China’s week-long national day holiday, known as the Golden Week, saw 12.8m passenger movements across China, a 5.1% year-on-year (YOY) increase. The Golden Week ran from Oct. 1-7. Based on CAAC statistics, there were 113,900 aircraft movements, up 2.6% YOY with an average passenger load factor of 84.9%. Airports with the highest outbound traffic were Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xishuangbanna, Tianjin, Wuyishan, Sanya, Jinggangshan, Lijiang and Lhasa, heading to destinations such as Guilin, Shijiazhuang, Wenzhou, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Urumqi, Xi'an and Zhuhai. Shanghai Pudong reported 693,400 passenger movements, of which 244,500 were international travelers, primarily to Japan and South Korea. The new Beijing Daxing International Airport also saw nearly 80,000 and 504 passengers and aircraft movements, respectively.<br/>
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In the quest to command higher fares and traveller loyalty, airlines are constantly scrambling to market their onboard services as better than Brand X. These days, one highly visible battleground is directly in front of you: the seatback screen. While such displays are firmly entrenched aboard long-haul fleets, there’s a deep difference of opinion among US carriers when it comes to domestic single-aisle jets. The advent of onboard Wi-Fi has given airlines the option of using your phone or tablet as a portal for films, TV shows and video games, avoiding the expense of costly hardware at every seat. Three of the largest US airlines — American Airlines Group Inc, United Airlines Holdings Inc and Alaska Air Group Inc — are removing screens from their domestic workhorses, the family of medium-range 737 and A320 aircraft sold by Boeing and Airbus, respectively. Southwest has never equipped its Boeing 737s with screens and said it has no plans to change course. Meanwhile, Delta and JetBlue are betting seatback screens with audio-video on demand will lure domestic travellers. A three-year-old Delta subsidiary, Delta Flight Products, has merged the two worlds, developing a wireless streaming product and seat-mounted tablet screens for many of the airline’s new deliveries, dispensing with the weight associated with traditional, hardwired displays. The split is evident internationally as well: Screens on single-aisle fleets are rare in Europe, but still relatively common in Asia among the full-service carriers. The reason for replacing the seatback screen is, of course, the ubiquitous smartphone. Airlines that are jettisoning their screens say it’s not just about high install costs. Those screens add weight, increasing fuel costs. What’s more, the technology in a seatback screen typically becomes obsolete much faster than the gadget in your pocket. <br/>
Airbus A380 operators are set to be instructed to check for cracks in the trailing edge, and trailing-edge devices, of the double-deck type. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency says the directive is intended to prevent in-flight loss of parts from the trailing edge, following findings of cracks in devices on both sides. Airbus has addressed the situation with service bulletins covering inspection instructions for various locations and modifications to achieve design service targets. The EASA directive lists some 30 structures for inspection, with individual service bulletins identifying the specific A380 airframes to which they apply. These structures include ribs, actuator brackets and actuator clevis assemblies at a number of spoiler locations. EASA's proposed directive mentions that several of the structures are "made from 7449". Airbus has previously experienced a wing component cracking issue which involved an aluminium alloy known as type 7449, an issue which resulted in an extensive retrofit programme and use of a more robust alloy.<br/>