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US airport security procedures will become more gender-neutral, with changes to scanners used for screening and the use of an “X” for travelers going through Precheck who do not identify as male or female, the Biden administration said Thursday. TSA officers will also receive new instructions on screening intended to make procedures less invasive, the Department of Homeland Security said. They are among a series of travel-security measures announced by the department in conjunction with Transgender Day of Visibility. President Joe Biden is marking the day by advocating against what his administration terms “dangerous anti-transgender legislative attacks” that have passed in statehouses across the country. “DHS is committed to protecting the traveling public while ensuring that everyone, regardless of gender identity, is treated with respect,” Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. The use of the “X” pronoun in the TSA Precheck advanced security program will begin April 11 and is intended to keep pace with identity documents that already include that option, DHS said. A new “X” gender marker on US passport applications also begins April 11. Later this year, TSA will begin using scanners with new technology that will replace gender-based systems and are intended to “advance civil rights and improve the customer experience.”<br/>

Canadian airlines’ refusal to pay cash refunds on flights cancelled by COVID-19 has led to a whopping 26,000 complaints to federal regulations, says Blacklock’s Reporter. The Canadian Transportation Agency in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons said from the outbreak of the pandemic on March 11, 2020 to last December 31 it received a total 25,770 passenger complaints. Canadian airlines’ refusal to pay cash refunds on flights cancelled by COVID-19 has led to a whopping 26,000 complaints to federal regulations, says Blacklock’s Reporter. The Canadian Transportation Agency in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons said from the outbreak of the pandemic on March 11, 2020 to last December 31 it received a total 25,770 passenger complaints. The overwhelming majority, some 25,001 complaints, concerned cancelled flights and other disruptions resulting from pandemic bans on non-essential travel. The backlog of complaints was extensive, wrote staff. “The total number of air travel complaints received, but not yet handled by an agency case officer is 11,152,” said the Inquiry. Travelers who formally complained of breaches of Air Passenger Protection Regulations faced long waits to have their cases heard, eight months on average, said the inquiry. “On average the amount of business days it effectively takes from the filing of a complaint to an officer being assigned to the case, broken down by process, is 170 business days by facilitation process,” wrote staff.<br/>

All foreign leased aircraft still in Russia after the termination of Western leasing contracts will remain in Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on Thursday. Sanctions imposed by Western powers in response to Russia's military campaign in Ukraine forced Western firms to terminate leasing contracts with Russian airlines for over 500 aircraft. Russia has said 78 of these planes were seized while abroad, meaning that well over 400 remain. "The entire fleet, meaning foreign aircraft, will remain in Russia," Borisov said on Russian television. "Some were impounded(abroad) as sanctions were being introduced, (but) the vast majority of Boeing and Airbus (planes) remain in Russia." Moscow has passed a law allowing the aircraft, worth almost $10b, to be entered on its own register, in contravention of international rules. Bermuda and Ireland, where most of the planes are registered, have suspended airworthiness certificates, which usually means they should be grounded. Russian airlines have thus been hesitant to use the law, fearing that they might jeopardise ties with foreign partners. But Borisov said all the leased foreign aircraft had been entered into the Russian register. The sanctions also prevent Russian airlines buying aircraft parts or maintenance services from Europe or the United States, adding to the pressure on the world's 11th largest aviation market from a ban on using North American and European airspace. <br/>

Russian forces have killed 148 children during shelling and air strikes, fired 1,370 missiles and destroyed 15 Ukrainian airports since the start of the invasion on Feb. 24, Ukraine's defence ministry said on Thursday. More than 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes, it said. Reuters could not independently verify the information.<br/>

S&P Global sees losses in the speciality insurance market of $16-35b from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the ratings agency said on Thursday. This includes possible aviation insurance losses totalling $6-15bi, S&P said in a report. Other speciality lines likely to be affected by the conflict include cyber, political risk and marine war insurance, S&P said. The aviation market sees years of legal wrangling between lessors and insurers over planes trapped in Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions. The world's top aircraft lessor AerCap has submitted a $3.5b insurance claim for more than 100 jets stuck in Russia. "We believe it may take many years to settle the ultimate losses incurred by aircraft leasing companies, insurers, and reinsurers," S&P said. The top 21 global reinsurers rated by S&P will likely suffer around half of the overall losses, it said.<br/>

One of Russia's flagship airliner projects, the Irkut MS-21, will use domestic engines given that sanctions mean US models are no longer available, the RIA news agency cited a senior official as saying on Thursday. The medium-range plane, also known as the MC-21, can carry more than 200 passengers and is due to enter service this year. First designed with engines from Pratt and Whitney, a unit of Raytheon Technologies, in December 2020 the plane flew for the first time with Russian-built turbofans. RIA cited deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov as saying the plane would now only use PD-14 engines produced by the United Engine Corporation (UEC), which he said would need to expand its facilities to boost output. The plane is built by Irkut Corporation, part of United Aircraft Corporation, which like the UEC is majority owned by Rostec, Russia's state aerospace and defence conglomerate.<br/>

