The Canada Border Services Agency has apologized to the more than 250 passengers aboard a diverted United Airlines flight who were forced to spend 12 hours inside an airport in central Newfoundland after CBSA officers failed to process them. The federal agency issued a statement saying Flight 915 was en route from the Washington, D.C., area to Paris when it was diverted to Gander International Airport at 1 a.m. NT because of a mechanical issue. The agency says crew members aboard the airliner were processed by the CBSA officers on duty. The CBSA said a request was made to clear all passengers, but the request was "not appropriately actioned." As a result, the passengers had to spend the night in the international lounge until another United Airlines aircraft arrived at 2:45 p.m. to take them to their destination. United Airlines issued a brief statement Tuesday saying the Boeing 777-200 aircraft that was diverted to Gander was carrying 268 passengers and 12 crew members.<br/>
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Lufthansa is unlikely to offer more remedies to EU antitrust regulators scrutinising its bid for a stake in state-owned Italian carrier ITA despite their concerns about long-haul flights, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Lufthansa, which wants to buy 41% of Alitalia successor ITA and has so far submitted three offers of concessions, declined to comment. The most recent proposal last month included an offer not to integrate ITA into its joint venture with United Airlines and Air Canada for two years, other sources had told Reuters. There have been some tweaks to the proposal since then but no major changes, the sources said. Lufthansa has also offered to keep some competing ITA short-haul routes to Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria and cede 40 slots at Milan Linate airport to easyJet and Volotea. EU concerns had centred on the impact of the deal on both short-haul and long-haul flights and ITA's dominance at Milan-Linate airport. The European Commission, which acts as the EU competition watchdog, is expected to decide whether to clear or block the deal by the end of the month.<br/>
Etihad Airways (EY), the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and EGYPTAIR (MS) have expressed their commitment to deepening their partnership by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This agreement is set to enhance commercial and operational cooperation, offering travelers more choices, better services, and greater value. The current codeshare agreement allows customers of both airlines to enjoy improved connectivity to various destinations within each other’s networks, between Egypt and the UAE, and beyond Cairo into Africa, as well as beyond Abu Dhabi into Asia. The new understanding enables passengers to book their entire journey on a single ticket and have their baggage checked through to their final destination seamlessly. According to EY press release, the MoU will further extend the codeshare arrangement, providing MS passengers with one-stop access to more destinations in EY's network, including several locations in Asia and Australia. Similarly, it will grant EY customers seamless access to additional destinations in the MS network, building on the routes already included in the current agreement.<br/>
Air New Zealand has announced the launch of its first-ever Mangōpare Pilot Cadetship, an accelerated training programme designed to address potential pilot shortages and encourage more Kiwis to pursue a career in aviation. The cadetship is intended to reduce the financial barriers associated with pilot training by covering most training and living expenses, and shorten the training period from the usual 24-36 months to approximately 14 months. Applications opened today, with the initial successful 30 candidates to be selected for the first cohort starting in September 2024. Captain David Morgan, chief operational integrity and safety officer at Air NZ, told AM while the airline covers the majority of the training costs, graduates will be "bonded" to the airline. "It'll be largely funded by Air NZ, but a small component will be funded by the cadet themselves," said Morgan. "If somebody has dreamed of being a pilot with Air NZ, at the moment you're constrained in a way, because student loan funding in New Zealand does not cover the entire cost of learning to fly. That can be a significant barrier to some people and we want to remove that barrier." According to Careers.govt.nz, pilots who fly for airlines or the military usually earn $48,000 - $148,000 per year. The cadets will undergo training primarily in the US state of Arizona, where they will learn to fly single and multi-engine planes. Following this, they will complete simulator sessions in Dubai to become type-rated for the ATR72-600 aircraft.<br/>