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The German cartel office has asked Lufthansa for information on ticket prices after receiving complaints over rising fares following the collapse of Air Berlin, Germany’s second largest carrier. Air Berlin ceased operations last month after filing for insolvency in August. Lufthansa plans to take on around 80 planes from its collapsed rival, although it is awaiting approval for the deal from the EU’s competition regulator. “We have asked Lufthansa to provide information on pricing,” cartel office president Andreas Mundt said, adding that the watchdog would examine the information and then decide whether to start an investigation. Lufthansa said it was cooperating fully with the cartel office and had not changed its pricing structures, which comprise up to 26 different fares per flight. “We have not altered our pricing. The insolvency of Air Berlin has led to a capacity bottleneck and therefore the cheapest tickets are being sold sooner,” a spokesman for the carrier said. Aviation industry expert Gerd Pontius said at a conference this week that prices were up to 30% higher on average on some routes. Lufthansa CE Carsten Spohr last week told German daily Bild that the collapse of Air Berlin meant 60,000 fewer seats were available each day but the situation should improve from January. Lufthansa and European budget airline easyJet hope to have approvals next month for their separate deals to buy parts of Air Berlin.<br/>

Air NZ is in the early stages of scoping the private afforestation fund with the government but planting could begin next year. The airline will work with the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to explore the establishment of a private afforestation scheme, providing funding to landowners to plant trees in return for the carbon benefits this will create. Air NZ emits about 3m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year but is part of a global push among airlines to carbon neutral growth after 2020. If it goes ahead, Air NZ will spearhead the scheme, and is likely to provide grants to private landowners to plant trees on their land in exchange for the carbon units generated. It could be up to 15,000ha of new native and exotic trees and the airline says it would be aimed at helping It is hoped to benefit regional economies. Air NZ would not be involved in the physical planting. "While Air New Zealand employees who volunteer for our internal Green Team are involved with a range of community planting events, the proposed private afforestation fund is the first time we've developed and will directly fund an initiative to encourage new planting for carbon benefits," a spokeswoman said. The airline's CE Christopher Luxon said Air NZ had been a strong advocate for more quality offsetting options. "We are pleased to work with Government to encourage thousands more hectares of trees into the emissions trading scheme, which will create broader social, environmental and economic benefits," said Luxon.<br/>

United says a flight from Munich to Newark has been diverted because of reports of a medical emergency on board. The airline said Flight 31 landed at London's Heathrow Airport Sunday so paramedics could treat passengers who felt ill. The airline said all the passengers were released. It didn't say how many passengers felt sick or what their complaints were. The flight didn't complete its planned trans-Atlantic voyage, and the airline says travelers were given hotel rooms and meals because of the unexpected diversion to London.<br/>

THAI Airways International hopes its newly launched direct flight to and from Vienna will provide a gateway from Eastern Europe to Asia, CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) and Australia, according to Chonnakarn Akrapreedee, THAI general manager, Austria and Eastern Europe. Due to Bangkok’s central location in Southeast Asia, business and leisure passengers will be able to conveniently connect flights to various destinations throughout Asia, CLMV and Australia on flights operated by THAI and other airlines in its network, Chonnakarn said. Passengers in Asia would find it convenient to access Central and Eastern Europe via the new flight, she said. “We saw the potential of Austria as the gateway to Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia, where we can exchange tourism, trade and investment,” Chonnakarn said. THAI aims for 77% occupancy rate on a capacity of 5,500 seats per month on the new route, she said. She also expects the new route to contribute 5% of total revenue in Europe, but declined to elaborate on the number. Since the inaugural flight on November 16, inbound bookings were above target and bookings for December/January were over 80%, she said. <br/>