As "violent" Typhoon Hagibis threatens to wreak havoc in Japan, travelers may find themselves having to change plans at the last minute. The typhoon, which is the strongest of the 2019 season thus far, is expected to make landfall in Japan on Saturday, October 12. The US Joint Typhoon Warning Center has classified Hagibis as a "super typhoon," on par with a category five hurricane. Tourists in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have already been affected by the impending storm. Two matches, England-France and New Zealand-Italy, have been preemptively canceled. Japan's national carriers are also exercising caution. Flights departing and arriving from both Tokyo airports (Haneda and Narita) on October 12 have been cancelled, affecting a total of at least 1187 flights and nearly 190,000 passengers. Of that total, ANA canceled a total of 602 flights (490 domestic and 112 international), affecting 101,000 passengers. Meanwhile, JAL cancelled a total of 585 flights (513 domestic, 72 international), affecting 88,000 passengers. JAL is informing travelers that the company "will not charge any handling fees for the changes or refunds resulting from the anticipated effects on operations caused by bad weather (typhoon, etc) or natural disasters."<br/>
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Boeing said Thursday that airlines had inspected 810 of the company’s 737 NG jets around the world and found 38 structural cracks requiring repair and replacement of the affected parts. The planes will be grounded until the repairs are made, Boeing and airline officials said. Nearly 5% of inspections have found cracks in a “pickle fork” - a part that attaches the plane’s fuselage, or body, to the wing structure and manages forces. The 737 NG is the third-generation 737 and version before the now-grounded 737 MAX, which is not impacted by the cracking issue. On Wednesday, Southwest and Gol Linhas Aereas (GOLL4.SA) grounded at least 13 737 NG airplanes after US regulators ordered urgent inspections. The FAA last week told US aircraft operators to inspect 165 older 737 NGs for structural cracks, but it now appears the actual number of planes covered is more than 200. The FAA said late on Thursday “a small number of aircraft based in the United States have been removed from service while Boeing develops instructions for customers to repair or replace the affected parts.” The agency added it “is working with the manufacturer and other international aviation safety regulators to better understand the factors that led to the formation of the cracks.” Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said of more than 200 high-use airplanes it had found cracks on two planes and grounded them. She declined to say if cracks had been found on any other jets but said the airline planned an update next week. “We do not have a timeline for when the airplanes will be returned to service, we are working with Boeing to schedule the upcoming repairs,” King said. American Airlines (AAL.O) and United Airlines (UAL.O) said earlier this week they have not seen any cracks on their airplanes.<br/>
Air freight volumes fell for the 10th consecutive month during August, in what has become the worst run of demand contractions since 2008, according to the latest data from IATA. Global demand measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) was down some 3.9% year-on-year in August, IATA states in its 9 October report, citing the China-US trade spat and weak economic indicators. Global trade volumes were down 1%, it adds. But cargo capacity measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs) was up 2%, marking the 16th consecutive month where that measure has outpaced demand growth. "The impact of the US-China trade war on air freight volumes was the clearest yet in August," states IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac. "Not since outpaced demand growth.the global financial crisis in 2008 has demand fallen for 10 consecutive months." FTKs stopped rising year-on-year in November 2018 for the first time since March 2016. Demand growth has been in negative territory since then, marking a stark change in fortunes for the sector. In the year so far, August's FTK decline of 3.9% is steeper than the 3.2% drop seen in July, although it is behind the near-5% falls seen February, April and June. IATA notes that trade in emerging economies has been "underperforming that of advanced nations throughout most of 2019", citing "higher sensitivity of the emerging economies to trade tensions, rising political instability and sharp currency depreciation in some of the key emerging markets". Amid the "intensifying" China-US trade war, the global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) remains in "contraction territory", IATA continues, adding that a fall in orders was reported across "all major trading nations" for the second month in a row.<br/>
A protester lay on top of a plane while another forced a jet to turn around on the runway as climate change activists descended on London City Airport on Thursday, causing some disruption but ultimately failing to cancel flights. Protest organisers Extinction Rebellion had vowed to occupy the airport’s terminal and shut down operations for three days as part of its action in the British capital. London City is the capital’s fifth-biggest - and most central - airport, popular with business travelers, bankers and politicians for short-haul and regional routes. A Reuters photographer saw one man, former paralympian cyclist James Brown, lay himself across the top of the body of a BA Embraer 190 jet. “I managed to get on the roof,” Brown said in a video he posted online. “This is all about the climate and ecological crisis. We’re protesting against government inaction.” He was eventually removed. A spokeswoman for BA said “we are investigating what happened as a matter of urgency”. The group said they were protesting plans to expand the airport, which aims to have 6.5m passengers a year by 2022 compared to the 4.8m in 2018, and which has said there could be demand for as many as 11m by 2035. On Thursday, 18,000 passengers were due to arrive or depart from the airport, with 286 flights scheduled. While some protesters got inside the terminal building, flights were continuing, though some were delayed. An Aer Lingus plane was forced to stop taxiing and return to its gate when a passenger got up to give a speech about climate change.<br/>
Operations by older-variant Boeing 737s have been temporarily banned at Bolivia's capital El Alto airport near La Paz. The ban takes effect immediately, on 10 October, and takes into account recommendations following the occurrence of "events", says the Bolivian civil aviation regulator DGAC. DGAC executive director Celier Arispe Rosas says the prohibition will remain in place while technical evaluation is conducted in several areas relating to operations and airworthiness. "This measure is being carried out with the sole purpose of ensuring safety of our passengers, pilots, aircraft, and all those involved in air operations at El Alto airport," he states. The DGAC adds that it will lift the suspension once risks are mitigated and an "acceptable level" of safety is achieved. It has not specified the events which led to the ban but a number of incidents and accidents at La Paz involving older 737s – those variants prior to the -600 – have occurred within the last year. These include the landing-gear collapse of an arriving Peruvian 737-500, a 1990-built aircraft, in November last year. The DGAC is probing a serious 3 August incident in which a 737-300 of Bolivian carrier BoA – a 1997 airframe – experienced "strong vibration" after the fracture of a main landing-gear shimmy damper.<br/>