Lufthansa tips

Portugal’s flag carrier TAP said on Wednesday that it swung to a net profit of $25 million (23 million euros) in the first half of 2023 on strong revenue growth, boosted by booming tourism, and forecast a strong performance for the remainder of the year.

U.S. travelers will be able to book some flights right on Google for the time being to take advantage of a Google flight price guarantee, despite the shuttering of the Book on Google feature for flights internationally almost a year ago.

A Lufthansa pilot drew a penis-shaped flight path in the sky last week after being diverted from Catania airport in Sicily.

German flag carrier Lufthansa recently launched an advertising campaign around the FIFA World Cup. As part of the initiative, the airline published a one-minute video short called The Great Swap. A camera swoops around distinct cities, airports, streets,and landscapes, showing the alleged biggest jersey swap of all time. 

A growing number of companies are making bulk purchases of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to reduce their carbon footprints, encouraging mass production of the cleaner energy that airlines need to meet their emissions targets.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, November 30. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

A bid from German carrier Lufthansa for ITA Airways could come early next week, three sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, in a crucial step to speeding up the full privatization of Italy’s state-owned company.

With fewer business travelers in the skies, Lufthansa is now allowing passengers to bid for an upgraded seat during a live auction.

Colombia has launched a dedicated visa for digital nomads, which is quite an achievement considering the country’s recent political upheavals.

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn saw demand for connections between its trains and flights operated by Lufthansa increase 25 percent last year. The increase comes after the railroad and airline expanded their partnership, including more direct trains to the Frankfurt airport, in 2021.

Lufthansa has suffered an “IT outage,” prompting the German airline group to delay and cancel all its flights.

SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, said on Tuesday that summer bookings to Turkey spiked as of this month after a brief drop following February’s devastating earthquakes.

Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance in the world, changed the flight game in 1997 when United Airlines, Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, and Lufthansa agreed to join forces.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, May 4. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Ryanair on Wednesday won its challenge against Lufthansa’s 2020 state bailout, as Europe’s second-highest court cited errors in EU competition regulators’ decision to approve the German government’s rescue package.

First class travel is not going anywhere despite recent moves by several airlines to cut the posh seats from planes that fly long, intercontinental routes.

Accurately measuring the climate impact of individual flights has been a thorny issue because the science is inexact. For example, Google Flights last year controversially dropped the inclusion of contrails, the streaking ice clouds that trap heat as they trail aircraft in the sky. They don’t contain CO2, but are believed to have a large effect on a flight’s contribution to global warming.

Three travel tech startups raised nearly $7 million in venture capital this week.

Portugal’s state holding company Parpublica has hired Ernst & Young and Portuguese bank Banco Finantia to determine the value of state-owned airline TAP ahead of its privatisation, it said on Tuesday.

Portugal’s state-owned airline TAP carried 7.58 million passengers in the first half of this year, a 30% increase from a year ago but still slightly below pre-pandemic levels even as tourist numbers have already exceeded those seen in 2019.

The privatization of Portugal’s state-owned airline TAP will take place before October instead of starting in July as the government had originally planned, Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba said.