This airline wrap is almost as short as this week promises to be, making it the perfect easy read for those still recovering from their long weekend antics.

Etihad Airways to operate single-use plastic free flight on Earth Day

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, will be the first airline in the region to operate a flight without any single-use plastics on board, in a bid to raise awareness of the effects of plastic pollution. Flight EY484 will depart Abu Dhabi on 21 April, landing in Brisbane on 22 April – Earth Day.

The milestone flight is part of Etihad’s ongoing commitment to the environment, to go beyond Earth Day celebrations, and pledge to reduce single-use plastic usage by 80 per cent not just in-flight, but across the entire organisation by the end of 2022.

Emirates expands its A380 network with the introduction of scheduled service to Riyadh

Emirates is providing more options and choice for its customers in Riyadh with the introduction of the first scheduled Airbus A380 service to the capital city, effective 21 April 2019. Riyadh is the 51st destination to join the Emirates A380 network.

Flight EK 817/818, currently operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, will now be operated by the iconic and highly popular Emirates A380. The Emirates A380 aircraft will be operating on the route five times a week. Emirates flight EK 817 will depart Dubai at 1850hrs, arriving in Riyadh at 1935hrs. The return flight EK 818 leaves Riyadh at 2125hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0035hrs the next day. The deployment of the iconic double-decker aircraft will offer business and leisure travellers from Riyadh even more connection opportunities for a seamless ‘all A380’ journey to business hubs such as New York, London and Hong Kong as well a leisure centres like Mauritius and Barcelona.

Air New Zealand fares to Seoul available now

Fares are on sale now for Air New Zealand’s new non-stop service between Auckland and Seoul, with Economy fares available from $649 one-way.

From 23 November 2019 Air New Zealand will operate three services per week to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, increasing to five times a week during the peak holiday period from late December – mid-February.

The new route will be flown by the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet with a flight time of around 12 hours northbound and just over 11 hours southbound.

Air New Zealand’s proposed schedule between Auckland and Seoul from 23 November 2019 is as follows:

On Earth Day, Delta offsets most carbon emissions in single day for over 300K customers

In celebration of Earth Day today, Delta is offsetting the emissions of all domestic leisure and business travel into and out of New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham and Atlanta for over 300,000 customers across the country.

Plantable seed paper cutouts shaped like aeroplanes will be distributed on these selected flights to let customers know the environmental impact of their flight has been offset and inspire them to offset additional travel on delta.com/co2. Once planted, this special paper aeroplane will sprout non-invasive wildflowers.

Qatar Airways Wins Multiple Awards in Recognition of its Outstanding Onboard Catering, Amenity Kits and Charitable Initiatives

Qatar Airways is celebrating a successful month of April with a host of award wins across a variety of categories, highlighting its outstanding onboard hospitality, passenger experience and commitment to charitable initiatives.

The airline won two separate accolades at the 2019 Onboard Hospitality Awards that took place in Hamburg, Germany on 1 April.

In recognition of the importance of sustainability, innovation and corporate social responsibility and responding to trends, Qatar Airways and FORMIA won a special award for ‘Best Charitable Initiatives’ in recognition of the airline’s breast cancer awareness amenity kit, which was cited as a worthy initiative, helping to raise awareness of an important cause in a simple but effective manner.

Emirates to expand reach in India with SpiceJet codeshare partnership

Emirates and SpiceJet have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enter into a reciprocal codeshare agreement, which is set to open new routes and destinations for passengers travelling between India and popular destinations across Africa, America, Europe and the Middle East.

Subject to necessary government approvals, the partnership will enable Emirates’ passengers to enjoy seamless connectivity on flights to India, leveraging SpiceJet’s strong domestic presence and adding six new destinations: Amritsar, Jaipur, Pune, Mangalore, Madurai and Calicut – to the nine existing cities in India served by Emirates.

This will bolster Emirates’ already-extensive network adding a total of 67 weekly connections between Emirates’ hub in Dubai to these six fast-growing destinations in India. This includes increased domestic connectivity from Emirates’ nine Indian gateways to points such as Goa, Hubli, Guwahati, Vishakhapatnam and Tuticorin which would allow for a greater variety of travel options between both Emirates and SpiceJet flights.

Building a world-class terminal: Delta employees, partners mark the start of demolition at LAX

Demolition has officially started on Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport, commencing the first phase of construction on the $1.86 billion Delta Sky Way project.​

Delta employees along with representatives from Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), contractor Hensel Phelps, and design firms Gensler and Arup gathered for a celebratory event to mark the milestone in the project, which will modernize, upgrade and connect Terminals 2, 3 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal (Terminal B).

The event was held in an area of the terminal that is now closed to the public as construction gets underway and included a ceremonial wall demolition. Attendees also signed a steel girder that will be placed in the final facility.

Delta leaders, including Mary Loeffelholz, Vice President – LAX Corporate Real Estate; John Fechushak, Vice President – LAX Operations; and Scott Santoro, Vice President – Los Angeles and West Sales; were in attendance and recognized the airline’s LA-based employees for the role they play in taking care of customers during the construction and bringing the final facility to life.