A CommutAir plane veered off a runway and onto grass while landing at Presque Isle’s Northern Maine Regional Airport, injuring a pilot and three passengers, the company said Monday. There were 28 passengers and three crew members on board CommutAir flight 4933 flying from Newark to Presque Isle, the company said. The Ohio-based regional carrier, in which United Continental owns a minority interest, said the injuries of the crew and the passengers were minor and they were being attended to by emergency personnel. “We are committed to supporting CommutAir in response to this incident and have activated a response team,” United said. The 50-seat Embraer ERJ145 jet, operating as United Express, landed at 11:43 a.m. ET. The FAA said it would investigate.<br/>
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An Uzbekistan Airways Boeing 767-300ER skidded off the runway after landing at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport March 2 at 9:59 p.m. local time. There were no serious injuries reported among the 241 passengers and 15 crew aboard the aircraft, which was en route from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Only the nose landing gear wheel left the runway and evacuation was not necessary, the airline said. Weather as well as runway and taxiway conditions may have played roles in the incident, the airline said.<br/>
Southwest said Monday it will begin flying to the Hawaiian capital of Honolulu from Oakland, California on March 17 with special launch fares as low as $49 through mid-June. The new service, part of the budget-friendly carrier’s push to boost leisure travel from the West Coast, also includes inner-island flights for as low as $29 in direct competition to Hawaiian Airlines HA.O.<br/>
Aer Lingus is postponing the launch of its planned Dublin to Montreal service until next year because new aircraft the carrier has ordered will not be ready on time. The Irish airline was due to begin flying from to Montreal on August 8th this year, the second of two new transatlantic routes it planned on launching over the summer. Aer Lingus said Monday that a delay in new aircraft deliveries had forced it to postpone the launch of the Montreal route until summer 2020, a year after it was scheduled to begin. Similarly, it will cut frequencies on the other new route it is planning, from Dublin to Minneapolis St Paul, as well as on services from the capital to Philadelphia and Hartford, Connecticut and on its Shannon to JFK Airport, New York.<br/>
AirAsia Group said Monday it was launching a venture capital fund in the US to invest in startups seeking to enter or expand in Southeast Asia. The fund, called RedBeat Capital, will focus on post-seed-stage startups in travel and lifestyle, financial technology, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. AirAsia is partnering with San Francisco-based 500 Startups, which invests in young fast-growing companies. RedBeat Capital will have a base in San Francisco and access to 500 Startups’ deal flow, AirAsia said. The airline group has initially allocated about $10m, and the fund has already invested in a couple of companies, said Aireen Omar, deputy CE. AirAsia, which pioneered budget air travel in Asia, is broadening its reach to include a payments company, logistics, food and beverages brands and a loyalty program. AirAsia has been trying to re-invent itself as a travel and technology firm to exploit data and offset cyclical volatility in airline earnings. The group last week posted a fourth-quarter net loss, its first quarterly loss in over three years, citing higher fuel prices and lease costs.<br/>
JetBlue Airways pumped up speculation that it will announce plans to order long-range aircraft and start trans-Atlantic flights, inviting employees to a special event next month. The carrier said it would hold a “chat about JetBlue’s vision and strategy” on April 10, followed by a party in New York. The announcement spurred a flurry of speculation on social media after airline watchers pointed out that the background of the invitation resembled the seat fabric on London’s subway system. JetBlue has been flirting with the possibility of flying across the Atlantic since 2016, when the company said it had the right to swap part of an order for Airbus SE A321 jetliners for a longer-range version of the plane that would enable such routes. The carrier, which has said it would make a decision this year on whether to serve Europe, has touted its ability to lower “obscene” business-class fares on trans-Atlantic flights. “Potential routes to Europe could provide us an opportunity to grow our focus cities of Boston and New York as we consider the best use of our aircraft from a margin perspective in those cities,” JetBlue said Monday. JetBlue likened the European opportunity to trans-continental flights in the US, where it has made inroads with its Mint premium service.<br/>
Philippine authorities said Monday that they found more than 1,500 live turtles stuffed inside luggage at Manila's airport. The various types of turtles were found Sunday inside four pieces of left-behind luggage of a Filipino passenger arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on a Philippine Airlines flight from Hong Kong, Customs officials said. The 1,529 turtles were turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit, the statement said. Convictions for the illegal trading of wildlife are punishable by a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine of up to $3,861.<br/>
Virgin Atlantic has told female cabin crew they will no longer have to wear makeup in the air. The airline will also provide female crew with trousers as part of their standard uniform, rather than only providing them on request. Virgin said it was a “significant change” in an industry where female crew are often expected to spend considerable effort on their appearance, adding to the costs and unpaid labour for low-paid employees. Although low-cost carriers, such as easyJet and Ryanair, have relatively relaxed rules on crew presentation, most full-service international airlines prescribe what makeup must be bought and worn. Virgin said cabin crew could now work without makeup, but were welcome to follow the palette of lipstick and foundation set out in its guidelines. Mark Anderson, the airline’s executive vice-president of customer, said it had been “listening to the views of our people” and the new guidelines would “provide our team with more choice on how they want to express themselves at work”.<br/>
Indian Ocean carrier Air Seychelles will drop its remaining long-haul route as it increasingly focuses on serving regional destinations. The airline said March 1 that it would end service to Abu Dhabi on May 11. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways holds a 40% stake in Air Seychelles. “In the past year the route has delivered low passenger numbers and we have even noticed weaker travel demand from the UAE, Europe and Asia connecting with the route, making it not a viable ongoing commercial operation for Air Seychelles,” CEO Remco Althuis said. In 2018 the airline cut its key Paris-Seychelles route in the face of increasing competition from European, Middle Eastern and African carriers. It also dropped the route from its home base of Mahé to the Madagascar capital of Antananarivo, which was heavily dependent on feed from the Paris flight. As a result, the company disposed of its two Airbus A330s.<br/>