US regulators are seeking to revise and simplify the framework for cybersecurity provision on aircraft, in order to harmonise with European certification standards and avoid continually having to issue special conditions. This revision follows several years of work to address the need to protect against unlawful electronic interference as aircraft systems have evolved – notably since the development of the Boeing 787 – to feature increasing levels of data-exchange and interconnectivity. Previously the US FAA has tackled the cybersecurity requirement by issuing special conditions – rules which apply to individual aircraft or engine designs to overcome safety concerns which are not covered by current airworthiness standards. But it states that, as interconnectivity proliferates, the repeated issuance of such conditions could result in certification criteria for cybersecurity which are “neither standardised between projects nor harmonised between the FAA and other civil aviation authorities”. “These disconnects increase the certification complexity, cost, and time for both the applicant and regulator,” it adds. A working group for aircraft system information security drew up recommendations in 2016, outlining a regulatory framework with a single set of airworthiness standards for transport aircraft. The FAA has used these recommendations as the basis for its proposed cybersecurity revision, which it published on 21 August. It states that the proposal will “generally reflect current practice” – maintaining the aims previously achieved through special conditions – and claims that, as a result, the impact on applicants and operators “would not be significant”.<br/>
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Gatwick airport said it has been experiencing one of its “busiest summers”, as booming demand for air travel, along with new long-haul routes, has helped to drive up passenger growth by nearly 8% in the first half of the year. Stewart Wingate, the airport’s CE, also held out hope that the government would approve expansion plans. Wingate said he was “encouraged” by the new Labour government’s decision to sanction London City Airport’s plans to increase passenger numbers. Gatwick hopes to secure government approval as early as next February to then bring its standby runway into full use as part of a GBP2.2b project enabling it to handle up to 75m passengers a year by the late 2030s. The plans, which have been criticised by environmental groups and some locals, have been going through approval processes. A planning inspectorate examination of the proposals ends on Tuesday. “We are getting to a critical stage where we are looking for that government support to expand,” said Wingate, adding that the expansion would bolster the airport’s resilience as well as enable it to attract new airlines. His comments came as London’s second-largest airport said that around 19.9m passengers had passed through the airport in the first six months to the end of June, up 7.7% on the same period last year, and 90% of 2019 levels. Wingate said the hub’s performance had been “robust” for its extensive short-haul network, which is geared towards holiday travel to Europe, and that the next six months could be busier than before the Covid pandemic. Gatwick’s long-haul network also grew, with traffic 23% higher at 3mn in the first six months of the year. This was, however, still 29%t lower than in 2019. Several new long-haul services are due to start in the third quarter of 2024, including to Bengaluru, India, and Las Vegas, operated by Air India and Norse respectively. <br/>
As end-of-summer travel lines back up at TSA airport checkpoints in the U.S., one overseas airport is going all-in on a biometric passenger experience. The Smart Travel Project at Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi will involve biometric sensors at every airport identification checkpoint by 2025. Airport security and travel experts have generally cheered the move. “They are boldly moving forward in adopting facial recognition as the means to let travelers into their system, and I commend them for doing it,” said Sheldon Jacobson, an engineering and computer science professor at the University of Illinois. Jacobson has been studying airport security since the 1990s and helped the TSA develop its pre-screening program, which allows some travelers in the U.S. to skip the checkpoints. “Facial recognition is the future, and we will start to get intelligent with airport security and focus on the traveler rather than the items they bring. By doing that, you create a different paradigm,” Jacobson said. “What they are doing in Abu Dhabi is just the beginning, but it has to start somewhere.” Going completely paperless from the parking garage to your seat-back tray table is unnerving to some who wonder if a Crowdstrike-type outage could bring down fully electronic boarding systems and grind travel to a halt. But Jacobson says those are very rare events, and even if the system completely shut down because of an outage, the net benefits of a biometric travel experience over time will outweigh the costs.<br/>
Chinese biofuel firm Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech said on Friday its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) unit has entered an investment deal with BP, the first alliance involving a global oil major in China's nascent green aviation fuel. BP has agreed to invest 354m yuan ($49.56m) for a 15% stake in Lianyungang Jiaao Enproenergy Co, which is building a 500,000 ton per year SAF plant in the eastern coastal city of Lianyungang, a company executive told Reuters. Jiaao is one of China's first investors spending more than a billion dollars turning waste cooking oil into the lower-carbon aviation fuel for export and to meet domestic demand. China is the world's second-largest aviation fuel market with about 11% of global jet fuel use. Jiaao announced the investment agreement with BP on its on its WeChat account late Thursday.<br/>
Air travelers between Korea and Japan rose 20.8% on-year so far this month despite an earthquake warning issued in the neighboring country, industry data showed Friday. According to data from major airport operators submitted to Rep. Lee Yeon-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the number of air travelers between the two countries from Aug. 1 to Tuesday totaled at around 1.38m. The tally marks a 20.8% jump from last year and a 6.3% rise compared with the previous month. Despite a major earthquake warning issued by the Japanese government from Aug. 8-15 following a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Miyazaki Prefecture earlier this month, there was no significant change in the number of passengers on Japanese routes. From the Liberation Day holiday on Thursday to Sunday, 269,000 people traveled on Japanese routes, up 21.4% from last year, even with the cancellation of dozens of flights due to the impact of a typhoon. "With the continued weak yen and the supply of affordable flight tickets primarily from low-cost carriers, demand for travel to Japan is expected to continue for the foreseeable future," an air travel industry watcher said. <br/>
Thailand became the first country in Asia to detect the new mutated strain of mpox virus, as the pathogen spreads to more geographies after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak in Africa a new global health emergency. The patient who tested positive for clade Ib was a European male who arrived in Bangkok last week from Africa, according to the Department of Disease Control of Thailand’s health ministry. Authorities have identified 43 close contacts of the 66-year-old patient and put them under surveillance. The patient with illnesses and symptoms associated with mpox was admitted to a hospital on August 15, a day after his arrival in Bangkok. Laboratory tests on Thursday (local time) confirmed the variant as clade Ib and Thailand will report the result to the World Health Organization, the ministry said in a statement. Tourism-reliant Thailand said it will tighten surveillance and screening measures at all its international entry points including Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. Travellers from 42 countries with mpox outbreaks will have to register themselves on the health ministry’s online application before leaving for Thailand and undergo health screening upon arrival according to global protocols, the ministry said. The newer strain - with a fatality rate of 3% - has been spreading across several African countries and is reported to have killed more than 500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Children and adolescents are also getting sick, with known fatal cases exceeding 60% among patients under the age of 5.<br/>
Temperature and visual screening will be carried out at Changi and Seletar airports from Aug 23 as a precautionary measure against the import of mpox from abroad. The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Transport and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said they will enhance Singapore’s surveillance capabilities against the infectious viral disease at the borders. Similar screening measures will also be implemented at sea checkpoints for crew and passengers arriving on ships from mpox-affected areas. MOH said that while there are no direct flights between Singapore and any country with an mpox outbreak, there will be temperature and visual screening at Changi and Seletar airports for inbound travellers and crew arriving on flights from places that may be exposed to the risk of mpox outbreaks. Health advisories have also been put in place at air checkpoints, so that travellers will take the necessary personal precautions to avoid being infected. Travellers are strongly advised to follow the advisory, especially if they are travelling to and from affected countries. Those found to have fever, rash and/or symptoms compatible with mpox will be referred for medical assessment.<br/>