The FAAn is calling back 1,700 aviation safety inspectors as a partial government shutdown drags on into its fourth week. An FAA spokesman said Tuesday it is “recalling inspectors and engineers to perform duties to ensure continuous operational safety of the entire national airspace. We proactively conduct risk assessment, and we have determined that after three weeks it is appropriate to recall inspectors and engineers.” The FAA said it will have 2,200 aviation safety inspectors on the job by the end of this week, up from 500 last week. In total, the FAA will have 3,100 safety employees on the job as part of its safety efforts by the end of this week. After the callbacks, 14,000 FAA of the 44,000 FAA employees will remain off the job. FAA employees, including more than 23,000 air traffic controllers, are working without pay. FAA approval of aircraft such as Boeing’s MAX and new routes like Southwest Airlines’s Hawaii launch are on hold. The FAA said it is not immediately recalling employees who handle certifications of new aircraft. Southwest confirmed on Monday its plans to launch service to Hawaii early this year were on hold because the FAA groups that oversee the route authorization process are on furlough. The airline said it will not announce any timelines for selling or operating flights to Hawaii until it receives the necessary authorization. <br/>
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The travel industry has reacted with dismay to the political turmoil over Brexit. Within minutes of the vote, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned of potentially higher air fares, and reiterated that some flights from the UK could be cancelled if the country crashes out of the European Union. A no-deal Brexit would lead to a cap on flights at 2018 levels. IATA estimates that five million extra seats from the UK to the European Union are scheduled for this year compared with last. It warned that a no-deal Brexit “will stunt important economic opportunities and may lead to higher prices for consumers”. Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director-general, said: “With two months left until Britain leaves the EU, airlines still do not know exactly what kind of Brexit they should be planning for. And there is legal and commercial uncertainty over how the Commission’s plan to cap flight numbers will work. In the small window remaining before Brexit it is imperative that the EU and UK prioritise finding a solution that brings certainty to airlines planning growth to meet demand and to travellers planning business trips and family holidays.”<br/>
India's government has issued a 20-year roadmap for civil aviation growth that projects a sixfold increase in the country's passenger numbers, to 1.1b by 2040, and a quadrupling in the commercial airline fleet over the same span, to 2,400 aircraft. The "Vision 2040" roadmap, released on 15 January at an industry conference, also forecasts that the number of airports will increase from 99 in March 2018 to around 190-200. India's top 31 cities by population are foreseen having at least two airports each, with Delhi and Mumbai having three each. The incremental land requirement is estimated at 150,000 acres, and the capital investment at $40-50b. To support the growth of infrastructure, the government may consider establishing a $2b fund to support low-traffic airports in their initial operating phases. Land pooling is being considered to keep land acquisition costs low and provide landowners with high-value developed plots in the vicinity of the airports. Meanwhile, the government sees air cargo throughput quadrupling to 17m tons, with cargo processed paperlessly and at higher speed. New Delhi expects the country's freighter fleet "to expand multifold with the growth in e-commerce", as it seeks to make India a transshipment hub for South Asia.<br/>
Chinese dissident Liu Xinglian marked his 64th birthday on Wednesday at Taiwan's Taoyuan airport, one of two refugees who have been trapped in limbo there for more than 100 days, hoping for asylum overseas. Their case has parallels with that of Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the Saudi teen who was given sanctuary in Canada after she sensationally deployed social media to shame Thai authorities against forcibly returning her to her family. But the Chinese asylum seekers have received little international attention or solidarity. Like Qunun, Liu and his friend Yan Kefen, 44, have applied for asylum in Canada and posted updates on social media from the airport highlighting their plight. "Inside the airport we can't breathe fresh air and there's no sunlight," Liu told AFP by phone from the fluorescent-lit fourth-floor room in transit where the pair have spent much of the last three months, subsisting on a diet of boxed meals provided by airlines. Liu and Yan are hostage to Taiwan's unusual international status and its domestic politics.<br/>
China's state planner approved on Wednesday a new airport worth 32.06b yuan ($4.7b) in central China's Hubei province. The airport, where the Chinese cargo airline SF Airlines will have a base, is expected to accommodate 1.5m passengers by 2030, the National Development and Reform Commission said.<br/>