A surprise $1.9b investment by Delta in LATAM Airlines Group is likely to fire up competition in South America as the weakest US carrier in the region joins up with the strongest homegrown player. Atlanta-based Delta had long struggled to get a better foothold in the Latin American market, lagging United and American Airlines, whose longtime partnership with LATAM gave it a comfortable lead. With the Delta deal, that reigning power couple has split. Dominance in Latin America — an air travel market expected to double in the next decade — has been fiercely disputed by the top three U.S. carriers for good reason. Eight of every 10 passengers in Latin America traveling outside the region are bound for North America, according to industry group ALTA. Following its breakup with Chile-based LATAM last month, American Airlines quickly announced new flights next year from Miami to Chile and Peru — destinations where the two had been coordinating their routes with regulatory approval. “This shows you that the (American-LATAM) partnership ultimately ended up undermining supply,” said Carlos Ozores, a principal at consulting company ICF. “There was no competition because these were two carriers that coordinated their fares and worked as one.” American said it had “expanded routes and lowered prices” as a result of its coordination with LATAM in Chile and Peru. The combined strength of LATAM and American ultimately doomed their partnership, as Chile’s top court ruled in May that they could not expand their cooperation on travel to the United States. By contrast, Delta’s historic weakness in the region has become a distinct advantage, allowing it to leapfrog competitors without facing as much regulatory scrutiny. Story has more background.<br/>
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Authorities arrested a man who they say bypassed a gate agent at Miami International Airport and forced his way onto the American Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey. The man was a ticketed passenger on the 6:50 a.m. flight on Monday morning. A witness tells WSVN passengers were scared as they waited for security to remove the man from the flight. American Airlines said in a statement that the passenger ran on the jet bridge, bypassing the gate agent, and was taken off the flight. Passengers were asked to get off the plane and go through the boarding process again. The flight finally departed at 10:17 a.m. Miami-Dade police arrested the man. His name hasn't been released. No passengers were injured.<br/>
Finnair plans to launch flights to Tokyo Haneda Airport from summer 2020. The oneworld member will operate daily Helsinki-Tokyo Haneda services, in addition to its existing daily Helsinki-Tokyo Narita flights. “Finnair has operated over 35 years between Japan and Finland. With the new flights, we are happy to offer even better connections between Tokyo and over 100 destinations in Europe,” CCO Ole Orvér, adding the carrier has a strong commitment to Narita and will continue flying from there as well. The new Haneda service will be a codeshare with oneworld alliance partner Japan Airlines, which has a wide domestic network of connecting flights from Haneda onward. Finnair currently operates to four destinations in Japan—Tokyo Narita, Osaka Kansai, Nagoya and Fukuoka. Japan is Finnair’s largest market outside its home market Finland.<br/>