Densely packed aircraft, little legroom and no free drinks. It’s starting to look like the uncomfortable reality of global air travel for more and more passengers as airlines race to decarbonize. The spartan cabins and fuss-free service of low-cost carriers appeared half a century ago, a makeover that made flying affordable to the masses. Since Southwest Airlines Co. first took off from Dallas in 1971, dozens of budget peers including Ryanair Holdings Plc, AirAsia Bhd. and India’s IndiGo have emerged to take on more pricey legacy carriers. With global air travel almost completely recovered from the pandemic, cutting emissions is once again the industry’s No. 1 challenge. The low-cost, low-luxury business model that democratized air travel in recent decades has now become an unlikely template for reducing pollution. That’s because budget airlines’ obsession with lowering weight in order to save fuel — by installing paper-thin seats, ripping out business-class thrones and ditching heavy extras like booze and blankets — also happens to produce the best emissions metrics in the skies. The five airlines in the world that emit the fewest pollutants per passenger are all low-cost carriers, according to data from carbon-reduction advisory firm Envest Global. Wizz Air Holdings Plc, the Hungary-based carrier that mostly serves Europe and the Middle East, leads the pack. Major brands including Delta Air Lines Inc., Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and British Airways, which is owned by IAG SA, belch out almost twice as many emissions for every passenger they carry, the data show. It’s grim news for those accustomed to turning left as they board their flights, the traditional path to roomy premium seats. With a 2050 deadline looming for aviation to reach carbon neutrality, the emissions data suggest that airlines in fact need to jam more passengers onto their aircraft, give them less space, and cut back on food and drink in order to make flying sustainable.<br/>
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The FAA recommended late Sunday night that airlines begin visual inspections of door plugs installed on Boeing 737-900ER planes, the second Boeing model to come under scrutiny this month. The FAA said the plane had the same door plug design as the company’s newer 737 Max 9. The agency grounded about 170 Max 9 jets after a door panel blew off one of the planes shortly after an Alaska Airlines flight left Portland, Ore., on Jan. 5, forcing an emergency landing. The door plugs are placed as a panel where an emergency door would otherwise be if a plane was configured with more seats. After grounding the Max 9 planes, the FAA subsequently announced it was investigating whether Boeing failed to ensure that the jet was safe and conformed to the design approved by the agency. The FAA said on Sunday that the door plug on the 737-900ER, an earlier-generation model that is not part of Boeing’s Max line, had not yet been a problem. “As an added layer of safety, the Federal Aviation Administration is recommending that operators of Boeing 737-900ER aircraft visually inspect mid-exit door plugs to ensure the door is properly secured,” the agency said in a statement. The FAA is recommending that the airlines using the 737-900ER immediately inspect the four locations used to secure the door plug to the airframe. The 737-900ER has over 11m hours of operation and about 4m flight cycles, according to the FAA. Boeing delivered about 500 of the planes globally between 2007 and 2019, though not all of them have door plugs. “We fully support the FAA and our customers in this action,” Boeing said in a statement.<br/>
A powerful storm diverted dozens of flights in Britain and Ireland on Sunday and Monday, sending passengers to Germany, France and northern Britain, and stranding some at airports overnight. At Dublin Airport, 166 flights were canceled Sunday night, another 29 flights were canceled on Monday, 36 flights were diverted to other airports and 34 aircraft performed what are known as “go-arounds,” or aborted landings, according to the airport. Despite the flight chaos, the airport was open and operational on both Sunday and Monday, Graeme McQueen, a spokesman for Dublin Airport, said in a statement to The New York Times. Winds from the storm, named Isha, eased overnight on Sunday and changed to a more favorable westerly direction to allow “for a smooth first wave of flights.” The storm’s wind challenged flight crews, with gusts between 70 and 75 miles per hour in the south of England and Ireland, Steve Fox, the head of network operations at NATS, which provides air traffic control services in Britain, said in a statement on Monday. In the north, gusts were more than 90 m.p.h. Fox said that aircraft that could not land safely were diverted to other airports. “Yesterday, because the storm blanketed the whole country, we alerted airlines that their normal diversion airfield might not be available and they should plan to potentially have to divert further afield,” he said, adding that flights were diverted to destinations that were “least affected” and still had space available “at the pilot’s critical decision point.”<br/>
Poland’s new central hub airport project has run into management turbulence, with the president of the board being dismissed along with several members of the management team. The upheaval comes a month after a change in the Polish government in the wake of parliamentary elections, with an audit of the project planned following concerns over spending decisions. Project organiser Centralny Port Komunikacyjny’s supervisory board says it dismissed president Mikolaj Wild as well as Radoslaw Kantak, the rail investment member, on 19 January. The head of financial matters, Andrzej Alot, remains on the CPK board. This upheaval followed an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on 17 January, during which several supervisory board members were dismissed by new Polish secretary of state for development funds and regional policy Maciej Lasek. Lasek, a former chair of Poland’s air accident investigation commission, is the government’s representative at CPK, which was set up to direct the creation of the new hub airport to be located between Warsaw and Lodz. The airport is intended to be a multimodal transport centre connecting air, rail and road. According to the ministry for development funds and regional policy, the board changes are intended to “improve co-operation” on the project “as well as its verification”.<br/>
Airports of Thailand (AOT) has taken inspiration from the Maldives with plans for Thailand’s first seaplane terminal at Phuket International Airport. AOT said the new terminal will meet the rising demand for coastal tourism in island countries like the Maldives. A study is being conducted for the project, which aims to boost tourism from Phuket to local Andaman islands and beaches while expanding the airport's capacity. Covering project details and an environmental impact assessment (EIA), the study is due to be completed this year. Bidding for construction of the terminal will be held early next year. "This will be the first seaplane terminal in Thailand, which will expand coastal tourism," said AOT chairman, Pol General Visanu Prasattongosoth. Phang-Nga province and the Gulf of Thailand’s Samui Island are also suitable spots for seaplane terminals due to their popularity with tourists, Visanu said.<br/>