A jet fuel shortage is causing flight cancellations at New Zealand’s Auckland Airport with disruptions expected to continue. A total of 23 international and domestic flights have been cancelled in the last 24 hours, Auckland Airport corporate affairs manager Simon Lambourne said Sunday. Fuel companies are rationing oil because a leaking Auckland supply pipeline has been closed for repairs at New Zealand’s only refinery at Marsden Point, Whangarei. Refining NZ, which owns the pipeline, said it could take 10 to 15 days to repair, according to a news report by Radio NZ. The pipeline is the only source of jet fuel for Auckland Airport. “Airlines operating at Auckland Airport have had their usual fuel allocations reduced. We appreciate this will be inconvenient and will require airlines to take alternative fuelling measures,” said Andrew McNaught, a spokesman of Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, which represents fuel suppliers. Airlines would have to carry more fuel to enable return flights without refuelling and stop to fuel at other airports on the way to and from Auckland, McNaught said Sunday. Air New Zealand has cancelled some services to consolidate passenger loads, and is diverting Asian and North American long-haul flights to refuel at Pacific and Australian airports, it said in a statement. Qantas and Jetstar said in that they were working to minimise impact on customers and urged people to check their flight status online.<br/>
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Typhoon Talim made landfall on Japan’s Kyushu island Sunday, spurring authorities to call for the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents amid record rainfalls measured in some areas. Bullet trains operators reported stoppages because of electricity outages and heavy rain. About 110 millimeters of rain in one hour was recorded in Oita prefecture, with some areas receiving more in one day than is typical for an entire month, according to NHK. JAL said that many flights to Japan’s Kyushu, Shikoku, and central regions had been canceled because of the typhoon. While national broadcaster NHK reported flooding in some areas of western Japan, there were no casualties recorded. The Japan Meteorological Agency said it expects Talim to proceed up the Japanese archipelago through Monday and issued warnings of potential landslides and flooding.<br/>
Typhoon Doksuri lashed central Vietnam on Friday, tearing roofs from houses, knocking out power and causing localised flooding, in the country’s most powerful storm in years. Nearly 80,000 people have been evacuated from coastal regions in preparation for Doksuri. Winds exceeded 130 km per hour, according to Vietnam’s meteorological agency. The state news agency said the roofs had been blown from 260 houses in the ancient city of Hue. Electricity was knocked out in parts of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces after the wind brought down power lines along with trees and billboards. Airlines said 46 flights were cancelled between the capital, Hanoi, in northern Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City, the commercial hub in the south. <br/>
Tensions between the US and North Korea have prompted a Hong Kong-based airline to delay flights between the US Pacific territory of Guam and Japan. HK Express announced five weeks ago that it planned to start the flights on Oct. 29, but has since delayed flights until next summer "in view of geopolitical concerns in the region," Pacific Daily News reported. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened Guam. The country has fired two missiles over Japan including one launched on Friday. Passengers who bought tickets will get refunds, HK Express said in a statement Friday. Customers outside of Guam will also be eligible for a destination change or free transfers to United Airlines flights. The flight cancellation is the latest hit for the island since tensions with North Korea escalated.<br/>
Even many South Koreans are looking elsewhere for holiday relaxation at a time when talk of war on the Korean peninsula and China’s boycott has hit inbound tourism. President Moon Jae-in hoped to boost domestic spending by declaring Oct. 2 a one-time holiday, effectively extending the annual Chuseok holiday to 10 days. Yet South Koreans are booking more flights out of the country than they did last year -- and those extra days are likely one reason. Online travel agency Interpark Tour said purchases of airline tickets to overseas destinations have more than doubled compared with the same, shorter holiday in September 2016. “Usually overseas trips are mostly to nearby countries, but this time tickets to the US and Europe have accounted for about 40%,” said Frank Lee, a manager at Interpark’s public relations office, who noted that the number of travelers could still rise, given that the holiday was still more than two weeks away. South Koreans were traveling overseas more even before North Korea raised geopolitical tensions with its recent missile launches and a nuclear test. A record-setting 2.39m went abroad in July. <br/>
Russia’s Norilsk Alykel Airport, which completed runway reconstruction Sept. 15, can handle passenger aircraft using the entire 3,430m runway length. The Federal Air Transport Agency said Russia’s northernmost airport, which is located above the Arctic Circle, was issued a compliance certificate Sept. 14. The renovation lasted from June-September, during which only one-third of the runway could be used by ATR 42/72 and Antonov An-24-24/26 aircraft. Flights from Norilsk to Moscow and other cities were directed via Krasnoyarsk, Novy Urengoy and Surgut. During the renovation period, the airport handled 106,000 passengers. In 2018, reconstruction will begin on the second part of the runway—which includes new aerodrome lighting and security systems. In 2019, the airport plans to renovate the airport apron, the final project.<br/>
Russia and Iraq restored scheduled commercial airline services on Sunday for the first time since 2004, in what officials hailed as a sign of stability returning to the war-torn country. An Iraqi Airways plane left Baghdad at 10.31 am (0731 GMT) and was expected to arrive at Moscow's Vnukovo airport at 2.19 pm (1119 GMT), according to the Russian airport's online departure and arrival timetables. "The first commercial flight arrives today," Sergei Izvolsky, spokesman for Russia's civil aviation authority, told AFP. "It is a signal on the part of the Iraqi authorities that Russian nationals can safely visit Iraq." The two countries may also later agree on air travel to the Iraqi city of Basra, Izvolsky said. Russia suspended regular flights to Iraq in 2004 after the US-led invasion in 2003 plunged the Arab country into war.<br/>
Airbus is set to start long-distance trials for its newest passenger plane after engine maker Rolls-Royce fixed a problem that had disrupted flight testing, the companies said on Friday. An Asian tour designed to test reliability of the A350-1000 was postponed after engineers discovered a problem with its Trent XWB-97 engines, Challenges magazine reported last month. Two people familiar with the issue said the problem affected a part attached to the combustor inside the engine, the most powerful powerplant developed by the UK engine maker. “We are working closely with Airbus to support their plans to begin functional and reliability testing in the coming weeks, having addressed a quality finding in an engine component,” a Rolls-Royce spokesman said. An Airbus spokeswoman said it was still on schedule to win safety certification in Q4.<br/>
Airbus faces years of investigation by French and UK authorities into allegations of corruption over jet sales, people familiar with the case said on Friday, playing down a newspaper report of a potentially rapid settlement.<br/>The London-based Evening Standard reported British and French prosecutors met last month to discuss the terms of a settlement deal known as a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) following a probe into the use of middlemen to sell jetliners. That could result in a "1 billion pound-plus" fine, the report said, but experts said it was premature to talk about a settlement in an inquiry widely expected to drag on for years. The report quoted a source close to Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as saying SFO head David Green hoped to agree a DPA with Airbus before leaving in April next year. The SFO and Airbus declined to comment on the report which comes as questions hover over the SFO's future, following proposals to fold it into another crime agency. The investigations began after Airbus drew the attention of regulators to inaccurate declarations it had made to Britain's export credit finance agency over payments to sales agents.<br/>