Japan Airlines will return to Seattle in 2019 under an expanded codeshare with Alaska Airlines. The carrier will offer daily service to Seattle Tacoma International airport from Tokyo Narita with an up to 206-seat Boeing 787-8 from 31 March 2019, JAL said. Seattle will be the carrier's sixth destination on the US West Coast. JAL will codeshare with Alaska on the new flight, as well as offer connections to many of 40 destinations served by the Seattle-based carrier beyond the airport. Codeshare markets include Anchorage, Boise, Las Vegas and Spokane. The two carriers already codeshare on Alaska flights to 16 cities beyond Los Angeles and San Francisco. The new Seattle route will also operate under JAL's immunised joint venture with American Airlines.<br/>
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BA axed its entire Hong Kong crew Wednesday ahead of the closure of its local base next month, the airline’s head office has confirmed. Unionists said 57 of the 85 Hong Kong-based flight attendants were laid off immediately, with another 24 to finish at the end of next month when their contracts expired. They slammed the move as “inhumane” and “ugly”. Britain’s national airline, which has been flying to the city for 82 years, said it would close its Hong Kong cabin crew base at the end of October. The carrier operates two daily flights from Hong Kong to London Heathrow. “While we are really grateful to our crew in Hong Kong for all of their hard work and dedication over the years, our strategic model going forward is to operate this route entirely with London-based crew,” a company spokeswoman said, implying flights would not be affected. She said employees in Hong Kong had been told about the closure. The decision was made after a “detailed and thorough” review of the company’s global operation, she said. “We have promised our cabin crew based in Hong Kong our full support at this time,” the spokeswoman said, adding the company was confident the service level would be maintained.<br/>
Qantas will open the first campus of its pilot academy at Toowoomba’s Wellcamp airport in mid-2019. Construction of the facilities for the pilot training centre is expected to start in the next month. The cost of the investment has been put at A$35m, which Qantas says is largely being funded by private sector partners. “In partnership with the Queensland Government and the Wagner Corporation, who own the airport, we’ll build state-of-the-art training facilities and student accommodation. What we’re ultimately creating is a world-class pilot school for students from Australia and around the globe,” says Qantas group CE Alan Joyce. Qantas says that the academy will help to train up new pilots for the wider Qantas Group, and will also cater to third-party clients. The airline has contracted L3 Commercial Aviation as the training provider for the Wellcamp site. It will provide a number of single and twin engine aircraft to support the training. Selection of a second site for the academy is still underway, with eight other regional centres – including Tamworth, Alice Springs, Busselton and Launceston – under consideration. <br/>
American Airlines will start charging more for alcoholic beverages on Oct. 1. The world's largest carrier is boosting the price of beer, wine and liquor by $1 each. Sparkling wine is the only drink that won't cost more. It remains $9 and is only available on select flights. American spokesman Sunny Rodriguez said the airline has improved its in-flight drink options over the past few years, most recently adding three craft beers. Story has details of the new prices. American passengers who sit in the airline's cushier Main Cabin Extra section in economy receive free drinks, as do travellers in first class and business class. <br/>
Cathay Pacific Airways has been "pleased" with the performance of the Airbus A350-1000 during its first three months in service, said CE Rupert Hogg. "Overall, it's been a very smooth introduction into service for the A350[-1000]," he said. "We’re pleased with that." Cathay followed Qatar Airways as the second operator of the stretched A350, first taking delivery of the aircraft in June and debuting it on flights to Taipei on 1 July, FlightGlobal schedules data shows. The aircraft, which Cathay configures with 334 seats, is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines and has an 8,000nm range. It is 7m longer than the baseline A350-900, which the airline introduced in 2016. Asked about dispatch reliability of the A350-1000, Hogg said it was "up where we would expect" but declined to provide a number. "There are always things you talk about with the manufacturer when you launch a new aircraft," he said when asked specifically if dispatch reliability was above or below 99%. "That bit at the margin is important." Cathay operates five A350-1000s and plans to have eight in its fleet by the end of the year, says Hogg. <br/>