general

Taiwan is prepared to use military transport planes to fly Taiwanese citizens based in mainland China back to the island for the Lunar New Year holiday next month, a senior official said Monday, amid a row between Beijing and Taipei over air routes. The comments came amid increasingly tense relations between mainland China and Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway Chinese province. Taipei is angry over Beijing’s decision to open new flight routes close to the island without its permission. Ties were further strained on Monday with mainland Chinese media reporting that two citizens had been arrested for allegedly spying for Taiwan. Prosecutors in Jiangsu province said two mainlanders, Ma Liangliang and Liang Xin, passed information on paramilitary training and military weapons testing to Taiwan in July 2016, Shanghai-based news website Thepaper.cn reported. Taiwan has refused permission for China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Air to fly 176 extra cross-strait flights during the holiday period between February 15 and February 20 in the wake of the flight routes spat. Chen Chin-sheng, director general of Taiwan’s navigation and aviation department, said the self-ruled island was ready to deploy military planes to pick up citizens from Taiwan-controlled Quemoy island if – in a worst-case scenario – they could not get flights back to Taiwan for the holiday. “We have encouraged [Taiwanese] passengers to change their flights to other airlines, or to return to Taiwan by way of Hong Kong or Macau,” Chen said on Monday. “In the worst-case scenario, we will have military planes ready in Quemoy and mainland-based businessmen can return from Xiamen [by boat] to Quemoy where they can take either civilian or military planes back to Taiwan proper.”<br/>

Mexico and the US are looking into whether armed US federal air marshals could be deployed on commercial cross-border flights, according to a document seen by Reuters and a Mexican official, as Mexico deepens security ties with its neighbour. Since Donald Trump took office, US and Mexican officials have said that Mexico has tried to improve cooperation with its top trade partner on security, immigration, and foreign policy, hoping to convince the US president to take a softer stance on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In 2003, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Mexico agreed to place Mexican security agents on certain flights, but said it would never allow US officials on board its commercial airlines, let alone armed. However, in a Jan. 18 meeting in Mexico's foreign ministry, officials from both countries agreed to "study the convenience of negotiating an agreement for the deployment of Federal Air Marshals on commercial flights," according to the official Mexican document. A US Federal Air Marshal Service spokesman declined to answer questions on the proposed agreement, but said air marshals "are armed Federal Law Enforcement Officers with the mission of in-flight protection of US-flagged aircraft, crewmembers and passengers." In a statement, Mexico's foreign ministry confirmed that the government is evaluating the plan's potential operational and security benefits but added that no agreement has yet been reached.<br/>

Airports are stepping up pressure on EU authorities to swiftly adopt safety and traffic management rules that that will ensure the safe use of UAVs (drones) in and around airports. In its call for EU action released Jan. 29, airports lobby group ACI Europe said fast-evolving UAS technology presented opportunities but also required effective regulation. “The airport industry is embracing innovation and we are excited about the potential opportunities that drone technology presents, in particular in relation to infrastructure maintenance and operational efficiency, passenger facilitation and more,” ACI Europe DG Olivier Jankovec said. “That said, the safety issues concerning the use of drones in and around airports are increasingly well-documented—underlining the urgent need for an effective regulatory framework on this.” ACI Europe emphasized the importance of UAV registration, performance-based rules and a “modern approach to integrating drones at airports … one that relies on expedited approvals via ‘standard scenarios’ and safety management systems.” The group said the EU Aviation Strategy, which the EC published in 2015 to drive growth in the air transport sector, has been “a major driver of the development of new regulation on the use of drones” while political agreement on new EASA Regulation and the endorsement of the Helsinki Declaration by the aviation community had given further momentum to the prospect of an EU rulebook on UAV use.<br/>

Africans have for years paid sky-high airfares when travelling within the continent but a major aviation trade agreement launched Monday by the African Union aims to change that. Twenty-three African countries have signed on to the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), which is intended to drive down airfares by allowing the airlines of signatory countries to freely access each others' airports. Speaking at the unveiling of a monument marking the SAATM's launch on the sidelines of the ongoing AU summit, Rwandan president and AU chairperson Paul Kagame said the market was important "for the overall development of the continent," where international air links between many cities are expensive or non-existent. For years, air transport between African countries has been governed by a relatively small number of bilateral agreements, a legacy of the post-colonial era when carriers from newly independent African countries connected chiefly with their former colonial powers, according to a 2010 World Bank study. "Many African countries restrict their air services markets to protect the share held by state-owned air carriers," the report said. Signatories to the deal hope that greater competitiveness will bring down airfares and increase the number of direct air connections between African countries. "From today, air companies from these countries can freely access all the countries included in the single market, they don't have to rely anymore on bilateral agreements, whether they exist or not, to access them," said Tshepo Peege, South Africa's representative to the International Civil Aviation Organisation.<br/>

UK investigators have disclosed that an Airbus A321 was checked for damage at London Heathrow after a drone encounter so close that the crew initially believed it had struck the jet. The A321 had been conducting its approach to runway 27L on 27 October last year, according to the UK Airprox Board. It states that the crew witnessed a three- or four-engined white drone pass over the first officer's windscreen at a distance of just 5ft. "The crew considered that the drone passed close enough that it must have collided with the tail," says the board in a newly-released summary of airprox incidents following a meeting last month. Weather conditions at the time were excellent, with little cloud and good visibility. "No tangible evidence of collision could be found after landing," says the board. "The aircraft was released back into service." It has classified the incident as one bearing the highest risk of collision. The board has not identified the operator of the A321.<br/>

It’s not often while driving along a motorway that the world’s largest passenger jet trundles directly across your path. But the spectacle - that is, the A380, above - is far from irregular for any motorists that frequent the A14 autobahn in Germany, linking the port city of Wismar with the town of Nossen. That’s because, as the road navigates its way around Leipzig Airport, it does not so much as skirt the airport as it does run right through the middle of it. Subsequently, planes large and small scheduled to depart or land on the airport’s Runway North must traverse a taxiway bridge that crosses a busy motorway. Its unusual positioning is the product of a shortage of space around Leipzig/Halle Airpot and its proximity to the A14. Allowing planes to taxi over the motorway - as well as a railway - provides more space for planes to use the full 3.6km of the runway. The airport is the main hub for DHL cargo, as well as Aerologic. In addition to Lufthansa (which operates flights to Frankfurt and Munich) and SunExpress, Austrian Airlines and RusLine, a number of carriers run seasonal and charter services to Leipzig/Halle.<br/>