Almost 500 “ghost flights” a month departed from the UK between October and December 2021, data has revealed. The information, obtained through a freedom of information request by the Guardian, shows Heathrow, Aberdeen, Manchester, Stansted and Norwich were the top five airports for such flights during the period. Ghost flights are defined as those with no passengers, or less than 10% of passenger capacity. The data from the Civil Aviation Authority includes only international flights leaving the UK and not arrivals, or any domestic flights. Flying is one of the most carbon-polluting activities people can undertake, and ghost flights have angered those campaigning for action on the climate crisis. Almost 15,000 ghost flights left the UK between the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 and September 2021, the Guardian revealed in February. The German airline Lufthansa said in January it would have to fly 18,000 “unnecessary” flights by March. Such flights have been blamed on the system at busy airports whereby airlines must normally run 80% of their flights, empty or not, to retain their landing slots. The rule was suspended during the pandemic and reintroduced at 50% in October 2021, but that did not appear to have significantly changed the number of monthly ghost flights. <br/>

Edinburgh Airport has warned holidaymakers to expect queues and disruption over the summer as it returns to full service. Its CE said the main reason was that staff numbers would not reach pre-pandemic levels in time. The airport's operations were drastically impacted by restrictions over the last two years. Passengers in 2020 and 2021 fell from nearly 15m to 3m, but are forecast to surge this year. The airport has predicted numbers will more than treble in one year. This growth, coupled with tough recruitment markets, has prompted the warning of disruption over the summer.<br/>

ICAO Council representatives have agreed to proceed with plans to establish a specific airspace for Qatar, setting out a phased approach to creating a Doha flight information region. It will end the long-standing arrangement whereby Bahrain controls airspace over Qatar, one which began to fracture after Bahrain participated in a political blockade against Qatar in 2017. At its latest session in March, the ICAO Council agreed to proceed with establishment of a Doha FIR on the basis of a phased approach. The first of these phases approved the dimensions of the FIR and accordingly revises those of the Bahrain FIR. Within two years – and assuming satisfactory implementation of the first phase – a second phase would further develop the airspace. The session noted that some countries had presented information about “uncertainty” in regard to territory adjacent to the common Bahrain-Emirates FIR boundary. It also acknowledged that, while progress had been made in clarifying requirements and establishing common ground, a technical or operational solution had “not yet been identified” that could be formally agreed by all parties. But the Council says that it has agreed to proceed with the establishment of the Doha FIR while admitting that “challenges” remain to reach a mutually-satisfactory solution in the short term.<br/>

Vietnam’s transport ministry is seeking approval from the prime minister to issue a licence to the country’s first all-cargo airline, the government said on Thursday, as air cargo volumes climb steadily in the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub. The airline, IPP Air Cargo, had met all necessary requirements for the licence, according to a statement posted on the government’s website. IPP Air Cargo was established in March last year with an initial investment of 300b dong ($13.14m), the statement said. If approved, the airline would initially operate five aircraft, including Boeing 737, Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 planes, it said, adding that the fleet would double in size after five years. Vietnam’s air cargo transport is currently handled by its five existing airlines, with overall volume this year expected to rise to 1.52m tonnes, up from 1.3m tonnes last year, the statement said. The country’s air cargo volume has grown by an average of 15.3% a year since 1991.<br/>

Airbus is searching for alternative sources of titanium to ensure a lack of access to the lightweight metal doesn’t interfere with the planemaker’s plan to increase production. The planned ramp-up to a rate of 65 A320-family narrow-bodies per month by mid-2023 is the number one priority for the group, European sales chief Wouter Van Wersch said in an interview. Airbus relies on Russia for about half its supply, creating the potential for disruption if shipments are interrupted. “We are looking into it very closely to see how we can ensure it doesn’t impact our supply chain and our ramp-up,” Van Wersch said on the sidelines of the Airlines for Europe meeting in Brussels. “For now, there’s no issue.” Airbus has set ambitious plans to push build rates up from the current 40-odd a month to capitalize on demand for A320-family jets. The company is seeking to recover to pre-Covid 19 output rates and then move higher. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put titanium supplies at risk for both the manufacturer and its suppliers. The Toulouse, France-based manufacturer currently gets about half its titanium sponge from Russia, and key suppliers like engine-maker Safran SA also reliant. For now, the EU has allowed Airbus to keep buying Russian titanium, while US rival Boeing has said it would halt purchases.<br/>