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Finnair has signed a $70m contract with renewable fuels company Aemetis to procure 17.5m gallons of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The SAF will be delivered to San Francisco International Airport under a seven-year agreement. Finnair Sustainability senior vice-president Eveliina Huurre said: “Finnair has set an ambitious long-term target to fly carbon neutral in 2045 and SAF is an important part of the toolkit for reaching this target. “Supporting SAF adoption is key to boosting the supply and demand for SAF and for increasing its usage in commercial aviation. The agreement also underlines the oneworld Alliance’s commitment to collectively source SAF.” The SAF will be produced at the Aemetis renewable jet/diesel plant, which is currently in the development phase at a former US Army Ammunition production plant site in Riverbank, California, US.<br/>

British Airways has taken delivery of an initial batch of sustainable aviation fuel under its agreement with Phillips 66, staking a claim as the first airline to start using such fuel produced on a commercial scale in the UK. The Humber refinery, in the north-east of the country, is producing sustainable fuel from waste feedstock. It is being introduced to the pipelines which feed London Heathrow and a number of other UK airports. “Our supplies of [sustainable fuel] will allow us to progress with our ambitious roadmap to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner,” says BA chief Sean Doyle. Parent company IAG is aiming to power 10% of its flights with such fuel by 2030. “Progressing the development and commercial scale-up of sustainable aviation fuel will be a game-changer and crucial to reducing the aviation sector’s reliance on fossil fuels,” adds Doyle. IAG is investing $400m in sustainable fuel development over the course of the next two decades. BA has established partnerships with several suppliers to establish plants and purchase the fuels.<br/>

Cathay Pacific is restarting its cadet pilot training programme – two years after suspending it during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic – as the beleaguered carrier stresses its confidence in future recovery. The carrier says Monday it is looking to recruit and train over 800 local cadet pilots by 2025, with the first batch of around 190 trainees joining this year. Cathay also expects to onboard 150 qualified cadets who were supposed to join the airline in 2020, but were unable to do so because of the pandemic. The decision to restart its training programme comes more than a year after it undertook a massive restructuring amid deep financial woes, which saw thousands of employees axed. Says the Oneworld carrier: “Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, Cathay Pacific is confident in the development and long-term future of Hong Kong as a premier aviation hub. The airline’s Flight Operations department has been forward planning and reviewing its resources in preparation for the recovery in the aviation market.” <br/>

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka's national carrier on Monday ended direct flights to Russia -- the crisis-hit island's biggest source of tourists -- because of the Ukraine war. It was the only operator of direct connections and the move is a major blow to Sri Lanka's hopes of reviving its pandemic-battered tourism industry and earning foreign exchange to import food, fuel and medicines, which are in short supply. Sri Lankan Airlines said it was stopping the Colombo-Moscow route with immediate effect, blaming prohibitive insurance rates after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. In addition, international sanctions on Russian banks made it impossible for its Moscow office to repatriate its earnings, a spokesman told AFP. No Russian airline operates direct flights between the two countries. Sri Lanka is grappling with its worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948. Out of the 82,300 foreign tourists who visited the country in January, about 13,500 or 16.4 percent were Russians, followed by 11,750 Indians and 7,770 Ukrainians. Sri Lankan Airlines operated three flights a week to the Russian capital until fighting broke out last month and had reduced the frequency to two. Travel agents said Colombo-Moscow airfares on alternative Middle Eastern carriers spiked after the Sri Lankan Airlines decision. The airline said its pullout was due to "operational restrictions that are outside of the airline's control" and promised to refund those with flight bookings. "We are closely monitoring the situation and we want to resume flights on this sector as soon as possible," an airline official told AFP. "Commercial factors forced us to halt the flights."<br/>

Qantas is set to increase capacity from Melbourne to North America, including returning its Airbus A380s to Australia’s second largest city. The Oneworld carrier on 28 March announced the launch of non-stop Melbourne-Dallas Fort Worth flights, marking the first direct links between the two cities. It will operate four weekly flights with Boeing 787-9s, and operations are set to commence on 2 December. Qantas already operates direct flights from Sydney to Dallas Fort Worth, which is also the main hub of fellow Oneworld member American Airlines. The airline will also be increasing operations between Melbourne and Los Angeles, doubling frequencies to eight times a week. From December, Qantas will resume operating its A380s on Los Angeles flights. News of the capacity ramp-up comes as Australia swings open its borders to fully-vaccinated travellers two years into the coronavirus pandemic. Qantas group chief customer officer Stephanie Tully says: “We are seeing really strong demand from Melburnians wanting to travel overseas for a holiday or business trip after two years at home, while inbound tourism is starting to pick up. Flights to the United States are particularly strong with Los Angeles bookings now exceeding pre-Covid-19 levels.” Separately, Qantas has also announced the launch of several domestic routes, as travel demand picks up. On 27 March, the carrier launched Sydney-Uluru flights, operated with its 737-800s four times a week. A day later, Qantas launched four new domestic routes linking state capitals with regional cities: Adelaide-Newcastle, Brisbane-Wagga Wagga, Darwin-Townsville and Darwin-Cairns. The five new services are part of more than 50 new domestic routes the airline has launched since the pandemic began in 2020. Qantas also expects full domestic recovery by the middle of the year.<br/>

Qantas says it is concerned about the message sent by the Fair Work Commission after it ordered the airline to reinstate a male safety instructor who it fired for allegedly staring at a female colleague’s chest for 10 seconds. The commission’s ruling related to an aviation safety training session run for six Qantas employees in January 2021, where the instructor demonstrated how to observe a person’s breathing patterns to determine whether they required medical attention. The male safety instructor was said to have been explaining relevant first aid scenarios to the participants when he allegedly stopped in front of a female employee who was sitting about 1.5 metres away and stared into her eyes for about 10 seconds. It was then alleged that he moved his gaze towards her chest, where his eyes remained focused for about 10-20 seconds. He is alleged to have remained silent. The female complainant said: “It felt like a lifetime. This made me feel uncomfortable and it felt awkward. There was absolute silence in the class.” She claimed that shortly after this, the instructor said “you may have noticed that I was deliberately staring at [the female employee’s] chest to see if she was breathing”. The instructor denied using those words. Story has more details.<br/>