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Pilots of a JetBlue flight from New York to San Francisco were forced to land close to the midway point of the trip after a fire was started by a lithium battery inside a passenger's laptop. No injuries or damage to the aircraft were reported, said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro. The plane landed safely at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday and left later for San Francisco. Firefighters responded as a precaution, but the airport said the fire was out by the time the plane landed. JetBlue Airways Corp. said reports of "smoke emitting from a carry-on bag holding an electronic device" caused flight 915 from John F. Kennedy Airport to be diverted. The New York airline said the incident was being investigated and offered no additional details Wednesday. Kat Honniball, who was aboard the JetBlue flight, told WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids that passengers were "absolutely calm" as flight attendants responded.<br/>

JetBlue said Wednesday that it will launch self-boarding by facial recognition on certain flights beginning next month. The US airline will allow customers to “put away their boarding passes and devices and simply step up to the camera for a quick photo” in order to board flights from Boston to Aruba beginning in June. A “custom-designed camera station” will interact with US Customs and Border Protection’s systems to “instantly match the image to passport, visa or immigration photos in the CBP database and verify flight details”. “The customer will be notified on an integrated screen above the camera when they are cleared to proceed to the jet bridge,” the airline said. JetBlue said that it will be the first airline to partner with the US to “use biometrics and facial recognition technology to verify customers at the gate during boarding”. “We hope to learn how we can further reduce friction points in the airport experience, with the boarding process being one of the hardest to solve,” said Joanna Geraghty, executive vice president customer experience at JetBlue.<br/>

In a U-turn Wednesday, Emirates retracted a demand that all Taiwanese cabin crew remove the island’s national flag pin from their uniforms following the Middle East airline’s decision to support Beijing’s one-China policy. The original company edict, issued to staff by email on Tuesday, sparked a backlash from Taiwanese employees and the Taiwanese public. But on Wednesday afternoon, Emirates said the email had been “sent in error” and it had “retracted” the order. “Our intent is to recall the flag pins worn by all our cabin crew as part of our uniform update,” it said. “Emirates apologises for the communication error.” However, the Dubai-based airline was originally specific in ordering cabin crew from Taiwan to replace the island’s flag pin with the Chinese national flag. “We have been instructed by the Chinese government that with immediate effect, Emirates airline cabin crew are to follow the one-China policy,” Emirates uniform standards and development manager Nicola Parker wrote in her email message. “This means you must remove the Taiwanese flag from your service waistcoat and replace it with the Chinese flag. This must be followed by all Taiwanese crew without exception.” In damage control mode next, Emirates said in its latest statement that all flight attendants, regardless of nationality, would no longer have to wear a flag pin as part of a uniform policy overhaul. It did not explain a contradictory sentence in the email saying “additional stock of Chinese flags have been ordered”.<br/>

Norwegian Air Shuttle Wednesday announced plans to introduce flights from three US cities to Rome, increasing the competition US and European carriers face from low-cost rivals on transatlantic flights. Introductory prices for the new routes to Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport start in November at $189 one way, taxes included. Nonstop flights for the same time period found on Google flights start at $2,694. The flights, from airports in Newark, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Oakland, California, are the latest instance of low-cost carriers expanding their presence in Europe and the United States, and increasing pressure on their larger competitors to consider restricted cheaper fares and redesigned cabins to compete on routes across the Atlantic. “Rome is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, and a favorite among Americans, so it was an obvious choice for us as we continue to expand our transatlantic presence,” Norwegian Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl said. “More US routes mean we will create more American jobs and offer American travelers even more affordable fares.”<br/>

SilkAir said Tuesday that it will launch nonstop flights between Singapore and Hiroshima in October. They will be the only nonstop flights between Hiroshima and Singapore, the airline said. The flights, which will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, will also be SilkAir's first service to Japan and will utilize Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Singapore Airlines operated Singapore-Hiroshima flights between 1993 and 2003.<br/>