While most of the focus on the Oct. 4 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) emissions agreement has centered on market-based measures (MBM), business aviation advocates are pointing to other aspects of the resolution – such as technological improvements – as playing an equally important role in reducing global emissions.

Redbird Skyport’s fuel-price sensitivity experiment has drawn such an overwhelming response that the San Marcos, Texas-based fixed-base operator is ending its $1-per-gal. offer on Oct. 15 instead of the end of the month as originally planned, saying it simply can’t keep up with demand.

We are told there is no silver bullet for aviation biofuels, and that the best choice of feedstock-to-fuel pathway will be regional, even local, not global, as petroleum-based jet fuel is today. But there is an option the aviation industry hopes could work pretty well, almost anywhere, and that is algae.

Once gain, Alitalia, the perennially ailing Italian carrier, finds itself in the unenviable position of needing to restructure. It must come to terms with the fact that it needs new investors and a strong partner. Being a SkyTeam member has not brought about the salvation the carrier hoped for, and the survival plan put in place in the late 1990s, although welcome, certainly does not ensure a workable future. In the short term, Alitalia, which posted a €294 million ($397 million) loss in the first half of 2013, reportedly needs €400-500 million to avoid bankruptcy.

The price of European Union carbon dioxide allowances (EUA) under the EU Emissions Trading System made strong gains in September in the run-up to and following German elections Sept. 22. The national vote handed Chancellor Angela Merkel a resounding victory, with her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) attracting 41.5% of the vote, the party's best result in 23 years but still a few seats short of an overall majority.

Lie-flat seats and mini-suites for transcontinental flights

Deep cost-cutting means it may return to profitability this year

Japan Airlines protests ANA's larger slice of new Haneda capacity