United Airlines expects to take delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR in January 2026, when the long-range narrowbody jets will start replacing United’s ageing Boeing 757s. Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice-president of global network planning and alliances, said on a 9 October call with reporters that the XLR is not expected to play a role in the carrier’s planned network expansion next spring, which includes flights to Greenland and Mongolia. “It will arrive after the summer season,” he says, hinting that the XLR will eventually unlock “even more unique stuff” as United continues identifying off-the-beaten-path destinations. The Chicago-headquartered carrier ordered 50 XLRs in 2019, anticipating the need to move on from its fleet of relatively inefficient Boeing 757-200s. Airbus secured European certification of the XLR, covering the CFM International Leap-1A version, days before Farnborough air show in late July. Certification of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-powered version is expected this year. Airbus’s higher-weight XLR was approved by European regulators on 11 October. <br/>
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United Airlines has announced a significant expansion of its seasonal operations between the Croatian city Dubrovnik and New York/Newark. United Airlines will commence their Croatian service earlier next year, on May 2, 2025. The service, previously offered four times a week, will also now operate daily for the summer of 2025 pending government approval, effectively more than doubling available seating capacity. commencing earlier on May 2, 2025. United Airlines Managing Director International Sales, Marcel Fuchs said they were excited with the news. “We are excited to announce this expansion of seasonal service from Dubrovnik to New York/Newark for summer 2025, enabling our customers in Croatia to book their next U.S getaway even earlier. Our daily service from Dubrovnik will offer travellers greater travel choice and the possibility to connect seamlessly via our New York/Newark hub to 58 destinations across the Americas,” Fuchs said.<br/>
As of May 22, 2025, United Airlines will inaugurate a new daily direct route between San Francisco International Airport and San Jose’s Juan Santamaría International Airport. The inaugural flight will depart from the West Coast of the United States at 11:34 p.m. local time and arrive in Costa Rica at 7:15 a.m. The return flight from Costa Rica will depart on May 23 at 8:45 a.m., arriving in San Francisco at 2:34 p.m. The route will be serviced by a Boeing 737-MAX8 aircraft. William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism, highlighted the importance of increasing connectivity with San Francisco, thereby strengthening the arrival of U.S. tourists to Costa Rica. “Increasing connectivity with the United States is of paramount importance for our country as it is our main travel market,” Rodríguez said. “We are an ideal destination for American tourists who love nature, outdoor activities, and traveling as couples or families. The addition of new air routes strengthens our destination and the tourism sector.” With this new route, United will now connect San José with all seven of its U.S. hubs, solidifying its position as the largest U.S. airline serving Costa Rica and Central America. San Francisco is among the 11 U.S. cities with the best prospects for tourists highly interested in visiting Costa Rica. <br/>
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr has warned of further reductions in flight schedules in Germany due to high airport fees. "I am very concerned about the connectivity of our business locations," Spohr told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag. "The extreme increase in state costs for air traffic is leading to a further decline in services. More and more airlines are avoiding German airports or canceling important connections." Airlines such as Eurowings and Ryanair have already canceled numerous flights in Germany, citing excessively high fees. In light of this, Spohr criticized additional planned government regulations. Lufthansa CEO said that further unilateral national measures have already been decided for the coming years — "for example, a blending quota for e-fuels, which are not yet available in sufficient quantities." As a result, "the connectivity quality of many important economic regions is declining by international standards," Spohr said. The addition of synthetic fuel to kerosene is intended to reduce the climate-damaging CO2 emissions of aircraft. Ryanair said on Thursday it would end operations at three German airports (Dortmund, Dresden and Leipzig) from summer 2025, blaming high taxes and fees for the decision.<br/>
The Lufthansa Group has won the prestigious “Best Airline App 2024” award at the World Aviation Festival (WAF). The app was selected from four finalists, including Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Air India, during the competition called the “Battle of the Airline Apps.” The jury praised Lufthansa’s app for its user-centric design, ease of use, and comprehensive travel support services. Dieter Vranckx, Member of the Lufthansa Group Executive Board, and Oliver Schmitt, Head of Digital Customer Solutions, emphasised the company’s focus on enhancing the digital experience for travellers and addressing irregularities more efficiently. The award reflects Lufthansa’s continued commitment to developing digital solutions for its airlines, including Austrian Airlines, SWISS, and Brussels Airlines.<br/>
Passengers will get more travel options as Air India is set to expand its codeshare partnerships with foreign carriers. Airlines develop their networks in two ways - by deploying own capacity or by partnering with other airlines through commercial agreements. These include interline and codeshares. While a codeshare gives passengers benefits like a single itinerary, through check-in and frequent flyer miles, it allows airlines to expand their reach and increase revenue. In a code share one airline operates a flight and another markets it along with the operating carrier. Codeshares allow airlines better revenue options as airlines allow their partners to sell tickets in more fare slabs than those under interline agreements. Currently, Vistara and Air India have separate partnerships with foreign carriers and now new agreements are being stitched in view of the merger between the two airlines. While Vistara’s pact with Japan Airlines is expected to lapse, Air India is expected to sign new code share partnerships with Air Canada and United. Air India had a codeshare with Air Canada prior to privatisation but a codeshare agreement with United would be its first bringing more passenger feed on US flights. Air India and United compete on the busy India-US market and despite being Star Alliance members did not have a codeshare agreement yet New pacts with Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines are also likely harmonising features of existing agreements. The thrust of Air India’s recent strategy has been developing hubs like Delhi and Mumbai and secure a level playing field from its partners. Over the last few months Air India has added new services to Europe and Asia-Pacific with an aim to connect the markets via its hub in Delhi. Recent additions include services to Zurich from June and Kuala Lumpur last month. “All codeshare and interline passengers who had tickets booked on Vistara for travel beyond November 12 have been accommodated on the corresponding Air India flights,” Air India said.<br/>
Air New Zealand says its failure to persuade government to require airlines flying here to replace some of their fossil fuel with sustainable fuel was one reason it ditched its own 2030 climate target. A spokesperson for the airline told a conference that by 2030, nearly every overseas port it flies to will require it to fly home with a proportion of sustainable fuel - but there is no government commitment to a similar mandate for airlines landing in New Zealand. The airline made international headlines when it dropped its ambitious target of cutting emissions by 29% by 2030 - a target based on what is required to keep the planet within 1.5C of heating. The airline confirmed it had kept a separate target, to use 10% sustainable fuel (in place of fossil fuel) in its planes by 2030. A visibly emotional head of sustainability for the airline, Kiri Hannifin, fronted a climate conference in September and described her team's grief at realising the airline would not meet its ambitious 2030 climate target. She said her team feared it would lead to other companies moving more slowly to decarbonise, which she said would be "the worst outcome for all of us." "It's a terrible thing to have to admit and it's been very hard for our team, my team in particular, who follow science and know what needs to happen," she said. "We just didn't have enough control of the levers we needed to pull to meet the target."<br/>