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Southwest Airlines is raising prices for alcohol onboard. The price for wine and most hard-alcohol drinks is increasing by about $2 for passengers, while beers are either staying the same or increasing by $1 depending on the brand. “Southwest last adjusted pricing for onboard beverages in 2018 and recently reviewed our position as we work to keep fares low while offering our customers unmatched flexibility,” Tiffany Valdez, an airline spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Upon review, we made the decision to implement a modest change to the pricing of our alcoholic beverages, which went into effect starting Nov. 15.” Passengers looking to imbibe wine will now pay $8 instead of $6, and hard liquor products now cost $9. All beers are now $7, including Miller Lite, which was previously $6. Non-alcoholic beverages remain free for all passengers. A-List Preferred Rapid Rewards members will be entitled to up to two free alcoholic drinks per flight based on changes the airline recently announced to its loyalty program. Those members will be able to have their boarding passes scanned to use the vouchers rather than needing to show paper coupons onboard. <br/>

Start-up premium leisure airline Beond has conducted its first commercial service, with a flight between Munich and the Maldives. The airline operated the service – with the aircraft flying via Dubai – on 15-16 November. Beond displayed its initial aircraft, an Airbus A319 painted in a distinctive dark livery, at the Dubai air show. The carrier says it will operate twice-weekly on the Munich-Maldives route. Its A319 is configured with 44 premium seats, but the airline has not stated how many passengers were on board the initial service. “With our first revenue flight, Beond has arrived,” says CE Tero Taskila. “The flight…represents the starting line of our vision to build Beond as a luxury travel brand.” The carrier is aiming to begin flights from Zurich and Riyadh this week, and expand with services from Dubai and Milan from spring next year. “Beond seeks to redefine the skies, where luxury, comfort, and exclusivity are not just ideals, but realities experienced by every traveller,” says Taskila.<br/>

Airbus clinched a last-minute sale at the Dubai Air Show with Emirates, which agreed to purchase more of its A350-900 aircraft in a compromise order after the airline said the larger variant of the widebody didn’t meet its expectations. The Dubai-based carrier will take 15 of the A350-900 model, according to a statement by the airline on Thursday that confirmed a Bloomberg News report. The new commitment adds to 50 of the same plane that Emirates previously ordered. The airline will take delivery of the first aircraft in Aug. 2024 and the handovers will stretch into early 2028, it said. The agreement announced on Thursday followed a roller-coaster negotiation that played out publicly during the expo. Emirates had previously targeted an accord for as many as 50 of the larger A350-1000 model, but those hopes were dashed over the week. The mood at the Airbus chalet turned gloomy after Emirates President Tim Clark called the A350-1000 “defective” because of what he said are overly frequent maintenance cycles on the engines. Airbus’s flagship aircraft is powered exclusively by Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc engines, and Clark said on Tuesday that the hot climate in the Middle East and high utilization of planes are less forgiving on modern engines like those powering the A350-1000. In the statement, Emirates hinted at the challenges ahead by saying that it “will work closely with Airbus and Rolls-Royce to ensure our aircraft deliver the best possible operating efficiency and flying experience for our customers.” While a purchase of the A350-900 isn’t what Airbus had initially hoped for, it lets both sides make up after the public falling out at the show. It also gives Emirates a potential placeholder agreement to convert some A350-900s to the -1000 version once the airline’s concerns about engine performance are satisfied. Clark said on Tuesday that he’s content with the actual aircraft, and that it’s the engines that need improvement. <br/>

Bahrain International Airport recently welcomed the first Flynas flight from Riyadh. The introduction of new Flynas connections will further strengthen the regional connectivity and promote tourism and business opportunities between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, said a statement. The inaugural Flynas A320 flight from Riyadh to Bahrain which started operations on November 15 was greeted with a warm welcome. The new route will be operated with a frequency of seven flights per week between King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Bahrain International Airport. “Saudi Arabia has always been a key market for us, with airline connectivity between the two countries over seven decades attracting a passenger traffic of around 1.5m annually. The new connections with Flynas reaffirms our commitment to strengthening the bond between the two nations, with enhanced connectivity that will not only benefit travelers but also foster cultural exchange, business collaborations, and tourism ties,” said Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah, CEO at Bahrain Airport Company.<br/>

Busan’s business community began to pin high hopes on the sale of Air Busan from Asiana Airlines to a company in the city, as the Korea Development Bank (KDB) became more open-minded toward the proposal, according to industry officials, Thursday. The state-run bank is the main creditor of Asiana, which is the largest shareholder of the Busan-based budget carrier. The bank had initially agreed to Korean Air’s plan to merge Air Busan with Jin Air and Air Seoul, once the full-service carrier finishes acquiring Asiana. Amid the European antitrust regulator’s reluctance to allow Korea’s largest air carrier to acquire the second-largest, however, Busan’s business community and politicians have called for the sale of Air Busan to a local company. Earlier this week, they decided to organize a task force to help Air Busan’s second-largest shareholder, Dong Il, acquire the air carrier in partnership with other shareholders. Busan’s civic groups also urged KDB to allow the sale of Air Busan to a local company, citing the air carrier’s diminishing competitiveness amid the slow progress of Korean Air’s takeover of Asiana. They emphasized that Air Busan should serve as an air carrier based out of a new airport that will open on Gadeok Island in Busan by 2029. In response, KDB Chairman Kang Seog-hoon said Tuesday that the bank may talk about the sale of Air Busan to a local company, if the European Union finishes its review of the Korean Air-Asiana deal in January, according to Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Busan expects KDB to allow Air Busan to spin off from Asiana, even if the EU rejects the deal. The European Commission has yet to resume its review on deciding whether to give its approval, despite the fact that Korean Air submitted remedial measures against competition concerns two weeks ago. The Korean firm told the commission on Nov. 2 that Asiana will sell its cargo business.<br/>

The Pakistani government continues to talk to the Qatari government about the latter taking a stake in PIA - Pakistan International Airlines. Pakistan's Minister for Privatisation Fawad Hasan Fawad has recently had a series of meetings with Qatari officials, according to The Nation newspaper, with discussions proceeding "in a smooth manner." Pakistan's government is attempting to partially privatise its loss-making state-owned carrier and has recently appointed a Ernst & Young led consortium to advise on the sale. However, reports of Qatar taking a stake in PIA are not new. Fifteen months ago, ch-aviation reported on plans by the Pakistani government to offer Qatar Airways a 51% stake (and operational control) of PIA. An internal Pakistan government report on the partial privatisation says it will involve a large severance payout to an unspecified number of employees who will lose their jobs if the privatisation occurs. PIA's employee-per-aircraft ratio has historically been high. While ongoing efforts have reduced that ratio, the current level is unlikely to be acceptable to a future investor, resulting in job losses. The absence of union agreements on job loss numbers and the subsequent financial payouts (payable by the Pakistani government) remain key barriers to securing uniform support within PIA to sell the stake in it.<br/>