The House has passed a major federal aviation bill that aims to improve aviation safety, enhance protections for passengers and airline workers and invest in airport and air travel infrastructure nationwide. The bill renewing the Federal Aviation Administration’s authority for five years will next head to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The legislation passed the Senate last week. The House vote was 387 to 26. The bill would authorize more than $105b in funding for the FAA, as well as $738m for the NTSB for fiscal years 2024 through 2028. Although the package has drawn broad bipartisan support, it touched off contentious debate over certain policy issues. One flashpoint centered on a provision to add longer-distance flights at Reagan National Airport, just outside of Washington, DC. A group of Washington-area Democratic senators pressed to strip the provision from the package, though the chamber didn’t ultimately move to do so. Some lawmakers argue additional flights would give consumers more choices and bring down prices, while others say it would increase congestion and delays at the airport, as well as create safety issues. Lawmakers commute most weeks between their home states and Washington, and many could benefit from more convenient flights back and forth.<br/>
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The authority that runs Montreal’s international airport is suing an up-and-coming airport on the city’s South Shore, saying a recent branding effort will confuse travellers. Aéroports de Montréal, which operates Montréal-Trudeau International Airport, has requested a permanent injunction in Superior Court to force the new Montreal Metropolitan Airport, or MET, to change its name. Formerly known as the Montreal Saint-Hubert airport, the MET rebranded itself earlier this year after it announced a partnership with Porter Airlines for a new $200m terminal for up to 4m annual domestic travellers. Eric Forest, spokesman for Aéroports de Montréal, says MET is too similar to the name of the international airport it operates on the Island of Montreal that carried more than 21m passengers in 2023.<br/>
Portugal will build a new international airport in the municipality of Alcochete, across the River Tagus from Lisbon, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro announced on Tuesday after decades of back-and-forth over the location. The new airport will be built at the site of a military airfield in Alcochete, about 40 km (25 miles) east of Lisbon, and should the ready by 2034. This location has been favoured by an independent technical commission, which had studied several possible sites. The new airport will replace Lisbon's Humberto Delgado airport, just near the city centre, but the current airport will be expanded while the new airport is being built. "The government sees having one single airport as a solution more suited to the country's strategic interests," Montenegro told a news conference. Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz said the project would cost up to E9b, adding it would be built using EU funds, public-private partnerships and airport tariffs and not through the state budget.<br/>
A consortium led by two Malaysian state-linked investment firms has offered to acquire full control of Malaysia Airports Holdings, operator of airports including Kuala Lumpur International and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen. Khazanah subsidiary UEM Group, and Employees Provident Fund (EPF), are both existing shareholders of Malaysia Airports, holding 33.2% and 7.9% of shares, respectively. Under an offer submitted today for the remaining shares in the listed-company, Khazanah’s stake would rise to 40%, and EPF’s to 30%. Khazanah is the Malaysian government’s sovereign wealth fund, while EPS manages private-sector workers’ retirement funds. The firms lead the Gateway Development Alliance consortium, which also includes a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and funds managed by airport owner and investor Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The latter has interests in London City, Gatwick and Sydney airports, and recently agreed to plans to sell its stake in Edinburgh airport. The consortium has made a conditional offer price of RM11 ($2.3) per share for the airport. If successful, Malaysia Airports would delist from the Malaysian stock exchange. Khazanah managing director Dato’ Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir says: “Malaysia is strategically well located in the fast-growing Southeast Asian aviation market and has the potential to strengthen its long-haul and regional network.” Global Infrastructure Partners chair and CE Bayo Ogunlesi adds: “Given GIP’s substantial expertise in owning and operating airports, together with our partners, we can focus on improving customer service, elevating operational excellence, growing passenger volumes and enhancing employee engagement.”<br/>
Western Sydney Airport and regional aviation are both set to benefit in this year’s Federal Budget. The Government will pour $302.6m over five years, as well as $53.5m per year ongoing, into Western Sydney Airport, plus $102m into upgrading regional airports and remote airstrips and $7.5m into aviation safety measures. Western Sydney Airport will receive $237.4m over four years from 2024–25, plus $52.1m per year ongoing, for border security measures including terminal design, fit-out and commissioning; federal policing; and detector dogs. $13.0m will also be provided over five years from 2024–25, and $1.4m per year ongoing, to “support regulatory oversight functions and Commonwealth preparatory activities”. “The Government will also provide equity to WSA Co Limited to support completion of Stage One of Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, with the financial implications not for publication due to commercial sensitivities,” the Government said in its 2024-25 Budget papers. The Government will also achieve savings of $8.4m over five years from 2023–24 (and $1.2m per year ongoing) by terminating the Regional and Remote Airports Security grant program, and returning uncommitted funding for business case development for Commonwealth facilities to the Budget.”<br/>
The Justice Department’s determination that Boeing violated corporate probation for deceiving federal regulators does not necessarily mean federal prosecutors will revive criminal charges against the giant aircraft manufacturer. But we should know within weeks whether Boeing will face another day in court. The Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday that Boeing had violated terms of a 2021 settlement that allowed it to avoid prosecution for actions that led up to two deadly crashes involving the company’s 737 Max jetliners more than five years ago. Prosecutors indicated they haven’t decided what to do next. What follows is an explanation of the Justice Department’s options and other things to know about the case. The Justice Department says Boeing failed to meet terms of the settlement, which required the company to set up and maintain a program to detect and prevent violations of U.S. anti-fraud laws. Notably, the government did not say whether Boeing actually committed any acts of fraud. The crashes, which happened in Indonesia in 2018 and in Ethiopia in 2019, killed a total of 346 people. After the second one, the Justice Department investigated how Boeing convinced the FAA to certify the 737 Max. Prosecutors determined that Boeing committed fraud against the United States by deceiving the FAA about elements of a key flight-control system that was later implicated in the crashes. Boeing and the Justice Department secretly negotiated a settlement – called a deferred prosecution agreement – in which Boeing blamed the deception on two low-level employees and agreed to pay $2.5b, mostly to its airline customers. In exchange, the government agreed to drop a single criminal count of fraud if Boeing kept clean for three years.<br/>