general

China rebuffed Taiwan’s objections in a deepening row over the opening of new flight paths in the Taiwan Strait, saying Wednesday that the space separating routes over the waterway was more than is mandated by international standards. This month China opened several new air routes, including a northbound route up the sensitive Taiwan Strait that divides China from the island. Taiwan says it was done without its agreement, contravening what the democratic government in Taipei has said was a 2015 deal to first discuss such flight paths. In response, self-governed Taiwan has withheld approval of routine applications from China Eastern and Xiamen Airlines, majority owned by China Southern, to add Lunar New Year flights because the airlines had used the disputed air routes. Taiwan has expressed concern the new routes are too close to existing routes that link it to airports on two groups of Taiwan-controlled islands lying close to China - Kinmen which sits opposite to the Chinese city of Xiamen and the Matsu archipelago near to Fuzhou. Multiple daily flights connect the islands to mainland Taiwan, while Xiamen and Fuzhou are also busy airports. Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said there was at least 23 km separating the routes. “This type of separation far exceeds lateral separation standards in the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization,” Ma said. “So it can be said that the connecting routes are safe.”<br/>

Authorities in the Indonesian province of Aceh have ordered Muslim flight attendants to wear headscarves when flying into the ultra-conservative Islamic region, officials confirmed Wednesday. Aceh is the only province in the predominantly Muslim country to implement Islamic law. Muslims elsewhere practice a moderate form of the religion, leaving women free to choose whether to cover their heads. The regional government, allowed greater autonomy under a 2001 peace deal with the central government, sent a letter to national carrier Garuda Indonesia and budget carriers, such as Malaysia’s AirAsia and Firefly. “All female stewardesses must wear a ‘jilbab’ (headscarf) Muslim fashion in accordance with the rules of sharia,” the authorities said in the letter. The international airport in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, services dozens of domestic flights every week, and international routes to neighboring Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Non-Muslim flights attendants were not required to wear headscarves, but Muslim staff would be asked to wear them on flights in and out of Aceh, said Mawardi Ali, chief of the Aceh Besar region where the airport is located. Garuda Indonesia and its budget arm, Citilink, “support the suggestions” and will comply, said airline spokesman Ikhsan Rosan.<br/>

Nine major commercial airlines have donated money to the National Air and Space Museum. The total gift amounts to $28m. The money will go towards a transformation of the Washington, DC, building. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer. In support of the new “America by Air” gallery, American Airlines, The Delta Air Lines Foundation and United contributed as lead donors with Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Spirit Airlines also supporting the effort. In recognition of a gift from Southwest Airlines, the Welcome Center in the museum’s “Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall” has been designated the Southwest Airlines Welcome Center. “These gifts help launch the museum on a trajectory to realizing the transformation of this important place,” said Gen. J.R. “Jack” Dailey, the John and Adrienne Mars director of the National Air and Space Museum.<br/>

Thailand's cabinet has agreed to Thailand signing a declaration on civil aviation with 30 other countries as a way to prevent the Thai aviation industry from being red-flagged over safety fears again. Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith Tuesday said the cabinet has given the green light to the ministry to sign the Declaration of Civil Aviation Ministers' Conference with the 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. A signing ceremony is scheduled to be held between Jan 31-Feb 1 in Beijing, China. Arkhom said the declaration aims to certify the aviation safety of all international airports of member countries by 2020.<br/>

Airbus has debuted its much-anticipated A321LR, the world's longest-range jet with a single aisle currently in production. The plane took its maiden flight Wednesday from the European plane maker's factory in Hamburg, Germany. 'LR' stands for longer range. The plane can fly for 4,000 nautical miles, or about eight hours of flying, before it needs to refuel. It is designed for transatlantic routes, as airlines want to fly non-stop to and from smaller cities that don't have the demand for a big twin-aisle aircraft. Airlines like JetBlue Airways said it is studying whether to buy the A321LR as part of a strategy to potentially expand its service to Europe. Airbus said Wednesday it has amassed more than 1,900 orders for the A321neo and its longer-range model from more than 50 customers. First delivery of the jets begin later in 2018 following about 100 hours of airborne tests over the coming months. The first operator has not yet been disclosed, but airlines like low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle, Air Transat in Canada and Ireland's Aer Lingus have committed to the plane. Airbus has made small modifications to its A320neo to create A321LR. It has as many as three additional fuel tanks and can carry about 7,700 pounds of additional gas or passengers and their bags. The arrival of the A321LR is part of an escalating fight between Airbus and its American rival Boeing over what the plane makers have dubbed "the middle of the market."<br/>

A recent trade decision allowing Bombardier to sell its newest jets in the US without hefty duties will boost airline confidence in the program, but the Canadian planemaker still faces challenges to win over lessors, Air Lease Corp CE John Plueger said Wednesday. Bombardier and European planemaker Airbus, which plans to take a majority stake in the CSeries this year, still must convince leasing heavyweights that the 110-to-130-seat CSeries jets has a vast enough customer base to preserve their value and competitive pricing to win orders, Plueger. Air Lease Corp is a major leasing firm with about $15b in total assets. The decision “removes that very, very large question mark on the CSeries (imports) into the United States,” Plueger said. “Bottom line: It’s a big positive for U.S. carriers, but I think it goes beyond US carriers.” Having an adequate customer base is vital for lessors, which want to make sure there is sufficient demand by airlines for multiple leases. The CSeries has a backlog of 372 firm orders. Air Lease Corp did not order the CSeries in the past because “the price and the risk was not a good tradeoff,” when compared to Boeing’s 737 MAX line and Airbus’s A320 NEO family, Plueger said.<br/>

Google is rolling out a few new features to its Google Flights search engine to help travellers tackle some of the more frustrating aspects of air travel – delays and the complexities of the cheaper, Basic Economy fares. Google Flights won’t just be pulling in information from the airlines directly, however – it will take advantage of its understanding of historical data and its machine learning algorithms to predict delays that haven’t yet been flagged by airlines themselves. Explains Google, the combination of data and A.I. technologies means it can predict some delays in advance of any sort of official confirmation. Google says that it won’t actually flag these in the app until it’s at least 80% confident in the prediction, though. It will also provide reasons for the delays, like weather or an aircraft arriving late.<br/>

Boeing jumped the most in six months after the planemaker said record aircraft deliveries this year would bolster cash and reverse a two-year sales decline. Jetliner shipments will rise to as many as 815 this year, up almost 7% from 2017, the manufacturer said Wednesday as it reported earnings. Operating cash flow, a focus for investors, will increase to about $15b. The world’s largest aerospace company is extending a remarkable stock rally as it benefits from strong demand and plans to ramp up output of the 737, its largest source of profit. Boeing is also getting a boost from U.S. corporate tax cuts, which are taking effect just as the 787 Dreamliner starts to generate hefty cash gains after a decade of losses. “It’s a very visible, must-own stock right now,” said Carter Copeland, an analyst at Melius Research, who added that strong numbers across the board will probably entice more investors. <br/>