On the heels of a passenger-dragging scandal that made headlines around the world, United Continental is flying lower Wednesday after reporting a year-on-year dip in a key traffic metric. United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental, reported an 0.9 point drop in its consolidated passenger load factor for May 2017, compared to the same month a year earlier, from 82.5% to 81.6%. That figure measures what proportion of capacity was used. The biggest decline in load factor was seen in United’s Pacific operations, where it dropped 4.4 points from 82.4% in May 2016 to 78% last month, according to the airline. Year to date, United’s consolidated load factor is down 2.8 points in the Pacific region versus a year ago, from 80.2% to 77.4%. The company cited “incremental weakness” in that region, which it blamed on “unfavourable supply and demand dynamics in China and Hong Kong.”<br/>
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Boeing is in talks with United and at least four other companies as the planemaker tries to line up initial customers for its 737 Max 10 jetliner and gain ground on a fast-selling Airbus SE model, people familiar with the matter said. The roster of potential buyers of the largest-ever 737, which is expected to launch this month, spans the globe. Initial sales prospects include Indonesia’s Lion Mentari Airlines, the aircraft-leasing arm of China’s development bank, Jet Airways India and Copa Holdings, said the people. The US manufacturer is seeking a groundswell of orders to demonstrate the Max 10’s market appeal and strike back at the A321neo, Airbus’s largest narrow-body jet, which is capturing trans-continental routes once dominated by Boeing’s out-of-production 757. The Max 10 talks aren’t final and Airbus could still try to thwart the sales ahead of the Paris Air Show later this month. <br/>
As Chinese appetite for Swiss companies grows, so is demand for flights between the two countries. Air China is seizing on an opportunity to jet more executives to Zurich by introducing its first direct flights from Beijing to the financial hub on Wednesday. Airbus SE A330-200s will ferry as many as 227 passengers between the cities four times a week. “More and more Chinese companies are interested in investing in Switzerland,” said Chen Ge, general manager of Air China’s Swiss branch. “That’s helpful for our operations because it means there are more businessmen traveling to Switzerland.” The start of the route follows on the heels of a string of Chinese takeovers in the central European country. Lufthansa also stands to benefit from the new service. The company in September said it’s setting up a commercial joint venture with Air China that allows the partners to coordinate schedules and prices on routes covered, which will include the German airlines’ Swiss and Austrian arms. Swiss and Air China already code-share on the airlines’ twice weekly Geneva-Beijing route. The cooperation will also include the new service offered by Air China to Zurich, and the companies will share the revenues generated from these flights once the joint venture is fully implemented.<br/>
Germany’s national airline has praised Cathay Pacific as the “perfect” partner with the carrier’s chief hinting at more scope for business deals with Hong Kong’s flagship carrier. Lufthansa talked up its expanded relationship with Cathay Pacific on air cargo services, and more recently, passenger flights. The mutual tie up between the pair was just the beginning, according to the German airline’s CE Carsten Spohr. His airline’s ties to Cathay Pacific would become more important as it was similar to one with the Hong Kong carrier’s major shareholder Air China, he said. Spohr said however he was not interested in buying a stake in Cathay Pacific, stating he was more interested in investing in airlines at home in Europe. “Cathay Pacific is the perfect fit for Lufthansa in many ways. It is an airline focused on premium, it is focused on sustainability, and not just around for one or two years,” Spohr said. Doubling down on the China market, Spohr added: “We are very close to Air China with our joint venture, obviously there is a link between Cathay and Air China as well, so we are establishing more of a trilateral relationship.” As airlines seek new partnerships outside of traditional airline alliances to find alternatives to stay competitive, Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa initially struck a worldwide agreement to cooperate on cargo flights between Asia and Europe, and led to cooperation on flights between Europe, Hong Kong and Australia.<br/>