A major expansion of Dubai’s second airport Al Maktoum International will open in 2030, the emirate’s government said, five years later than officials had previously indicated. The airport will be able to handle 130m passengers a year when the first phase of a planned expansion opens in 2030, and ultimately more than 260m passengers a year, the statement, released by the Dubai government’s media office on Thursday, said. Dubai officials had previously said the first phase would open by 2025. Dubai expects to spend around $36b on the airport expansion and the Dubai World Central aviation complex where it is located. It is not the first delay to the airport’s expansion. A smaller capacity increase is a year behind schedule, although it is expected to be finished this year. At that point the airport’s capacity is expected to be 26m passengers per year.<br/>
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Strong e-commerce demand is fuelling Asia’s air freight market, with the US-China trade war having minimal negative impact so far and in some cases even boosting shipments, industry executives said on Friday. E-commerce is growing at pace in populous Asia, driven by Chinese behemoth Alibaba Group Holding and rival JD.com, as well as others such as Japan’s Rakuten, sponsor of Spanish soccer giants FC Barcelona. But the flow of goods has been threatened this year by the United States imposing import tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods to redress what it regards as unfair trade relations - with China’s government responding in kind. “I think right now we are probably going to see a pretty strong fourth quarter,” said Randy Tinseth, Boeing's VP for commercial airplane marketing. “The economy today has been very, very strong. Frankly in anticipation of this geopolitical situation I think people are just going out and moving (cargo) quickly.” Asia-Pacific air cargo volume rose 4.8% in January-August, showed data from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA). That was lower than last year’s 9.8% but came off a higher comparison base at a time of record shipments, said AAPA DG Andrew Herdman.<br/>
Boeing is stepping up efforts to bolster its ties with China as President Donald Trump’s trade fight threatens to give rival Airbus an edge in the world’s second-biggest aviation market. In one sign of potential trouble, a Chinese airline that’s been an exclusive operator of Boeing jets for more than 30 years is said to be in talks with Airbus for a potential order. As tensions escalate between Washington and Beijing, the aerospace giant just has to focus on what it can control, Randy Tinseth, Boeing’s VP for marketing, said Friday. “We’re in that place where we’re talking to both sides,” Tinseth said, referring to China and the US. “We’re telling our story of fair and free trade and how important that is. We’re working closely with our customers and continue to deliver a lot of airplanes to our Chinese customers.” Though China has -- for now -- spared passenger planes from its tariff hit list, Trump’s threat to tax everything the country exports to the US risks triggering a similar reaction from Beijing. China also has other potential countermeasures at hand, such as favoring Airbus over Boeing for future aircraft orders. On track to surpass the US as the world’s biggest air market by as early as 2022, China is crucial for both planemakers as they battle for dominance. At stake for Boeing is a market that it predicts will need more than 7,600 new aircraft worth over $1.2t in the 20 years through 2037, 6% more than from last year’s projection.<br/>