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United will continue to strengthen connectivity between Spain and the United States by offering the most destinations of any US airline as part of its transatlantic expansion. By the 2023 summer season, United will be the second largest US carrier in Spain, behind only American Airlines. This year the Chicago-based company inaugurated two new Spanish destinations from Newark: due to their success and popularity they will be available again during next summer. In addition, during the peak season the company will increase capacity on several routes with the introduction of Boeing 777-200ERs. United will have a capacity of 19,760 seats per week between the U.S. and Spain for the northern summer of 2023, a 21.4% increase over the previous season’s offering. The Chicago-based airline, unlike other carriers that concentrate much of their operations to major Spanish cities, will focus its network on leisure-oriented destinations, offering its customers more travel options for their vacations.<br/>

Colombia’s Avianca, Panama’s Copa Airlines and United Airlines will still pursue a long-awaited a three-way joint venture agreement (JVA), even though the framework and market conditions have dramatically changed since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. “One of the commitments we had with United, which supported us during our Chapter 11 [bankruptcy protection] process, is to once again analyse the joint venture issue with Copa,” Avianca CE Adrain Neuhauser said on 17 October at the ALTA Leaders Forum in Buenos Aires. The three Star Alliance carriers announced plans for a joint venture in November 2018, but four years on, they have still not come to fruition. “It was a different model back then and now it’s a new negotiation we are starting,” Neuhauser adds. “Point-to-point routes are again part of that discussion.” Avianca entered bankruptcy protection in May 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic tore around the world. The company brought in new management and restructured its resources and network. In the 18 months since becoming chief executive, Neuhauser has put his stamp on the company, shifting the carrier’s priorities which included ditching the Bogota hub-and-spoke model for what he has called an “efficiency-driven point-to-point schedule”. The discussions with Copa and United will continue “over the next months”, though the negotiations will likely be “long-term”, he adds. Avianca is also looking to simplify its fleet, flying Airbus narrowbodies for shorter routes and concentrating its long-haul flying on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The carrier currently operates 70 A320, 13 A319s, 13 787s and 2 A330s. The A330s will be exiting the fleet in the coming months and the 319s will be retired “when we get new planes”. Avianca currently has 99 A320neo jets on order with Airbus. Any accord between the three airlines would require approvals from regulators in several countries, including the US Department of Transportation, which has to grant anti-trust immunity.<br/>

Hilo International Airport (ITO), which serves the eastern side of Hawaii Island, will lose its only nonstop service to the continental United States come 2023. Over the weekend, United Airlines filed plans to discontinue the only available nonstop flight between Hilo and the mainland, via Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), effective Jan. 7. Once that route is gone, ITO will only offer inter-island flights to Kahului, Maui and Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Mokulele Airlines. From those two busier airports, travelers could take a domestic or international connection. "We regularly adjust our schedule and continue to be a leader in service to Hawaii from the continental US, including offering the most service to Kona of all US carriers," United Airlines spokesperson Maddie King said.<br/>

Lufthansa raised its forecast for full-year adjusted operating profit to over E1b Monday, boosted by strong demand for air travel that continued its post-COVID recovery. The company previously expected adjusted operating profit (EBIT) of more than E500m. Preliminary results for Q3 indicated that the airline almost doubled its year-on-year revenue in Q3 to E10.1b, with quarterly adjusted earnings coming in at E1.1bs. The impact from strikes brought down earnings by around E70m, according to the statement by the airline. "Based on the positive development in the third quarter, the current booking situation, which continues to reflect strong demand for air travel in the coming months ... Lufthansa Group is raising its forecast for the full year," the statement said. Final quarterly results are due on Oct. 27.<br/>

