Qantas has re-commenced daily flights from Sydney to Beijing, 8 years after scrapping the route because of the global financial crisis, as the airline seeks to lift its share of the lucrative Chinese travel market. Qantas CE Alan Joyce said there was strong demand from Chinese holiday-makers and the corporate market. "This is the 11th-largest corporate market for Qantas. This is a market that the business community has been calling out for some time," Joyce said Wednesday. Several airlines including Air China, China Southern Airlines and Air NZ already operate between Sydney and Beijing, although some routes include stopovers. Beijing is Qantas' third destination in China after Shanghai and Hong Kong. Qantas now has its largest presence in China since commencing its first flight to Hong Kong in 1949. <br/>
oneworld
American Airlines employees who are parents will be offered 2 new benefits beginning March 1 — a post-pregnancy maternity/short-term disability plan, and an adoption assistance program, the carrier said Wednesday. American Airlines’ new short-term disability plan will offer, at no cost to employees, up to 10 weeks off to recover from pregnancy and delivery, paid at 100% of their base pay. The new adoption assistance program will offer up to US$4,000 in expense reimbursements related to adoptions, as well as air travel for qualifying employees. The benefits will be offered beginning March 1 to all US-based employees, whether they are represented by a union or not. American is making the resources available after hearing repeatedly from workers that the company needs more modern resources for new parents. <br/>
Pilots representing Southwest Airlines and American Airlines rallied at the White House Tuesday in an attempt to block Norwegian Air International’s expansion in the US. The pilots argue Norwegian Air will hire less expensive Asian flight crews instead of Americans and will use an Irish subsidiary to circumvent labour and safety regulations. They contend that the Obama administration approved Norwegian Air's application for a foreign air carrier permit in violation of the US-EU Open Skies Agreement. The union representing Southwest Airlines pilots is asking president Trump for help in thwarting a Norwegian Air expansion in the US. Norwegian Air has said that the expansion will create 500 new jobs in the UD by the end of this year, and fuel competition that could reduce prices for passengers traveling to Europe. <br/>
Finnair will become the first airline to allow travellers to pay for in-flight shopping and services with Chinese online payment app Alipay, the company said Wednesday. The airline said it will trial Alipay on its flights between Shanghai and Helsinki. "As the number of travellers grows between Asia and Northern Europe, the need for a familiar and convenient payment platform has never been greater," Finnair chief digital officer Katri Harra-Salonen said. Alipay has formed a number of foreign partnerships in its push to capture the growing market of Chinese consumers traveling abroad. The service has more than 450m active users in China. Though other airlines, such as Delta, accept Alipay on their booking websites, Finnair says it will be the first to allow passengers to use the payment app during flights. <br/>
S7 Airlines carried 13.15m passengers in 2016, up 24% year-over-year. S7 Group publishes combined statistics for Sibir Airline and Globus. Domestic traffic grew 27.5% to 9.7m for the year, while international traffic increased 14.1% to 3.5m. In Dec 2016, international traffic growth exceeded domestic growth, and the number of passengers increased 16.7% and 15.6% YOY, respectively. “The operational results confirm our previous year’s forecast. We continued to launch new destinations and to renew the fleet. The number of performed flights grew 12% in 2016,” S7 Group commercial director Igor Veretennikov said. In 2016, the carrier added service to Berlin, Dusseldorf, Malaga and Shanghai. It took delivery of 2 Airbus A321s and 6 Boeing 737-800s. In 2017, S7 will take delivery of A320neo and 17 Embraer E-170LR aircraft. <br/>