Global airlines will see rising profit growth and record carbon dioxide emissions next year as strong demand offsets cost pressures that trimmed profitability in 2018, the IATA said Wednesday. Industry profits are expected to rise to $35.5b in 2019 from $32.3b in 2018, IATA said.“The aviation industry is on a more solid financial footing than at any time in its history,” IATA DG and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. IATA chief economist Brian Pearce said IATA did not expect a recession ahead but there was a lot to worry about, with trade protectionism and uncertainty around Brexit, although even the most chaotic outcome of Britain’s exit from the European Union was expected merely to slow, not stop, long-term growth. “The tariff wars are a worry for us. It’s actually though really just the latter stages of a decade of protectionism, actually since the global financial crisis we’ve seen cross border trade growing at a much slower pace than we saw in the years of globalisation,” Pearce said.<br/>
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The TSA has begun approving private explosive-detection canine firms to screen cargo flying from US airports under a new program finalised last month. The change offers freight haulers a new option to inspect all of their cargo—something they need to accomplish within the next few years. Bomb-detection canines have become standard for cargo companies in many parts of Europe and Asia. America, however, is just starting to catch up, said Steve Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association. A lot of that freight flying overhead right now hasn’t been screened at all. US air cargo screening rules date to 2010, when Congress mandated that each item carried aboard passenger aircraft be inspected, following recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. Passenger airlines also ship cargo in their aircraft bellies, jamming commercial freight beside your suitcase. In a major change aimed at tightening security, however, the ICAO is requiring that all cargo be screened, removing the distinction between passenger and cargo air operations. That’s a lot of freight, and screening must be in place by July 1, 2021. With that looming deadline, rising cargo loads and the prohibitive expense of buying a lot more detection equipment, Congress decided that more dogs may be the way to go. The TSA trains a limited number of bomb-sniffing dogs each year, and they’re solely for the government’s use. Airlines may also expand their use of dogs to screen cargo, though the TSA handles passenger luggage directly. <br/>
Iran needs some 500 planes and would likely back buying the Sukhoi Superjet 100 if Russia is willing to sell them to its airlines, Iranian news agencies reported the country’s top civil aviation official as saying Wednesday. Iran needs to upgrade its ageing passenger fleet and is seeking to avert US sanctions on Tehran. The US Treasury has revoked licences for Boeing and Airbus to sell passenger jets to Iran after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in May and reimposed sanctions. Most modern commercial planes have more than 10% in US parts, the threshold for needing US Treasury approval. But Russian officials have been reported as saying Sukhoi is working on reducing the number of US parts in the hopes of winning an Iranian order for up to 100 aircraft. “If the Iranian airlines want to use this aircraft (Superjet 100 ) and the seller is willing to sell it to Iran, the Civil Aviation Organization is ready to issue its final comment on this aircraft,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Ali Abedzadeh, head of the Civil Aviation Organization, as saying.<br/>