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United Airlines Ventures (UAV) Tuesday announced a strategic investment in NEXT Renewable Fuels (NEXT), which is permitting a flagship biofuel refinery in Port Westward, Oregon, with expected production beginning in 2026. NEXT is a Houston-based company developing the biorefinery which, at full production, could produce up to 50,000 barrels per day of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), renewable diesel, and other renewable fuels. UAV could invest as much as $37.5m into NEXT, as long as the company meets certain milestone targets. "Right now, one of the biggest barriers to increasing supply and lowering costs of sustainable fuel is that we don't have the infrastructure in place to transport it efficiently, but NEXT's strategic location and assets solve that problem and provide a blueprint for future facilities that need to be built," said Michael Leskinen, President of United Airline Ventures. "We believe this investment will not only bolster NEXT's ambitions and create near-term solutions to expand our SAF supply, but further demonstrates our commitment toward producing SAF at the scale necessary to decarbonize the aviation industry." NEXT's biorefinery offers several unique benefits including access to a deep-water port, an existing industrial-grade dock, and multi-modal logistics options, which facilitates access to feedstock options and fast-growth SAF offtake markets on the west coast. NEXT has secured an agreement with BP for sourcing 100% of its feedstock, further de-risking supply issues smaller facilities have historically experienced. NEXT has also received a crucial air permit from the State of Oregon. Once all the necessary approvals and permits are obtained and the biorefinery is operational, it has the potential to be used as a platform to scale SAF and deploy additional future technologies.<br/>

Crisis-hit airline SAS said on Tuesday it had an reached agreement with one more lessor representing three aircraft in the company’s fleet to amend the terms of existing lease contracts. The agreements come on top of deals with 12 lessors comprising 43 planes as announced earlier by the company. <br/>

South African Airways’s proposed new owner said aviation veteran Gidon Novick has resigned from the board, casting doubt over a protracted takeover of the formerly bankrupt state-owned company. Novick, a former head of recently collapsed Comair Ltd. -- the local partner of IAG’s British Airways -- was intended to provide the industrial expertise to a revived SAA after more than 18 months in receivership. He’s quitting due to concerns about a lack of communication about the progress of the deal and new owner Takatso’s fund-raising plans, he said by phone Monday. Takatso is a consortium made up of Global Airways, which owns South African domestic airline Lift, and private-equity firm Harith General Partners. The group was unveiled by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan as the buyer of a 51% stake in SAA for a notional sum in June 2021, but the deal has yet to be ratified due to regulatory issues and a lack of funding. Takatso said at the time it would invest as much as 3.5b rand ($202m) through 2024, though subsequent statements have seen the figure drop to about 3b rand. Novick hasn’t received any updates on where the capital will come from, he said, confirming an earlier report by News24. Novick’s departure will come as a blow to Gordhan, who had made the revival and sale of South Africa’s national airline a key tenet of his time overseeing state-owned companies, many of which are in acute financial stress. SAA is flying, albeit with a greatly reduced fleet, workforce and network than when it went into bankruptcy protection in late 2019.<br/>

Korean Air plans to submit additional data to address monopoly concerns over its scheduled takeover of Asiana Airlines raised by British competition authorities, the air carrier said Tuesday. The British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it would suspend its review, saying that the acquisition could result in higher prices and lower-quality service for passengers traveling between London and Seoul. "The announcement of the CMA is an interim result of the business combination review and is not a final decision," a Korean Air official said. "We are currently discussing detailed corrective measures with the British authorities." The CMA plans to decide by Nov. 28 whether to accept Korean Air's proposal or initiate an in-depth second-stage review. If the CMA accepts Korean Air's proposal, the deal is approved, and if there are any problems, a second review will be conducted, postponing the decision further. The CMA predicted that the combination of the two airlines would reduce the options for consumers on London-Seoul flights. Due to the absence of UK airlines operating in Korea, Korean Air and Asiana are the only two airlines operating nonstop services between London and Seoul, raising competition issues once the deal is complete, as the only competition they would face would be from carriers offering connecting flights, which the CMA states will present "much weaker options" for customers. "Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are the two main players on the London to Seoul route, and the deal risks U.K. customers and businesses paying over the odds or receiving a lower quality of service. Should Korea Air and Asiana Airlines fail to address our concerns, this deal will progress to a more in-depth investigation," said Colin Raftery, senior mergers director at the CMA.<br/>

In the Hollywood hit Crazy Rich Asians, the main character flies into Singapore’s Changi airport and delights in the fact that it has a butterfly garden and a movie theatre. JFK airport in New York City is “just salmonella and despair”, she remarks. Changi, which opened in 1981, topped the annual Skytrax World Airport Awards for eight consecutive years before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. And if it sets a standard for airports, then national flag carrier Singapore Airlines is the airborne embodiment of that modern and cosmopolitan image. This is why the enduring focus on the “Singapore Girl” — a term for female cabin crew coined in a marketing campaign 50 years ago — has been increasingly called into question by critics as outdated. Stories abound about the airline’s rules for female cabin crew. On chat rooms and blogs, current and former flight attendants offer advice to those preparing for interviews and training. Many discuss the need to stay below a certain body mass index level and detail how their make-up palette and even hairstyles are chosen for them, while others warn that candidates — who are advised to be “humble” and “elegant” — may be rejected for having a mole on their face. Singapore Airlines is not the only flag carrier to hire attractive women, of course. But many in the city-state were shocked last month to learn that, up until this year, Singapore Girls were fired when they became pregnant. In October, the airline announced that it had dropped a policy that required female cabin crew to leave the airline after the first trimester of pregnancy. The change means pregnant cabin crew also receive paid maternity leave for up to 16 weeks before being automatically added to the next flight roster, bringing Singapore Airlines in line with other local employers. Story has more.<br/>

Air New Zealand says boarding passes will soon be a thing of the past. The airline has completed a successful trial at Los Angeles Airport where it used biometric verification technology at the boarding gate instead of having staff physically scanning passes and sighting passports. Air New Zealand said customers would soon be able to make the most of the technology at San Francisco International Airport, followed by the airline’s other US ports. The airline explained that upon entering the US, customers can register with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) using their biometric information. At the automated airport kiosks, this same data is then used to verify their identity at the time of boarding. The data used during the process is secured by CBP and not directly accessible to airlines. Air New Zealand chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar said the technology would speed up the boarding process, creating a seamless experience for customers and airport staff. “We have heard from customers that they want their airport experience to be hassle-free and technology is a key enabler of that,” he said. “According to IATA [International Air Transport Association], more than 75% of customers see huge value in biometric verification and want to use it instead of passports and boarding passes.” Ravishankar said using biometrics at the boarding gate was “only the beginning” and the airline was in talks with industry players, both globally and in New Zealand, about how biometric technology could be used throughout the whole airport process.<br/>