The House of Representatives Oversight Committee said on Tuesday it is investigating the US Transportation Department's response to a series of aviation and rail safety issues. Republicans on the panel in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the committee was conducting oversight of the department's response to near-miss aviation incidents and train derailments. They also said they were seeking "a briefing, documents and communications related to the department's efforts to investigate and remediate these issues to protect the safety of all Americans." The Transportation Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The letter, signed by committee chair James Comer and other committee Republicans, cited unresolved safety recommendations made by the department's Office of Inspector General. "These safety failures have eroded the public's confidence in air and rail safety and necessitates thorough investigation," the lawmakers wrote in the letter. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating seven near-miss runway events since January. In March, Buttigieg said a series of aviation close calls was "deeply troubling and deserve our immediate attention." The FAA and NTSB last month said they were investigating an Aug. 11 near collision between a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a Cessna Citation 560X business jet in San Diego that were about 30m apart. The FAA has been without a permanent administrator since April 2022. President Joe Biden's nominee to head the agency withdrew in March and the White House has yet to announce a new nominee.<br/>
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Cities are reviving plans to tap the $4t municipal-bond market to build and renovate runways, concourses and terminals for airports as passenger traffic rebounds to levels last seen before the pandemic. During the first half of 2023, sales of airport bonds dropped to roughly $3b — less than a third of the amount seen in the year earlier period — as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. But a cluster of sales totaling $1.8b in August has brought the sector back to life. Recent sales for hub airports in Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth indicate a pick up of issuance given pent-up capital needs, said Mikhail Foux, head of municipal strategy at Barclays. And a number of upcoming sales signal issuance will continue. Charlotte, North Carolina, and Minneapolis-St. Paul in Minnesota are expected to sell debt for their respective facilities, according to preliminary bond documents. US airports need $151b over the next five years to meet infrastructure needs, according to Airports Council International-North America. With pandemic federal aid running out as travel rebounds, city governments will be turning to the bond market for money to fund long-term airport projects. “Airports are feeling confident because travel is back in a big way,” C. Courtney Knight, Atlanta’s treasurer, said in an interview. “That gives us confidence and the desire now to implement capital projects that are driven by increased travel.”<br/>
Hungary has submitted a formal offer to buy a majority stake in Budapest Airport, according to a person familiar with the matter, potentially ending years of wrangling over the hub’s fate. The two parties are expected to now enter into formal discussions, said the person, who asked not to be named. Hungary is offering to buy 51% via a state-controlled investment company, while the remaining 49% is set to be acquired by another airport operator, the person said, without identifying that suitor. The person said the offer was in the same ballpark — E4b — as an earlier bid put forward by a consortium led by the Hungarian government in 2021. That effort collapsed due to the challenging economic environment the government was in at the time. Hungary’s Economic Development Ministry, which is in charge of the acquisition talks on behalf of the government, said negotiations for the purchase of the airport are ongoing, and that they would inform the public once an agreement was reached. The ministry provided no further details in an emailed response to questions. The news of the talks came on the same day that Hungary was selling E1.75b in Eurobonds to finance what it said was an increased funding need for the year and plans to prefinance debt maturing in 2024. Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy has previously floated the option of using foreign-currency bonds to finance the purchase of the airport. The airport’s owners are still awaiting more details on the identity of all the proposed buyers as well as further information on how they would finance the deal, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.<br/>
French President Emmanuel Macron must say whether his country was to blame for an Italian air disaster that killed 81 people more than 40 years ago, former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato said on Tuesday. Italian judges have said in the past that a missile likely downed the DC-9 civilian aircraft near the island of Ustica on June 27, 1980, but have been unable to identify who was responsible for one of the darkest mysteries in Italy's postwar history. In a weekend interview with La Repubblica newspaper, Amato said he believed that the aircraft, belonging to the now-defunct domestic airline Itavia, was probably shot down accidentally by a French jet during a botched attempt by France, the U.S. and NATO to kill the then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi while he was flying over Italy. "I ask Macron to look into the matter. If he shows that the allegation is unfounded, so much the better. If it is true, he should apologise," Amato, 85, told a news conference on Tuesday. A French diplomatic source told Reuters that France had always cooperated with Italy on Ustica, particularly in the context of judicial investigations, and was "of course ready" to work again with Rome if asked. Amato, who twice served as prime minister, said he had raised the issue again because at his age: "You start to ask yourself if there is something useful still to be done, some unfinished business that can be resolved."<br/>
