Flights have been grounded at both of Houston's busy airports as Hurricane Harvey's remnants snarled airline schedules in Texas for a second consecutive day Sunday. Already, hundreds of cancellations extended into Monday and a few dozen more into Tuesday. All big US airlines were waiving change fees for travellers ticketed to fly to the region. Nationwide, airlines had grounded 1,675 flights as of 1 p.m. ET Sunday. The bulk of those came in Houston and at other Texas airports, many preemptively cancelled sometime on Saturday. Sunday’s problems marked the second consecutive day of severe flight disruptions in the region. More than 1,100 flights were grounded across the US on Saturday, most because of Harvey. It could be days before airline schedules return to normal. Already on Monday, more than 900 flights had been preemptively canceled as of 1 p.m. ET. Combined with about 200 cancellations from Friday and another 44 already axed on Tuesday, about 4,000 flights have been grounded nationwide since Friday – with most attributable to Harvey. Houston’s busy Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports were saddled with delays and cancellations before flights were halted altogether by Sunday.<br/>
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Beijing’s curbs on travel to South Korea are expected to take some shine off H1 results of China’s top-three airlines, which have slashed seat numbers on flights between the countries amid tensions over North Korea. Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern are expected to report higher earnings this week on the back of foreign exchange gains, but cuts on lucrative routes to South Korea could crimp yields. Data compiled by consultancy Flightglobal for Reuters showed the three airlines and their subsidiaries had cut seat capacity by 41 percent by August compared to a year ago. The cuts came as China began to pressure South Korea over Seoul’s deployment of a US missile defense system designed to thwart any North Korean attack, but which China sees as a threat to its own security. The route cancellations accelerated in March after Beijing banned tour groups from visiting South Korea. In all, almost 400,000 seats have been cut. While Chinese airline yields were already falling due to rapid capacity expansion, analysts say the route cuts to South Korea were unhelpful.<br/>
Security workers at Barcelona’s El Prat airport have called for another round of strikes starting on Sept. 8 to demand better working conditions and more staff. Employees of airport security company Eulen have held a series of short stoppages since early August, resulting in waiting times of several hours during peak tourist season. After an all-day meeting Sunday, Eulen workers voted unanimously to stop work for two periods of one hour every Friday starting on Sept. 8. Barcelona El Prat, the second busiest airport in Spain after Madrid’s Barajas, is a major hub for international airlines and a destination for tourists visiting Spain’s northeastern Mediterranean coast.<br/>
The TSA is reviewing its screening procedures for cargo flown into and within the US because of concerns that potential security vulnerabilities could be exploited by terrorists, a US official said. The review, which is examining screening for cargo carried by freight airlines and passenger planes, stems in part from a terror plot that was foiled in Australia last month, according to the official. Investigations revealed that a senior ISIS commander shipped partially assembled components of a bomb on a commercial cargo plane from Turkey to Australia, according to Australian law enforcement. Two men in Australia assembled the parts into a functional explosive device, police said. The plan was to place it on an Etihad Airways passenger plane on July 15 at an Australian airport and detonate it, according to police. The plot involved a cargo plane -- the one that carried the components -- and the passenger plane that the extremists intended to target, but "at no stage did (a bomb) breach airline security," according to Australian authorities. Police have not elaborated on why the attack did not proceed as planned, but they arrested two men in late July and charged them in August with terror-related offenses. The do-it-yourself bomb assembly method, referred to by some terrorism experts as "IKEA-style," has raised concerns for US officials. Partially assembled bomb components mean amateur bomb-making extremists no longer have to make the bombs from scratch by themselves.<br/>
