Aviation recovery heats up with Boeing order, UK-Japan collaboration

UK-Japanese collaboration on fighter jets and a multibillion-dollar Boeing passenger plane order gave a lift to the aviation industry on Monday as the Farnborough Airshow returned in a heatwave tipped to break UK records. A national emergency has been declared in Britain for Monday and Tuesday, with temperatures set to rise above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for the first time. Despite warnings to limit travel, delegates battled crowded trains and shuttle buses to reach the show in southern England. Problems were exacerbated by climate protesters holding a mock funeral for the Earth outside the show. The industry has been reeling from its own travel disruptions and the head of Emirates airline, which has clashed with London's Heathrow over enforced capacity cuts, said a badly disrupted air travel industry would return to equilibrium in 2023 and must "tough it out" until then. The air show, which alternates with Paris, is the first at Farnborough since 2019, and rising defence spending is in focus amid the war in Ukraine. Britain announced it was collaborating with Japan and existing partner Italy on its next-generation fighter jet programme, potentially leading to decisions on deeper partnerships by the end of the year. Three sources told Reuters last week that Britain and Japan were close to agreement to merge their next-generation Tempest and F-X fighter jet programmes to help save costs.<br/>