News from Star Alliance

SAS is continuing its expansion into the Polish market with flights to Lodz from Copenhagen beginning Oct. 29. SAS will then have more than 70 weekly flights between Scandinavia and Poland.  more

United Airlines, Boeing, Honeywell's UOP, the Chicago Department of Aviation and the Clean Energy Trust have created the Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels Initiative (MASBI), designed to advance aviation biofuel development in a 12-state region holding significant promise for biomass feedstock, technology development, job creation and sustainable commercialisation. MASBI will deliver a comprehensive evaluation of the region's biofuel potential and a plan to support regional and national needs in a responsible manner. more

United Airlines plans to launch daily, nonstop flights between its Denver hub and its hub at Tokyo Narita International Airport, starting next March, subject to government approval. Eastbound service from Tokyo are to begin April 1. United will operate the service with B787 Dreamliner aircraft. more

The agreement will enable domestic Canadian flights to directly connect to Turkish Airlines itineraries to or beyond Turkey and for THY originating passengers to continue their journeys with Air Canada domestic flights. Turkish passengers can travel with a single Turkish Airlines ticket, which will include the Air Canada domestic connections. more

Turkish Airlines and JetBlue have signed an interline agreement to connect the carriers’ networks at New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).  more

The cake was delivered, balloons and streamers decked airports and headquarter offices. Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of Star Alliance, and member carriers helped celebrate the event around the world. more

Fifteen years ago on May 14 an event took place that would forever change the landscape of commercial aviation. Five forward-looking and like-minded CEOs took the bold decision to create the first multilateral airline alliance, the Star Alliance network. Founding carriers Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, THAI and United all realised that with growing globalisation, the need for more international travel to a wider range of destinations would become increasingly important. As no airline on its own would be able to achieve this, these five airlines established the Star Alliance network with the aim of becoming the “Leading global airline alliance for the high-value international traveller”. more

Monday morning, Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab took to Facebook to speak directly with customers, and answer questions on a wide variety of subjects. He is back on Facebook for a second round on Monday at 18.00 local time Germany (16.00 - 17.00 GMT).  more

On Monday, Star Alliance marks its 15th anniversary. The main theme for the celebration will be thanking customers for their 15 years of loyalty. As part of the campaign, CEO Mark Schwab will be responding to customers’ feedback, comments and suggestions on the Star Alliance Facebook page. This live event will be available on May 14 from 10.00 – 11.00 and 18.00 – 19.00 local time Germany (08.00 – 09.00 GMT and 16.00 - 17.00 GMT). For further details please see www.facebook.com/staralliance. more

Starting June 1, Lufthansa will operate six flights per week with the new aircraft on the Frankfurt-Washington route. Over the next few months, as four more new jumbo jets join the fleet, the number of destinations served by the aircraft will be gradually increased. By late summer, 747-8 flights will be offered to Delhi, Bangalore, Chicago and Los Angeles. more

The SAS Group has signed an agreement with Swedavia to divest six properties at Arlanda in Stockholm, Landvetter in Gothenburg and Sturup in Malmö at a market value of MSEK 1,775. The transaction will generate a net return of MSEK 450 and capital gains of approximately MSEK 350, which will be reported during the second quarter of 2012. SAS has also signed a lease agreement with Swedavia. The annual cost for the lease agreement is neutral, compared with ownership of the properties.  more

Ethiopian Airlines has received the second next-generation Boeing 737-800 Sky Interior aircraft. The airline placed a firm order for 10 in December 2009. The new Sky Interior 737-800NG offers larger overhead bins that hold 48 more bags than the standard overhead bins. Sculpted sidewalls provide customers with a feeling of spaciousness while the updated window makes the windows appear larger.  more

ANA will launch its Tokyo–Seattle service earlier than planned with a start date of July 25. ANA said last December that it aimed to begin services from Tokyo’s Narita airport to Seattle in the second half of its fiscal year 2012. However, ANA has decided to launch the route ahead of schedule to capture passenger demand over the busy summer season. more

United enhanced its carbon offset programme in celebration of Earth Day (April 22), providing customers the opportunity to calculate and offset the carbon footprint associated with their air travel and cargo shipments. While United and Continental each had a similar initiative, this new programme focuses on offset projects that go beyond climate change and provide social and economic benefits in communities United serves. more

With today’s change of ownership from Lufthansa to the International Airlines Group (IAG), bmi has formally exited the Star Alliance network. In preparation for this bmi, Lufthansa and Star Alliance have been working together in order to ensure a smooth withdrawal. more

TAP Portugal and FINNAIR have started codesharing flights between Portugal and Finland. With the agreement, the FINNAIR code will be added to TAP’s direct flights between Lisbon and Helsinki. more

ANA and Boeing made aviation history today as a 787 Dreamliner flew for the first time powered in part by sustainable biofuels. “The 787 is the most environmentally progressive jetliner flying today, combining fuel efficiency and comfort with reduced carbon emissions,” said Billy Glover, Commercial Airplanes Vice President of Environment and Aviation Policy. more

Singapore Airlines bid farewell to its Boeing 747 passenger fleet with special commemorative flights between Singapore and Hong Kong on April 6. more

LOT and JetBlue Airways have a new interline partnership that will allow their customers to book connections through JetBlue's home at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and LOT's hub at Warsaw's Chopin Airport.  more

In April, Croatia Airlines will replace passenger seats on four of its A319s. The airline selected Recaro seats, made in Germany and Poland. The new seats are lighter by five kilograms, which decreases fuel consumption. more