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United Airlines presents itself as the unrivalled leader in cleaner jet fuel. A recent ad campaign featuring the garbage-can-dwelling Oscar the Grouch as the airline’s new “chief trash officer” publicises its commitment to turn banana peels and old socks into less-polluting jet fuel. In another ad, the company says it’s “investing in more sustainable aviation fuel production than any other airline in the world.” Chicago-based United Airlines Holdings, like the rest of the aviation industry, is grappling with its enormous climate impact. United expects to burn more than 4b gallons of jet fuel this year, which will spout about 40m tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – more than double the pollution of all the cars in the company’s home state of Illinois. Global aviation generates 2.5% of man-made CO2, and it is one of the industries that cannot be rapidly electrified. As the planet-warming pollution from driving vehicles and running power plants declines, the carbon toll of flying is only expected to rise. By 2050 aviation could exceed 20% of humanity’s total carbon footprint. That is why airlines have focused on slashing emissions by dramatically increasing the use of sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, made from things such as used cooking oil, animal fat and agriculture waste. Planes powered by these petroleum alternatives release far fewer heat-trapping emissions than those using fossil fuel. Only a half-dozen companies make commercial quantities of SAF, which accounts for about 0.1% of the world’s jet-fuel supply and costs at least twice as much to produce. Almost every major airline has pledged to use at least 10% sustainable jet fuel by 2030. For most, including United, this would amount to a hundredfold increase in only seven years. United has publicly embraced the enormity of the challenge. In an interview, CEO Scott Kirby sounds almost like an environmental activist at times, describing himself as an “admitted climate change geek going all the way back to college”. He is concerned that the public still doesn’t fully grasp the looming dangers of our warming planet and says airlines must play a “leading role” to help solve the crisis. Story has much more.<br/>

Hundreds of United Airlines passengers booked from San Francisco to Tel Aviv endured a 13-hour “flight to nowhere” due to the attacks by Hamas on southern Israel. Flight UA954 departed from the Californian city at 8.25pm local time for the 7,422-mile journey to Israel’s main airport, Ben Gurion International. But about halfway along its journey, above eastern Greenland, the Boeing 777 made a 180-degree turn and is heading back to San Francisco. The flight landed safely back at SFO on Saturday morning, according to flightradar24. “The safety of our customers and crews is our top priority. We are closely monitoring the situation and we are adjusting flight schedules as required,” United Airlines told The Independent in an email statement. “After our two departures from [Tel Aviv] scheduled for today, future operations at TLV will be suspended until conditions allow them to resume,” the airline added. A succession of Ryanair flights from Continental Europe to Tel Aviv turned around in mid-air. The flight from Budapest was over Antalya in southern Turkey when the decision was taken to return to base. On Saturday morning, Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority announced that no sports or leisure flights would be allowed into Israeli airspace until further notice due to the ongoing security situation, The Jerusalem Post reports.<br/>

Air France-KLM's decision to take a stake in Scandinavia's SAS airline offers a taste of its potential approach for the next big airline takeover battle in Europe: the fight to resuscitate Portuguese carrier TAP. Portugal's government said last Thursday it plans to sell at least a 51% stake in state-owned TAP, after the cabinet approved the legal framework for the privatisation process. Europe's national carriers have struggled to compete with low-cost airlines like Ryanair and Wizz Air and larger groups like Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and IAG have come in to revamp and save them. Tuesday's SAS deal, which saw US investment firm Castlelake and Air France-KLM enter as new major shareholders alongside the Danish state, was another long-awaited shake up for one of Europe's legacy brands. Air France-KLM is only taking a 19.9% stake in SAS and may have limited influence in revamping the airline, which has struggled with fragmentation across its Danish and Swedish hubs. Still, this arms-length approach may prove appealing to TAP. Air France-KLM has tended to let airlines it invests in keep their operations and branding. Following the 2004 merger between the French and Dutch carriers, both still fly under their own livery and many operations remain separate. Germany's Lufthansa and Anglo Spanish IAG, other likely competitors in the battle for TAP, have been known for deeper restructurings of the airlines they takeover, streamlining business practices and branding. "It will depend on what promises Air France-KLM make on keeping the brand alive, keeping the brand separate and keeping the operations in Portugal and connections in Portugal," said James Halstead, an aviation analyst. Analysts say the SAS deal is a success for Air France-KLM as they have peeled one airline away from Lufthansa's sphere of influence in Northern Europe and from airline grouping Star Alliance. Now, they're trying to repeat their success, poaching another Star Alliance member away from Lufthansa with TAP but facing a higher price and fierce competition.<br/>

