Qatar and the EU have agreed to terms for an open skies agreement expected to be signed this year, the two sides said Tuesday. The move is part of a broad air services agreement that includes provisions on fair competition, transparency, the environment and consumer protections, although exact details have not been disclosed. The agreement means “all air carriers from the 28 European Union member states and Qatar now have unlimited and unrestricted access to their respective territories,” Qatar Airways said. EC DG for Mobility and Transport Henrik Hololei said the deal would help ensure open and fair markets. He did not elaborate. Qatar Airways, like Emirates and Etihad Airways, has faced accusations of being unfairly state-subsidised, giving it an advantage over other carriers. The airlines deny this. “We have taken bold steps by agreeing to articles on fair competition, social aspects, business practices and transparency,” Qatar Airways CE Akbar al-Baker said. As part of the agreement, Qatar would no longer force European carriers to have a local sales agent to operate flights to Doha, Baker said. “Qatar has committed to offer a fair and friendly business environment and as a result European airlines will enjoy unrestricted commercial opportunities unlike ever before,” said Baker.<br/>
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Nearly 102,000 passengers flew out of Atlanta's international airport the Monday after the Super Bowl, breaking the record for the number of people screened at the airport in one day. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports passengers waited for up to an hour-and-a-half to get through security on what many call Mass Exodus Monday. Lines went all the way from the domestic terminal atrium into the airline check-in areas. The TSA says the previous record was set on the Friday before Memorial day last year, when just over 93,000 passengers flew out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The airport's assistant general manager of planning, Tom Nissalke, says the airport had "established a plan to essentially use every available square foot and fill it with queuing."<br/>
Boeing is partnering with supersonic start-up Aerion to develop a jet that will bring back the luxury of faster-than-sound business travel, the aerospace giant announced Tuesday. The AS2 aircraft, designed to fly at Mach 1.4 or approximately 1,000 miles per hour, is slated for its first flight in 2023. Along with the partnership, Boeing said it "made a significant investment in Aerion" although the companies did not disclose financial terms of the agreement. That investment will help Aerion "accelerate technology development and aircraft design," Boeing said. "Through this partnership that combines Aerion's supersonic expertise with Boeing's global industrial scale and commercial aviation experience, we have the right team to build the future of sustainable supersonic flight," said Steve Nordlund, VP and G< of Boeing NeXt. Lockheed Martin, Airbus, and GE Aviation previously worked on Aerion's AS2 supersonic business jet. Boeing unveiled a rendering for a hypersonic passenger plane in June, which is the next speed class above hypersonic. Boeing's design was for a plane that could fly as fast as Mach 5, or about 3,900 miles per hour. Along with Aerion's AS2, these plans are looking to bring back the luxuries of traveling on board the supersonic Concorde, which was retired 15 years ago. Several startups are racing to get next-generation supersonic prototypes in the air. But each must overcome the deficiencies of the Concorde, which was costly and limited in commercial use. Story has more detail.<br/>
Scientists have intervened to stop smartphone maps and military navigation systems being disrupted by “erratic” movement of the earth’s magnetic north pole. The area, which is where a compass’ north point is guided to, moves around unlike the geographic North Pole. In recent years it has been shifting at a rate of around 34 miles per year. Its location is used as part of the World Magnetic Model to help both civilian and more sophisticated mapping systems and its movement can therefore potentially throw users off course. The World Magnetic Model is usually updated every five years, but experts behind it have stated it has needed to be changed earlier to keep travel plans accurate. A statement said: “Due to unplanned variations in the Arctic region, scientists have released a new model to more accurately represent the change of the magnetic field between 2015 and now. This out-of-cycle update before next year’s official release of WMM2020 will ensure safe navigation for military applications, commercial airlines, search and rescue operations, and others operating around the North Pole." It added the north polar region is experiencing “erratic changes”.<br/>