China' s aviation market is booming, with the country' s growing middle class creating a demand for passenger services. Boeing has estimated that Chinese airlines will require nearly 6000 jets over the next 20 years. To spur growth, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), committed to a series of reforms to liberalize the Chinese aviation market, one of the most significant of which is the removal of a ban on private carriers entering the market. Any new carrier is likely to have to compete for pilots. China had approximately 35,000 licensed pilots at the end of 201 3, the majority of whom work for airlines in the country. The existing infrastructure in China will also have to grow to accommodate demand. Historically, rapid growth of a country's aviation industry can create higher risk conditions, as increasingly larger aircraft are operated on the same runways. The CAAC has plans to address this requirement, stating that they intend to upgrade 80 airports by 2020, including a second airport in Beijing.

In 2006 Southwest Airlines contracted a company to perform a skin repair on 44 of it' s Boeing 737s to eliminate potential cracking of the aluminium on the planes' hulls. The company carrying out the work, Aviation Technical Services, did not follow approved procedures for the maintenance and did not properly stabilise the planes while making the repairs. The FAA is now proposing to fine Southwest Airlines for operating the aircraft without providing documentation to show the aircraft were compliant. Southwest did eventually provide documentation to the FAA, but only after many flights had been flown. The FAA also proposed a $10.2 million fine for Southwest Airlines in 2010 after investigation uncovered that 46 aircraft had not received mandatory repairs.

Patrick Sawyer, a consultant for Nigeria' s finance ministry arrived in Nigeria from Liberia, and was found to be infected with the Ebola virus. Nigerian authorities have quarantined Sawyer in Lagos, and begun trying to identify everyone he has been in contact with during his journey, which included changing flights in Ghana. West Africa is currently battling the worst ever outbreak of Ebola, which as killed more than 1000 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since February. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and is currently bracing itself for a possible outbreak of the disease, after a Liberian man died last week. Large airports will often have quarantine facilities, where travellers who have a contagious disease can be confined. Airline workers are trained to spot symptoms and most international airports have quarantine officials. Updates regarding travel exposure to disease is available from the World Health Organisation: http: //www.who. int/ith