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A Turkish Airlines flight traveling from Seattle to Istanbul made an emergency landing at Kennedy International Airport in New York early Wednesday morning after the pilot died, the airline and federal aviation authorities said. The plane, an Airbus A350, took off at 7:02 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, according to Flight Aware data. The pilot, Ilcehin Pehlivan, lost consciousness during the flight, the airline said, and after unsuccessful attempts to revive him, a decision was made to land at J.F.K. after about eight hours in the air. The plane, Flight 204, was over Baffin Island in northern Canada when it took a sharp right turn and headed for New York. It landed there at 5:57 a.m. Eastern. Pehlivan, 59, died before landing, the airline said, without specifying a cause. The airline said that he had had regular health examinations, including one in March of this year, and that no problems were found. The airline said arrangements were being made to get passengers to Istanbul on other flights.<br/>

The Portuguese government is finalising consultations with airlines interested in flag carrier TAP to establish their objectives before coming up with a privatisation plan, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said.<br/>He told broadcaster SIC late on Tuesday that the government "doesn't want to carry out a privatisation without knowing what the market players also have as their objectives", to ensure the privatisation plan aligns with market sentiment. "There are many companies interested ... we are currently concluding consultations with all interested parties who, over time, have expressed interest in the acquisition of TAP's capital", he said. At least three major airline operators - Lufthansa, British Airways owner IAG, and Air France-KLM - have said they are interested in state-owned TAP. A month ago, sources told Reuters that Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr met with the government to formally signal his company's interest in the privatisation. One of the sources said Lufthansa was eyeing a 19.9% ​​stake in TAP, below the 20% threshold that would require approval from the European Commission. "We are studying the best model to be successful and value the company as much as we can," Montenegro said, pointing out that Portuguese taxpayers paid E3.2b ($3.5b) to rescue TAP during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I always argued that ideally we could achieve a total privatisation, as long as we secure the routes that are strategic for us and the Lisbon hub... (but) I'm not saying that the model should be to go from 0% (private stake) to 100%."<br/>

Sweden’s SAS AB and LOT Polish Airlines are giving up service to China, joining a growing list of European carriers retreating from the world’s second-biggest aviation market. SAS, the owner of Scandinavian Airlines, is suspending flights between Copenhagen and Shanghai “due to current market conditions,” the company said in a statement. The last available flight on the route is on Nov. 7, according to SAS’s website. LOT decided to cancel flights to Beijing during the winter season, citing “unsatisfactory booking results and a significantly weaker competitive position compared to carriers using shorter routes.” The airline said in a statement that it will contact customers to offer alternative options. Routes from Europe to China have become less attractive for European carriers, who are forced to fly around Russian airspace following the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Ukraine’s airspace has also been closed since then. That’s given Chinese rivals, who have maintained the more direct flight paths over Russia, an advantage in terms of cost and hours in the air. SAS’s retreat leaves Finland’s Finnair Oyj as the only other Nordic country with direct China flights. Now under the co-ownership of Air France-KLM and private equity firm Castlelake LP, SAS joins Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. in exiting China altogether, while British Airways and Deutsche Lufthansa AG are cutting flights to Beijing. The withdrawals to China are not limited to Europe. In Southeast Asia, three of the Philippines major airlines have reduced or pulled flights to China outright. Flights between the US and China also remain capped at about a quarter of pre-pandemic levels.<br/>

In late 2018, Ethiopian Airlines’ chief pilot sent an urgent message to Boeing, the manufacturer of the 737 Max airliner. Barely a month earlier, a 737 Max operated by Lion Air of Indonesia had plunged into the sea, killing everyone on board. The cause appeared to be a problem with the plane’s flight control system. The Ethiopian carrier also flew the 737 Max, and the chief pilot wanted more information from Boeing about the emergency procedures to follow if the same problem that doomed the Lion Air flight should recur. At the time, Boeing was providing detailed briefings to pilots in the United States who were asking the same types of questions about how to respond. But Boeing chose not to answer the Ethiopian pilot’s questions beyond referring him to a public document it had already issued after the Lion Air crash. Boeing said in its response that it was prohibited from giving additional information because it was providing technical support to Indonesian authorities investigating that crash. Instead, Boeing briefly summarized the document, which is dated Nov. 6, 2018, and is called an operations manual bulletin, according to email exchanges between the chief pilot and Boeing made public after The New York Times initiated legal action to unseal filings in a related criminal case. Three months after the request by Ethiopian Airlines, one of its 737 Max’s nose-dived into the ground after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, killing all 157 people on board. The main cause was found to be the same flawed flight control system responsible for the Lion Air flight crash, a failure that presented the Ethiopian Airlines pilots with the very same kinds of life-or-death decisions about how to respond that the chief pilot had asked about months earlier.<br/>

Singapore Airlines and its budget arm Scoot will offer 420,000 discounted tickets as early as next month in its largest promotional campaign yet and one that is expected to put pressure on regional rivals such as Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways. Singapore Airlines announced on Wednesday it would offer discounts on more than 200,000 business class, premium economy class and economy class round-trip tickets from the city state to 78 global destinations as part of its “Time To Fly” promotion. Scoot will offer 220,000 discounted one-way tickets to 57 destinations. They include economy class as well as ScootPlus, which offers additional legroom and wider seats with complimentary meals and in-flight Wi-fi connectivity. Singapore Airlines said the discounts were valid for flights between January and September 2025, and for travel with Scoot from next month to October 2025. The sale will run from October 25 to November 7 on both the company’s website and mobile applications, as well as through designated travel agents. A three-day in-person fair in the city state will also feature exclusive giveaways, including a grand prize of three pairs of business class round-trip tickets from Singapore Airlines with hotel stays in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Istanbul.<br/>

Air India is gearing up for rapid growth in Australia, its prospects buoyed by new first and business class suites and a rebooted frequent flyer program. They’re all key elements as the now-privatised airline – now owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Group – refines its approach to win over premium flyers, including business travellers and corporate giants, along with discerning leisure travellers. Australia holds “plenty of untapped potential” for Air India, CEO Campbell Wilson revealed at a recent airline industry conference in Brisbane. “Clearly there’s a huge amount of opportunity to grow, not just in terms of frequency, but certainly in respect of city coverage.” The Star Alliance member currently flies “only to Sydney and Melbourne, and only 17 times a week,” he said. “We see a significant opportunity with the Indian diaspora, and Australia is ranked, I think, in the top three of the markets Indians want to travel to.”<br/>