A dogfight over the assets of troubled Alitalia and Air Berlin heralds a new shake-up in the European airline industry — but unless other carriers cut costs, they may meet a similar fate themselves, analysts warn. Facing insolvency after key investor Etihad threw in the towel after years of trying to keep them flying despite losses, both airlines may now be snapped up whole or carved up by rivals interested in getting hold of their planes and airport landing slots. But the overhaul is unlikely to end there. “The sector will continue to consolidate because the business models are in the process of changing,” said Stephane Albernhe, managing partner at Archery Consulting. “It is an underlying trend in Europe and the United States, where four ‘consolidators’ are in the lead: American, Delta, United, and low-cost Southwest.” For Europe, consultant Jerome Bouchard at Oliver Wyman believes that eventually “there will be an oligopoly centred around Lufthansa, IAG and Air France-KLM”. Before major consolidation can take place, however, Bouchard believes the airlines need to find a business model where they are no longer operating on the brink of bankruptcy. Alitalia and Air Berlin had both been operating at losses for years. Low-cost airlines had eaten away at Alitalia’s market share in particular, with Ryanair having eclipsed it as the largest operator in Italy. They were spared by Etihad, which took equity stakes in both before deciding to exit. “Etihad’s exit from Alitalia’s capital will contribute to the acceleration of consolidation,” Albernhe said. “Alitalia will very likely join, either in whole or in part, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, IAG, or even easyJet or Ryanair.”<br/>
Airlines earlier this month called time on irresponsible drinking after the BBC’s Panorama showed hair-raising footage of drunken debauchery at 35,000ft. Ryanair called on airports to limit alcohol sales to two drinks per person and ban drinking in terminals before 10am. It followed a similar move by rival Jet2, which last year stopped serving alcohol on early-morning flights. Ryanair’s tough stance came as figures showed a significant rise in arrests for alcohol-related unruliness in the air. Police made 387 arrests at airports and on planes last year, the BBC found, up from 255 in 2015-16. Meanwhile the Civil Aviation Authority reported a 600% increase in disruptive passenger incidents in the UK between 2012 and 2016, mostly alcohol-related. Beleaguered cabin crew members also voiced concerns, saying some flights to Ibiza, Alicante and Palma had turned into “nightclubs in the sky”. A survey by union Unite of more than 4,000 cabin crew workers found that 87% had witnessed drunken passengers. More than half said they had been verbally abused by inebriated passengers and more than a quarter said they had seen behaviour that threatened flight safety. Concerns were also raised this month over the sale of duty-free alcohol. Figures showed that more than half of all disturbances involved alcohol bought and brought on to planes before departure. A code of conduct introduced last year in an attempt to combat antisocial behaviour by passengers appears to be having little effect, according to Unite’s survey of cabin crew.<br/>
Qatar Airways Group CE Akbar al-Baker has been elected chairman of the board of governors of the IATA, the airline said Sunday. Baker will start his one-year term in June 2018, taking over from current chairman, Singapore Airlines’ Goh Choon Phong. Qatar Airways has been recently forced to fly longer, more expensive routes after being denied access to the airspace of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates as part of economic sanctions. The four countries severed ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism, something Doha denies.<br/>
Passengers' baggage is collected by robots, they relax in a luxurious waiting area complete with an indoor garden before getting a face scan and swiftly passing through security and immigration - this could be the airport of the future. It's a vision that planners hope will become reality as new technology is rolled out, transforming the exhausting experience of getting stuck in lengthy queues in ageing, overcrowded terminals into something far more pleasant. The Asia-Pacific has been leading the way but faces fierce competition from the Middle East as major hubs compete to attract the growing number of long-haul travellers who can choose how to route their journey. The regions "are the two leading pockets of technology growth because they are really competing to be the global hubs for air transportation," said Seth Young, director of the Center for Aviation Studies at Ohio State University. "If I'm going to fly from New York to Bangalore, do I transfer through Abu Dhabi or Dubai or do I transfer through Hong Kong? That's a huge, huge market." But the changes also represent major challenges that could upend decades-old business models at major airports, with analysts warning operators may face a hit to their revenues to the tune of billions of dollars. Facial scanning in particular is generating a lot of buzz. Changi, regarded as among the world's best airports, is set to roll out this biometric technology at a new terminal to open later this year.<br/>