Major assembly on the Boeing 787-10, which the manufacturer describes as a straightforward stretch of the 787-9, has started. The 787-10, which will be the largest variant in the 787 family of aircraft, will be 18 ft. longer than the 787-9. It is expected to achieve first flight in 2017. First delivery is scheduled for 2018 to United Airlines. Boeing said Kawasaki Heavy Industries began installing the circular frames into the midforward section of the fuselage March 14 in Japan, which the manufacturer noted was 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Boeing has 153 firm orders for the 787-10 from 9 customers, comprising 13% of 787 orders. The order figure is down slightly, mainly owing to United switching 787-10 orders that had been slated for delivery in 2020 and beyond to 5 787-9s and 4 777-300ERs that will start delivering in 2017. <br/>
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The head of Schiphol airport says staff shortages and faulty automatic gates may lead to hour-long queues for security checks at peak travel season, from late April. Jos Nijhuis, CE of Schiphol said: ‘Despite our urgent requests to the ministry of security and the military police, there are still no solutions to staff shortages and failing gates for automated passport scanning.’ He proposed that the military police, responsible for border controls, should be diverted back to this task instead of performing other jobs. Nijhuis said the problem would be particularly acute in non-Schengen areas in the airport, where passengers have to show their passports. ”If it doesn’t flow properly, there are also queues in the central security lanes. Travellers who have to transfer will also be negatively affected.” <br/>
Commercial airlines in India operate more than 400 planes. The number of privately owned planes is even higher. Regular maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) are critical to ensure safety of any aircraft, but for a country that boasts of the world’s fastest growth in aviation, the options in India are few. India’s airlines spend around INR50b on MRO every year; however, 90% of that goes to MRO units in countries such as Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and the UAE, which offer lower costs, faster turnarounds and higher technical expertise. Aviation minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju thinks India can do better. According to Raju, given India’s technology and skill base, the govt is keen to develop India as an Asian MRO hub, retaining the domestic business and attracting business from foreign airlines. <br/>
Airservices Australia has abandoned a 5-year pricing proposal it put to airlines last year and will instead freeze its fees until July 2017 amid a cost-cutting drive by new CE Jason Harfield. "It is unprecedented in the sense we are holding off putting a new pricing proposal making sure we are as efficient as we possibly can," he said. The freeze in fees will benefit all domestic and international airlines, which are reliant on govt-owned Airservices for air traffic control and airport firefighting services. Airservices collected A$1.01b of revenue in financial year 2015. The current pricing agreement expires June 30. In August, Airservices had proposed a 5.3% rise in the first year of the 5-year deal, with a weighted average of 3.3% over the life of the agreement. <br/>