Travelers will be thrown off track once again as some Florida airports temporarily close down while the state braces for Hurricane Idalia. Tampa International Airport and St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport, both of which are located in West-Central Florida, announced on Twitter, formerly known as "X," that they will close Tuesday due to Idalia, which is expected to "intensify into an extremely dangerous major hurricane before landfall," according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). As of noon Tuesday, Idalia is forecast to bring a "catastrophic storm surge expected in the Big Bend region," according to meteorologists. The Big Bend is another name for the region of North Florida. The NHC also expects flash and urban flooding across portions of the west coast of Florida, the Florida Panhandle, and southern Georgia into Wednesday before spreading into portions of the eastern Carolinas. On Tuesday, as the storm strengthened, Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded the number of counties under a state of emergency from 46 to 49. Other airports in the state including Jacksonville International Airport, the Orlando International Airport and the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport said they remain operational and are monitoring the storm. Given the airport closure in Tampa, United Airlines posed on X that it's adding additional flights from Orlando and Sarasota to help travelers evacuate. <br/>
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A US appeals court on Tuesday revived a trade group's challenge to a San Francisco law adopted amid the COVID-19 pandemic requiring airlines that use the city's airport to provide health insurance to employees. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision said the city was acting as a government regulator and not merely managing its private property when it adopted the 2020 law. That meant the ordinance could be invalid under federal law as argued by Airlines for America, which represents most of the largest US airlines. For a law to be preempted by federal law, a state or city must be acting as a government regulator and not a private market participant in adopting it. The court reversed a federal judge who had found that San Francisco was acting as a private "market participant" when it adopted the law and dismissed the trade group's 2021 lawsuit. Airlines for America in a statement said the group was pleased with the decision and looked forward to pursuing the lawsuit. Lawyers for the city did not immediately respond to requests for comment. San Francisco in adopting the law in 2020 said it was necessary to protect workers, many of whom lacked health insurance, and members of the public who use San Francisco International Airport. In its lawsuit, Airlines for America argues the city's ordinance is preempted by a federal law regulating employee benefit plans and separate laws that govern airlines.<br/>
US corn farmers and biofuel producers are poised to gain from turning ethanol into sustainable jet fuel — depending on how Washington writes the tax policy. That’s the message from ethanol maker Green Plains Inc. Chief Executive Officer Todd Becker at a conference on sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, in Minneapolis. Makers of crop-based biofuels are pushing the Biden administration to help them take full advantage of tax credits in the landmark Inflation Reduction Act. The hurdle lies in disagreement on how to track emissions from SAF, which can be made from a wide range of materials. The decision is seen as key as the US ethanol industry is counting on SAF to help revive demand in upcoming years, with gasoline consumption expected to decline as more electric cars take over the roadways. Biofuel producers and farm state lawmakers are pushing for a model used by the US Energy Department that would give credit for carbon sequestered in soil even after crops are removed. Environmentalists seek what they consider a more rigorous model that factors in changes in land use driven by biofuel production. The latter could prevent some ethanol-based sustainable aviation fuel production from qualifying for the tax credit. Becker’s comments come as he attempts to show investors his goal of expanding Green Plains beyond a traditional ethanol maker and into new markets including SAF will pay off. The CEO is already facing scathing criticism from activist shareholder Ancora Holdings Group LLC over performance as well as recent stock sales. Guidance from the Treasury Department on the climate law’s potentially lucrative provisions is expected as early as September, Becker said.<br/>
Preliminary assessment of the UK air traffic control failure of 28 August indicates it related to flight data the air navigation service NATS received, and was not the result of a cyberattack. But airline representatives are demanding an overhaul of passenger rights legislation after arguing that, unlike carriers, NATS is not being financially penalised – despite its system being at the centre of the crisis. NATS is preparing a preliminary report on the incident which it intends to deliver to the UK transport secretary by 4 September. “At no point was UK airspace closed but the number of flights was significantly reduced,” says NATS chief Martin Rolfe. “Initial investigations into the problem show it relates to some of the flight data we received. Our systems, both primary and the back-ups, responded by suspending automatic processing to ensure that no incorrect safety-related information could be presented to an air traffic controller or impact the rest of the air traffic system.”<br/>The systems have been running normally since the issue was addressed but disruption to a number of flight schedules has yet to be fully resolved. UK transport secretary Mark Harper says the disruption is “likely to continue over the coming days”, and adds that the government is relaxing rules on night flights to assist carriers dealing with delayed passengers. While the situation is likely to be categorised as an ‘extraordinary circumstance’, which would remove any airline obligation to compensate passengers for delays, carriers have nevertheless had to bear the cost of care and assistance to customers. IATA DG Willie Walsh describes the air traffic system failure as a “fiasco” but points out that it will “cost NATS nothing”. “This incident is yet another example of why the passenger rights system isn’t fit for purpose,” says Walsh. “The UK’s policy-makers should take note. The passenger rights system needs to be rebalanced to be fair for all with effective incentives.”<br/>
