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China Airlines, via its official Facebook account, announced (17-Oct-2024) plans to commence five times weekly Melbourne Tullamarine-Auckland service on 03-Dec-2024. Qantas Airways, Jetstar Airways and Air New Zealand also operate the route, according to OAG. The route is an extension of Taiwan Taoyuan-Melbourne service.

Star Alliance opened (21-Nov-2024) its first lounge in Asia at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Terminal 1. The lounge is available to Star Alliance Gold status customers and first and business class passengers travelling with the 10 Star Alliance member airlines presently operating at Guangzhou. The 750sqm lounge can accommodate up to 100 guests. [more - original PR]

Lufthansa Group chief strategy officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour, speaking at the CAPA World Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence, stated (21-Nov-2024) the company is targeting "a minimum 8% profit margin" across all its carriers. Mr Pour said: "Without that margin of 8% we will not be able to finance our new aircraft".

CAPA - Centre for Aviation announced (22-Nov-2024) the winners of its 2024 Global Aviation Awards for Excellence at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World event in Belgrade on 21-Nov-2024:

• Airline/Airline Group of the Year: IndiGo. The award recognises IndiGo's role in growing and transforming commercial aviation in India, its strategic evolution in pursuing greater international connectivity and its demonstrated excellence in enhancing the sustainability of its operations;
• Low Cost Carrier of the Year: Sun Country Airlines, recognising the carrier's strategic agility in the world's most competitive domestic market and its relentless focus on costs and consistent financial performance;
• Regional Airline of the Year: Aegean Airlines, recognising the airline's healthy financial results, traffic growth, consistent service and performance in the regional market;
• Airline Turnaround of the Year: LATAM Airlines Group, for the airline's rapid recovery in fortunes, its strategic flexibility in the face of difficult local conditions, its financial health and strong positioning for future growth;
• Start-up Airline of the Year: Breeze Airways, reflecting the airline's rapid growth into a niche operator and a sorely needed air service provider for smaller US destinations;
• Large Airport of the Year: Kuala Lumpur International Airport, acknowledging the airport's exceptional connectivity performance in the face of strong regional competition, its commitment to major infrastructure development and its flexibility to act as a hub for full service and low cost airlines;
• Medium Airport of the Year: San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, recognising the airport's recent success in attracting new airlines, its rapid passenger growth over recent years and its status as one of the few US airports to be wholly privatised under a long term lease arrangement;
• Small Airport of the Year: Edmonton International Airport, recognising that the airport has transformed and diversified its business, turning itself into a hotbed of activity around cargo and playing a leading role in future looking areas, such as aviation sustainability and drone development;
• Airline Executive of the Year: Viva Aerobus CEO Juan Carlos Zuazua. Mr Zuazua was a founding member of the executive team at Viva Aerobus has led the airline since 2010 as it has grown rapidly in both domestic and international markets, becoming Mexico's second largest airline;
• CAPA Hall of Fame Inductee: Air Lease Corporation executive chairman Steven Udvar-Házy, in recognition of his pioneering work in the development of the aircraft leasing industry, decades of leadership in the sector and ongoing philanthropy for aviation causes. [more - CAPA Press Release]

SkyTeam head of marketing and sustainability Evgenia Starkova, speaking at the CAPA World Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence, stated (21-Nov-2024) that "when it comes to sustainability, the answer is in the action". Ms Starkova said: "If we focus, stop talking, start doing, I think we will have a change".

IndiGo VP of strategy Neha Narain, speaking at the CAPA World Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence, stated (21-Nov-2024) that the carrier would be able to "double our market size" if it were to capture 1% of ground and rail transportation users in India.