Polish flag-carrier LOT aims to increase its fleet by 50%, to around 110 aircraft, over the next five years, part of a newly-unveiled strategic path. The airline adds that, over the 2024-28 period, it seeks to lift passenger numbers by 70% to nearly 17m. LOT intends to add another 20 scheduled destinations including long-haul routes, and improve its service quality with new interiors and features such as wi-fi access. “The strategy…is a promise for the decades to come,” says CE Michal Fijol. “Global aviation is evolving before our eyes, and we will be one of the leaders of this evolution.” As part of the five-year strategy, the carrier adds, it will focus on “sustainability transformation” and supporting tourism development. The airline’s Boeing 787-8s will be refreshed with a new cabin design and seat replacement, as well as an upgraded in-flight entertainment system and online connectivity. LOT says interior designer Tangerine has developed the concept, and partners for the refit will include seat specialist Recaro – for all three cabin classes – as well as communications firms Viasat and Safran Passenger Innovations. The business-class cabin on the twinjets will be changes to a 1-2-1 layout, to improve aisle access, and each position will have an individual privacy door. “As one of the oldest and most recognisable Polish brands in the world, we do not forget to include touches from our cultural heritage,” says LOT director of product development Izabela Leszczynska. LOT says the initial refitted 787s will emerge in 2026.<br/>

JetBlue Airways and Polish carrier LOT intend to begin a codeshare arrangement under which they will jointly sell flights from Europe and the USA. The carriers on 5 October requested authority from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to implement the deal, which would give LOT a new US sales partner shortly after it stopped sharing codes with United Airlines. JetBlue and LOT already have an interline agreement, through which LOT sells tickets on some JetBlue flights. But the codeshare deal would strengthen those ties. The carriers plan to place JetBlue’s code on several LOT flights, starting with those from Krakow, Rzeszow and Warsaw to Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York John F Kennedy (JFK) International and Newark, the carriers says in an application to the DOT. In return, more than 40 US domestic JetBlue flights from JFK, Newark and Los Angeles will carry LOT’s code. Each carrier would be able to sell those flights as their own. The airlines seek to begin the arrangement “as soon as all necessary government approvals are received”, their application says. LOT previously had a codeshare deal with United under which they shared codes on dozens of United’s domestic US flights and some LOT flights to and from Warsaw, according to Cirium. United confirms it has ended that codeshare partnership but does not elaborate. Cirium shows that the agreement ended this month.<br/>

Asiana Airlines is expected to discuss selling its cargo business as part of Korean Air’s new merger plan, which is facing antitrust concerns in Europe, according to industry sources, Sunday. Sources said the agenda is highly likely to be discussed at a board meeting at the end of the month. Asiana Airlines' potential disposal of its cargo business comes as Korean Air plans to submit an amended merger plan with the smaller rival to the European Commission later this month. The European regulator rejected the original merger plan, claiming that the merger could reduce competition for cargo and passenger transport services between Europe and South Korea. Asiana Airlines' potential decision to get rid of its cargo business could also help Korean Air win conditional approval from the US and Japan, too. So far, Korean Air submitted documents to antitrust regulators in 14 countries and won approval from 11 countries, except from the European Union, the US and Japan. Asiana Airlines remained mum over the issue, noting that nothing has been decided on the upcoming board meeting or its agenda. But sources predicted that the meeting would take place in the coming weeks before the deadline for Korean Air to submit its new merger plan. Whether Asiana Airlines’ board will approve of selling its cargo business, however, is still unclear. It has been reported that some board members have different opinions on selling its lucrative cargo business, which accounted for 21.7% of the company’s total sales during the first half of this year. The board members who agree with selling the cargo business appear to be prioritizing the merger with Korean Air to mitigate against an impending financial crisis, while other members argue that selling the cargo business could lower the company’s value and potentially result in a breach of trust.<br/>

Air India has shown off its new livery painted on the initial Airbus A350-900 aircraft due to join the flag-carrier’s fleet. The airline has orders for six A350-900s and 34 A350-1000s. It has revealed an aircraft at Toulouse – bearing the manufacturer’s serial number 592 and test registration F-WZHH – featuring the new scheme. Air India has also released an image of an A350-900 whose nose-gear doors indicate it will be registered VT-JRH. This aircraft is listed by Cirium’s fleet data as MSN554. Air India unveiled the new colours during an event in August, and stated that the first A350s would enter the fleet in December this year.<br/>

Air New Zealand is extending the expiry date by two years for credit vouchers issued to customers whose travel was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits are now set to expire on January 31, 2026 rather than January 31, 2024. The airline said it extended to credits after customer feedback, with more than $200m worth still unused. Rival airline Jetstar posted on its website last month to say it was essentially removing expiry dates from its COVID-19 vouchers. While they will expire on December 31 this year, any vouchers unused after that time will be reissued and can be used "indefinitely", the airline said. Air NZ's expiry extension only applies to credits issued before October, 2022. The vouchers don't have to be used on flights - they can be used for upgrades, extra luggage and seat select among other expenses. Air NZ's CFO Richard Thomson said 85% of customers who had a COVID-19 credit have now used them. He added that while all customers who had refundable tickets and have asked for a refund after COVID-19 disrupted their travel plans have received one, but the airline has been unable to contact all affected passengers.<br/>