Thousands of additional engines will have to be inspected for fan-blade cracks in an order prompted by the April 17 engine failure on a Southwest Airlines flight that resulted in the death of a woman who was partially sucked out of a window. The FAA Tuesday published a directive ordering US airlines operating the CFM56-7B engine to conduct a round of inspections on fan blades that have made at least 20,000 flights. An emergency inspection order issued April 20 had focused on engines with 30,000 or more flights. The order was an attempt to prevent additional failures on one of the most popular jet turbines in the world. Fan-blade cracks are “likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design,” the FAA said in the order. <br/>
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London Heathrow is putting the champagne on ice in anticipation of final approval for the new runway it’s been seeking for decades after a poll showed the plan has the overwhelming backing of lawmakers. The company survey suggests the US$22b project is supported by 75% of parliamentarians, CE John Holland-Kaye said Tuesday. The House of Commons will be asked to approve the plan in the form of a national policy statement before its summer break. Europe’s busiest hub appears to be finally closing in on a third landing strip that would lift annual capacity to 135m travellers, putting it on a par with rival European airports that have multiple runways. After years of false dawns the plan was backed by the govt in 2016 and has gathered momentum following the Brexit vote. <br/>
Pakistani prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Tuesday inaugurated the long-delayed new airport in the capital, Islamabad, replacing the cramped Benazir Bhutto airport often criticised by travellers. With a sleek glass-front entrance, spacious check-in areas and jetway bridges for boarding, the Y-shaped airport promises an end to the congestion that has frustrated air travel in the past. "This airport rightly reflects what has happened in Pakistan in the last 5 years," said Abbasi. Abbasi's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party had been eager to open the new airport before national polls, likely in July, as it touts big-ticket infrastructure as sign of economic progress in the South Asian nation of 208m people. <br/>