Lufthansa will offer business-class seats that stretch to 2.2m (7 feet) in new Boeing 777 jets, aiming to boost the corporate appeal of a carrier that has only recently embraced flat-bed berths. Passengers will be able to choose between six different setups in the business cabin, including a paired layout, an enhanced-privacy variant and one that offers slightly less snooze room while featuring more storage and work space. All but the extra-long berth will measure a standard 6 feet 6 inches. Lufthansa came late to the flat-bed revolution, rolling the seats out in business class only in 2013, more than a decade after pioneer BA. The multi-option business berth set to debut on the new 777-9 fleet from 2020 should help the carrier enhance its credentials as an innovator as it seeks to become the first in Europe awarded five stars by the Skytrax ratings service. All of the seats will also have direct aisle access, overcoming the need for some premium passengers to clamber past others, a requirement many airlines have already eradicated. While the final layout of Lufthansa’s 34 ordered 777-9s hasn’t been decided, the carrier says they’ll accommodate 45 to 60 business passengers, but feature no first-class cabin. The 747-400s and Airbus A340-600s that the jets are due to replace do have the top-end product, though it has already been dropped from an A350 fleet partway through delivery.<br/>
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The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating an incident on 18 November where an Air NZ Boeing 777-300ER descended below minimum safe altitude while on approach to land at Brisbane airport. As the aircraft was tracking to land on runway 01, it had been cleared to descend to 3,000ft but was observed to have descended to 2,500ft. The crew were alerted to this, but the aircraft continued to descend to 2,000ft. The ATSB has classified the event as an operational incident and will review recorded data, interview the flight crew and gather additional data. The investigation is expected to be complete by April 2018.<br/>
A Miami-bound Turkish Airlines flight, which had taken off from Istanbul, made an emergency landing in a Canadian airport on Nov. 27 to attend to a sick passenger. TK77 flight, which departed from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, made the emergency landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport after a 30-year-old male passenger said he was unwell, according to a statement by the airline. The passenger and his attendant were shifted to a hospital. The plane landed at the Miami airport an hour late, the statement added. <br/>
Passengers had a rough landing when their flight from Germany arrived in New Jersey, and the plane's tires blew out. A spokesman for United says the Boeing 777-222 from Frankfurt was landing around 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Newark Liberty airport when it "experienced tire issues." Passengers say some of the plane's tires blew out on landing. No one was reported injured, but a passenger tells WNBC-TV many on board were shaken up. Another passenger says it felt like the plane hit two large potholes moments after landing. Passengers were bused to the terminal after being stuck on the tarmac for several hours.<br/>