Finland’s national carrier Finnair said Monday it is temporarily suspending flights to Estonia’s second largest city for a month after two of its planes were prevented from landing in Tartu because of GPS disruptions. The cause of the GPS interference that forced the two flights to return to Helsinki last Thursday and Friday was not immediately known, but Estonian officials blame GPS jamming in the region on Russia. Plane approaches to Tartu Airport currently rely on GPS signals, said Finnair, which is the only airline to fly into that city. But there there are other navigational tools that can be used, and the airline said it would suspend daily flights there from April 29 to May 31 so that an alternate solution can be installed at the airport. “Most airports use alternative approach methods, but some airports, such as Tartu, only use methods that require a GPS signal to support them,” said Jari Paajanen, Finnair’s director of operations. Finnair said GPS interference has been increasing over the past two years. “Finnair pilots have reported interference especially near Kaliningrad, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean,” the company said. Paajanen said when the GPS isn’t being relied upon for airport approaches, disruptions to the service don’t typically result in safety issues. “Our pilots are well aware of the issue, and the aircraft have other navigation systems that can be used when the GPS system is unserviceable,” Paajanen said. However, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Monday that jamming carried out by Russia is so dangerous that sooner or later it will cause a crash, the Baltic News Service said<br/>
oneworld
Qatar Airways will participate in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Dubai, offering visitors the chance to meet and engage with its world-leading AI-powered digital human cabin crew, Sama 2.0, from May 6-9, 2024. Aligning with ATM’s 31st edition theme of ‘Empowering Innovation: Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship’, the national carrier of Qatar will invite industry experts and travel partners from across the Gulf region and beyond to engage with Sama 2.0 – the second generation of the world’s first AI-powered digital crew. By answering questions in real time, Sama 2.0 aims to be the future of exceptional service and hospitality in the travel and tourism industry, assisting travellers in designing curated travel experiences, and empowering them to find answers related to Qatar Airways FAQs, destinations, support tips and more. To ensure seamless interaction with Sama, customers and passengers can easily chat with her through QVerse, Qatar Airways’ immersive digital platform, or conveniently via the Qatar Airways app. Qatar Airways will also unveil its brand-new exhibition pavilion at Hall no. 2 ME1450 during the four-day event, which is the premier international travel and tourism event in the Middle East, attracting both inbound and outbound tourism professionals.<br/>
Japan Airlines announced that it had launched a pilot program in Yokohama City to turn used cooking oil into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on its flights. The airline launched the program in partnership with Yokohama City under the “Fry to Fly” project, which aims to realize a decarbonized society through domestic resource recycling, and is promoting initiatives for the production of SAF by utilizing used cooking oil as its feedstock. Since March 2024, the airline has been collecting used cooking oil from households in Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city, to use as a biodiesel and SAF feedstock. Japan Airlines said it will be used on flights starting 2025. The used cooking oil is collected by AEON Food Style Kamoi store, which is operated by the Japanese supermarket chain Daiei. Japan Airlines and Yokohama’s city government are also planning to sell bottles for depositing oil and organize publicity events with airline employees. It is hoped that the activity will spread to more facilities in the new fiscal year.<br/>
SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, have embarked on a codeshare partnership, ushering in seamless travel to multiple new destinations throughout Asia, Africa and Australia for their passengers flying between Colombo and Mahé. Connecting people and places across continents, the collaboration empowers SriLankan Airlines to amplify its position and reach in Africa and passengers of the airline to travel conveniently between Colombo and Mahé twice a week. For Air Seychelles, over 20 destinations are included in the partnership, which includes much requested destinations such as Sydney and Melbourne in Australia as well as other popular stops in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This new codeshare agreement will allow SriLankan Airlines and Air Seychelles to place their codes on each other’s flights and enable passengers to continue their journey conveniently using a single booking and with their luggage checked in all the way to the final destination. It also means passengers can book their travels with both airlines, through online travel agencies, as well as with local travel agents. Richard Nuttall, CEO of SriLankan Airlines stated, “We are pleased to boost our codeshare network and presence in the African region through this new partnership. We look forward to working with Air Seychelles to provide our customers more African destination options in the coming years.”<br/>