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Anxiety mounts among international airlines as US deploys 5G network

Major international airlines have cancelled flights heading to the United States or changed the planes they’re using Wednesday, the latest complication in a dispute over concerns that 5G mobile phone service could interfere with aircraft technology.

Some airlines said they were warned that the Boeing 777, a plane used by carriers worldwide, was particularly affected by the new high-speed wireless service.

The aircraft is the workhorse for the Dubai-based Emirates, a key carrier for East-West travel, and its flight schedule took one of the biggest hits.

It was not clear how disruptive the cancellations would be. Several airlines said they would try to merely use different planes to maintain their service.

The cancellations and changes came a day after mobile phone carriers AT&T and Verizon said they would postpone new wireless service near some US airports planned for this week.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared a number of aircraft to fly into airports with 5G signals, but the Boeing 777 is not on the list.

Similar mobile networks have been deployed in dozens of other countries — sometimes with concessions such as reducing the power of the networks near airports, as France has done.

But in the US, the issue has pitted the FAA and the airlines against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and telecommunications companies.

The 5G service uses a segment of the radio spectrum that is close to that used by radio altimeters, which are devices that measure the height of aircraft above the ground and help pilots land in low visibility.

The FCC, which set a buffer between the 5G band and the spectrum that planes use, determined that it could be used safely in the vicinity of air traffic.

AT&T and Verizon have said their equipment will not interfere with aircraft electronics.

But FAA officials saw a potential problem, and the telecom companies agreed to a pause while it is addressed.

On Wednesday, Emirates announced it would halt flights to several US cities due to “operational concerns associated with the planned deployment of 5G mobile network services in the U.S. at certain airports”.

It said it would continue flights to Los Angeles, New York and Washington.

“We are working closely with aircraft manufacturers and the relevant authorities to alleviate operational concerns, and we hope to resume our US services as soon as possible,” the state-owned airline said.

Of particular concern appears to be the Boeing 777. Emirates only flies that model and the Airbus A380 jumbo jet.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways said that the FAA “has indicated that radio waves from the 5G wireless service may interfere with aircraft altimeters”.

“Boeing has announced flight restrictions on all airlines operating the Boeing 777 aircraft, and we have cancelled or changed the aircraft for some flights to/from the US-based on the announcement by Boeing,” ANA said.

It cancelled 20 flights over the issue to cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

Japan Airlines similarly said that it had been informed that 5G signals “may interfere with the radio altimeter installed on the Boeing 777”.

It said it will stop using the model in the continental US for now.

Eight of its flights were affected Wednesday — three passenger trips and five for cargo.

Taiwan’s EVA Air also said the FAA specifically said 777s may be affected, but it did not spell out how it would adjust its schedule.

But Air France said it planned to continue flying its Boeing 777s into American airports. It did not explain why it didn’t change its aircraft as many other carriers have.

Chicago-based Boeing Co did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Air India also announced on Twitter that it would cancel flights to Chicago, Newark, New York and San Francisco because of the 5G issue.

But it also said it would try to use other aircraft on US routes — a course several other airlines took.

Korean Air, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific and Austrian Airlines said they substituted different planes for flights that were scheduled to use 777s.

Korean Air spokeswoman Jill Chung said the airline was also avoiding operating some kinds of 747s at affected airports.

Germany’s Lufthansa also swapped out one kind of 747 for another on some US-bound flights.

British Airways cancelled several planned US-bound Boeing 777 flights and changed aircraft on others.

The FAA has said it will allow planes with accurate, reliable altimeters to operate around high-power 5G.

But planes with older altimeters will not be allowed to make landings under low-visibility conditions.

Contributing to the problem, according to the FAA, are the signal strength of the 5G towers and the orientation of their antennae.

“Base stations in rural areas of the United States are permitted to emit at higher levels in comparison to other countries which may affect radio altimeter equipment accuracy and reliability,” the FAA said in December.

FCC Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement that the 5G “deployment can safely co-exist with aviation technologies in the United States, just as it does in other countries around the world.”

However, Rosenworcel urged the FAA to conduct its safety checks with “both care and speed”.

AT&T and Verizon spent tens of billions of dollars for the 5G spectrum known as C-Band in a government auction last year.

Choi Jong-Yun, a spokeswoman for Asiana Airlines, said the company hasn’t been affected so far because it uses Airbus planes for passenger flights to the US.

However, Choi raised a new wrinkle, saying airlines have also been instructed by the FAA to avoid automatic landings at affected US airports during bad weather conditions, regardless of plane type.

Asiana will redirect its planes to nearby airports during those conditions, she said.

