On 1 December, a United Airlines passenger plane flew from Chicago to Washington powered solely by fuel made from cooking oils, agricultural waste and other materials rather than fossil fuels. Billed by the airline as the world’s first fully-loaded passenger flight to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), it was United’s latest attempt to demonstrate its climate credentials. United’s CEO Scott Kirby called it “a significant milestone” for efforts to decarbonize the industry. But to critics, it was another attempt to make sustainable aviation seem a lot closer than it is in reality and give the impression people can fly guilt-free. The global supply of SAF remains very limited and there are big obstacles to scaling it up. Yet despite these challenges, United is pursuing a growth strategy which includes increasing flight numbers, adding new routes and investing in supersonic aviation. When Covid restrictions ease again and the world opens back up, airlines including United are hoping to see rapid recovery. In the US, the industry is already expecting pre-pandemic levels of travellers this holiday season despite the rise of the Omicron variant. At the same time, it is under increasing pressure to tackle its climate footprint. Aviation makes up about 2.5% of global emissions but the UN has projected that carbon emissions could triple by 2050. Story has more.<br/>
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South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively given its conditional approval to the proposed merger between Asiana Airlines and Korean Air but warned that some airport slots may have to be relinquished as competition is impacted on certain routes. In what was a rare ahead-of-decision announcement for the authority, done in order to ease speculation about the deal, the FTC released a report on December 29 revealing that it was granting conditional approval to the flag carrier’s acquisition of 63.88% of its longtime rival. Korean Air Lines agreed to buy the stake in November 2020. The regulator had warned in early October that a combination of the country’s two biggest airline groups was likely to restrict competition. The FTC said it had reviewed 250 routes operated by the two airlines and their low-cost subsidiaries Air Busan, Air Seoul, and Jin Air. Of these, 10 will become monopolised as the two entities merge - those linking Seoul Incheon with Los Angeles Int'l, New York JFK, Barcelona El Prat, Dayong, Koror (Palau), Phnom Penh, Seattle Tacoma Int'l, and Sydney Kingsford Smith, and between Busan and both Nagoya Chubu and Qingdao Jiaodong. The authority claimed to have studied market share, the existence of rivals and their capacity, and the possibility of new entrants to the market in order to judge the potential threat to the market the super-sized airline could pose. “A redistribution of slots will allow other airlines to operate routes,” FTC spokeswoman Min Hye-young explained, adding that a final decision on the merger will be made in late January or early February.<br/>
The case is an Air New Zealand crew member who worked on a flight between Auckland and Sydney on December 24. The fully vaccinated crew member was tested for Covid-19 in routine surveillance testing on 27 December, the Ministry said. The case, who was immediately transferred to an MIQ facility, is linked to three other Omicron cases who were on the same flight. Air New Zealand Chief Medical Officer Dr Ben Johnston said as well as the positive case, other crew were also isolating and awaiting test results, but he declined to say how many. “There are significant precautions in place for our crew operating to international destinations set out by the Ministry of Health, and we are confident that our people are following the protocols diligently,” he said. “These include wearing PPE through the airport and on board. On duties across the Tasman, aircrew remain airside and operate back to New Zealand on the return flight. Aircrew are also subject to regular surveillance testing where they are tested up to once every seven days.”<br/>