The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) recently expressed strong opposition to a plan to further conserve and upgrade a wetland located near the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, fearing it will endanger aviation safety.
CAA officials said the Hsutsuo Port Wetland in Taoyuan County’s Dayuan township is only 1.5 kilometers away from the airport, Taiwan’s main international gateway, making a potential source of danger.
Once the wetland is upgraded, the officials feared, more birds will nest there and the growing bird population will consequently create a greater threat to flight safety.
After Taoyuan Airport’s third terminal is built, its new runway area will be only about 1 kilometer away from the wetland, CAA officials said.
“Greater numbers of wild birds visiting or staying in the wetland will potentially pose greater hazards to aircraft taking off or landing,” CAA officials contended.
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CAA opposes upgrading wetlands near airport
Monday, June 28th, 2010FAA exempts volcano cancellations from slot usage rule
Friday, June 11th, 2010The US FAA announced on Thursday that flights cancellations caused by volcanic ash during April will not affect slot assignments at two major US gateways.
The FAA says it “will grant relief from the use-or-lose requirements for all carriers operating scheduled flights at JFK and EWR to or from points in Europe during the period from April 14 through 26, 2010.”
The ruling is in response to a request made by Continental Airlines, which has an international gateway at Newark, in May.
The carrier argued that cancellations should be exempt due to the ash created by the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökul volcano in April.
Currently, carriers must utilize slots at least eighty percent of the time, or they will be withdrawn.
The agency believes that allowing slots to go unused 20% of the time accounts for “routine” cancellations. The FAA concluded that ash-related cancellations are “unusual circumstances” that justify a “limited waiver of the minimum slot usage.”
In addition, the FAA ruled that it will “grant similar relief on an individual carrier basis” to airlines that face cancellations due to ash through 30 October.
Carriers must contact the FAA Slot Administration Office to receive a waiver.