A Turkish Airlines jet carrying 143 passengers and eight crew from Istanbul skidded off the runway on Monday when landing at Kosovo's only airport. "Turkish Airlines flight TK1018 from Istanbul has had a minor incident and fortunately no one was injured," an airport spokeswoman said. "The airport will remain closed for few hours until some initial technical investigations are finished." A flight from Brussels was diverted to Tirana, Albania. Local media showed images of the Turkish Airlines jet standing in a grassy area next to the runway. Authorities are investigating.<br/>
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Air New Zealand says its 2017 earnings won't match the NZ$800m it has forecast for 2016 as the airline faces increased competition and gets less benefit from foreign exchange hedging. The airline faces some near-term challenges that will have an impact on the 2017 results, according to an investor day presentation. It didn't quantify the impact of increased competition but said the benefit of foreign exchange hedges in 2017 will be about $120m less than in 2016. While 2017 earnings "will be solid" they won't be at the level of 2016, it said. Its forecast for 2016 pre-tax earnings, excluding the contribution from Virgin Australia, given with the H1 results in February, build on the record $457m the company earned in H1, which was driven by lower fuel prices and a jump in passenger revenue as the airline added new routes and refurbished is fleet. Air New Zealand said increased capacity in the industry was driving "significant growth of seats across the network" and it expects "headwinds to overall yield as (the) market adjusts to new capacity". Against that, it expects to continue to benefit from growth in inbound tourism, a favourable outlook for fuel prices and the scale of its fleet.<br/>
Singapore Airlines has introduced new first and business class cabins on its Auckland service as it celebrates 40 years of flying to New Zealand. A Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER touched down at Auckland International Airport on Monday morning fitted out with a "next generation" cabin featuring four extra-wide first class seats, 48 business class seats, 28 premium economy and 184 economy. Its 89-centimetre wide first class reclines into a 208cm lie flat bed and its business class seats recline into the industry's widest full-flat bed, at 198cm. Singapore Airlines flies its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft between Auckland and Singapore outside of the peak summer season in New Zealand. The first Singapore Airlines flight from to Auckland was a Boeing 707 landing on May 2, 1976 taking off from Singapore and stopping via Sydney. Originally a twice weekly service, Singapore Airlines now operates twice daily direct flights to Auckland with its alliance partner Air New Zealand.<br/>