United Airlines has announced its return to New Zealand, with its non-stop flights between Auckland and San Francisco set to resume in October. The major United States carrier launched the route in 2016, but the service has been suspended since March 2020 because of the pandemic. The airline will initially operate three return flights a week from October 1, but this will increase to a daily service from October 28, using the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. The Auckland to San Francisco route is currently serviced by Air New Zealand.Other North American airlines returning before the end of the year are American Airlines, which will launch flights between Auckland and Dallas Fort Worth in Texas from October, and Air Canada, which will resume flights between Auckland and Vancouver in November.<br/>
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Lufthansa is preparing another wave of flight cancellations due to staff shortages, adding to Europe’s travel chaos as the crucial summer vacation season kicks off. Europe’s biggest airline is preparing to eliminate about one fifth of departures from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs on select days next week, according to a spokesman. The move will affect flights that depart in the so-called fourth peak, the last round of departures from the airports. The aim of the cancellations is to provide a stable flight plan, and the exact number of flights has not yet been determined, according to the spokesman. Lufthansa canceled a total of 3,100 flights last month after a spate of coronavirus infections exacerbated staffing shortages. Labor unions have said reduced pay and unappealing working conditions are deterring new hires, as Chairman Karl-Ludwig Kley, 71, acknowledged that the issues are the worst he’s seen in his entire career. Reuters first reported that Lufthansa was planning another round of cancellations. To help thin out its flight plan and get service in order again, airline last week said it will only offer seats in its most expensive booking class for the month of July. That move raised the price of even the cheapest return flights between London and Frankfurt to E1,000.<br/>
Scandinavian airline SAS flew more than 1.9m passengers in June, a rise of about 220% from a year ago, but said on Thursday a pilot strike grounding much of its planes since Monday had impacted bookings toward the end of the month. The airline, whose biggest owners are the Swedish and the Danish states, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Tuesday, a decision it said was accelerated by pilots at its SAS Scandinavia arm going out on strike. “The notice of strike from the SAS Scandinavia pilots’ unions started impacting our bookings toward the end of the month,” SAS CE Anko van der Werff said.<br/>
German logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kuehne has increased his stake in Lufthansa to 15% from 10%, making him the biggest shareholder in the German flag carrier and pushing shares in the airline higher on Thursday. Logistics companies, which have benefited from surging profits from ocean shipping due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have increasingly invested in other forms of transport, such as air freight, to add resilience to global supply chains and protect against a downturn. Kuehne, an 85-year-old German billionaire, is the controlling shareholder of Swiss logistics firm Kuehne & Nagel and has a 30% stake in container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd. His stake in Lufthansa rose to 15.01% as of July 5, up from about 10%, the airline said in a regulatory statement late on Wednesday.<br/>
Hundreds of SAS flights were cancelled on Thursday as the airline wrestled with a strike by pilots at its main SAS Scandinavia arm, overshadowing a traffic surge during June. Talks between the airline and pilots over a new collective bargaining agreement collapsed on Monday, prompting a strike which adds to travel chaos in Europe and deepens the financial crisis at SAS, which estimated it would ground half its flights. The troubled airline, whose biggest owners are the Swedish and the Danish states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States on Tuesday. SAS on Thursday made its first appearance in US bankruptcy court in Manhattan, where it received permission to maintain routine business operations such as honoring fuel supply contracts and paying employee wages. SAS expects the US bankruptcy process to take between nine and 12 months. Tuesday's traffic figures highlighted what SAS was now missing in the peak summer period, with the airline flying 1.9m passengers in June, a 220% increase on the year. Data from flight tracker FlightAware showed 202 flights, 66% of the airline's daily total, were cancelled on Thursday. The Swedish pilots union said that the pilot associations had proposed making an exception for several weeks to SAS in order to repatriate stranded charter passengers.<br/>
