Reporting in 2008 on Beijing's studies for a new airport, Aviation Week suggested that the facility would “probably be planned on a gargantuan scale.” We were not wrong. Plans show that the new facility at Daxing, now going ahead, could ultimately handle 130 million passengers a year with seven runways, possibly nine. One of the runways will be reserved for the air force.

Planning a new regional airport near Nantes, Brittany, at first sight a low-priority issue, has evolved into a political controversy encompassing a wide range of problems that extend far beyond the airline industry. The government of French left-wing Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, which has ratified the plan (as did that of his right-wing predecessor) is running into serious trouble with no compromise in sight.

Even as carriers await the full flowering of the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System and Eurocontrol's Single European Sky ATM Research (Sesar) effort, a purely intra- and inter-airline arrivals synchronization technology is racking up solid savings for one major carrier.

Airbus Corporate Jet Centre launched its new website showing the wide range of services dedicated to its customers. Its design is based on an “haute couture” spirit and offers a panorama of ACJC's values. It also includes a career space targeted for aeronautical experts and listings of available positions. It's designed for most browsers and will be optimized for viewing on smart phones and tablets.

Industrial robots are becoming a common sight on aircraft production lines, laying up composites, drilling holes, inserting fasteners and inspecting structures—automating repetitive tasks that require painstaking precision and drive up the touch-labor costs in aircraft assembly. Now robots are headed for the overhaul center. Lufthansa Technik and Helmut Schmidt University have developed an 8-axis robot that automatically strips the paint from parts using plastic-bead blasting, reducing the time required while improving quality.

Technologies that allow complex contoured parts to be produced simply and cost-effectively are enabling metallic structures to hold their ground against composites as manufacturers strive to cut cost and weight out of their aircraft. Working with Airbus, France's Dufieux Industrie has developed the milling mirror system to replace hazardous chemical milling of curved aluminum fuselage panels to reduce their weight. One machining center has a high-speed milling head, working in synchronization with its twin with a support head.

EU carbon dioxide allowances (EUAs) briefly set a new low in December before rebounding higher through the month. December 2013 EUAs took up the front-year position after December 2012 EUA contracts expired in the forward over-the-counter and exchange-based futures markets on Dec. 3 and 17, respectively. December 2013 EUAs fell to a fresh low of €5.99/metric ton ($7.92/ton) on Dec. 4, on renewed doubts over the European Commission's ability to push through market reforms that would include delaying 900 million EUAs from auctions in 2013-15.

Latin America is one of the brighter spots in the world of aviation, with traffic growth forecast second only to that of the Middle East. But although the region's airlines are furiously adding capacity and turning out healthy profits, lagging infrastructure investment and onerous government regulation could prevent Latin America's airlines from achieving their full potential.