For almost a half-century there’s been a clear speed limit on most commercial air travel: 660 miles per hour, the rate at which a typical-size plane traveling at 30,000 feet breaks the sound barrier and creates a 30-mile-wide, continuous sonic boom. The ground-level disturbances that result—shattered windows, cracked plaster, maddened farm animals—have kept supersonic travel mostly off-limits since 1973, when the FAA banned its use over US soil. That may be changing. In August, NASA says, it will begin taking bids for construction of a demo model of a plane able to reduce the sonic boom to something like the hum you’d hear inside a Mercedes-Benz on the interstate. The agency’s researchers say their design should cut the 6-hour flight time from New York to Los Angeles in half. <br/>
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All personal electronic device (PED) restrictions for flights to the US have been lifted by the US Department of Homeland Security, which said airlines and airports around the world are complying with new security requirements for all US-bound flights. US homeland security secretary John Kelly outlined new security standards June 28 for all US-bound flights, affecting 180 airlines and 280 airports globally. At the time, passengers flying to the US from 10 Middle East and North Africa airports were prohibited from carrying large PEDs on board aircraft and instead were required to place the devices in checked baggage. DHS said those 10 airports have all implemented “enhanced security measures” and all have now been removed from the so-called laptop ban list. <br/>
Cash-strapped Venezuela is tapping US and European air passengers to help pay its debts, even as airlines cut routes to the country. Exports of jet fuel to the US and Europe more than doubled in April from March, data from the US Energy Information Administration and Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, show. That may provide some relief to state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, which has US$3.2b in interest payments and principal maturities due this year. Jet-fuel shipments are rising because domestic demand for air travel is falling, said a London-based director of crude oil and refined products at Resource Economist. Hyperinflation has made flights prohibitively expensive for Venezuelans, and protests that have left almost 100 dead are keeping foreigners away. <br/>
United Aircraft Corp (UAC) has predicted a need for 1,170 passenger aircraft, worth US$135b at list prices, by 2036, the Russian manufacturer said. According to the UAC Market Forecast 2017-2036, 91-120-seat aircraft will get a 15% share in Russia, while the global share of the type is estimated to be 6% over the next 20 years. Widebodies will make up 10% of the Russian market, compared to 18% globally. According to UAC, Russian carriers currently operate a total fleet of 981 aircraft with an average age of 16.8 years, which is higher than the global market average age of 11.4 years. It is expected that only 240 aircraft flying today will be in operation in 2037. Airlines in the Commonwealth of Independent States are predicted to take delivery of 260 aircraft with an estimated list-price value of $28.3b. <br/>