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The FAA is investigating after two passenger jets carrying hundreds of passengers almost collided near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Saturday. Both planes were cleared to land at 11 a.m. local time when Delta Flight 1070 received a collision warning. The flight, carrying 245 passengers on the Airbus A330 plane, was inbound from Detroit. A similar alert was set off on United Flight 1724 from San Francisco when attempting to land. The Boeing 737 plane was carrying 129 passengers. The two airplanes were 425 feet apart vertically and less than a second later were less than a quarter of a mile apart horizontally, according to preliminary flight data from Flightradar24. Air traffic control issued corrective instructions to both flight crews and the two planes landed safely, according to the FAA. In air traffic control audio obtained by CBS News, a controller can be heard clearing the United flight to land on Runway 7 right and then told the Delta flight to turn into position to land on Runway 8. That's when the collision warning went off in the cockpit. "Descend, descend" is heard in the background. The close call at the Phoenix airport comes amid an increase in plane near-collisions. On Jan. 8, a United flight was clipped by another plane at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and in April a Boston-bound JetBlue flight had a close call on the runway at Reagan National Airport. <br/>

Lufthansa Technik’s fuel-saving AeroShark surface film has entered service on the Boeing 777-200ER with Austrian Airlines following approval for the modification by the European regulator. Registered OE-LPC, the twinjet performed its first flight with AeroShark installed between Bangkok International and Vienna on 13 January. Austrian will add the surface treatment to four of its six 777-200ERs; modification of the widebodies is expected to be complete by March. Installation on the initial example, performed by Evergreen Aviation Technologies, took place during scheduled maintenance of the twinjet. Developed by Lufthansa Technik and chemical firm BASF, the AeroShark technology – which uses tiny riblets measuring around 50 micrometres to optimise the air flow over the fuselage and engine nacelles – delivers a claimed 1% fuel-burn improvement. Austrian is the first airline to use the AeroShark surface film on the 777-200ER. Previously it has been applied to the -300ER and Freighter variants of the Boeing widebody twin for customers including All Nippon Airways, Eva Air, LATAM Airlines and Swiss.<br/>

Libya's eastern-based government announced on Tuesday that Turkish Airlines had resumed flights to Benghazi after a 10-year hiatus. The move marks the return of direct flights between Benghazi and Istanbul, the eastern-based government said in a statement on its official Facebook page. At a ceremony held at the Benina International Airport of Benghazi, Libyan civil aviation official Hisham Bo-Shkewat stressed the importance of this achievement, saying it would "facilitate movement for Libyan and Turkish citizens," according to the statement. Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi was quoted as saying that flights will operate three times a week. Turkish Airlines suspended its flights to Benghazi, controlled by Libya's eastern-based army led by General Khalifa Haftar, in January 2015. On Sunday, Italy's flag carrier ITA Airways launched its first direct commercial flight to Libya's capital Tripoli, marking the resumption of air links between the two countries after more than a decade.<br/>

Asiana Airlines is to increase flights to Europe by adding a route between Seoul and the Czech capital Prague. The Korean carrier, which has now been acquired by rival Korean Air, will operate three weekly flights between Incheon International Airport and Prague from 1 April. The Asiana flights will complement Korean Air’s existing four flights per week on the Seoul-Prague route. Asiana’s Seoul-Prague flights will use Airbus A350-900 aircraft featuring 28 seats in business class and 283 seats in economy. The service will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The airline already flies to six other European destinations: Frankfurt, Paris, London, Rome, Barcelona and Istanbul. Won Yoo Seok, president of Asiana Airlines, said: “We expect that the new route to Prague will lay the foundation for strengthening our network in Central and Eastern Europe.”<br/>

Star Alliance carrier Thai Airways is moving its Singapore operations to Changi T2 next month, offering travellers easier access to Singapore Airlines lounges. Changi Airport has recently reopened its largest passenger facility – Terminal 2 – following a significant spike in passenger traffic recovery over the last couple of years, which has seen many airlines either returning to the terminal or operating from there for the first time. These have included the likes of Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, United and ANA, and now there’s news of another Star Alliance carrier making the switch. Thai Airways has announced that effective from 18th February 2025, it will be operating to and from Terminal 2 at Changi Airport, a shift from its long-term home in Terminal 1. Thai Airways is stating that check-in will be at Row 8, however the airline is also saying this is near to departure drop off Doors 3 and 4 – which doesn’t seem right. Row 8 is actually adjacent to departure drop off Door 6.<br/>