No Open Sky agreements have been signed between African countries, but several have been signed between African countries and other regions. The consequence has been a limitation on the growth of Africa's airlines, efficiency reductions and higher costs, leading to a negative impact on economic development.

Poor Search and Rescue (SAR) coordination has been highlighted by a succession of international air tragedies. In a case study, Brian Day, ICAO HQ technical officer, SAR (retired) and now a civil aviation SAR consultant, said SAR's purpose is clear and unambiguous – it saves lives.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will have one of the world's busiest airspaces by 2030 with the country's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) predicting the nation will service over 5,100 daily aircraft movements by 2030, according to the UAE Minister of Economy and Commerce and GCAA Chairman HE Eng. Sultan Al Mansoori.

The UK government has taken the “precautionary step” of delaying flights that had been scheduled to fly from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to the UK the evening of Nov. 4, citing new “information” from the investigation into the Metrojet Airbus A321 that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula Oct. 31.

Airlines for America (A4A) president and CEO Nicholas Calio called for Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania) to introduce an FAA reauthorization bill before the end of the year.

Russia’s Emergency Control Ministry (EMERCOM) has increased the search area in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from 30 sq km to 40 sq km where Metrojet’s Airbus A321 crashed Oct. 31.

An eruption by the Gunung Rinjani volcano on nearby Lombok Island has forced a temporary closure of Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, disrupting hundreds of tourist flights from across the region and Australia.

A cargo aircraft has crashed immediately after takeoff Nov. 4 from Juba International Airport, South Sudan, with up to 40 people dead both in the aircraft and on the ground, according to multiple news media reports.