United Airlines is planning to restart Hong Kong flights as soon as January, according to people familiar to the matter, becoming one of a handful of major airlines to resume passenger flights to the city, which has largely been cut off to the outside world since the start of the pandemic. The Chicago-based carrier is evaluating plans to relaunch services from San Francisco in the new year, the people said, declining to be identified because the discussions are private. The deliberations come after Hong Kong last month axed mandatory hotel quarantine for inbound travelers, bringing to an end more than two-and-half-years of restrictions that left the once thriving Asian hub bereft of tourists. At the height of the pandemic, mandatory quarantine stretched to three weeks, and for a significant time entry was limited to Hong Kong residents only. Throughout the pandemic, Cathay Pacific Airways has been the only airline with non-stop flights between Hong Kong and the US. Once United resumes flights, it will be the sole US carrier flying to Hong Kong after American Airlines Group permanently suspended its routes from Dallas and Los Angeles. United suspended passenger flights to Hong Kong on Feb. 8, 2020, and apart from a brief resumption in July 2020 that lasted just one day, has mostly flown cargo-only flights in and out of the city. Koji Nagata, a United Airlines spokesman, said the carrier is “currently evaluating the market demand and operating environment to determine when it’s right for us to resume flight operations to Hong Kong.”<br/>
star
Crisis-hit airline SAS said on Wednesday it had reached agreements with 10 of its lessors representing 36 aircraft to amend the terms of existing lease contracts. The Scandinavian carrier said in a statement the tweaked agreements constituted an important step in reconfiguring its fleet and achieving a plan to save 7.5b Swedish crowns ($690m) annually by 2026. "Through the amended lease agreements, SAS is well on track in achieving the targeted annual cost savings of at least 850m Swedish crowns to 1.0b in reduced aircraft lease and capital costs," it said. Long-struggling SAS, ravaged by the pandemic and pressured by low-cost rivals, sought bankruptcy protection in the United States in July. It has said reducing costs for unused leased planes has been a key component of its savings plan. It said on Wednesday it intended to continue negotiations with some of its other lessors.<br/>
Air New Zealand purchased 1.2m litres of sustainable aviation fuel, in its bid to reduce the climate impact of its services. It’s made from recycled cooking oil and animal waste. But will it make a difference? Olivia Wannan reports. Even though this 1.2m litres could fly a plane between Auckland to Wellington 400 times, the airline has confirmed it equates to less than 1% of the jet fuel it consumes every year. Simply put, there isn’t enough wasted cooking grease in the world to fully replace fossil jet fuel, an oil expert says. Currently, flying is one of the most-carbon intensive activities a person can do. As seats are comparatively spacious and heavy plus baggage allowances more generous, first- and business-class travel is particularly polluting. This means environment advocates have concluded aviation emissions needed to peak by 2030 “at the latest” – or even better, by 2025 – to align with the Paris Agreement, the global accord to limit global heating to “well below” 2C, or ideally 1.5C. Earlier this year, Air NZ unveiled a green campaign, Flight 0, and a goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Compared to 2019, Air NZ aims to reduce the carbon intensity of its services in 2030 by nearly 29%. But because the airline intends to increase its capacity, this translates to a 16% reduction in its carbon footprint by the end of the decade.<br/>