Delta is showing no hard feelings after its recent trade spat with Boeing. The carrier wants to be one of the first to fly a potential new mid-sized jetliner from Boeing, said Delta CE Ed Bastian. That’s a vote of confidence from one of the most influential aircraft buyers as Boeing decides whether to build the plane, dubbed the 797. “You’re going to see us participate in Boeing’s middle-of-the-market campaign,” Bastian said. “I hope that we’re going to be a launch customer on that program as well.” Delta recently tangled with the planemaker in an international trade case involving Bombardier planes and placed a $12.7b order last month for Airbus SE’s A321neo. <br/>
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Delta says an engine issued forced a flight from Nigeria to Atlanta to turn back and make an emergency landing at the airport it departed from. Flight 55 from Lagos to Atlanta left around 10:50 pm local time Tuesday and returned to Lagos International less than an hour later. A Delta statement says the A330-200 had an issue with one of its two engines. Delta says the flight landed safely and passengers were evacuated onto the runway down emergency slides. Delta says five passengers reported "non-critical" injuries during the evacuation, but the statement didn't elaborate. The airline says it was providing hotel rooms for the passengers and would rebook them on another Delta flight Wednesday afternoon. <br/>
China Southern said Tuesday total number of passengers carried during January rose 2.58% on year to 10.51m. Passenger load factor for the month was 2.13 percentage points lower at 80.08%, the airline said in a stock exchange filing. While passenger traffic rose 3.23% year on year, passenger capacity increased 5.97% last month, the company with a fleet of 755 aircraft said. <br/>