Successful terrorist attacks on-board flights remain a “distinct possibility,” with organisations such as Daesh and Al Qaida presenting an enduring threat to the aviation industry, experts warned Sunday. “Despite our best efforts, successful attacks remain a distinct possibility. Aviation is an iconic and impactful target, which provides the sort of platform terrorists seek … This is a fight we can only win together,” said Martin Callanan, the UK’s minister for Aviation. Speaking at the Aviation Security Global conference, Callanan added that there is a need to invest in research and new technologies in order to stay a step ahead of any threats. He pointed that “threats of this magnitude” also require a strong security culture at every stage of a passenger’s journey and at every airport. <br/>
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The US Commerce Department has added to Bombardier’s problems with the announcement of a further import duty on its CSeries aircraft. The department proposed a duty of 79.82% in a preliminary determination in its antidumping investigation of 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft imported from Canada. The duty comes on top of a 219.63$ duty announced last week for “countervailable subsidies” in financing the CSeries aircraft. Bombardier “strongly disagreed” with the preliminary decision saying it “represents an egregious overreach and misapplication of the US trade laws in an apparent attempt to block the CSeries aircraft from entering the US market.” The Commerce Department said it based its preliminary ruling partly because Bombardier had failed to provide information requested by the department. <br/>
New Delhi says that India has doubled the size of its aviation market in the last 4 years, and will look to triple it in the next 15 years. India's minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha, adds that by the end of the current 2018 financial year, the country will hit 200m passenger trips. The figure is up from 160m passenger trips made in the 2017 financial year, and double the size from 4 years ago. Sinha states that while India's growth in aviation is noteworthy, it still lags behind China with an annual figure of 500m passenger trips, and the US with 900m passenger trips a year. He acknowledges that India's airports and airspace still remain congested, and that New Delhi has to plan to accommodate future growth. "We have about 500 aircraft in the air, and over 650 aircraft on order," says Sinha. <br/>
The ICAO has lifted the “red flag” status on Thailand, according to information on its website. Chula Sukmanop, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, said he had been alerted to the change on the ICAO website but had yet to confirm it with the UN agency, which reportedly discussed the issue Friday. If the decision is confirmed, Thai airlines can seek new destinations, especially in Japan and South Korea. The Thai aviation industry will also gain more international acceptance in terms of safety, and foreign airlines will make more stops and expand services. Thai aviation safety standards have been in doubt since the country was red-flagged by the UN's aviation watchdog in June 2015. Chula had said his office had corrected the flaws raised by the ICAO . <br/>