Smoke was reported inside a plane cabin during an American Airlines flight from Miami to San Francisco on Friday, injuring three people. Flight 2045 arrived at San Francisco International Airport around 11a.m. PT when the crew reported smoke coming out of the cabin as the aircraft headed toward the gate, the airport wrote on X. Fire officials quickly evacuated passengers, who were taken to a different terminal, the airport confirmed. Three people had minor injuries, with one of them needing to be medically transported, according to the San Francisco Fire Department. The source of the smoke was a laptop inside a passenger's bag, American Airlines said. "The bag was quickly removed by our crew members and all customers exited the aircraft," American Airlines said in a statement. "We thank our crew members for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience." Some passengers exited the Airbus A321 on emergency slides while others deplaned using the jet bridge.<br/>
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Alaska Airlines has sold the Boeing 737 Max 9 involved in the 5 January Alaska flight 1282 door-plug blow out back to Boeing for an undisclosed amount. Both companies confirmed the deal on 11 July, with Alaska adding that it placed an order for a 737 Max 10 – a type that has yet to be certificated – to replace the returned jet. Alaska has “entered into a purchase agreement with Boeing for aircraft N704AL… They have taken possession of it and the registration has been changed”, the carrier says. “It is no longer part of our fleet.” Boeing confirms is has “reached an agreement with Alaska Airlines to purchase the airplane” but provides no further details. On 5 January, the 737 Max 9 in question – operating as flight 1282 from Portland to Southern California – experienced a rapid de-pressurisation due to the door plug blowing out. It fell to the ground. The event proved seismic for Alaska and Boeing alike, with Alaska grounding its sizeable fleet of Max 9 jets for more than a month, taking a significant financial hit in the first quarter as a result. An ensuing investigation revealed that Boeing workers removed the Max 9’s door plug during assembly to allow workers from fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems to fix a riveting issue. Boeing employees replaced the plug but failed to bolt it in place. The FAA has since increased oversight of Boeing 737 production facilities, with the Arlington, Virginia-based airframer significantly slowing its monthly 737 production rates. <br/>
Hong Kong is turning to airlines other than Cathay Pacific Airways to fill capacity opened up by the airport’s third runway as the city’s flag carrier has had to delay its full recovery to the first quarter of next year. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung has also urged Cathay Pacific to bring forward its target date for a return to full capacity. A source said that because of Cathay’s slower than expected recovery, the Airport Authority would announce its own initiatives next week to encourage other airlines to open up more routes and increase frequencies to fill extra capacity opened up by the third runway at the end of this year. “We won’t wait for Cathay any more and we’ll go ahead with our plans to invite other airlines to run more services to Hong Kong to cater to the third runway,” the insider said. “The carrier has been too slow in recovering its capacity.” Lam, in a wide-ranging interview with the Post, weighed in on the flag carrier’s responsibility to enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international aviation hub after Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po appealed to Cathay to boost its service quality and expand its network.<br/>Hong Kong has been fighting hard to cement its aviation hub status, a vision laid down in Beijing’s latest five-year national plan and mandated by the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.<br/>“We are very anxious about enhancing the city’s status as an international aviation hub because this concerns Hong Kong’s reputation and its position in the international arena,” Lam said. “Now we won’t solely rely on Cathay. With the Hong Kong International Airport aiming to restore full pre-pandemic capacity by the end of this year, we look to other city airlines, and also those from the mainland and overseas, to see if they can resume or increase some services.<br/>
Qantas has officially launched its non-stop service from Perth to Paris, the first time the Flying Kangaroo has flown to the French capital in 20 years. The QF33/34 service to Paris will initially operate four times per week return – dropping to three from mid-August – using Qantas’ 787-9 Dreamliners, with the inaugural 17-hour 20-minute flight departing Perth aboard VH-ZNB at 7:54pm on Friday 12 July. The route will add 75,000 seats per year between Australia and Europe, and comes ahead of the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on 26 July. “There is a lot of excitement amongst our customers and crew that Qantas is returning to Paris and that it’s a non-stop flight between Perth and Paris,” said Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson. “In recent years we have seen a significant increase in customers wanting to fly direct on long haul routes and avoiding stop overs wherever possible. Our direct flights from Perth to London and Rome have some of the highest customer satisfaction on our international network. With these new flights, our customers can depart Perth in the evening and arrive in Paris in time to enjoy brunch overlooking the Eiffel Tower.” Paris is now one of 20 international destinations with direct links to WA, according to the state’s Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti, who says these services are an important part of the state government’s tourism strategy. “We know that people are more likely to travel to places they’re able to easily access, so this is another big win for tourism in Western Australia,” she said.<br/>