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United Airlines customers will have to spend more to reach frequent flyer status next year, the latest move by the carrier to increase profits and give an exclusive feel to the increasingly crowded top ranks of airline loyalty programs. The thresholds to earn elite status in the airline’s MileagePlus program are going up about 25% and include either spending on a co-branded card or a combination of spending and flying. The status earning requirements and accompanying perks earned next year will be valid in 2026. United, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other carriers have spent years changing their loyalty programs to reward travelers more based on how much they spend rather than how far they fly. Co-branded credit cards are a crucial business for airline profits, as banks pay carriers when consumers swipe those cards. Elite status comes with perks like free upgrades (when available), earlier boarding, better seat selection and access to extra legroom options. Airlines have grappled with increasing numbers of high-spending customers, which have led to crowded lounges and swarms of travelers in early boarding groups. The lowest level status, Silver Premier in 2025 will require customers to earn 5,000 premier qualifying points, or PQP, and fly 15 qualifying flights, up from 4,000 premier qualifying points and 12 qualifying flights. Travelers earn one PQPs for every $1 they spend on United and other qualifying flights.<br/>

A Florida man is facing felony charges over accusations he randomly sucker punched a sleeping passenger during a flight from California to Washington, D.C., beating the fellow traveler — for no apparent reason — until the cabin was speckled with blood, according to a federal complaint filed Tuesday. About two hours into the five-hour journey on Monday aboard United Airlines flight 2247 from San Francisco to Dulles, Everett Chad Nelson, 44, left his seat in the rear of the aircraft and headed to one of the lavatories up front, the complaint states. There were 82 passengers and six crew aboard the flight, a United spokesperson told The Independent. When Nelson exited the bathroom, he stopped at seat 12F and “without notice, began physically attacking a sleeping male passenger by punching him repeatedly in the face and head until blood was drawn,” the complaint alleges, adding that the assault continued for a full minute. The man began screaming, after which a Good Samaritan intervened and managed to pull Nelson off of him, according to the complaint.<br/>

Air Canada said on Wednesday it would increase direct flights between Canada and China, which remain below pre-COVID levels even though the carrier has added capacity to other Asia Pacific routes. Canada's largest carrier said in a statement it will be resuming daily service from Vancouver to Beijing on January 15 and will be increasing its Shanghai flights to daily starting on December 7. The news arm of China's aviation regulator said earlier that the move came after Ottawa last week removed a 2022 limit on how many services Chinese carriers could fly to Canada. CAAC News, the official newspaper of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said the increased flights between China and Canada would bolster trade and their economies and promote further recovery of China-Canada air transport. A Canadian source confirmed the development to Reuters. Canada agreed to stabilise ties with China in July, committing to "pragmatic" engagement with the world's second-largest economy, even as trade remained a point of bilateral friction. Flights between both Canada and the United States and China have not ramped back up after COVID-era travel restrictions ended, even as airlines add more seats to other destinations in Asia Pacific. Air Canada, which reports earnings on Friday, said earlier this year the carrier expects stronger demand for Pacific routes in the back half of 2024. Chinese airlines are accelerating applications for additional flights, the CAAC article added. However, in the United States, major U.S. passenger airlines have put off resuming some flights to China, citing lagging travel demand between the world's two largest economies. In 2019 Air Canada was flying up to 35 times a week to China - including from Toronto - while Chinese carriers operated 76 direct round-trip flights, Cirium flight schedule data shows.<br/>China later all but shut its borders to travellers due to a zero COVID policy and suspended many inbound flights.<br/>

While a slower recovery and strong competition has hit Lufthansa Group’s passenger operations on Asia-Pacific routes since the pandemic, the carrier is shifting more of its freighter capacity to tap strong cargo demand from the region. In third-quarter results disclosed yesterday, Lufthansa highlighted an improved performance from its logistics division, posting a E38m profit, against a figure of E1m a year earlier, in a traditionally weak quarter for air cargo. Briefing analysts on 29 October, Lufthansa Group CE Carsten Spohr cited the strength of e-commerce in Asia-Pacific, particularly China. “That is why we have shifted cargo freighter capacity from the transatlantic to Asia to take full advantage of the healthy market development out of China. ”We hardly have freighters any more to the US, we mainly now focus on belly capacity to and from the US,” he adds. ”We still have some freighter operations, but we are shifting our freighters more and more to Asia, especially to China, where the yields are highest out of China. But also Vietnam is an interesting place [for cargo].” Notably, Lufthansa Cargo on 29 October launched its first direct transpacific freighter service, connecting Ho Chi Minh City from Los Angeles with a weekly Boeing 777 Freighter flight operated by Aerologic, its joint venture carrier with DHL. <br/>

