IATA said a slide in oil prices helped to boost demand for air travel in January, pointing to a strong year for passenger traffic. Demand for air travel, measured in revenue passenger km, rose 7.1% in January, while the passenger load factor increased by 1.1 percentage points, IATA said in its monthly traffic figures. "January maintained the strong traffic growth trend seen in 2015, showing the resilience of demand for connectivity despite recent turmoil in equity markets," said Tony Tyler, IATA's DG. The record load factor is a result of strong demand, airlines making the most productive use of their assets and due to the latest decline in oil prices, Tyler said. "Underlying conditions point to another strong year for passenger traffic, with the latest decline in oil prices likely providing additional stimulus for air travel growth," he said.<br/>
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The federal government is proposing to restore US$1.7m a year in fines against airlines that bring travelers to the US without current passports and visas. A 1996 regulation was overturned in 2009 by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because the State Department and former Immigration and Naturalization Service didn’t work together on it. But State and Customs and Border Protection jointly proposed Tuesday to overhaul the regulation to fine airlines up to $4,300 for each traveller who arrives without proper documentation because the rules have become inconsistent in the last two decades. CBP can waive the requirement for documents in an unforeseen emergency. But even if the document requirement is waived, CBP said fines against airlines could total $1.7m per year for 950 violations, based on the average number of cases during the past five years, if the proposed regulation is adopted. “The objective of this regulation is to allow CBP to waive the requirement of proper entry documents for non-immigrants in an unforeseen emergency while still retaining the ability to fine the carrier for transporting an alien to the United States without proper entry documentation,” Jeh Johnson, secretary of homeland secretary, said in the 24-page proposal. Airlines have fought the fines in federal court in the past, but said they comply with federal regulations.<br/>
The hopes of many House Republican leaders to shift the entire US air-traffic system under an independent, nonprofit corporation are about to die before a Senate committee holds its first hearing, according to industry officials and others familiar with the matter. GOP members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month pushed through what they described as a “transformational” bill stripping such functions—along with some 38,000 associated employees—out of the FAA. But the dramatic traffic control proposal isn’t expected to be included when the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation introduces its bipartisan version of the legislation as soon as this week, the people familiar with the matter said. Details of the Senate package were being worked on Tuesday and were expected to be completed as early as Wednesday, according to these people. But if the Senate measure leaves out the controversial traffic control provision as expected, it would be highly unlikely to be put back during committee consideration or on the Senate floor. With the agency’s legislative authority slated to expire at the end the month, both sides of Capitol Hill are gearing up to pass a short-term FAA extension bill. Once that occurs, proponents of privatization will lose important leverage to try to enact sweeping changes. <br/>
US airlines are starting to review their capacity plans in the wake of a continuing drop in average fares, with the decline in ticket prices outpacing the slide in fuel costs. A number of carriers reported declines in their closely watched average passenger revenues in February, and most expected the metric to remain negative at least through the first half of the year, triggering another slide in share prices. Investors are increasingly concerned low fuel prices are driving some carriers to drop the capacity discipline and pricing power that helped the industry generate a record profit of almost $19b last year. The industry’s need to balance complex issues of low fuel prices, rising capacity and increased competition comes as United Continental Holdings is facing pressure from some shareholders to revamp its strategy. Fare wars have sprung up in the past year in a number of markets, notably Dallas and Chicago, as low-cost airlines added more flights and network carriers, such as American Airlines, matched ticket prices to defend their market share and the profitability of their big hubs. Airline executives insist their business models have evolved to sustain profitability, without the boom-and-bust that has seen carriers add capacity when demand is buoyant, only to slide into losses when it cools.<br/>
