Swiss International Air Lines will decide whether to upgrade a further five Bombardier CSeries aircraft to the larger CS300 by the end of the year. Swiss, the launch customer for the new plane, had placed a firm order for 30 CS100s and has already converted 15 of those to the larger CS300 variant. "It's still open, but I think it's very probable that we will decide for the larger," Swiss CE Thomas Kluehr said. Lufthansa also has an option for a further 30 CSeries jets, with the decision on whether to exercise those up to parent Lufthansa's executive board. "It's a wonderful aircraft, so I think the chances are good, but I don't know when the final decision will be made," Kluehr said.<br/>
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Air New Zealand's planned route between Auckland and the Philippines has been deferred until further notice. The national carrier announced in April it would start direct flights to the Philippines capital Manila in December with tickets going on sale mid year, subject to government and regulatory approvals. However, Air NZ said it was deferring the December launch due to administrative delays in being able to make the new route available for sale. "It's taken longer than anticipated to fulfil all the requirements to make an application to the Filipino Government to get permission to operate this route," an Air NZ spokeswoman said. Flight Centre NZ product GM Sean Berenson said when the Manila service did launch it would be popular with customers. "Traditionally Thailand and Bali have been key holiday spots for New Zealanders in Asia, but we've found our customers have been looking further afield for more undiscovered holiday spots and the Philippines is one of these," Berenson said.<br/>