Walkouts by Lufthansa pilots have cost the airline E75m so far, German Bild newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing company and pilots union sources. Daily costs are now at about E15m, the newspaper reported. Citing an internal memo of the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) to its member Bild said utilization at some long-haul flights have dropped to below 10% as a result of the strikes. Lufthansa pilots staged another walkout on Tuesday, with neither side showing any willingness to yield in a dispute that has already cost the German airline hundreds of millions of euros since early 2014. The stoppage hit short-haul flights departing from German cities, forcing Lufthansa to cancel 816 out of around 3,000 planned flights on Tuesday. The pilots have also announced plans to strike on short- and long-haul flights on Wednesday, which will see a further 890 flights cancelled. Lufthansa has put the cost of the first two days of last week's strike at about E20m, but past experience shows the effect on future bookings could cost tens of millions more. <br/>
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The first commercial flight from Newark to Cuba took off Tuesday morning after passengers received a celebratory welcome at the departure gate decorated with blue and white balloons while salsa music played and Cuban food was served. The inaugural United flight from Newark Liberty International Airport was sold out, with about 150 passengers aboard, said Jonathan Guerin, a spokesman for the airline. "I am full of happiness. It's a dream to think it's the first trip of many more," Caridad López of West New York, who moved from the island seven years ago, said as she held a plate with some fruit and a croquette. "And the relationship between Cuba and the United States may improve and that makes me happy." The direct flight is the first of daily trips from Newark to the capital city of Havana as part of President Obama’s efforts to normalize relations with the communist nation. The flight, which departed about an hour after it was scheduled to leave, is 3 hours and 35 minutes long and was expected to arrive around 2:50 p.m. in Cuba, which is in national mourning due to the death of former president Fidel Castro. Commercial flights between the two countries began several months ago from other parts of the United States. On Monday, Jet Blue Airlines began its daily flight from John F. Kennedy Airport to Havana.<br/>
Singapore Airlines will close its San Francisco SilverKris airport lounge in 2017 in order to create a massive split-level Polaris business class lounge for Star Alliance partner United Airlines. United's new Polaris lounge – which will be built in the footprint of the current United Club, just past the airport's security screening zone – will also swallow up the adjacent EVA Air lounge. A spokesperson for United Airlines has laid out its lounge plans for San Francisco to TravelSkills blogger Chris McGinnis, advising that the mega-lounge will open in two stages from mid-2017 to end the of 2017. The outcome will be one of the largest Polaris lounges in United's network, offering plenty of room for the promised dining areas (above), bar, work booths, daybeds (below) and shower suites. However, access to that lounge will be restricted to business class and first class travellers on United and Star Alliance partners such as as Singapore Airlines.<br/>