Alaska Airlines and Finnair have begun a frequent-flyer partnership. The move comes as Finnair prepares to launch Helsinki-San Francisco service on June 1. The carrier already flies from Helsinki to Chicago and New York. With the partnership, Alaska Mileage Plan members will be able to accrue points flying to more than 60 destinations in Europe on Finnair. Finnair Plus members flying the new San Francisco route will be able to accrue points on flights to 35 destinations from that city on Alaska and Virgin America.<br/>
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More than 190 passengers on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight to Japan had to be evacuated shortly before takeoff at Hong Kong International Airport due to a fuel spillage on Monday. Hong Kong-Nagoya flight CX532, scheduled to depart at 4.15pm with 191 passengers, was on its way to a runway via a taxi way when the issue was discovered, according to the airline and the Airport Authority. The Airbus A330 was later towed to a parking bay, where the passengers were evacuated. The safety of their passengers and crew was the priority, an airline spokesman said. The Fire Services Department deployed 14 vehicles and an ambulance on standby after receiving a call at 4.40pm. They stood down at 5.35pm. No one was hurt. <br/>
Malaysia Airlines will upgrade to a new passengers reservation system on June 10 and 11, causing ticket purchases and changes not available during the period. The outage is expected from 9 pm on Saturday until Sunday and services will resume in stages from 6 am on Sunday. In a statement on Monday, the carrier said the normal flight schedule would not be affected during the transition. Malaysia Airlines said however, it would be necessary for the airline to temporarily suspend certain customer-facing technology, which included ticket bookings and changes across all channels. "MAS is working hard to ensure its customer''s travel needs are taken care of as seamlessly as possible and on-ground personnel will be on hand to offer any assistance during the nine hour of limited service. "Passengers travelling on e-tickets need to bring a copy of their e-ticket to the airport and are advised to arrive at the airport at least three hours before departure time," it said.<br/>