One carrier set on growth is Lufthansa Group's Brussels Airlines. On Monday, the Belgian carrier announced that it is looking to hire 288 new employees as ticket sales start to pick back up following two burdensome years. As many as 180 of the new staff will be cabin crew on both permanent and temporary contracts. The airline's CEO, Peter Gerber, said Monday: “We see that our booking numbers are increasing and that the willingness to travel this summer is enormous. We have added an additional aircraft to our intercontinental fleet and are looking into additional capacity in Europe. Slowly but steadily we are growing out of this crisis and it is the right time to go for growth.” Beyond flying staff and the addition of 40 check-in agents for Brussels, the airline is also looking for over 20 engineers, technicians, and handypersons for its maintenance and engineering department. Office function hiring for 66 positions will focus on skills within the areas of sustainability, digitization, and innovation - much like the focus of Airbus' new talent acquisition.<br/>
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Seats for fights bound for Saipan from South Korea are nearly packed, with boarding rate averaging 94%, according to Asiana Airlines. South Korea is under travel bubble arrangement with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, where Saipan is located. Although the boarding rate came to 66%, the tickets are fully booked as booking is restricted to 70% to ensure space between passengers amid virus mandate. Korea`s No. 2 full-service carrier operates the Incheon-Saipan route twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. From July last year until January this year, there were 6,400 cumulative passengers on Asiana Airlines’ Incheon-Saipan route. The number of passengers on the Incheon-Saipan route peaked over the Lunar New Year holiday, rising to 98%, the highest since the travel bubble arrangement was first signed. Booking reached 80% for February and March. “Saipan became a popular destination for honeymoons and group tours as it started to be regarded as a safe location,” said Asiana Airlines in a statement. Under travel bubble arrangement, travelers do not have to be isolated upon presentation of negative test result and vaccination certificate. Unvaccinated children also can enter with vaccinated adult.<br/>
Heavy snow hit northern Japan on Monday, disrupting air and railway traffic, with weather authorities warning of more blizzards as well as high waves for the region and also some eastern parts of the country. JAL. and All Nippon Airways canceled more than 140 flights to and from Hokkaido and elsewhere, while Hokkaido Railway suspended all train runs to and from JR Sapporo Station.<br/>
Japanese carrier ANA has removed the Airbus A380 from its schedule until at least July. Until last week, the giant of the skies had been down to return to Honolulu from the start of the IATA summer timetable on March 27th. The type is now not present in ANA's regular flight schedule until July, though its return could be further delayed or moved forwards. While ANA hasn't operated scheduled flights with the giant of the skies for most of the pandemic, that doesn't mean it hasn't been flying the mighty Airbus A380. The airline has been operating regular charter "flights to nowhere" around Japan. Last week the aircraft was listed as returning to Honolulu flights with the arrival of the IATA summer timetable. This meant that seven rotations were planned for March, with ten weekly services planned for the following months. Now, zero Airbus A380 flights are planned across the coming months. Until July, the giant of the skies has been removed from ANA's flight schedule. According to the airline's booking engine, the giant of the skies will now return to Honolulu flights ten times a week from July 1st.<br/>