The Trump administration Wednesday recommended steep anti-subsidy duties on Bombardier's CSeries jets, setting up the next round of a fierce international trade dispute between the US and Canada. The US Commerce Department announcement to impose duties of nearly 300% stems from a complaint by Boeing that Bombardier had been unfairly and illegally subsidised by the Canadian govt, allowing the planemaker to dump its newest jetliner in the US market below cost. "Today's decision validates Boeing's complaints regarding Bombardier's pricing in the US, pricing that has harmed our workforce and US industry," Boeing said of the decision, which was generally expected within the aerospace industry. If imposed, the duties would more than triple the cost of a CSeries aircraft sold in the US. <br/>
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Canadian holiday travellers should brace for crowds and delays as a record number of passengers are expected to pass through the country’s largest airports and highways are filled with Christmas commuters. With Air Canada and WestJet Airlines carrying 7.9% and 9.7% more passengers for the first 9 months of the year, the 2017 Christmas season should break travel records, said airline analyst Robert Kokonis. Toronto Pearson International expects that nearly 2.7m passengers will travel through the country’s largest airport between Dec 17 and Jan 7, up from 1.9m last year when there were fewer days of elevated traffic. Traffic this year is up about 10% on the year as carriers have added new direct flights, particularly to international destinations. <br/>
Thailand aims to get its air safety rating upgraded by the US FAA by March, the country's transport minister said Wednesday, after the FAA downgraded the rating in Dec 2015. Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) was downgraded to Category 2 from 1 because it fell short of the FAA's standards. "We aim to be restored back to Category 1 by March," Transport minister Arkom Termpittayapaisith said. Arkom's comment came 3 months after the ICAO removed a red flag against Thailand over safety concerns in October. He said Thailand will speed up its inspection of pilot qualifications and aim to have more aviation personnel and qualified pilots to be considered for the safety ratings upgrade. <br/>
Thailand, land of golden temples, white-sand beaches, smiling hosts. Or of overcrowded airports, epic traffic jams and littered seashores. Facing a deluge of Chinese tourists that has strained its airports beyond capacity, the Southeast Asian nation is spending billions to upgrade its infrastructure,. But the change will take years and even then may fail to keep up with soaring visitor numbers. At the heart of the upgrade, and the congestion, are Bangkok’s 2 international airports: Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang, which are running at 40% beyond designed capacity. New terminals, facilities and another runway would allow them to handle 130m passengers a year, including inbound and outbound trips. But work won’t be completed until 2022 at the earliest, and the first taste most travellers get of the Thai capital is a long queue at immigration. <br/>