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The Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles received accolade as North America's Leading Airport Lounge in this year’s World Travel Awards. The annual distinction is based on a worldwide poll of qualified executives working within travel and tourism and the consumer travel buyer. Recognition of the Star Alliance branded lounge at Los Angeles’ Tom Bradley International Terminal is becoming a regular occurrence, with the Air New Zealand operated facility having won continuous awards as World’s Best Airline Alliance Lounge as well. “We are honoured to receive this award,” says Star Alliance VP Customer Experience Christian Draeger. “It is a recognition of the very high design and customer service standards that we deliver with our eight branded lounges around the world, and I would like to extend my thanks to our customers and industry partners for their continued trust in our product.”<br/>

Korean Air Lines will buy its smaller local rival Asiana Airlines in a deal valued at 2.5t won (US$2.3b) that would create the world's 10th-biggest airline by fleets, industry sources said Monday. Korean Air will sell new shares worth 2.5t won to finance the deal, with its parent Hanjin KAL Corp. injecting 800b won, according to the sources. Korean Air, currently the world's 18th largest, will buy a 30.77% stake in Asiana Airlines from the smaller carrier's creditors led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB). The KDB plans to invest 500b won in shares to be issued by Hanjin KAL and 300b won in the company's convertible bonds. Hanjin KAL is expected to submit a letter of intent to the KDB early this week to proceed with the deal. The majority Asiana stake is held by Kumho Industrial, an affiliate of airline-to-petrochemical conglomerate Kumho Asiana Group.<br/>

The first coronavirus-free transatlantic flight is scheduled to land at Heathrow on Tuesday morning amid pressure to reopen the busy business route. A new pilot scheme by United has raised the hopes that ministers will give the go-ahead to a crucial travel corridor between London and New York. As part of the month-long scheme, the carrier will guarantee that all passengers do not have the COVID-19 virus. Findings will be shared with officials in the UK and US once the four-week trial is up. The United trial will be free for all passengers over the age of two and rapid testing will take place at New York's Newark airport. UK airlines are working with Heathrow on their own COVID-free pilot. "We believe the ability to provide fast, same-day COVID-19 testing will play a vital role in safely reopening travel around the world and navigating quarantines and travel restrictions, particularly to key international destinations like London," said Toby Enqvist, chief customer officer for United. The US is considered a “red country” by the UK government. At the moment, Americans must quarantine for 14 days when traveling to the UK as the US. The hope is that by sharing the results of the trial, governments on both sides of the Atlantic give the travel corridor the green light.<br/>

Avianca Holdings' Q3 net loss widened significantly following a substantial fall in income due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Colombian flagship airline reported. The airline - which went into restructuring after declaring bankruptcy under US Chapter 11 law in May - recorded a net loss of $283.5m in Q3, compared with a loss of $40.1m in the year-earlier period. Income during the three months ended Sept. 30 fell to $206.9m, down from $1.2b in Q3 2019, it said late on Thursday. “Avianca’s scheduled passenger operations have been affected (by the coronavirus pandemic) since mid-March, reducing its consolidated revenues by more than 73% and putting significant pressure on its cash reserves,” the company said. Avianca grounded all its passenger flights in March after its main hubs in Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador and Peru all shut down air traffic as part of measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.<br/>

The highly anticipated return of one of the world's longest flights has taken place with Singapore Airlines Flight SQ23 touching down in Singapore after a nearly 18-hour flight from New York. The vice president of public relations in the US for Singapore Airlines, James Boyd, says that while the route is long, it does depend on which way you are flying. "There's a lot of interest in the concept of the world's longest flight. We tend to measure it by block time. So the block time on the flight that we operate from Newark to Singapore is 18 hours and 45 minutes," says Boyd. "When that flight returns, it will continue to be the world's longest flight. The flight from JFK to Singapore is just a hair short of that. So our block time is 18 hours and 40 minutes here at JFK, so a close contender, but the crown still belongs in Newark." The inaugural flight from John F Kennedy Airport in New York to Changi Airport in Singapore took 17 hours and 38 minutes to cover its distance of 15,349km. The ultra-long-haul journey is operated by an Airbus A350. "It's a two-engine aircraft, it burns about 30% less fuel than its predecessor. And also because of the carbon fibre fuselage, we're able to do a lot of things that make the passenger experience a lot more comfortable," says Boyd. "Pressurisation is to a lower altitude, humidity levels are higher on board the plane so your skin feels a little bit more comfortable. And as an added bonus, you're actually able to taste your in-flight meal a lot better." It's not just the duration that makes this flight unique - it's one of the few routes where the aircraft circumnavigates the world on a return journey.<br/>

Croatia Airlines is to hold an extraordinary general assembly to approve a recapitalisation scheme which involves raising Kn350m ($54.7m) through a share issue. Under the proposal, to be discussed at the 14 December assembly, the share capital of the airline would increase from Kn277.8m to Kn627.8m. Croatia Airlines would issue 35m new shares, with a nominal value of Kn10. “The purpose of the share capital increase is to return the company’s capital and reserves to pre-crisis levels,” says the carrier. It says the increase in share capital shall be carried out through an investment agreement concluded between the airline and the Croatian state. Shareholders other than the government will be excluded from participating in the offer. Croatia’s transport ministry, on 13 November, put forward a proposal to inject Kn88.5m into the company to compensate for damage inflicted by the pandemic from 11 March to 30 June. The ministry’s proposal says the payment of these funds must be made by 31 December at the latest. Croatia Airlines, it states, is “no exception” to the “devastating” effects on the aviation industry arising from the pandemic.<br/>