United Airlines announced a new joint venture agreement with two biofuel companies Tuesday, saying that it expects the partnership to produce enough sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to power 50,000 flights between Chicago and Denver per year by 2028. The Blue Blade Energy project is a joint venture with Tallgrass and Green Plains, Inc., and will focus on producing ethanol-based aviation fuel. "The magnitude of this deal and the volume of SAF that it could bring online in this decade dwarfs everything else," United Airlines Ventures president Michael Leskinen said. Testing of the specific SAF technology is expected to begin next year, with a full-scale production facility planned to come online in 2028, pending the success of that pilot. "The production and use of SAF is the most effective and scalable tool the airline industry has to reduce carbon emissions and United continues to lead the way," Leskinen said in a statement. "This new joint venture includes two expert collaborators that have the experience to construct and operate large-scale infrastructure, as well as the feedstock supply necessary for success."<br/>
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The head of Lufthansa subsidiary Brussels Airlines is leaving the company, the German airline group said in a statement, with a media report saying Peter Gerber was moving to head rival airline Condor. Aviation website Aerotelegraph reported that Gerber would join Condor, an airline catering primarily to tourists in which private equity fund Altestor Capital bought a majority stake in 2021. Condor was not immediately available for comment. Gerber joined Lufthansa in 1992 and for many years led Lufthansa’s cargo unit.<br/>
Air New Zealand says it is undertaking one of the biggest customer recoveries in the airline’s history as it tries to rebook customers stranded by closure of Auckland Airport in floods. Almost 9000 customers were affected by the shutdown of New Zealand’s biggest international airport. With few spare seats to rebook passengers on, the airline has sought to upgauge aircraft or fly additional services to clear the backlog. In Singapore where stranded passengers were told that there were few available seats until the end of February, the airline has worked with their partners Singapore Airlines to put passengers from the delayed NZ283 onto an A380 jumbo, adding 200 places for travellers. Operators Singapore Airlines say they upgauged SQ285 / NZ3285 from a Boeing 777 at the request of Air New Zealand, and is due to arrive with its additional passengers shortly after 1pm today.<br/>