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 lost communications with ATC while over the Balkan States on October 15th. The cargo freighter registered ET-ALO was performing flight number ET-3717. The aircraft departed Liege Airport in Belgium at 15:58, over three hours behind schedule. During the flight, communications were lost for over an hour. Following the alarming flight, the aircraft landed safely on runway 07R at 23:37 at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia. The flight crew had been in contact with ATC since departing LGG with no complications. While traveling through Croatian airspace, the pilots were in contact with Zagreb Center. After being handed off to another controller, the flight crew stopped communicating with ATC. The controllers tried to reach the flight crew on multiple frequencies, including the guard frequency, which is reserved for emergency use. All attempts to contact the pilots were to no avail. ATC even solicited the assistance of other aircraft to try and reach the pilots. The pilots aboard the Ethiopian flight took proper action and continued to follow their flight plan. After departing Croatian airspace, the airplane traversed Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania before entering Greek airspace. Once over Greece, Athens Center attempted to contact the flight crew and announced that fighter jets would be scrambled to intercept the freighter. No response was heard from the pilots. Story has more.<br/>

Companies began administering vaccines that target the COVID-19 omicron variant to workers on Monday. Among such companies, airlines ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines (JAL) started vaccinating pilots and cabin attendants at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Trading house Itochu also started its workplace vaccinations. Other companies will follow suit as soon as they are prepared. The omicron-specific vaccines can be administered to people who have received at least two shots. Last month, Japan started administering them, mainly to older people. As of Wednesday, the health ministry had received applications to give inoculations under the workplace vaccination program at 731 venues. On Monday, 16 people at ANA and about 50 people at JAL received the shot. The daily vaccination capacity will be raised to 300 at ANA and to 200 at JAL. “The inoculation gave me a sense of relief. Health control is the most important thing of all for public transportation,” said Kahori Kato, a cabin attendant for ANA’s All Nippon Airways.<br/>

Boeing is offering 737 Max jets once slated for Chinese customers to Air India as the planemaker tries to offload some of the roughly 140 aircraft it’s currently not allowed to deliver. The Indian carrier, which is overhauling its fleet under new owner Tata Group, is one of a number of potential customers for Boeing, which is in talks with lessors and other airlines, according to people familiar with the matter. Many operators are eager to line up new narrowbody jets while Boeing and rival Airbus struggle to hit production targets amid labor and parts shortages. A Boeing representative declined to comment. Air India didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours. The US manufacturer hasn’t been allowed to deliver Max aircraft to China for more than three years as it grapples with escalating trade tensions and repercussions from two fatal crashes of the workhorse jet. China was the first to ground the Max in March 2019, and held off approving its return long after US regulators lifted a ban in late 2020. Dave Calhoun, the company’s CEO, told reporters in September that Boeing “can’t wait forever” and was putting a small number of jets back on the market. The planemaker has about $5b in cash tied up in the already-built jets earmarked for China, according to George Ferguson, analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. One person tracking discussions estimates as many as 50 of the planes may be resold. The aircraft could be sold on an “as-is” basis, which means the buyers would be responsible for repainting them and installing their own cabin equipment, said the person, who asked not to be identified sharing details of confidential discussions.<br/>

Air New Zealand has announced it is doing away with the cheapest airfare options on its flights to and from Tahiti, Perth and Honolulu from later this month. The 'Seat (only)' and 'Seat+bag' options are being axed on these services, meaning all passengers will be required to pay for food, entertainment and checked-in baggage, even if they don't want to. The airline said the changes are being introduced based on research into what customers value on longer flights. "The majority of our customers on these services already purchase The Works, with only around five percent of customers buying just a seat fare," said Air NZ General Manager Short Haul Airline Jeremy O'Brien. "From talking with customers we've heard loud and clear there's a need for a consistent Air NZ experience, so the changes to our Seats to Suit product have been made to enhance the customer experience." From October 20, Air NZ's Perth and Tahiti services will offer three classes to choose from: The Works (Economy), Premium Economy and Business Premier. From October 30, the airline's Honolulu service will move to a full-service offering, meaning only Economy, Premium Economy and Business Premier airfares will be offered.<br/>