Climate activists planning to disrupt London’s Heathrow airport with toy drones said as they practised on Thursday that they would not fly them when planes were in the air and were prepared to be arrested. Last month, British climate activists said they aimed to ground flights at Europe’s biggest airport from Friday and put pressure on the government to take tougher steps to reduce carbon emissions. Heathrow has said it will work to operate as usual while protesters from the Heathrow Pause campaign group illegally fly the drones within a 5km radius of the airport. They said they would fly them before the airport opens, alert the authorities and wait to be peacefully arrested. “The idea is that we start the action ... before any flights take off because we will not fly the drones when there is a flight already up in the air,” Linda Davidsen said. “We tell the authorities an hour before we take the action and then, once we have flown the drone, we call the police.” Heathrow Pause, a splinter group of the climate group Extinction Rebellion which disrupted London streets with high profile action earlier this year, said it would fly drones at no higher than head level. On Thursday, police said they were confident that the action would not bring travel chaos to Heathrow. But they have also warned that endangering the safety of an aircraft is a serious offence that can result in a long jail sentence, and have vowed to stop drones being flown.<br/>
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US airlines are increasing their emissions of climate-changing gases much faster than they are boosting fuel efficiency, according to an environmental group's report. The International Council on Clean Transportation said Thursday that carbon dioxide emissions and fuel burning rose 7% from 2016 to 2018, overshadowing a 3% gain in fuel efficiency. The report's authors say airlines could reduce emissions and fuel consumption more than 25% by buying newer planes and filling them with more passengers. The report ranked Frontier the most efficient among the 11 largest US airlines. The Denver-based carrier has added more than 40 Airbus jets with more efficient engines. New York-based JetBlue ranked last. JetBlue spokeswoman Tamara Young said the airline's score dropped because researchers considered seating density — JetBlue has fewer rows in coach — and it burns fuel by operating more of its flights in congested areas like New York. The airline has ordered more fuel-efficient Airbus jets. The transportation council is a nonprofit group that works with governments to set fuel-economy standards and pushes for stricter regulations to limit pollution. The council hired the researchers who uncovered Volkswagen's emissions cheating. A trade group for US airlines disputed the environmental group's findings. "The fact is that the US airline industry is a green economic engine," said Airlines for America spokesman Carter Yang. "When you look at the bigger picture, the US carriers transported 42% more passengers and cargo in 2018 than in 2000, and we did it with just a 3% increase in total emissions." Yang said airlines are investing in fuel-efficient planes and developing alternative jet fuels. He called it "a record of sustainability to be proud of."<br/>
Embraer hopes to see more orders for its newest passenger plane by the end of the year, an executive said on Thursday, as Boeing readies to take over the Brazilian planemaker’s commercial jets division in what could mark the next phase of its rivalry with Airbus. Manufacture of the E195-E2, as Embraer’s plane is known, will soon be controlled by Boeing, which needs regulatory approval to close on the deal to buy 80% of Embraer’s commercial jets division for $4.2b. Embraer on Thursday delivered its first E195-E2 plane, which will seat about 140, to Brazil’s Azul at its headquarters in Sao Paulo state. Embraer executives said the delivery should spur more orders, helping to fend off fresh competition from Airbus. “I expect we will close more transactions, I’m hopeful ... before the end of the year,” said John Slattery, head of Embraer’s commercial plane division. “I’m not seeing a big wave of people that need to delay, or wish to delay because of the Boeing transaction.” The new plane comes as the landscape for jets with under 150 seats is changing drastically. Airbus bought control of the Bombardier division competing directly with Embraer in 2018, followed by Boeing’s deal to take over Embraer’s commercial plane division. The result would expand the global duopoly for jumbo jets into a smaller category, as Boeing and Airbus work to lure orders across a broader lineup of commercial aircraft.<br/>
Jetstar Asia has entered into an agreement with Qantas Freight to manage its freight capacity from 20 November. The arrangement covers 23 ports in 13 markets, and gives the budget carrier access to Qantas Freight’s 130 partners. Cirium fleet data shows that Jetstar Asia operates 18 Airbus A320 aircraft, which the budget carrier says carries up to two-and-a-half tonnes of cargo per flight. “As the only low fares airline operating services from Singapore to numerous Asia-Pacific destinations like Okinawa, Darwin, Medan and Siem Reap, Qantas freight customers will also benefit from direct access to fresh markets previously unavailable to them,” says Jetstar Asia CE Barathan Pasupathi. “By joining forces, we will improve efficiencies for the group, offer greater flexibility and leverage synergies while unlocking value for our freight customers by offering more connections,” says Qantas Freight executive manager Paul Jones. “This partnership will provide a more streamlined freight journey through Asia, Australia, Europe and the US.”<br/>
Airbus wants to know everything passengers are consuming on board — from coffee to movies, even toilet paper. The European manufacturer and Boeing's chief rival, last month began flying one of its A350-900 wide-body aircraft to test what its executives think is the cabin of the future: full of sensors that collect data on the on-board habits of its passengers. "It's not a concept. It's not a dream," said Airbus' vice president of cabin marketing, Ingo Wuggetzer. The goal is to gather data on passenger behavior and consumption on board, information that could save airlines money and relieve pain points on board for passengers such as the mad scramble for overhead bin space and lavatory queues. So, how does it work? Airbus has added sensors throughout the aircraft, which it's using as a flying laboratory that would collect data about passengers' use of certain parts of the plane and items on board. The information collected from the so-called Flight Lab is shared with both cabin crew, to address with supplies on board, and with the airlines tasked with ordering them. For example, Airbus is planning to track how many times the lavatory latch is opened and closed so the airline and cabin crews know how often the bathrooms are being used, and have a better idea when to restock items, such as toilet paper or soap. That wi ll also give airlines a better sense of how many lavatories they need on board, Wuggetzer said. The manufacturer also wants to track things like how many times seats are reclined, he said, to give airlines a better sense of when they need maintenance so airlines aren't suddenly left with a nonworking seat, forcing them to lose revenue. The data is gathered from the sensors through an onboard Wi-Fi system, and then shared with flight crews. The information will be shared with airlines once the plane lands.<br/>