British and European airline regulators should be allowed to begin technical planning for Brexit that is kept separate from political discussions, aerospace trade bodies told the European Union’s lead Brexit negotiator in a letter. Aviation is one sector that could be most severely impacted by Brexit, as there is no default fallback option for the industry if there is no agreement on future relations after Britain leaves the EU in March 2019. With less than a year to go, two aviation trade associations have demanded that negotiators allow the regulators to start technical planning conversations to help provide clarity for different Brexit scenarios. “The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) need to urgently begin technical and contingency planning discussions by the June European Council, and separate to the political negotiations,” the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the ADS Group said in a letter to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. British officials are negotiating with their EU counterparts to agree rules about how a range of sectors will operate after Brexit, including aviation, finance and pharmaceutical firms. They have consulted businesses on their stance but the request for aviation regulators to thrash out the finer details shows the concerns building within the industry.<br/>
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The slow pace of fitting out regional airports risks delaying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious plan to launch more flights connecting smaller towns and cities and get millions more people using air travel. The program, flagged off by Modi last year, aims to boost economic growth by refurbishing idled colonial-era airstrips or building newer airports, and incentivizing airlines to offer discounted fares to connect them with bigger cities. But work on building new airports in small towns and upgrading existing facilities has failed to keep pace, two government officials said, and could knock off course the government’s lofty goal of bringing 100m more passengers to the skies in the next five years. Under Modi’s “regional connectivity scheme”, the government planned to open 31 new airports by the end of 2017, but only 16 are operational so far. Some states have said they do not have enough funds to purchase basic equipment such as mandatory fire tenders, one of the officials said. In other cases it was taking longer than planned to build air traffic control towers or set up terminal buildings equipped with baggage scanners and security systems, said the official.<br/>
US security officials have uncovered specific cargo-related terrorist threats against US-bound aircraft, prompting the customs agency to tighten requirements related to air cargo reporting. "[The Department of Homeland Security] has received specific, classified intelligence that certain terrorist organisations seek to exploit vulnerabilities in international air cargo security," the agency says in a new rule made public on 11 June. "Global terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as well as their offshoots and associates, remain committed to targeting international commercial airline operations in order to maximise the effects of their terror campaign," the rule adds. The Department of Homeland Security has therefore changed the deadline by which airlines must file cargo security reports with Customs and Border Protection. Under a rule that takes effect 12 June, carriers must file those reports prior to when the cargo is loaded on aircraft bound for the USA, according to the rule.<br/>
Science advisers to the federal government say safety regulators are hindering the spread of commercial drones by being too cautious about the risks posed by the flying machines. The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine said in a report Monday that federal safety regulators need to balance the overall benefits of drones instead of treating them the same way that they oversee airliners. Academy experts said in a strongly worded report that the FAA tilts against proposals for commercial uses of unmanned aircraft without considering their potential to reduce other risks and save lives. For example, they said, when drones are used to inspect cell-phone towers, it reduces the risk of making workers climb up the towers. The study on the FAA's work on integrating drones into the nation's airspace was requested by Congress last year. An FAA spokesman said the agency was working to safely speed the integration of drones into the airspace. The science board's recommendations match the FAA's efforts "and we see them as an endorsement of our efforts and encouragement to accelerate our efforts," he said.<br/>
Russian authorities have granted permission for Moscow Domodedovo International Airport to open the first part of T2 terminal—a 157,000 sq m T2 international flights gallery—before the FIFA World Cup that begins in Russia this month. The gallery will be able to handle 5m passengers annually. The rest of the T2 terminal will be opened after completion of the new aerodrome infrastructure, including the construction of new runway and aprons financed by the Russian government. According to Russian legislation, airfields cannot be privatized and remain government property even if the airport is managed by a private company and its terminal infrastructure was bought or rented privately. T2 will nearly double Domodedovo’s existing terminal space, to 500,000 sq m. The airport will be able to handle a combined passenger capacity of 55-58m in its existing T1 and T2 terminals when T2 construction is complete. Thereafter, the airport will start work on the T3 terminal, which is scheduled to open in 2023.<br/>