Fly away from your problems with this fab airline wrap. And please take us with you, we can’t believe how many problems we have this early in the week.

Air New Zealand says Kia Ora Taipei

Air New Zealand’s inaugural flight between Auckland and Taipei has taken off from Auckland International Airport. Flight NZ77 departed shortly after midday and is expected to land in Taipei around 5.45pm local time.

Air New Zealand Chief Revenue Officer Cam Wallace, who is travelling on the inaugural service, says the operational launch of the airline’s new Auckland–Taipei service marks the start of a busy few months for the airline.

The airline will also operate its first scheduled service between Auckland and the US city of Chicago on 30 November and will launch two new services across the Tasman next month – between Queenstown and Brisbane, and Wellington and Brisbane.

LATAM announces non-stop flights between Santiago and Quito, Ecuador

LATAM Airlines Group has announced that it will offer non-stop flights between Santiago and Quito, Ecuador, starting 1 April 2019. The airline group will operate four non-stop flights per week using the latest generation Airbus A320neo aircraft, with capacity for 174 passengers.

LATAM Airlines Group flight LA548 (Santiago-Quito) will depart from Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez airport on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 06:00, arriving in Quito at 09:00. The return flight (LA549) will operate on the same days and depart from Mariscal Sucre International Airport at 09:55, arriving in Santiago at 16:55 (all times local). With an outbound and return flight time of five hours, the non-stop service will reduce travel times between the capital cities by more than two hours, 30 minutes.

The route will complement LATAM’s daily non-stop service between Santiago and Guayaquil, increasing its seat capacity between Chile and Ecuador by 72,500 seats annually, equivalent to 62 per cent growth. From Quito, LATAM offers domestic connections to Guayaquil, Cuenca and the Galapagos Islands.

Finnair to add three new leisure routes for next summer: Porto, Bologna and Bordeaux

Finnair has announced it will further strengthen its holiday offering by opening three new routes to Bologna, Bordeaux and Porto for the peak 2019 European summer season and increasing capacity to other popular destinations.

Finnair will fly up to three weekly flights to Bologna, Italy, between April 10 and October 18 next year. Bologna is well known for its gastronomy and wine scene and is an easy gateway to several other popular Italian cities and regions. Some of the flights will offer excellent connections for customers travelling from and to Finnair’s Asian destinations.

Finnair will also fly up to two weekly flights to Bordeaux, France, between May 11 and September 14. Often referred to as the wine capital of the world, Bordeaux is also recognised for its food and wine scene as well as its historic centre which is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Portugal’s popular coastal city of Porto will receive two weekly flights from Finnair, between June 21 and August 12. Located in Northern Portugal, Porto is Portugal’s second largest city and it is the famous home of Port wine. This route opening follows the successful launch of flights to Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, this year.

Sunshine Coast Airport showcases local products with launch of new concept store

Sunshine Coast Airport has launched its new Sunshine Coast 1530 East concept shop, stocking a range of home-grown and hand-made gourmet food products, gifts, homewares, and skincare lines from many of the region’s most renowned businesses.

Sunshine Coast 153º East is named for the longitude line running through the Sunshine Coast and provides an opportunity to showcase a curated and refined selection of products from around the coast.

Sunshine Coast Airport CEO Peter Pallot said he was delighted that the airport could play a role in supporting local business with our concept partner AWPL.  Natalie Thorogood, whose local bath and beauty business Soak Society is stocked at the new store, added that the high-quality products will add an extra element to the Sunshine Coast holiday experience.

Emirates invites Australian travellers to “Fly Better”

Award-winning airline Emirates is encouraging Australian travellers to “Fly Better” as part of a bold new brand promise.

The new Emirates campaign launches with an ad spot that showcases the airline’s award-winning in-flight entertainment system ice and its diverse offering to Australian travellers. Directed by Michael Gracey whose previous work includes the hit musical ‘The Greatest Showman’ starring Australia’s Hugh Jackman, the ad spot takes viewers on a fantastical journey as a Cabin Crew member morphs into an energetic dancer – transitioning between different dance styles from Bollywood to Hip Hop, representing the superior and diverse range of content on ice.

A second ad spot that promotes Emirates’ extensive network of global destinations will run concurrently. This second ad takes us across the world, transporting viewers from the plains of Kenya to the Eiffel Tower and finally the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The ad is edited in a style that has now become Emirates’ hallmark, featuring seamless transitions between destinations and Emirates’ onboard features.

The campaign, which is set to go live in Australia from 8 November, across TV, cinema and online video, is anchored by a hero 60-second spot and was created in-house by Emirates’ head of brand, Richard Billington. The ice ad spot will debut on television from 1 November on the popular entertainment show ‘The X Factor UK’, and both ad spots will subsequently air across Emirates’ key markets across the Gulf Cooperation Council, in the UK, France, Germany, and the USA.

Singapore Airlines to fly non-stop to Seattle

Seattle will become the fifth US city in Singapore Airlines’ route network – and the fourth to be served non-stop from Singapore – when new flights are introduced next year.

The non-stop Singapore-Seattle flights are due to be launched on 3 September 2019 and will initially be operated three times per week before increasing to four times per week in October 2019. Airbus A350-900 aircraft will be used on the route, fitted with 42 Business Class, 24 Premium Economy Class and 187 Economy Class seats.

Subject to regulatory approvals, flight SQ28 will initially depart Singapore at 0925hrs every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and arrive in Seattle at 0905hrs on the same day (all times local). The return sector, operated as SQ27, will depart Seattle at 1040hrs every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and arrive in Singapore the following day at 1730hrs. From October 2019, flight SQ28 and flight SQ27 will operate every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

The new Seattle flights will complement Singapore Airlines’ existing services to the US cities of Houston, Los Angeles, New York (both JFK and Newark airports) and San Francisco. Singapore Airlines recently introduced daily non-stop flights between Singapore and New York (Newark) and from tomorrow will fly non-stop between Singapore and Los Angeles using Airbus A350-900ULR (ultra-long-range) aircraft. Existing non-stop services to San Francisco will also be increased from seven to 10 flights per week with effect from 28 November 2018.

LATAM Airlines becomes the first airline group to use biometric boarding in South America

LATAM Airlines reports that it has become the first airline group in South America to use facial recognition biometrics for its boarding process at one of the airports operated within the region. Thanks to the innovation implemented by the Carrasco International Airport – in a joint effort with the Uruguayan government authorities – it has become the first country in the region to have this modern system, which allows for a safer and more efficient boarding process.

Biometrics is an identification technology based on the recognition of a physical and non-transferable characteristic of people, such as a fingerprint, finger vein pattern recognition or facial recognition. It is applied in many processes for two fundamental reasons, security and convenience. It is estimated that between 13 and 14 passengers per minute will be able to board, twice as much as manual boarding. Facial recognition for migratory procedures at airports has been used since the beginning of 2016, with the United States being the first country to use it.

To deliver this advanced technology, LATAM appointed a specially dedicated team, who worked since the beginning of this year on the development of the adaptation of the Vision Box and SITA systems to make use of it.