A Lufthansa pilot who was grounded when he turned 65 lost his age-discrimination fight at the EU’s top court, which said EU legislation imposing the limit is justified for safety reasons. “It is undeniable that the physical capabilities essential to the profession of an airline pilot diminish with age,” the EU Court of Justice said in a ruling Wednesday. Insisting on the limit prevents the possibility of age-related accidents, the court said. Pilot groups argue that it makes no sense to ground cockpit crews while there is a shortage of trained aviators and while the rest of the population is expected to work longer before retirement. The EU judges in their decision acknowledged that setting the strict limit led to a difference in treatment based on age, but said this “is justified by the aim of ensuring civil aviation safety in Europe.” <br/>
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Airbus won orders from China to supply 140 single-aisle and wide-body jets worth US$22b at list prices and said it’s in talks to sell more A380 superjumbos there following the signing of accords on closer cooperation in the aviation and space sectors. The planemaker secured an outline deal for 100 A320-series jets split between current and new-engine-option versions, as well as 40 of its latest twin-aisle A350s, CE Tom Enders said Wednesday. Airbus already has a narrow-body production line in Tianjin, east of Beijing, and output of the A320s will be split between that site and Europe, according to Enders. The company is also looking at expanding a Chinese completion operation for its existing A330 model to include the re-engined A330 Neo, as well as the A350, he said. <br/>
The UK has given a noncommittal response to US demands that security on US-bound flights be stepped up in the face of mounting terrorist threats to civil aviation. It follows comments by US homeland security secretary John Kelly June 28 that he would be demanding enhanced security procedures at all airports from which flights departed for the US. The UK-US transatlantic link is one of the most heavily trafficked routes in the world, with dozens of flights each day. Asked whether it would be implementing enhanced security at UK airports for US flights and whether those higher standards would become the “default setting” for all UK-originating flights, the Department for Transport said: “It is for the US to determine its own security measures based on its own assessments, just as we do ourselves." <br/>