The military junta in Niger reopened the country's airspace on September 3, 2023, nearly a month after all flights to, from, and over the country were banned. NOTAM A1096/23 announcing the reopening of the airspace to all civilian flights went into effect at 2218Z on September 3. The authorities simultaneously resumed the provision of ground services. However, the airspace remains closed to all military and special mission flights, which require individual authorisations from the junta. Nigerien airspace was closed to all traffic on August 6, 2023, shortly after the CNSP overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, prompting Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member states to threaten an invasion to restore Bazoum. Since then, only a limited number of flights authorised by the junta have been permitted to land at Niamey, including services by Air Burkina (Burkina Faso being an ally of the junta) and Air Algérie.<br/>
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes and vehicles were swept away in floods as storms from now weakened Typhoon Haikui made landfall in China's southeastern Fujian province early on Tuesday after battering Taiwan for the past two days. About 114,400 people were moved from risky areas as the typhoon rolled in with a maximum wind speed of 20 metres per second. Several areas in Fujian recorded more than 300 mm (1 foot) of rainfall in just over 24 hours. In Fuzhou city, two firefighters were missing after a fire truck carrying nine rescue workers was swept away by floodwaters during a mission, state media reported. Many flights were cancelled at two airports in Fuzhou and Quanzhou, tourist spots and parks were shut, and ports, coastal and river transportation was suspended, state media reported.<br/>
Australia should expand flights to key south-east Asian markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to a sweeping economic blueprint to boost trade. The strategy, to be released by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Wednesday, also calls on the government to cut foreign investment barriers, fast track visas and urgently improve Australia’s “south-east Asia literacy”. Australia’s two-way trade with south-east Asian countries was worth $178b in 2022, but has been rising more slowly than average economic growth across the “powerhouse” region, the document warns. The government commissioned the former Macquarie Group boss Nicholas Moore to examine how to tap into that growth. His report makes 75 recommendations, including expanding “air links to help promote the movement of people, goods and services with the region”. The government is releasing the report amid intense domestic political debate over the decision to block Qatar Airways’ request for further flights to Australia, and upheaval at the top of Qantas. Moore’s report says: “Given the reliance of travellers between Australia and south-east Asia on air travel, ensuring airlines are well positioned to cater for future demand will be crucial. The Australian government should seek to enhance capacity opportunities available to airlines under air service agreements so that they remain ahead of demand, enabling future growth and competition to support increases in travel and freight.” That echoes a submission from the Australian Airports Association, which argued bilateral air services agreements were constraining access from Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The association said better negotiation of those agreements and reform of the visa-issuing system would help “overcome some of the obstacles faced by airports in serving south-east Asian markets for tourism, education, skills and training”. However, government figures show there is still some room for growth in existing agreements.<br/>
Airbus, Rolls-Royce and discount carrier EasyJet are calling on the UK government to pump money into the development of hydrogen as a viable method aircraft propulsion that can help meet net zero emission targets by 2050. The companies, along with GKN Aerospace and others, have formed an alliance called Hydrogen in Aviation that will push the government to focus on the infrastructure, regulation and funding of hydrogen, according to a statement Tuesday. The group touted hydrogen as a “very promising alternative-fuel option for short-haul aviation.” The aviation industry is under increasing pressure to reduce fossil fuel use and slash emissions. Hydrogen has emerged as a possible alternative to jet fuel but the technology is still years away from commercial service, and regulation and infrastructure will need to be in place before this can be used at a large scale. Hydrogen powered planes may take as many as 15 years, or the equivalent of three parliamentary terms to enter into service, EasyJet’s CEO Johan Lundgren said in a briefing Tuesday. That means the alliance will need to engage with governments and opposition parties to set out regulatory and safety frameworks, he said. “Action needs to happen now,” Lundgren said. “It would be unforgivable if the aircraft were available, ready to fly and we could operate them but actually it got held back because some of these policies weren’t in place.”<br/>
Boeing and aircraft leasing firm Aviation Capital Group on Tuesday finalized an order for 13 737 MAX jets, the companies said in a statement. The order, which increases Aviation Capital’s order book to 47 737 MAXs, includes seven 737-8 and six 737-10 jets. Airlines, which have been struggling with limited supply of jets, are increasingly turning to aircraft leasing companies to add to their capacity following strong demand for air travel.<br/>