only days before Boeing had been due to start deliveries of the new 737 MAX. Boeing said Wednesday that it was suspending 737 MAX test flights while CFM International, an engine venture co-owned by Safran and General Electric, conducted checks after a quality problem was found in a turbine disc. The problem is not related to the part's design and does not suggest deeper problems in the industry's tightly stretched supply chain, Safran Aircraft Engines' CE Olivier Andries said. <br/>
EU member states Thursday gave the green light for the start of talks with the US to scrap restrictions on EU airlines leasing planes and crew from US carriers. A dispute arose after the EU separately in 2008 imposed a 7-month duration limit, renewable once, on European airlines wet leasing from non-EU carriers, prompting retaliatory action from Washington. The EC will now be able to initiate talks with the US to remove any time limit on airlines' wet leasing deals. The prospect of an unrestricted wet leasing deal with the US had worried some countries and pilot associations that airlines could use wet leasing as a way to operate regular services with cheaper crews, or that it could set a precedent for similar deals with other countries. <br/>
Thousands of angry passengers who were stranded in Lisbon's international airport by a refuelling system failure Wednesday and had to sleep on the floor and luggage belts were finally able to travel Thursday. Portugal's ANA airport management company said the refuelling system resumed normal operation soon after midnight and the civil aviation authority allowed planes to take off during the night to send the travellers on their way after 64 flight cancellations and 322 delays. The airport timetable still showed delays on most flights in early afternoon Thursday, but most did not exceed an hour and ANA said the airport had resumed normal operations. During the night, passengers who had boarded one flight refused to leave the plane, after which the crew turned on the heating to force them out and called the police. <br/>