United said Wednesday it planned to testify at an upcoming US House Transportation Committee hearing on commercial airline consumer issues after a passenger was dragged off an April 9 flight in Chicago to make room for crew members. Justin Harclerode, a spokesman for the House of Representatives panel, did not say who the committee planned to call as witnesses. A date for the hearing has not been disclosed. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said that the airline looked "forward to meeting with the committee and sharing with them the comprehensive review and the customer-focused actions we will communicate next week." She declined to say who would testify for United. The airline also faces a Thursday deadline from the US Senate Commerce Committee to answer detailed questions about the incident on United Flight 3411, which 69-year-old Dr David Dao was dragged off by airport security officers. The same committee requested that the Chicago Department of Aviation, which employs the officers, respond to a separate list of queries by Thursday as well.<br/>
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Lufthansa is in talks with Iran Air to provide catering, maintenance and pilot training as it seeks to take advantage of emerging business opportunities in the country, executives at the German airline group said Wednesday. Foreign companies have been vying for contracts in Iran since economic sanctions were lifted last year in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme. "We are in very, very intense discussions, actually almost on a weekly basis," said Karsten Zang, Lufthansa's regional director for the Gulf, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, a Lufthansa spokesman later told Reuters that "the talks with Iran Air are just held to explore business opportunities in the areas of catering and maintenance. There are however no concrete plans for a cooperation." Lufthansa Group subsidiaries LSG Sky Chefs, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Pilot Training are seeking the contracts with Iran Air whilst the group is also in talks to provide services to other Iranian aviation firms, Zang said. Iran has signed orders for 200 new Western-built aircraft for Iran Air, taking delivery so far of two new Airbus A330s and an A321. "We are talking with Iran Air because their new aircraft are coming. They need training, of course, and we have the experience in all of these fields but we can't give timelines," Zang said.<br/>
Greece's largest carrier Aegean Airlines said on Wednesday passenger traffic grew 5% in Q1, with load factors improving to historically high levels for the winter season. The company, a member of the Star Alliance airline group, said it flew a total of 2.1m passengers on domestic and foreign routes, together with its subsidiary Olympic Air. Its overall load factor - a measure of how full its planes are - improved by eight percentage points to 76.8% compared to last year's Q1. Aegean, which flies a young fleet of 61 aircraft, mostly Airbus A320 jets, said passenger numbers on flights abroad grew 17 percent to 1.1m but fell 6% on domestic routes due to weaker demand. "The course of load factors and pre-bookings for the summer season ... are very encouraging for how the full year will turn out," CE Dimitris Gerogiannis said.<br/>
The air freight divisions of Lufthansa and United said they have agreed a joint venture on routes between Europe and the United States to help their respective networks. Lufthansa Cargo already has a joint venture with Japan's ANA and has said it wanted more partnerships to help bolster its cargo business. Although the air cargo market has seen some positive signs in 2017, with less overcapacity helping to lift pricing, carriers have been under pressure from falling yields over the last couple of years. Lufthansa Cargo and United Cargo said that together they will have more than 600 direct connections per week between Europe and the US. Lufthansa and United are both part of the Star Alliance grouping of airlines and already have a trans-Atlantic joint venture for their passenger networks.<br/>
Denver International Airport continues to expand its international offerings with new nonstop service to Panama City, Panama. The airport announced Copa Airlines will start offering direct flights between Denver and Panama in December. Flights will travel between Denver and Panama City four times a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. From Panama, travelers will be able to connect to many more destinations in Central and Southern America. “We expect the addition of Denver, our newest U.S. destination, to generate business and leisure travel not only between Colorado and Panama, but also to our more than 55 destinations throughout Latin American and the Caribbean,” Copa Airlines CEO Pedro Heilbron said. Flights on Copa Airlines offer several amenities that are becoming harder to find on American carriers, such as free meals and drinks (including wine and liquor) and two free checked bags.<br/>