Munich Airport was closed for some hours early Saturday after climate activists accessed the runway as part of a campaign calling for more government action against greenhouse emissions. The group - Letzte Generation, or Last Generation - said in a statement that they’d blocked the tarmac before the regular start of flights for the day. Flight operations resumed by 8 a.m. but “temporary restrictions” continued due to ongoing federal police operations, Munich Airport said in a series of responses to customers on X. Disruptions at Germany’s second busiest airport come as European carriers gear up for the busy summer travel season. “Government is the problem, not our vacation,” read a slogan on an picture attached to the statement. The group called on German authorities to pursue a “fair” shutdown of the flight industry rather than leave it to consumers to decide which means of transport to use for their trips. The group frequently engages in sit-ins on roads and highways to call for more stringent action to lower greenhouse gas emissions. In the past years it’s disrupted takeoffs and landings at Munich and Berlin’s main airports after several activists glued themselves to runways. German authorities in 2023 searched properties in connection with an investigation against the group, accusing several members of forming or supporting a criminal organization and raising at least E1.4m.<br/>
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Border Force staff at Britain's busiest airport, Heathrow, will go on strike on May 31, June 1 and 2, a busy travel time during the country's school holidays, as they continue their protest over changes to their working conditions. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said staff in terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5 would also refuse to work overtime for three weeks from June 4, taking action against Britain's interior ministry which has changed their roster system. About 300 border force staff staged a four-day walkout at the end of April and in early May. Heathrow has previously said it has contingency plans in place for any strike action, and can avoid any impact to passenger journeys.<br/>
China’s international air passenger traffic recovered to over 80% of pre-Covid levels in April, reflecting efforts by Beijing to attract more overseas visitors to the nation’s shores and a growing propensity of Chinese to travel abroad after the pandemic. About 5.1m international air passenger trips were made in April, Li Yong, a senior official with Civil Aviation Administration of China, said at a briefing in Beijing on Friday. It’s the third month that international air passenger traffic held at more than 80% of the pre-pandemic levels, according to Li. The total number of air passenger trips, including domestic and international routes, reached 56m, representing a year-over-year growth of 10.6% and an increase of 5.3% from 2019, before Covid, according to CAAC. China has introduced a slew of policy measures since late last year to try and attract more international visitors. Earlier this month Beijing said it would allow visa-free entry for foreign tour groups that come to the country via cruise ships and visa-free entry is now available for travelers from some European and Asian countries. Travel sentiment is also finally picking up within China, according to a survey from Bloomberg Intelligence, as a willingness to spend boosts the number of domestic and outbound trips that people are taking. Most major international destinations are seeing gains, including in Southeast Asia, and interest in Europe is building, analyst Tim Bacchus said. The trends are reflected in the April monthly data of China’s top three airlines.<br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) on May 17 announced its three-stage plan to become the region’s aviation hub, increasing air traveller capacity to 270m people a year by 2037 and becoming among the top five countries in air logistics in the Asia-Pacific. It said the plan was part of the government’s Ignite Thailand initiative announced in February, which aims to make the country a hub for tourism, medical treatment, food, aviation, logistics, electric vehicles, digital economy and finance by 2030. Under the three-stage plan, the CAAT will increase the capacity of Thailand’s airport facilities to accommodate 1.2m flights and 180m passengers a year by 2025 in the short term. It has also set the target of achieving minimum connecting time (MCT) for international flight connections at not over 75 minutes. In the second stage – 2026 to 2028 – total capacity at airports must reach 1.4m flights and 210m passengers a year by 2028, while the MCT must not exceed 60 minutes, the CAAT said. In the third stage – 2029 to 2037 – the CAAT aims to achieve a capacity of 2.1m flights and 270m passengers, and reduce the MCT to less than 45 minutes. By 2037, Thailand should be among the top five countries in the Asia-Pacific with the most airfreight volume per year, the CAAT said.<br/>
