A United Airlines plane headed to Hawaii was forced to return to the Los Angeles International Airport shortly after takeoff on Wednesday due to some smoke in the cabin. The Boeing 777 was carrying 360 passengers and 10 crewmembers, according to United. The plane landed safely as emergency vehicles stood by as a precaution. It's unclear what caused the smoke. United said passengers on flight 1158 deplaned at the gate normally and the airline arranged for a different aircraft to take customers to their destination. No injuries were reported.<br/>
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Keeping Lisbon's airport hub and safeguarding TAP's strategic role for Portugal will be key conditions of the airline's upcoming privatisation, more than the sale price, the government said on Wednesday. Portugal wants to keep a strategic stake in TAP and will not offer all its capital in the privatisation, which could be launched as early as July after two independent advisers establish the airline's value. Infrastructure minister Joao Galamba said Portugal "will not give up keeping the Lisbon hub, safeguarding the company's strategic value, which is its Portuguese identity and, hopefully, the increase of its contribution to the economy." "These are the core goals that will guide the privatisation," Galamba told a parliamentary committee. He said that "once these core goals are guaranteed, the government will seek to maximize revenue from the sale, but maximizing revenue in itself is not the central objective." TAP is crucial for Portugal mainly because, through the Lisbon hub, it flies in the bulk of air travellers to the country, supporting the current tourism boom, the government has repeatedly said. Additionally, the airline buys more than E1b worth of goods and services annually from around 1,200 Portuguese companies. At least three major global carriers, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines Group, have shown an interest. Lufthansa said last month it was taking a 41% stake in Italian carrier ITA Airways in the latest major consolidation in the aviation sector in Europe. Galamba said the privatisation would be drawn up "with a view to maximizing competition" between bidders, adding that TAP, which secured a Brussels-approved E3.2b bailout during the pandemic, was "a sustainable and viable company".<br/>
Lufthansa said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell its AirPlus payments subsidiary to Swedish bank SEB for around E450m, boosting the German airline group's operating margin and return on capital. "As part of a larger financial group, (AirPlus) will be able to realise its potential better than in the Lufthansa Group," CFO Remco Steenbergen said. "In turn, it enables us to focus even more on further improving the profitability and capital return of the Lufthansa Group core business," he added. SEB in the joint statement said the merger of its Kort unit with AirPlus will make the bank "a European leader in corporate payment solutions" and boost SEB's broader corporate banking ambitions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and northern Europe. The transaction includes all international subsidiaries and branches of AirPlus, the companies said.<br/>
Leading global air and travel services provider dnata has extended its long-standing partnership with Lufthansa German Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) in Singapore. The multi-year extension of the contract will see dnata continue to provide quality inflight catering services to the carriers from its advanced facility at Changi Airport in Singapore. According to dnata, its teams will produce and uplift more than 700,000 meals annually to ensure a world-class dining experience on board the two airlines’ flights. Hiranjan Aloysius, CEO of dnata Catering & Retail Australia and Singapore, said: "We are proud to be the inflight caterer of choice for Lufthansa and SWISS, two leading international carriers that are both renowned for their commitment to quality. We will continue to work closely with the airlines’ team to contribute to their excellent on-board experience by delivering innovative menus and delicious meals that passengers love." <br/>
An Air New Zealand plane en route to Rarotonga has been forced to return to Auckland shortly after takeoff after it was struck by lightning, the Herald understands. Passengers, surely looking forward to enjoying the Cook Islands sun, endured about an hour of the plane circling over Tāwharanui before heading back to Auckland, a city beset with rain. Flight NZ942 turned around off the coast of Tāwharanui Peninsula in north Auckland after circling around about seven times. The plane took off about 6am and started circling about 30 minutes into the flight. It landed back in Auckland about 8am. The aircraft was an Airbus A321-271NX.<br/>