Flights in and out of Britain will be disrupted for days, the UK government said on Tuesday, after a technical issue with the country’s air traffic control system left thousands of passengers stranded abroad or facing severe delays. Around 280 flights were canceled on Tuesday, about 5 percent of the total scheduled to leave or arrive in Britain, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, compounding travel woes for British holidaymakers after more than a thousand flights were canceled the day before. The trouble came at a particularly busy time for travelers in Britain, many of whom were returning home from summer vacation or long weekends because Monday was a public holiday in the country. “The timing was not at all helpful for people,” Mark Harper, the government minister responsible for transport policy, told the BBC on Tuesday morning. “It’s disrupted thousands of people. Lots of flights were canceled yesterday because of the imperative to keep the system working safely, and it is going to take some days to get completely everybody back to where they should be.” He added that the government’s technical experts had concluded that the episode was not a cyberattack. Britain’s National Air Traffic Service, which runs air traffic control, said on Monday that a failure of the automatic system that processes plane routes meant that, for several hours, flight plans had to be entered manually. When air traffic control issues arise, the priority is to safely land planes that are already in the air, experts said, forcing hundreds of flights to be temporarily grounded or canceled. They added that the delays continued on Tuesday in part because aircraft and crews were out of position. Juliet Kennedy, the operations director of the air traffic service, apologized in a video on Monday night, and added that “it will take some time for flights to return to normal.” She said the company would thoroughly investigate what had caused the glitch.<br/>
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said Monday's failure of the UK's air traffic system was "not acceptable". He said the airline had still not received an explanation as to what caused the problems and questioned why there was no back-up system in place. In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said Ryanair had to cancel about 250 flights on Monday affecting 40,000 passengers. However, he said services were expected to return to normal by Wednesday. More than a quarter of all UK flights were axed on Monday after a fault with National Air Traffic Services (Nats), which runs air traffic control in the UK. Delays and cancellations have been continuing on Tuesday. The disruption on Monday has led to some planes and air crew being stuck in the wrong location, and has also caused problems with staff rotas. According to aviation data firm Cirium, 790 departing flights were cancelled on Monday, which it said was equivalent to about a quarter of all departures, and 785, or about 27%, of incoming flights. As all airlines flying in and out of the UK were affected, this meant carriers could not switch passengers to planes operated by other companies. O'Leary said Ryanair had been in contact with Nats. "We still haven't had an explanation from them on what exactly caused this failure yesterday and where were their back up systems," he said. "It's not acceptable that UK Nats simply allow computer systems to be taken down and everybody's flights get cancelled and delayed." <br/>
Airlines cancelled 20 flights into and out of Dublin Airport on Tuesday as a result of the knock-on impact of an air traffic control technical fault in the United Kingdom. The travel disruption affecting flights could last for days as further departures and arrivals were affected on Tuesday morning, in addition to the 115 flights cancelled on Monday. On Tuesday night, Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (Nats) chief executive Martin Rolfe, said there was no evidence of a cyber attack. He said the failure was caused by flight data received by Nats, with both primary and back-up systems responding by suspending automatic processing. Rolfe said he also wanted to “reassure” people that all Nats systems have been running normally since Monday afternoon to support airline and airport operations. He said: “Very occasionally technical issues occur that are complex and take longer to resolve. In the event of such an issue our systems are designed to isolate the problem and prioritise continued safe air traffic control. This is what happened yesterday. At no point was UK airspace closed but the number of flights was significantly reduced. Initial investigations into the problem show it relates to some of the flight data we received. Our systems, both primary and the back-ups, responded by suspending automatic processing to ensure that no incorrect safety-related information could be presented to an air traffic controller or impact the rest of the air traffic system. There are no indications that this was a cyber-attack.<br/>
