Nearly 500 flights will be affected when Malaysia closes the airspace near its major international airport every morning for five days next week to prepare for independence day celebrations, the transport ministry said. Malaysia’s annual National Day parade, which features an aerobatic performance by the air force, is normally held on Aug. 31 in the capital city Kuala Lumpur, some 60 kilometers away from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and its budget carrier terminal, KLIA2. But this year, the parade will be held in the administrative capital of Putrajaya, close to the two airports, the ministry said. A total of 498 flights in and out of the airports are expected to be affected as a result of the closures, which will run from 9.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. during Aug.27 to Aug.31. “The closures... are important to ensure the success of the National Day 2018 flypast and the priority is to ensure the safety of the airspace and movement of aircraft at KLIA/KLIA2,” the ministry said. It said the closures may involve additional arrangements that could lead to flight delays.<br/>
general
Mexico risks losing long-term passenger growth and billions of dollars if it fails to go through with building a new hub in the capital to alleviate congestion, an executive with the International Air Transport Association said Tuesday. Mexico’s incoming government last week postponed a decision on whether to complete a partially constructed new airport in Mexico City, saying the public should be consulted on the fate of the $13b-dollar hub, which the next president initially opposed. President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the project was tainted by corruption prior to his July 1 landslide election victory, and had pressed for an existing military airport north of the capital to be expanded instead. Without the new airport, around 20m fewer passengers would fly to Mexico City starting in 2035, year over year, said Peter Cerda, regional VP in the Americas for IATA. It would also mean a long-term loss of $20b from Mexico’s GDP and cost the country 200,000 jobs, according to an airline-industry study on the financial impact of not building the new airport, Cerda said. “If you don’t build an airport that’s able to meet the needs of the next 50 years you just cannot continue to grow,” Cerda said. “And that has financial implications for the country.”<br/>
Indonesia has asked for its companies to be allowed to build palm oil jet fuel plants in the US and France as a condition for its airlines to buy Boeing and Airbus planes, its trade minister said. This marks the latest effort by the world’s biggest palm oil producer to find ways to help mop up output of the tropical oil, its second-largest export. EU negotiators in June agreed to phase out use of palm oil in transport fuels from 2030 due to concerns over high indirect greenhouse gas emissions, while the United States in April placed an anti-dumping tariff of up to 341% on Indonesian biodiesels. Indonesia’s trade minister, Enggartiasto Lukita, on Monday told reporters he had conveyed the country’s palm oil fuel plant requirement for jet purchases to the US secretary of commerce during a visit to Washington in late July. “We have asked that Indonesian companies be allowed to produce jet biofuel in the US,” he said. The aim is to source “all raw materials” for the plants from Indonesia, he added. The United States has responded “positively” and Indonesia has also conveyed the same requirement to Airbus, he added.<br/>
Authorities say two suspected hand grenades found in a woman's checked bag at Newark Liberty International Airport were actually novelty bottle openers. TSA officials say the realistic looking replicas were found Tuesday. The woman eventually was allowed to board her flight, but her luggage didn't make it on the plane due to the delay at the screening area. The woman's name and the airline she was flying were not disclosed. Officials say the bottoms of the fake hand grenades are hollowed out so they can be used as bottle openers. They note that the items come with a warning notice that tells travellers not to bring them into airports because they can look real to screeners using X-ray machines to scan luggage.<br/>