A rare frigid storm charged through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow that closed highways, grounded nearly all flights and canceled school for more than a million students more accustomed to hurricane dismissals than snow days. The storm prompted the first ever blizzard warnings for several coastal counties near the Texas-Louisiana border, and snowplows were at the ready in the Florida Panhandle. Nearly 2,000 flights to, from or within the U.S. were canceled Tuesday, with about 10,000 others delayed, according to online tracker FlightAware.com. Both Houston airports suspended flight operations starting Tuesday. Nearly every flight was cancelled at New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport, but most airlines planned to resume operations Wednesday.<br/>
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Ministers are preparing to give the go-ahead to an expansion of Gatwick, the UK’s second-largest airport, as part of a broader push to nurture economic growth. The government is also keen to approve an expansion of Luton airport if concerns about noise pollution from passenger jets flying over rural areas can be addressed. In addition, chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to reaffirm her support for Heathrow, the UK’s largest airport, to build a third runway in a speech about economic growth later this month, according to officials. But such a project could be a long way off being realised. Ministers are planning to unveil more proposals to aid growth. The UK economy expanded by 0.1% in November, following 0.1% contractions in both October and September, according to official data. Investor fears about stagflation — when sluggish growth combines with persistent price pressures — contributed to a sharp rise in UK government borrowing costs at the start of the year, although gilt yields fell last week amid expectations of more interest rate cuts. The expansion of Britain’s airports has long been a contentious issue, given jets contribute to noise and air pollution, as well as climate change, but two government decisions are expected soon. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander must decide by February 27 on Gatwick’s plan to bring its standby runway into regular use. <br/>
Building a third runway at Heathrow Airport would have a "catastrophic" environmental impact, campaign groups have claimed amid reports that the chancellor is preparing to back the project. Rachel Reeves is expected to use a speech on growth next week to support the proposed third runway at the west London airport and endorse expansion at Gatwick and Luton airports, the BBC understands. Opponents of airport expansion say that increasing flight capacity would be damaging for the environment. The government said all expansion proposals must demonstrate they will contribute to economic growth while meeting environmental commitments. The project secured parliamentary approval in June 2018 but was delayed by legal challenges brought by environmental campaigners and by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Alethea Warrington, head of aviation at climate charity Possible, said: "Approving airport expansions would be a catastrophic misstep for a government which claims to be a climate leader. This huge increase in emissions won't help our economy, and would just encourage the small group of frequent flyers who take most of the flights, further worsening the UK's huge tourism deficit." She added that the government should focus on supporting "affordable and low-carbon trains and buses".<br/>
A former head of the state-run Korea Airports Corp. , who was in office during the renovation of an instrument landing system localizer at Muan International Airport, was found dead at his home, police said Tuesday. Police said they are investigating the cause of death of Son Chang-wan, who led the company from 2018 to 2022. Last month, a Jeju Air B737-800 aircraft crashed at the airport, located some 290 kilometers southwest of Seoul, killing 179 people after skidding without its landing gear extended and colliding with the localizer. The localizer, installed on a concrete structure, has been blamed for worsening the severity of the casualties. The airport underwent a renovation of the structure in 2020. <br/>
Changi Airport handled 67.7m passengers in 2024, which is 99.1% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and just shy of a full recovery. This was a 14.8% increase from the 58.9m passengers who passed through the airport in 2023, said operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Jan 22. In 2019, the airport registered 68.3m passenger movements. December was the busiest month of 2024 for Changi Airport, with 6.41m passengers passing through. This is on a par with passenger traffic levels in December 2019. It was also the first time that monthly traffic at the airport had exceeded 6m since December 2019.<br/>
The CEO of Europe's Airbus has told staff that the group ended 2024 in better shape than it feared when cutting profit targets last summer, while warning of increased risks to its business from a worsening international environment. Referring to group-wide performance, Guillaume Faury said in a New Year memo seen by Reuters: "From an operational point of view, we finished the year in a better state than we feared when we changed our guidance to the financial markets" in July. An Airbus spokesperson said it never comments on internal correspondence. Airbus this month reported 766 jet deliveries, just shy of a targeted headline figure of "around 770", while claiming victory due to a margin for manoeuvre in the language of its forecast. It remained ahead of rival Boeing for a sixth year. Faury said activity would once again accelerate over the course of the year and insisted Airbus must improve quality and delivery timing. Industry sources say it is short of engines this month after racing towards the finish line in 2024. Faury said Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters had an "excellent commercial performance" in 2024. But he called for vital progress in defence activities of both divisions and hinted that recent consolidation moves in space could seep into defence. He narrowed earlier definitions of possible strategic options to include new partnerships. "We are also exploring a potential consolidation of our activities and possible new partnerships, particularly in the space business where we're suffering the most," he wrote.<br/>