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False GPS signals that deceive on-board plane systems and complicate the work of airline pilots are surging near conflict zones, industry employees and officials said. A ground collision alert sounds in the cockpit, for instance, even though the plane is flying at high altitude -- a phenomenon affecting several regions and apparently of military origin. This includes the vicinity of Ukraine following the Russian invasion two years ago, the eastern Mediterranean and the air corridor running above Iraq, according to pilots and officials interviewed by AFP. Disruptions which were previously limited to jamming preventing access to signals from geolocation satellites are now also taking a more dangerous form making it difficult to counter spoofing. This sees a plane receive false coordinates, times and altitudes. By comparing this data to the geographical maps in its memory banks, its systems can conclude there is imminent danger ahead, Thierry Oriol, a Boeing 777 pilot and member of the SNPL, the main French pilots' union, told AFP. "There were some untimely alarms ordering people to pull back as far as possible on the stick and apply full power to avoid an obstacle, while the plane was in cruise... and in any case no mountain reaches so high," explained Oriol. He also mentioned an incident "departing from Beirut where the plane thought it was at the level of the Alps, at 10,000 feet" above sea level. The problem, explained a manager at a European airline speaking on condition of anonymity, is that this adulterated information enters the navigation system and can cause false alerts hours afterwards as the flight nears its destination.<br/>

The aviation industry is likely to miss its target to reach net zero by 2050, the recently departed boss of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, has warned. Ruud Sondag said he feared governments in Europe would intervene to limit the industry’s growth through higher taxes or caps on flights unless it improved its environmental record.  “I think it’s important to . . . state that the plans that the aviation industry itself has, most probably will not lead to the result that we are all signed up for in the Paris Agreement,” Sondag said. “I think there’s a distinct risk that if you don’t do something about this, then politicians . . . or judges will interfere,” he said. “In the long run, you will lose your licence to operate.” Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries committed to limit global temperature rises to well below 2C and ideally to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, leading industries to lay out their plans to decarbonise. European airlines and airports in 2021 agreed to reach net zero emissions by 2050 in a detailed road map that outlined how the industry believed it could leverage new technologies such as cleaner fuels to decarbonise while still growing.  Sondag, who was speaking before he stepped down as Schiphol’s chief earlier this month, stands out as one of the very few industry executives to publicly cast doubt on these environmental targets, and accept the possibility of lowering growth to cut emissions.  “We need to do something. And if that’s a standstill [in air travel growth] for the time being, OK, is that such a big fuss,” he said.  “I think it’s essential for society that you can fly. But societal acceptance, if it’s not there, especially here in this densely populated area, then you have a problem.” Laurent Donceel, deputy managing director at Airlines for Europe, the industry lobby group in Brussels, said aviation would “fully play its part” in contributing to Europe’s climate goals.<br/>

Connecticut attorney Jim Aspell would rather pay a larger airfare than bother with add-on fees. Aspell, whose son works at an airline, can fly for free on that carrier. But when he has luggage to check in, he prefers Southwest Airlines, which grants customers two checked bags minus the fees that have become nearly ubiquitous in the industry. He flies about once a month and has noticed that over the past decade it takes longer to leave the plane, as passengers wrestle with oversized baggage they carried on board. “People are bringing everything but the kitchen sink on board to try to avoid the bag fees,” he said. “It doesn’t do anybody any favours.” Those fees have gone up again. Delta Air Lines last week raised the price of checking in a first bag from $30 to $35. Five US carriers have raised bag fees by $5 in the past two months, starting with Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways in January and February, then American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta in a two-week window. All now charge $35 to check a first bag online. All except Delta charge $40 or more to check that bag at the airport. “They are like lemmings when it comes to this stuff,” said Bill McGee, a senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly think-tank. American, Delta and JetBlue all cited rising industry costs as driving their decision. The airline industry is confronting inflation, higher fuel prices and higher labour costs. “We remain unprofitable since Covid,” JetBlue said. “While we don’t like increasing fees, it’s one step we are taking to return our company back to profitability and cover the increased costs of transporting bags.” Story has more.<br/>

European safety regulators have ordered urgent replacement of several components, across a number of CFM International CFM56 engines, after they were potentially damaged during maintenance. The measure follows discovery of evidence that critical engine parts were affected by electrical arcing after an induction heater tool was used. Several parts which were subject to maintenance performed using the same tool could also be damaged, says the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. EASA has ordered the immediate replacement of the affected parts, and prohibited the fitting of engines which currently have those parts installed. The components involved include third-stage high-pressure compressor disks, high-pressure turbine rear shafts, and compressor discharge pressure seals. EASA has listed the serial numbers of 57 engines on which the specific components are known to have been fitted after the improper maintenance task. Of these 47 are the CFM56-5B, used to power older Airbus A320s, while the other 10 are -7B engines for the Boeing 737. EASA has also listed the individual part and serial numbers of the affected components.<br/>

Intense rainfall swept across Dubai and the wider United Arab Emirates on Saturday, causing localized flooding and disrupting flights at the world’s busiest airport for international travel. Nearly 50 mm of rain fell in Dubai over six hours — a heavy amount when the country as a whole averages under 120 mm of precipitation a year. Authorities sent crews out to collect downed tree limbs and open up drainage grates, though the rain quickly overwhelmed some areas. Dubai police shut down portions of one major highway as traffic slowly crept through standing water on others. Rare lightning storms also lit up the afternoon sky. At Dubai International Airport, the busiest for international travel, flights for both long-haul carrier Emirates and its low-cost sister airline, FlyDubai, were disrupted in the downpour.<br/>

Pulkovo airport in Saint Petersburg has resumed operations as Russian Defence Ministry said a Ukrainian drone was shot down in the neighbouring Leningrad region on Sunday. Alexander Drozdenko, the Leningrad region's governor, adjacent to Saint Petersburg, said on Telegram that airspace was sealed off due to the drone, which did not inflict any damage or casualties. The airport and Rosaviatsia, the country's aviation watchdog, did not say why the restrictions had been imposed.<br/>

Boeing said Friday it believes required documents detailing the removal of a key part during production of a 737 MAX 9 that failed during a mid-air emergency were never created, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The NTSB said last month the door plug that flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 jet mid-flight on Jan. 5 appeared to be missing four key bolts. Boeing Executive Vice President Ziad Ojakli told U. Senator Maria Cantwell in the letter, "We have looked extensively and have not found any such documentation" and that the planemaker's working hypothesis was "the documents required by our processes were not created when the door plug was opened." NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy on Wednesday criticized what she called Boeing's lack of cooperation and failure to disclose some documents, including on the door plug opening and closing, as well as the names of 25 workers on the door crew at the 737 factory in Renton, Washington. "It is absurd that two months later we don't have it," Homendy told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. After Homendy's comments, Boeing provided the 25 names, the company and NTSB said, and Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun spoke to Homendy. <br/>