Star Alliance member United Airlines is seeking United States Department of Transportation (DOT) approval to launch a new route connecting Los Angeles and Beijing. United wants to continue its dominance on the Pacific Rim and hopes to launch this service by May 1st. United has filed a request to launch a thrice-weekly service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Beijing Capital Airport (PEK), using its Boeing 787-9 aircraft for the 6,250-mile journey. This direct service would compete with Air China, which already operates a four-weekly service onboard its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Should the proposed service go ahead, it will complement United's current daily San Francisco to Beijing service, operated by the carriers Boeing 777-300ER and Air China's twice-weekly 777-300ER service between the two cities.<br/>
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Kiwis heading to Europe and beyond could be flying non-stop from Auckland to Istanbul in 2026, according to Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi. He told Aviation Week the airline is “looking at options” including flights to New Zealand on its new fleet of ultra long-haul A350-1000 aircraft. It has 15 on order, with the first due next year. The giant airline flies to more worldwide destinations than any other carrier at more than 350 in 130 countries. Aviation expert Irene King told Stuff Travel it was an “exciting” possibility on a “very classy airline” as, “it's opening up completely new destinations with a new airline that most of us have never, ever tried”. “It just gives Kiwis a lot more options, a lot of people will be quite enthusiastic, and they are a great airline, there's no question about that. They've got a long-term strategy, great investment in new aircraft.” Aviation website ch-aviation reported that Turkish has 444 aircraft in total, with more than 300 new aircraft on order. The airline was rated in the world’s top 10 by Skytrax this year. Turkish Airlines just started flights between Istanbul and Sydney via Kuala Lumpur last weekend. The first service was on a Boeing 777-300ER but that will be swapped out for a A350-900 in the regular service. It also operates Istanbul-Melbourne via Singapore. Once the new A350-1000 is launched it will operate flights between Australia and Turkey non-stop. King added that more countries will eye up NZ with the new A350-1000 aircraft including the likes of India: “The globe is really starting to open up to New Zealand.” Turkish Airlines is a Star Alliance member alongside Air New Zealand. The national carrier has also been the subject of frenzied speculation that it is eyeing up a return to London.<br/>
Turkish Airlines has resumed flights from Istanbul to Beirut after a more than two-month suspension prompted by conflict in the Middle East, Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday. The airline, Turkey's flag carrier, suspended flights to Beirut on Sept. 21 amid the conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group. The two sides agreed a ceasefire last week, though both accuse the other of violations. Anadolu said the airline planned one flight per day in the first phase, rising to two daily flights on Friday. It said there would then be four daily flights from Dec. 11 onwards. Turkish Airlines did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the Anadolu report and its details, but its website showed Istanbul-Beirut flights on sale.<br/>
Korean Air expects to complete its drawn-out purchase of indebted South Korean rival Asiana Airlines next week, as long as U.S. anti-trust regulators do not object to the creation of one of Asia's biggest carriers. The 1.8t won ($1.3b) mega-deal was first announced by South Korea's largest carrier four years ago to rescue Asiana, which struggled with a plunge in travel demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a sign that the long wait may finally be over, Korean Air on Tuesday moved the date it will take a 63.9% stake in Asiana forward by nine days to Dec. 11. Its plan has been hampered by competition concerns, with the U.S. Department of Justice the last of 14 regulators yet to effectively give it a green light by not raising objections. The DOJ declined to comment. Data from LSEG and Dealogic shows that the time taken from announcement to completion would be the longest ever for an M&A deal between airlines.<br/>A new Korean Air group could account for just over half of South Korea's passenger capacity, and would become the world's twelfth-largest airline by international capacity, a Reuters analysis of airline data from Cirium and OAG shows. Airline consolidation is rarer in Asia than in Europe, which has seen a wave of mergers in the last two decades, and in North America where regulators fear the industry is too concentrated.<br/>