Federal regulators on Friday cleared the way for Boeing to restart deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner, which were paused more than a year ago because of quality concerns. Boeing had submitted a plan to the Federal Aviation Administration this spring to inspect and repair those issues, which the agency approved on Friday in a major milestone on the path to delivering the planes, according to a person familiar with the decision, who wasn’t authorized by the agency to share the news. The FAA will still inspect the jets before they are handed over to Boeing customers. The Dreamliner is a twin-aisle plane commonly used for long international flights and is an important part of Boeing’s fleet. It appeals to airlines in part because it is more fuel-efficient than older wide-body planes. The delivery delay had taken a toll both on Boeing and its customers. In January, Boeing estimated the cost of performing the repairs and compensating customers for the delay to be about $3.5b. Earlier this year, American Airlines said that the delivery freeze had forced it to cut several international routes it had planned to fly this summer. The quality concerns included finding and filling paper-thin gaps in the plane’s body, replacing certain titanium parts that were made with the wrong material and other fixes. None have an immediate impact for the safety of Dreamliners flying today, Boeing said. Boeing has already begun inspecting and repairing its inventory of about 120 Dreamliners, but it wasn’t immediately clear how soon the company would be able to start shipping the plane to customers again. An executive at American said in an earnings call on July 21 that it expected to start receiving part of its order of Dreamliners as soon as early August. An FAA spokeswoman declined to comment on the decision. In a short statement, Boeing said it would “continue to work transparently” with the agency and its customers toward restarting deliveries.<br/>
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Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, or OMA, said on Sunday that Fintech Advisory Inc entered into a deal worth about $815m with a unit of France's Vinci to divest its 29.9% stake in OMA. Fintech, controlled by Mexican billionaire David Martinez, would implement the sale to Vinci through the transfer of 100% of the equity interests in Servicios de Tecnologia Aeroportuaria (SETA) and Aerodrome Infrastructure, OMA said in a statement. The purchase price for the sale of SETA was worth about $578.7m, OMA said. The price agreed for the sale of Aerodrome, net of debt, including intercompany debt between Aerodrome and certain affiliates of Fintech, was about $236.7m. The transaction was subject to regulatory approvals, the statement said. OMA operates 13 international airports in nine states of central and northern Mexico.<br/>
Close to six million passengers have passed through the smart gates at Dubai International Airport this year and officials have urged more people to register for the service to avoid delays during the summer rush. The state-of-the-art biometric systems installed at the gates have eased pressure on passport control officers as more people opt to pass through the gates instead of queuing for a physical stamp at immigration. On average, about one million travellers per month have used the 122 smart gates located throughout the airport since the beginning of the year. The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA-Dubai) said they take just seconds to pass through and eliminate the need for passengers to show identification documents at different touch points across the airport. With the busy summer travel season in full swing, The National was invited to take a tour of a typical passenger's journey when using the airport. “We have a 50 per cent increase this year of people using the smart gates and tunnel at the airport,” said Colonel Faisal Al Nuaimi, Deputy Director Assistant for Airport Operations at GDRFA-Dubai. “About six million people have used our smart solutions this year. It has [drastically cut] waiting times at the busiest airport in the world.""<br/>
Air passenger traffic in Singapore reached 50.3% of its pre-pandemic level in June, said Changi Airport Group (CAG), amid a return in demand for travel. Changi Airport handled 2.93m passenger movements in June, compared with 5.8m in June 2019, according to Changi Airport's latest operating indicators on Sunday. Aircraft movements - including both landings and takeoffs - totalled 18,400, or about 58.6% of pre-pandemic levels in the same month in 2019, said CAG. Airfreight throughput registered 163,000 tonnes for the month, a 1.4% increase year-on-year. "We are encouraged by the steady increase in passenger traffic as it is a sign that we are getting back on the trajectory of growth towards pre-pandemic levels," said Lim Ching Kiat, managing director for Air Hub Development at CAG. "The reopening of Terminal 4 and partial opening of Terminal 2 will give us the capacity to support our airline partners’ efforts in restarting services and launching new routes, which are critical for us to capture post-pandemic demand for air travel."<br/>
The Government of India is looking to operationalise 100 airports across the country by 2024 with an aim to boost regional connectivity, reported IANS. Opening of the airports could be materialised only if the government can find suitable set-up including land, statutory sanctions and others, noted the news agency. According to concerned officials, around 68 airports are currently handling flights under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme since the commencement of the project. The plan to transform patient outcomes in the Middle East through the use of AI<br/>A partnership between Microsoft and Roche, leveraging AI and cloud solutions, is promising to redefine healthcare possibilities in the Middle East. In December 2021, Swiss pharmaceutical and diagnostics giant Roche agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft. The aim is to use the power of AI and cloud technology to improve outcomes for patients across the Middle East, and help healthcare providers embrace early adoption of new diagnostic tools. Beginning in Egypt, the collaboration is due to be rolled out across the region, with countries including KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria ultimately feeling the benefit. RCS-UDAN was initiated by the government of India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in order to connect remote areas of the country by air. It also aims to enable common citizens of the nation to fly at affordable costs.<br/>
Widespread flight cancellations across multiple airlines have frustrated travellers at Sydney and Melbourne airports on Monday, as the industry grapples with staffing shortages as well as a technology glitch that affected Qantas flights on Sunday. Across Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Rex, 23 domestic flights were cancelled out of Sydney airport on Monday. Of those, 15 flights were Melbourne-bound, with eight of those cancellations from Qantas. Virgin Australia cancelled eight flights from Sydney to locations including Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and the Gold Coast. At Melbourne airport there were 12 domestic flight cancellations on Monday: seven from Qantas, four from Virgin and one from Jetstar. Guardian Australia understands the cancellations were due to crew sickness, as cases of the flu and Covid-19 rise across the country. Qantas was experiencing minor delays flowing on from an incident on Sunday, when a technical glitch delayed flights and led to passengers waiting on the tarmac and in terminals for over an hour. On Monday, a Qantas spokesperson said: “We have resolved an IT issue that caused delays of around one hour for some flights on Sunday afternoon.” A Virgin Australia Group spokesperson said: “We sincerely apologise to any guest impacted by delayed or cancelled services and we continue to work hard to ensure all guests reach their destination.”<br/>