EgyptAir announced that it will be providing a new feature to its customers. Making trips on board its planes more more enjoyable and comfortable, Amr Aboul Enein, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EgyptAir Holding, said. EgyptAir launched new Wi-Fi packages that suit all travelers’ needs and that are in line with the duration of each flight, whether short, medium or long-range, he added. The company provided a welcome internet package free of charge to all customers on EgyptAir’s fleet of Airbus A320Neo, A220-300 and Boeing 787-9 “Dreamliner” models. The company has launched a new campaign entitled “Stay in Touch With Those You Love” to promote internet services on the company’s various flights. This subsequently allows the use of mobile phones on board, Amr Nabil, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EgyptAir Airlines, stated. The company will provide the on-board internet packages starting from US$6 for short trips, $11 for medium trips, and $20 for long trips so that customers can stay in touch with their families and businesses at any time, he added.<br/>
Cairo International Airport received on Thursday morning the first EgyptAir flight from Turkish Dhmi Tekirdag Corlu Airport, amid cooperation to boost tourism and aviation sectors between Egypt and Turkey. Some 140 tourists were on board the Boeing 737 aircraft arriving from the airport, which is located in Turkey’s north western city of Çorlu. Celebrations took place at Dhmi Tekirdag Corlu Airport, as is the international tradition when the first flight or plane departs an airport, as passengers were received with flowers and sweets in the presence of Turkish officials. The flight comes amid Egypt and Turkey’s recent efforts to improve relations. The two countries held two rounds of talks last year – the first held in Cairo in May, and the second in Ankara in September – headed by Egypt’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamdy Loza and his Turkish counterpart Sadat Onal.<br/>
The first batch of blended sustainable aviation fuel to be used on all SIA and Scoot flights departing from Changi Airport was loaded into the airport's fuel system on Thursday. This is part of a one-year pilot announced by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), SIA and GenZero, a Temasek-owned investment platform, last year. The joint statement by the three parties said besides the process of blending, certification and delivery of sustainable aviation fuel to Changi Airport, the trial will also provide insights into the end-to-end cost components, potential pricing structures to recover cost, as well as support future policy consideration for the deployment of such fuels. Under the pilot, 1,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel will be supplied by Neste, an oil refining company that has manufacturing set-ups in Finland, the Netherlands and Singapore. The product by Neste is made from used cooking oil and waste animal fats. This is blended with refined jet fuel at ExxonMobil's Singapore facility before being transported to Changi Airport. The use of the blended fuel over the one-year trial is expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 2,500 tonnes. Senior vice-president for corporate planning at SIA, Lee Wen Fen, said the inaugural delivery of the sustainable fuel is an important milestone in its decarbonisation journey. In 2021, SIA Group committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.<br/>
Japan’s ANA Holdings expects to return to profitability this quarter as demand for air travel recovers, its president, Koji Shibata, said on Thursday. The company is on track to meet its fiscal year plan with domestic passenger volumes for ANA and its low-cost carrier Peach Aviation now at about 90% of pre-pandemic levels, Shibata told reporters. Japan began a gradual reopening to tourists in June after being practically shut to non-residents for more than two years in efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. Government requirements for COVID testing and tourist visas are hindering a recovery in international passenger demand, ANA airlines president Shinichi Inoue said.<br/>
Air New Zealand has announced it is boosting capacity between Auckland and two of its popular destinations later this year. The Los Angeles and Seoul routes are adding an additional 21,200 seats between them due to pent up demand from customers travelling in both directions. Between 15 August and 29 October 2022, Air New Zealand will increase frequency between Auckland and Los Angeles from seven to ten services per week on its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft to complement its daily Boeing 777 service. Services between Auckland and Seoul will increase from one per week to two a week between 12 September and 24 October 2022 and will operate on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. "With the New Zealand border fully opened and the reduction in Covid travel restrictions, customers are telling us they’re ready to travel," said Air New Zealand chief customer sales officer Leanne Geraghty. 'With the return of international tourism, these additional flights will give customers more options and opportunities to experience the joy of travel once again. The extra capacity will add 33 percent more seats on the Los Angeles route each week and double that on Seoul. This extra capacity will ensure we meet the growing demand we've been seeing for travel over the last month."<br/>