Hawaiian Airlines and Japan Airlines have filed applications with Japanese and US regulators requesting that their proposed joint venture be immune from antitrust laws. The companies aim to coordinate schedules, marketing and sales of flights on dozens of routes, and to share revenue and costs, the companies said. The proposed business deal would apply to routes between Japan and Hawaii, and within Hawaii and Japan. It would also apply to some routes from Japan to elsewhere in Asia, the carriers say. The deal would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the US economy annually and increase the annual number of visitors to the USA by between 162,000 and 350,000, the airlines say in their application to the US DoT. The deal would bring 34 new destinations to Hawaiian's network, including six new destinations in Asia and 28 in Japan. Japan Airlines would gain access to six of Hawaiian's inter-island Hawaii routes, the application says. The airlines note that the only US airlines with antitrust-immune joint ventures are the three large network carriers – American, Delta and United. "Conferring the advantage of joint-venture antitrust immunity to another US carrier will strengthen the competitiveness of the US airline industry overall," the application to US regulators says.<br/>
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More than 25 firefighters are responding after a white substance was found in the cargo hold of an aircraft at Sydney Airport on Friday morning. The spill was located while crew were unloading luggage from an incoming American Airlines passenger aircraft. Hazardous materials crews were immediately called. Firefighters identified the substance as a "low irritant chemical additive" and have handed it over to forensic services for further testing. A NSW Fire & Rescue spokesman confirmed seven specialised hazardous materials crews were deployed to the tarmac. "We have HAZMAT crews on the scene with spillage gear and detectors," the spokesman said. "They're running some tests to identify what the substance might be." The spokesman said the priority was to "make the area safe". Sydney Airport website said American Airlines flight 73 arrived from Los Angeles, landing at 7.05am and docking at gate 9. After a three-hour turnaround, the aircraft is scheduled to return to Los Angeles at 10.15am.<br/>