JetBlue Airways said it will become the first large US airline to offset emissions from all of its domestic flights, aiming to become carbon neutral by July as pressure grows on the industry from climate change activists. The carrier also will begin using sustainable aviation fuel on its flights from San Francisco International Airport, the New York-based airline said Monday. JetBlue declined to disclose the cost of the offset program but said it won’t increase airfares as a result. The airline produces about 8m metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions each year and is working on a plan to compensate for international flights, said Sophia Mendelsohn, JetBlue’s head of sustainability. The carrier is following EasyJet, which in November announced it would become the first airline to offset carbon emissions from its flights. As concerns about the industry’s role in climate change have mounted, the number of people taking domestic flights has dropped in Germany and Sweden, where teenage activist Greta Thunberg has spearheaded a campaign against air travel. JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said his airline’s program isn’t a reaction to that growing criticism. “This is part of a long-term commitment we and the industry have to have to reflect the climate reality we are in,” he said. “Aviation has a central and important role to play, and has to make sure it’s preparing for the new climate we are operating in.”<br/>
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Indonesia’s Citilink appears to have shelved plans for long-haul flights to Europe, pivoting towards Asia instead. Commenting on its first widebody aircraft, an Airbus A330-900neo received from Avolon last month, vice-president for corporate secretary and corporate social responsibility Resty Kusandarina says, “The aircraft is being prepared for [international] expansion and strengthening Citilink’s [brand], through the launch of new services to Asia and the Middle East.” Last June, CE Juliandra Nurtjahjo said that the carrier is expecting to receive two new A330neos between October and December 2019, which will enable it to launch flights into Frankfurt and Jeddah. Then, he explained that the move to launch long-haul flights is part of Citilink’s long-term business plan and to align its strategy with parent company, Garuda Indonesia. It is unclear when Citilink will launch long-haul flights.<br/>
Frontier Airlines announced Monday it was making a “difficult decision” to suspend all operations at the Downtown Mobile Airport in April based “on a lack of sufficient demand to support the service,” a company spokeswoman said. “We greatly appreciate and support the partnership we have received from the airport and community in bringing service to Mobile and will continue to evaluate the potential for future opportunities,” said a spokeswoman at Frontier. Frontier is the only airline providing flights from the brand-new passenger terminal at the Downtown Mobile Airport that is located within the Brookley Aeroplex south of downtown Mobile. The $8m terminal, finance through the Airport Authority’s cash reserves and opened on May 1, is named “Terminal One” and is situated inside a 50,000-square-foot building that partially serves as an Airbus logistics center. The Mobile Airport Authority said the Frontier service will end on April 22, and likely would not return to Mobile any sooner than 2021. <br/>