France’s largest air traffic controllers’ union has called for a strike on September 15, which could disrupt traffic at a time when the country expects hundreds of thousands of fans to visit for the Rugby World Cup. The SNCTA union said it’s calling the strike in order “to ensure that the inflation rate is caught up with and that mandatory annual negotiations are set up” on salaries. The planned strike will take place a week into the Rugby World Cup, which France is hosting from September 8 to October 28. The organizers expect 600,000 international visitors for the event. Labor action by air traffic controllers not only affects flights to and from France but can also lead to turmoil elsewhere in Europe, causing delays for planes that fly over the country to reach other destinations. Earlier this year, French air traffic controllers walked out amid protests against pension reform, leading the civil aviation authority to limit the number of flights at Paris’ Orly airport and some regional airports on and off for weeks. <br/>
Russia has informed Brazil's aircraft investigation authority that it will not probe the crash of the Brazilian-made Embraer jet that killed mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin under international rules "at the moment", the Brazilian agency told Reuters on Tuesday. Prigozhin, two top lieutenants of his Wagner Group and four bodyguards were among 10 people who died when the Embraer Legacy 600 crashed north of Moscow last week.<br/>He died two months to the day after staging a brief mutiny against the Russian defense establishment that posed the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin's rule since he rose to power in 1999. Brazil's Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA), in the interests of improving aviation safety, had said it would join a Russian-led investigation if it were invited and the probe held under international rules. Russia’s aviation authority was not obligated to say yes to CENIPA, but some former investigators said it should, as the U.S. and other Western governments suspect the Kremlin of being behind the Aug. 23 crash of the Embraer Legacy 600, which has a good safety record. The Kremlin denies any involvement. Prigozhin was publicly critical of Moscow's prosecution of its invasion of Ukraine. The Wagner mercenaries fought battles there on Russia's side.<br/>
Air traffic at Syria's Aleppo airport will resume on Tuesday following an Israeli air strike. Operations will restart at the airport at midnight (2200 GMT), Syria's transport ministry said. An Israeli air attack put the airport out of service on Monday, the Syrian defense ministry said, while regional intelligence sources said an Iranian arms depot was hit. Israel has intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases in particular to disrupt Iran's use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to its allies, including Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has also deployed fighters to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Damascus denies allegations that Iran, whose top military officials frequently visit Syria and have signed deals to supply advanced weapons, has an extensive presence in the country, saying they only have military advisers who help its armed forces.<br/>
Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced it will build a third passenger terminal at Don Mueang International Airport to increase capacity to handle up to 50m passengers a year in 2029. AoT President Kerati Kijmanawat said on Tuesday that the airport can support 30m passengers a year and will soon reach its full capacity. The new terminal will be built on the south side. It will have 155,000m² of additional space to accommodate 18 million more passengers annually. AoT also held its first public hearing on Tuesday to gather feedback for the project. Kerati said that when the third terminal is built, the present first and second terminals will be merged to support domestic passengers, expected to reach 22m a year in the near future. AoT will also improve traffic in front of the terminal buildings, he said. He said the third terminal will have 12 parking bays for aeroplanes. Along with the terminal expansion, AoT will renovate its seven-storey parking building and construct a new VVIP reception building and an office building for airlines. Kerati on Monday took representatives of eight airlines to discuss preparations to cash in on a surge in tourists during the high season with<br/>Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at Pheu Thai Party headquarters.<br/>
US aviation regulators have issued an updated directive regarding a cracking issue with all of Boeing's 777 model airplanes, according to a notice posted online on Tuesday. The FAA's superseding airworthiness directive "was prompted by a report of a crack found in a front spar lower chord," it said in the Federal Register notice. Errors in the earlier directive also "introduced a new unsafe condition related to the application of certain fastener cap seals," it said. Although Boeing submitted an initial report of errors in late 2022, the company did not produce "detailed and complete documentation of these errors was not received until late July 2023" due to the length and complexity of the requirements bulletin, the FAA said in the notice. Although Boeing intends to revise the bulletin, the FAA issued the new directive as "this work will take longer to accomplish than the risk to public safety allows," the agency said. A Boeing spokesperson said it fully supported the FAA's rule, “which is consistent with guidance we have shared with operators previously.” The FAA did not immediately provide comment.<br/>