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Air China has indefinitely suspended flights between Beijing and Pyongyang, citing poor demand as North Korea faces growing sanctions from the US over its nuclear weapons and missile programs. An official in the company's Beijing-based press office, who only gave his surname as Ding, said on Wednesday that flights were suspended because "business was not good". He declined to comment on when flights might resume. The suspension by China's national flag carrier comes shortly after a visit by a senior Chinese envoy to the city and also coincides with a US decision to put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism. Air China flights to Pyongyang, which have traditionally operated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, began in 2008, but have frequently been cancelled because of unspecified problems, state media has said. Last year, Air China halted flights seasonally for winter but resumed them in March. So far it is not selling tickets for any 2018 flights, according to Routes Online. One staff member in the company's Pyongyang office who declined to give his name told Reuters that Air China can resume the flights whenever there is enough demand and the office will operate normally even while there are no scheduled flights between Beijing and Pyongyang.<br/>

United is adding 10 new routes from five of its hub airports, including flights to two cities it does not currently serve: Elmira, N.Y., and Wilmington, N.C. The new service comes as United looks to solidify its network by increasing connecting opportunities at its hub airports. (Scroll down for full schedule details) As part of that, United said it is adjusting the times of its arriving and departing “banks” of flights at Chicago O’Hare. United, which has already implemented a similar change at its Houston hub, said the change will both shorten customers’ connection times and increase the number of connecting flights in its schedule. As for the new service, three of United's new routes will come from O'Hare. Twice-daily flights to Wilmington and El Paso begin April 9 while a seasonal once-daily route to Fresno begins June 7.<br/>

EgyptAir will swing to a profit this year, buoyed by an increase in passengers and cost cutting, the chairman of the state-owned airline’s holding company said on Tuesday. EgyptAir has struggled to rebound from the 2008 global financial crisis and two revolutions that have hobbled Egypt’s economy since. “This year the company will transfer from a loss,” EgyptAir Holding Chairman Safwat Musallam said. He declined to say how much money the airline would make in the year to June 30, 2018, or to disclose its loss in the previous financial year. EgyptAir, one of Africa’s largest and oldest airlines, would carry 9m passengers in its current fiscal, compared to 8 million in the year ago period, he said. The airline is cutting costs by dropping unprofitable routes and reducing workforce. The workforce could eventually be reduced by up to 500 employees, or 10%, by not replacing staff who resign from the airline, Musallam said. EgyptAir signed a letter of intent to purchase 12 Bombardier CS300 jets last week at the Dubai Airshow.<br/>

The impact of Japan’s possible departure tax on airlines such as low-cost carriers could be quite large, the CE of ANA Holdings said Tuesday. It is difficult to say what the impact of the tax would be on inbound visitor numbers, said Shinya Katanozaka, CE of Japan’s largest airline by revenues. He was referring to a tax of up to 1,000 yen ($8.89) that the Japanese government is widely reported to be considering levying on travellers departing the country.<br/>

Avianca expects minimal regulatory hurdles for an imminent joint venture with United, citing the little network overlap between the two Star Alliance carriers. “The US regulatory process could take nine months to a year, but also could happen earlier,” Avianca CE Hernan Rincon said. Rincon does not expect the airlines to divest slots or routes to secure anti-trust immunity, saying: “We will of course consider any remedies that are needed… but our overlaps are much less [compared with other joint ventures].” Avianca and United have reached a verbal agreement on a joint venture, and are in the process of finalising legal documents, says Rincon. He expects this to be completed by year-end. FlightGlobal schedules data shows that the two airlines overlap directly on only one route: Houston Intercontinental to San Salvador. United serves Bogota, San Pedro Sula (Honduras) and San Salvador from Newark Liberty, while Avianca operates to the three Latin American cities from New York John F Kennedy. Rincon declines to comment on specifics of the planned joint venture with United, but points out that like most joint ventures, the two airlines will co-ordinate flight timings and route planning.<br/>

An Air Canada Flight that left San Francisco International Airport for Toronto Monday morning was diverted to Denver due to a “disruptive passenger,” the airline said. The FBI is investigating the incident, Amy Sanders of the bureau’s Denver field office confirmed. She declined to comment further, or to say whether anyone had been injured on the plane. “Air Canada flight AC758 was en route from San Francisco to Toronto when it diverted to Denver due to a disruptive passenger,” Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for Air Canada, said in a statement. “The aircraft landed normally and was met by first responders at the airport.”<br/>