Finnair Oyj will stop selling Marimekko amenity kits, Iittala whiskey tumblers and other popular Finnish products on board its aircraft by the end of the month, reacting to slowing demand for in-flight shopping. The move has the added benefit of reducing the overall weight of the aircraft, Finnair said, at a time when carriers are seeking to cut their fuel bills. In-flight sales will end Feb. 28, though passengers can still pre-order goods that will be delivered until April 18, the airline said in a statement. As part of the phase-out, Finnair is offering a 40% closing-down sale on some items until the service ends. Finnair will continue to sell food and beverage on board, it said. The carrier has seen its business model come under pressure in the past year after the closing down of Russian airspace in the wake of the Ukraine war added extra hours and fuel cost to its popular Asian routes. In-flight sales are a legacy of the glory days of flying when airlines offered significant discounts on alcohol, cigarettes, perfume and other items. Online shopping as well as duty-free outlets at airports have dented the appeal of the vast catalogs of products that airlines offered customers, even as carriers such as Ryanair Holdings Plc say that ancillary revenue, which includes in-flight duty-free sales, made up as much as 45% of its total revenue in 2022. <br/>
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Airbus SE and Qatar Airways have agreed to end their long-running battle over flaking paint on the A350 flagship jetliner, averting an open showdown in court between the European plane manufacturer and one of its most important customers. While the details of the settlement are confidential, the two parties will discontinue their legal claims, they said in separate statements. They also agreed to embark on a repair project with the aim of getting the grounded planes back in the air. “This agreement will enable Qatar Airways and Airbus to move forward and work together as partners,” Qatar and Airbus said. Airbus said it will reinstate Qatar’s orders for 50 A321 single-aisle aircraft that the company had revoked as part of the dispute. It will also hand over the remaining 23 A350s from Qatar’s pending order book, with deliveries starting this year. Qatar will get the A321neo models from 2026, an Airbus spokesman said. That’s later than the previous schedule due to commence in 2023. Airbus and Qatar spent more than a year facing off in an unusually public dispute over surface degradation on the A350 wide-body jets purchased by the Doha-based airline, the first carrier to operate Airbus’s most advanced model. Airbus hasn’t disputed that some models show wear, though the manufacturer has insisted it’s not a safety risk. The conflict escalated when Qatar grounded 29 of its 53-strong A350 fleet after the local regulator revoked their airworthiness certificates, seeking in excess of $2b in compensation. When Qatar refused to take delivery of pending aircraft, Airbus canceled Qatar’s order for the best-selling A321 model, on the grounds that the airline’s refusal to take further A350s gave the planemaker a right to cancel all other agreements with the carrier.<br/>
Qantas has announced a new route between Melbourne and Jakarta, as the carrier increases its international network. The new service will operate three-times-weekly to the Indonesian capital with Airbus A330 aircraft, says the Australian carrier. The flights, which will commence on 16 April, are still subject to regulatory approvals. The carrier already flies to Jakarta from Sydney. The Jakarta service will add to Qantas’s international network out of Melbourne, which also includes services to Dallas Fort Worth and Delhi. “We expect these flights to be popular with Victoria’s large Indonesian expat community wanting to visit family and friends back home as well as offering a new gateway for travellers looking to explore the region,” says Qantas domestic and international CE Andrew David. “Indonesia is a rapidly growing economy and home to more than 270m people. As one of Australia’s closest neighbours, these new flights will also help support the growing trade and investment links between our two countries.” Cirium schedules data suggests that Qantas will be the only carrier on the route. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic the only carrier operating Jakarta-Melbourne was Garuda Indonesia, but the Indonesian carrier dropped the route in 2021. According to Cirium fleets data, Qantas operates 18 A330-200s and 10 A330-300s. The Melbourne-Jakarta news follows Qantas’s announcement on 20 January that it is significantly expanding its codeshare agreement with Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo. Under the arrangement, Qantas will place its code on eight additional IndiGo domestic services, bringing the total to 21.<br/>