At some point early next year, air travellers will need to decide if they're willing to take a flight on a Boeing 737 Max. If they're not, they'll need to find out what their travel options are. There will be no govt-ordered compensation in North America or Europe for travellers who are afraid to get on the plane that has crashed twice. Not after aviation regulators deem the Max safe. However, airlines are likely to be more flexible in letting passengers change their schedules to avoid flying on a Max, at least for a while. It's unclear, though, how long that flexibility will last. Airlines are likely to gauge media coverage and passenger sentiment about the Max. Once the plane recedes from the news and customer confidence grows, airlines could go back to their regular policies around cancelling and changing flights. <br/>
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Campaigners against the expansion of London Heathrow will take their legal battle to the Court of Appeal Thursday in an attempt to block the planned GBP14b scheme to build a third runway at the airport. Councils, residents, the mayor of London, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth will try for a second time to seek a judicial review of the govt’s decision to expand the hub. The High Court dismissed 4 separate cases earlier this year, ruling that the govt had not breached its sustainable development duties by approving the plan to build a third runway. The judges will also hear a fifth case brought the backers of a rival scheme to expand Heathrow, which was also rejected in May by the High Court. <br/>
TurbineAero has opened an auxiliary power unit (APU) repair facility outside Bangkok that will allow it to almost double its capacity in Southeast Asia. The custom-built US$10.7m facility’s layout should help the company increase efficiencies and decrease turnaround times, as well as expand repairs to further vertically integrate its APU aftermarket offerings. TurbineAero in 2019 plans to repair 162 APUs at its Amata City Industrial Estate facility in Chonburi, Thailand, and 190 in 2020. The facility has the capacity for 300, TurbineAero VP and GM Asia Peter Gille said. Because the facility is in a free zone, TurbineAero can complete the customs declarations itself, which, Gille said, makes imports and exports faster. <br/>