A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan turned around hours into its journey due to a “disruptive passenger” on Thursday, the airline said. “Law enforcement officials met the aircraft on arrival and removed the passenger,” a United spokesperson told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “The flight departed for Taipei later Thursday evening.” The airline did not share specifics about the passenger’s behavior. The flight, which left from San Francisco International Airport, reversed course less than two hours after takeoff, according to the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24. The incident is not the only one of its kind in recent months. A Delta Air Lines flight from Detroit to Amsterdam diverted to Boston because of an unruly passenger in May, and a United flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Tel Aviv, Israel turned back because of a disruptive traveler in April. The rate of unruly-passenger incidents has dropped more than 80% after hitting record highs in 2021, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency received 2,455 reports of unruly passengers in 2022, down from 5,973 the previous year.<br/>
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Lufthansa is fighting a landmark ruling that toppled the European Union’s approval for its E6b German recapitalization at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Europe’s biggest network carrier on Monday said it filed an appeal at the EU Court of Justice against the May 10 judgment by a lower tribunal, which backed claims by Ryanair Holdings Plc that the state aid unfairly tilted competition toward its rival. Judges found that terms of the recapitalization approved by the EC were too favorable to Lufthansa. The May ruling cast a shadow over the company’s post-pandemic recovery, potentially forcing the commission to make retroactive adjustments to the its bailout package, though the measures could be fairly limited because Lufthansa has already paid back the aid. In the judgment, the EU’s General Court decided that demands for the airline to forfeit take-off and landing rights in Frankfurt and Munich were structured in a way that didn’t provide a realistic chance for competition. The decision triggered a rare direct response from the bloc’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager who said that same evening that she was “aware of the uncertainty” generated by it “for the airlines concerned and the aviation sector at large.” The EU commission said Monday that while it wouldn’t join Lufthansa in appealing at the bloc’s top court, it confirmed that another option remains to “evaluate whether to adopt a new decision on the measure, taking into consideration the court’s judgment.” Lufthansa said in an emailed statement that it “has already repaid the stabilization measures in full, as well as around E92m in interest.” Its appeal was filed July 20, according to the court website.<br/>
Egyptair is set to return to Japan in September with flights to Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) after a three-year hiatus. It has also announced the launch of flights to India and Libya, starting in August and September, respectively. The flag carrier is launching new long-haul routes and reinstating previously-served destinations per the presidential directive to intensify operations to boost the nation's civil aviation sector. Egyptair announced that it will resume flights to Japan on September 12, 2023. The service will be operated between Cairo International Airport (CAI) and Tokyo Narita twice weekly with the carrier's Boeing 777-300 aircraft. It offers various fares, with economy and business class available on the route. The Egyptian airline last served Japan in early 2020, before the service was discontinued due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. With air travel in North Africa above pre-pandemic 2019 levels, Egyptair is launching several international routes to improve its competitiveness at regional and global levels.<br/>
Singapore Airlines is launching a new luggage collection service in London through a partnership with AirPortr. The carrier will offer the service to passengers flying from Heathrow airport’s Terminal 2 who are staying within the area located within the M25 motorway. Singapore Airlines passengers will be able to book a collection slot up to 24 hours before departure or even a year in advance of their flight via the AirPortr website. Prices start at GBP28 for one bag from central London or GBP33 for two pieces of luggage. Bags will be picked up from their address during the booked slot after they have checked in online, with AirPortr drivers checking all boarding passes and passports, before sealing and photographing the luggage. Once the bags reach the airport, they are checked in and the passenger receives a notification via text with their digital IATA luggage receipts.<br/>