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Aviation

Keyamo approves relocation of FAAN back to Lagos ,says staying in Abuja is waste of public funds.

Keyamo
The Eyewitness Reporter
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has explained the reasons why he approved the relocation of the Headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) back to Lagos.
In a press statement signed Mrs. Obiageli Orah, Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Keyamo explained that the initial relocation of FAAN headquarters from Lagos, from where it had been operating decades ago, was ill-advised which he said amounted to a waste of public funds.
The Minister further explained that those affected by the initial decision to move the agency’s headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there was no office space for them in Abuja.
“We have noted the inquiries some Nigerians have made regarding the directive of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, to relocate the corporate Headquarters of FAAN from Abuja to its original base, Lagos, where it has operated for decades until recently.
“FAAN wishes to inform Nigerians that following wide consultations by the new Management of FAAN with stakeholders, which also involved the Unions, it was agreed that this was in the best interest of the Authority and the country for now for the following reasons:
“It was ill-advised in the first place to move the headquarters to Abuja when there was no single FAAN building in Abuja to accommodate all of them at once.
” Those affected by the initial decision to move the agency’s headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there is no office space for them in Abuja
“Having returned to Lagos, the Authority would be liable to pay them DTA (DUTY TOUR ALLOWANCE) because technically they are working OUT OF STATION as their official posting is to ABUJA.
“The Minister has decided to stop this waste of public resources and rip-off on the public purse.
⁠”The other option open to the Authority was abandon the old FAAN building in Lagos to rot away and to use its scarce resources to rent an office space in Abuja for Millions of Naira of public money when in actual fact more than sixty percent of its activities are in Lagos given the huge passenger volume of the Lagos airports.
“The stakeholders and the Minister decided against that and to save the country this waste.
“The Minister has rolled out plans to get concessionaires to build befitting offices for the Authority in Lagos and Abuja and until that is done, the Authority will continue to manage its old building in Lagos that can accommodate all its Directors and senior officials for now.
“⁠Abuja continues to have full operational offices and the Authority has not scaled down operations in Abuja one bit.
“It is just the technical decision of where the Authority has its ‘corporate headquarters’ that has been taken without affecting the structure of operations as they are for now in both cities.
” ⁠In the near future, when befitting corporate buildings have been built for the Authority in both Lagos and Abuja, a final decision will be taken as to the location of the permanent headquarters, depending on the exigencies of the time.
“The Authority wishes to assure members of the public that it will continue to act in the best interest of the public and the country.
“The Honourable Minister is committed to making decisions that are in the best interest of the country, especially as it concerns public funds and will not yield to ethnic or sectional sentiments that will derail this commitment”, the statement concluded.
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Aviation

News Alert! Pandemonium in Lagos as Helicopter explodes, crashes into building

The Eyewitness Reporter
Confusion and panic gripped the residents of Oba Akran area of Lagos when a Helicopter crashed into a resident building in the area.
According to an eyewitness at the scene of the incident, the helicopter crashed into a building located adjacent  AP filling station and United Bank of Africa (UBA) and exploded.
The incident, which happened around 3:00 pm Tuesday, caused pandemonium among the residents in the area who ran helter-skelter.
Sources said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was immediately mobilised to the scene where four persons were rescued from the wreckage.

NEMA’s Lagos Territorial Office Coordinator, Ibrahim Farinloye who confirmed the crash, said rescue operations were ongoing.

He said details were still sketchy, adding that information would be provided as soon as they were available.

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Aviation

Sirika, former Aviation minister, ‘jets’ into DSS custody over Air Nigeria controversial project

Hadi Sirika
The Eyewitness Reporter
The Department of State Services (DSS) has caught up with Hadi Sirika, the former Minister of Aviation over the controversial Air Nigeria project.
The former Aviation minister was taken into the custody of the secret police for questioning on the national carrier project widely believed to be a scam.
He was said to have reported himself to the DSS office in Abuja Thursday in a Range Rover SUV after which he was reportedly grilled for several hours over the failed project.
Sirika had, at the twilight of his tenure, went through what was later discovered to be a charade when he launched the multi-million dollar national air carrier, Air Nigeria.
The lid on what has now been described as a scam ”launch” was blown open by the Acting Managing Director of Nigeria Air, Captain Dapo Olumide, who admitted that the plane that was unveiled as Air Nigeria was a chartered aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines.
Olumide had told the stunned members of the Senate Committee on Aviation that the aircraft was leased from Ethiopian Airlines and merely used to unveil the Air Nigeria logo as the real Air Nigeria project was yet to be operational.
The plane that was unveiled was confirmed to be over 10 years old and had previously been operated by Ethiopian Airlines and Malawi Airlines.

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