The US FAA must adopt a new aircraft surveillance system by the end of this year to ensure full access to the global system in 2018 when it becomes available, a senior industry executive said. Matt Desch, CE of satellite operator Iridium Communications said demand for the new service to be offered by Aireon, which is 25 percent owned by Iridium, remained strong ahead of operational testing starting this year. Authorities that oversee 50% of the world's airspace - and two thirds of the world's oceans - have already signed agreements with Aireon, Desch said. Aireon's satellite-based surveillance system is due to cover all of the world's airspace in 2018 using Iridium's new network of 66 low-orbit satellites. The system will transmit location data twice per second, using what is known as the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, or ADS-B standard, which is required on all commercial aircraft by 2020. The change will give air traffic controllers real-time data on aircraft anywhere on the planet, rather than the location data now transmitted at 10-minute intervals, allowing them to route planes much closer together. Desch said he was hopeful that US authorities would sign up as well, but the FAA's current plan did not foresee a decision until the end of 2017.<br/>
Thomas Cook extended its cancellation of trips to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh until October 31, meaning the destination will have been closed to UK arrivals for almost a year. Britain advised against flying to the airport last November after the suspected bombing of a Russian passenger jet in October 2015 killed 224 people. The plane had taken off from Sharm el Sheikh airport. British tourists at the resort were evacuated after the crash. No regular flights have operated there from the UK since November 4 due to concerns about security at the airport. Thomas Cook said it would extend its cancellation from May 25 because it had no clear indication when Britain might change its travel advice. Rival tour operator TUI has a cancellation in place on its flights between Britain and Sharm el Sheikh until May 25.<br/>
A US senator wants to add regulation to the FAA reauthorization bill that would set minimum seat-space requirements for airlines, saying that “rapidly shrinking seat width and leg room” is a health and safety hazard. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) announced he will file an amendment to the reauthorization bill when it’s considered before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, on which Blumenthal sits. His amendment will require FAA to adopt minimum seat-space standards “to protect the health and safety of passengers.” He is also calling for a moratorium on any further shrinkage in seat space until such standards can be set and for airlines to publicly disclose their seat size to passengers. “[FAA] has not conducted tests to determine if passengers can safely evacuate from today’s increasingly cramped airplane cabins. Medical experts have also raised concerns regarding increased risk for blood clots and pulmonary embolisms due to lack of adequate leg room. There have been increased reports of passenger fights and disturbances triggered by such close quarters,” the senator says in his announcement of the proposed amendment. The move gained support from the US Business Travel Coalition (BTC), which issued a statement saying “some 2m consumers face … either being shoehorned into shrunken personal space or being forced to pay extra for a degree of comfort. The US Department of Transportation (DOT) should organize a study that relates a seat pitch standard to the size of today’s passengers among the traveling population.”<br/>
The WHO advised pregnant women not to travel to areas with ongoing outbreaks of Zika virus due to the potential risk of birth defects. Sexual transmission is "relatively common" and health services in Zika-affected areas should be ready for potential increases in cases of neurological syndromes such as microcephaly and congenital malformations, the WHO said. "Pregnant women whose sexual partners live in or travel to areas with Zika virus outbreaks should ensure safe sexual practices or abstain from sex for the duration of their pregnancy," the WHO said, based on advice from its Emergency Committee of independent experts. Previously the UN agency had advised pregnant women to consider deferring non-essential travel to areas with ongoing transmission of the mosquito-borne virus, which is spreading through Latin America, including Olympics host Brazil.<br/>
Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin expects to begin crewed test flights of its reusable suborbital New Shepard vehicle next year and begin flying paying passengers in 2018, Bezos said Tuesday. Bezos’ remarks, made during the first ever media tour of the Blue Origin manufacturing facility, marked the first time the billionaire founder of Amazon.com had put a target date on the start of the commercial space flights Blue Origin is developing. "We’ll probably fly test pilots in 2017, and if we’re successful then I’d imagine putting paying astronauts on in 2018,” Bezos said at the sprawling plant south of Seattle. "It's still a development program, so you don’t want to get too far ahead of your skis,” he added. The company expects to build six New Shepard vehicles, which are designed to autonomously fly six passengers to more than 62 miles (100 km) above Earth, high enough to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the planet set against the black sky of space.<br/>