China's top three state-owned airlines reported profit declines in the third quarter despite record summer passenger numbers and fuller planes than last year, as a slowdown in domestic economic growth pushes flyers to seek cheaper fares. Beijing-headquartered Air China on Wednesday reported a net profit of 4.14b yuan ($581.34m) in the quarter, down from 4.24b yuan a year earlier. China Eastern Airlines on the same day posted a net profit of 2.63b yuan, down 28.2% year on year. The country's largest airline China Southern said on Monday there was "strong demand in the aviation market" but reported a 23.9% year-on-year drop in Q3 net profit to 3.19b yuan. China Southern added 11% more capacity to its operations over the quarter compared to the year before and planes were on average fuller than last summer, airline data shows. However, operating revenues for the quarter rose just 4.6%, indicating a decline in ticket prices. Airlines globally have been seeing stable demand but overcapacity and sluggish yields as a post-pandemic travel boom abates and most planes are back in the skies. China has been slower than the rest of the world to return capacity to the market due to a later lifting of pandemic travel restrictions in early 2023. Domestic capacity is higher than in 2019, but international flights have been particularly slow to ramp back up.<br/>

Taiwanese carrier, Eva Air recently celebrated its Airbus Order for 33 planes including 18 A350-1000 and 15 A321neo, which will help unlock new US destinations such as Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Boston Logan (BOS), and Washington Dulles (IAD). Star Alliance member carrier currently serves around 48 international destinations across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. The majority of these destinations are in China and Japan. The delivery of the new Airbus A350-1000s will begin in the first quarter of 2027. General Manager Sun Jiaming announced these aircraft will strengthen the carrier’s long-haul operations, particularly on North American routes. Airbus Commercial Aircraft CEO Christian Scherer highlighted the A350-1000’s superior position in long-haul aviation. The aircraft offers unmatched passenger comfort and environmental performance in its class, enabling EVA Air to elevate its international operations. EVA Air aims to expand its North American presence by launching a new destination in its 2025 winter schedule, selecting from Boston, Washington, D.C., or Dallas and possibly of launching all three in phases. Dallas presents operational advantages by minimizing Russian airspace usage compared to northeastern destinations.<br/>

Thai Airways, flag carrier of Thailand, has upgraded the network infrastructure at its headquarters in Thailand by implementing the AI Native Networking Platform from Juniper Networks. The platform is designed to provide measurable and secure wired and wireless services through data-driven real-time responses. The carrier deploys Wi-Fi 6E by leveraging Juniper AP45 access points and Juniper EX Series Ethernet switches across its core, distribution, and access networks. The deployment of Juniper’s platform is powered by Mist AI, which uses purpose-built Artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) trained on nine years of insights and data science development. This technology, part of Juniper’s AI-Native Networking Platform, is designed to reduce network-related issues, with up to a 90% decrease in trouble tickets reported. <br/>

Thai Airways International suspended three flights to and from Taipei on Thursday and one on Friday due to the approach of Typhoon Kong-rey. Flights TG634 (Bangkok-Taipei), TG636 (Bangkok-Taipei) and TG635 (Taipei-Bangkok) were cancelled on Thursday, with flight TG637 (Taipei-Bangkok) suspended on Friday, the national carrier announced on its Facebook page. "We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Passengers with bookings on these flights are advised to contact Thai Airways Customer Service at 662-356-1111 for assistance with rebooking or further information," the airline stated. In preparation for the typhoon, Taiwan has shut down, with all cities taking a day off, financial markets closed, and hundreds of flights cancelled. Taiwan's weather administration labelled the storm a "strong typhoon", the most powerful storm level for Taiwan, adding it would be the biggest typhoon in size to hit the island since 1996<br/>