United Airlines and Emirates will sell seats on each other’s planes, marking a turnaround in the business models of the one-time foes. As part of the deal, United said it will start flights to Emirates’ hub in Dubai from Newark Liberty International Airport next March. The codeshare agreement, which the CEOs announced Wednesday, will give the airlines access to the other carrier’s destinations and is the latest example of thawing in the relationship between US and Gulf airlines, particularly as international air travel rebounds from more than two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tim Clark, Emirates’ president, said he hopes the United agreement could someday grow into a joint venture, like the one the Dubai-based airline has with Australian carrier Qantas. “I don’t see why it shouldn’t,” Clark told reporters at an event unveiling the deal with United at a hangar at Dulles International Airport, near Washington, D.C. The partnership, if approved by regulators, will also allow passengers to earn and burn frequent their flyer miles on each carrier. United and other major US carriers like Delta and American Airlines had spent years lobbying against big Persian Gulf airlines’ expansion in the United States, arguing the state-owned carriers were competing unfairly with backing from government subsidies, which those countries denied. Emirates said last week it is ending its codeshare partnership with United rival JetBlue Airways on Oct. 30. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad said it will expand its partnership with New York-based JetBlue.<br/>
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The German government has reaped a E760m profit from its rescue of Lufthansa at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, underlining the recovery of the country’s flag carrier. Germany’s Economic Stabilisation Fund spent €300mn on shares in Lufthansa in 2020 as part of a E9b rescue package for the airline, whose revenues collapsed as the governments closed down air travel in an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19. The government has been gradually trimming its 20% stake and late on Tuesday disclosed that it had sold its remaining 9.92% holding. It has made proceeds of more than E1b from selling its entire stake, comfortably exceeding the size of its investment. Lufthansa repaid the last of its bailout ahead of schedule in November last year, paving the way for Berlin to dispose of its stake ahead of the October 2023 deadline it had set. As the threat from the pandemic recedes, Lufthansa is on track to make its first annual profit since Covid-19. It generated a net profit of E259m in the three months to the end of June, compared with a loss of E756m in the same period last year. Lufthansa CE Carsten Spohr said that “the stabilisation of Lufthansa was successful, and is also paying off financially for the German government and thus for the taxpayer”. Its shares have significantly outperformed European rivals this year in the face of rising fuel prices and recession fears. Lufthansa has fallen 10%, while Air France-KLM has dropped 30%, British Airways owner IAG is down 33% and easyJet 43%. The rescue of Lufthansa was one of several for airlines across Europe, including in France and Italy, as governments stumped up billions of euros.<br/>
Logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kuehne has increased his stake in Lufthansa to 17.5%, Kuehne Holding said on Wednesday, after the German government sold all its remaining shares in the airline. "This underlines Kuehne Holding's positive view of the company," Kuehne Holding added in a statement to Reuters. The German government said on Tuesday it had sold off its 20% stake in Lufthansa, which it acquired during the coronavirus pandemic to keep the airline afloat, meaning that the company is now back in the hands of private investors. The state's economic stabilisation fund (WSF), which saved Lufthansa from bankruptcy during the pandemic with a bailout package totalling E9b, had progressively reduced its stake in recent years with the aim of offloading it completely by October 2023. After the sale of its remaining shares, the WSF no longer holds a stake in Lufthansa. "This brings the stabilisation of Lufthansa to a successful conclusion. Lufthansa is once again fully in private hands," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said.<br/>
The Lufthansa Group and Ryanair have signed significant new sustainable aviation fuel agreements ahead of an expected EU mandate aimed at boosting demand for the fuels. Both airlines will take sustainable aviation fuel supplies from Austrian-based OMV beginning in 2023. Lufthansa has signed for 211 million gallons (800,000 metric tonnes) over seven years through 2030, and Ryanair for 53 million gallons over eight years. OMV will supply the carriers in Austria, Germany, and Romania. Both airlines cited their targets of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 for the new sustainable fuel deals. The EU is preparing to implement new sustainable aviation fuel mandates next year. If finalized under the proposed ReFuelEU standards, 2% of all aviation fuel in the bloc would need to be sustainable — or generate at least half the carbon emissions of standard jet fuel — by 2025, and 6% by 2030. Both Lufthansa and Ryanair, however, will need to do more to meet the EU’s proposed sustainable fuel targets. The former used roughly 2.9 billion gallons of jet fuel in 2019; the new OMV supply deal represents just 1% of that fuel usage on an annual basis.<br/>
Lufthansa Group carrier Austrian Airlines has received its first Airbus A320neo following a flight from Toulouse on 13 September. The aircraft, fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines, arrived in Vienna as flight OS1472. It has been delivered with an all-white fuselage and fin, because it is to be inducted into the carrier’s maintenance division, Austrian Technik, for cabin refurbishment and painting. Part of a Lufthansa Group order, it is one of four A320neos to be introduced to the Austrian fleet by spring next year. Commercial flights with the twinjet are scheduled to commence in mid-October. The aircraft will be operated mainly on continental routes, says the carrier. Austrian will take the second of its four A320neos in October.<br/>
Ahead of piloting Air New Zealand's first direct flight from Auckland to New York, Captain Phillip Kirk has emphasised what a big deal the new route is for the airline - and thrown a little shade at a rather notorious airport in the US. Flight NZ2 launches on Saturday using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner which will take a little over 16 hours to fly to the Big Apple, a destination the national carrier has long dreamed of flying direct to. "I'm incredibly excited," Capt Kirk said Wednesday. "It's a huge thing - it's a big, historic moment for Air NZ. A big step." From New York, passengers have a much wider array of destinations just one further flight away than is available from other US centres like Los Angeles. Also, John F Kennedy Airport has a much better reputation with travellers than that of LAX. "Having just recently been through Los Angeles as a passenger, that's a fairly underwhelming experience," Capt Kirk said. "I love Los Angeles [the city] but the airport experience is a tough one at times. So to be able to fly over Los Angeles and go direct to your destination, that's what Air NZ is all about now." He also said it will be better for travellers as they arrive in New York at around 8pm, ready to rest through the evening and be ready for the day after. Air NZ flights to Los Angeles generally arrive closer to midday. From a business perspective, the New York route appears to be a crucial part in Air NZ's growth and continuing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. "Air NZ is very keen on the US market, it's a big growth market. New York is a huge, huge destination. It's not only New York - jump on a train and within a couple of hours you're in Boston, or across to Washington," Capt Kirk said.<br/>