French police trying to restore order in the island territory of New Caledonia after days of deadly unrest have cleared dozens of barricades that had been blocking the main road linking the airport to the capital, Noumea, a senior official said on Sunday. Around 60 barricades that protesters had put up along the 60 km (37-mile) road have been dismantled but the road is not yet open as debris needs to be cleared, which will take several days, the territory's high commissioner, Louis Le Franc, told reporters. The Tontouta airport is closed because of the unrest on the French-ruled South Pacific territory. Protests erupted last week, sparked by anger among indigenous Kanak people over a constitutional amendment that will change who is allowed to participate in elections, which local leaders fear will dilute the Kanak vote. Six people have been killed and the unrest has left a trail of burnt businesses, torched cars, looted shops, and road barricades, cutting off access to medicine and food.<br/>
Boeing’s departing CEO, Dave Calhoun, was re-elected to stay on the troubled company’s board on Friday, even as the planemaker’s chair said he was gathering feedback from customers and others in its search for a new CE. Boeing is dealing with a sprawling crisis that includes multiple investigations, possible prosecution for past actions and slumping production of its strongest-selling jet. Shareholders voted at Boeing’s annual general meeting (AGM) for Calhoun to remain on the board in a preliminary tally. The proxy adviser Glass Lewis had recommended shareholders vote against the re-election of Calhoun and two other directors to Boeing’s board, citing dissatisfaction over efforts to transform the planemaker’s safety culture. Steven Mollenkopf, Boeing’s chair and the former boss of Qualcomm, is leading the search to replace Calhoun, who said he would retire by year-end as part of a management shakeup following a January mid-air blowout on a new 737 Max 9. Boeing is “committed to a process that will identify the next CEO to lead Boeing through our current challenges and into the future”, he said. The company has sought feedback from customers, employees and investors in the search, Mollenkopf said. “The months and years ahead are critically important to our company as we take the necessary steps to regain the trust lost in recent times, get back on track and perform like the company that we all know Boeing can and must be every day.”<br/>
Boeing has spent years trying to get back on track after two fatal 737 Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019, but the company has continued to face problems with production flaws and setbacks, including a door plug flying off a 737 Max 9 plane in mid-air after it took off in early January. Boeing’s stock has fallen around 30% this year. The iconic company that once had a great reputation for safety is losing more and more market share to rival Airbus, which has delivered more planes and received more orders than Boeing for five consecutive years. Some airlines are scaling back growth plans due to delays in production. The pressure on Boeing has led to a major leadership shake-up. And in an effort to correct manufacturing flaws and get production back on track, it announced it’s in talks to buy fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems — a company that Boeing spun off in 2005. Spirit AeroSystems, which is not to be confused with Spirit Airlines, is one of the biggest aerostructure companies in the world with many locations around the globe. It makes components for both commercial and military aircraft including fuselages and wing elements, among other parts. “Boeing is far and away their largest customer,” said Kevin Michaels, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory. “Spirit provides 100% of the fuselages for the world’s second-most popular aircraft, the 737. ”<br/>
Airbus is to lead a new hydrogen handling and refuelling project to demonstrate ground-handling operations for the new fuel on a small scale at several European airports. The EU-backed project also involves hydrogen specialists and academic partners from across Europe. In total, the GOLIAT initiative will receive E10.8m ($11.7m) from the EU and will run for four years, culminating in 2027 with a hydrogen aircraft demonstration at Vinci Airports-run Lyon-Saint Exupery. The project’s goal is to demonstrate how high-flow liquid hydrogen (LH2) handling and refuelling technologies can be developed and used safely and reliably for airport operations. Planned activities include developing and demonstrating hydrogen refuelling technologies scaled-up for future large commercial aircraft, and trialling small-scale LH2 aircraft ground operations at airports. In addition, the project aims to develop regulatory framework for future hydrogen operations and assess the economics of hydrogen fuel for airports.<br/>