Singapore Airlines

Turkish Airlines has launched scheduled flights to Australia's Melbourne and hopes to start flights to Sydney by the end of the year.

The first plane on route to Melbourne departed from Istanbul Airport on March 1 with 349 passengers, including Ahmet Bolat, chairman of Turkish Airlines, and a group of journalists. 

Starting in mid-March, Turkish Airlines will launch flights from Istanbul to Melbourne, its first destination in Australia.

Three reciprocal flights will run every week between Istanbul and Melbourne with a stop in Singapore, according to a statement from Türkiye's flag carrier.

Türkiye's flag carrier plans to expand its international connectivity by launching flights to Detroit, Osaka and Australia, Ahmet Bolat, Turkish Airlines (THY) chairman of the board and executive committee, has said.

Turkish Airlines has been named Europe's best airline for an eighth time by Skytrax, the international air transport rating organization.

The flag carrier also bagged awards in the best Airline in Southern Europe, best Business Class catering, best Economy class catering and best economy class seat in Europe categories.

Singapore-based low-cost airline Scoot announced it is suspending the service linking Athens with Singapore until March 2021 due to low demand because of Covid-19.
Passengers who have made their bookings can choose to be 100% reimbursed in cash or receive vouchers for any Scoot flights in the next 12 months amounting to 120% of their initial booking price.

Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines announced that a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has joined the carrier's fleet.

Singapore Airlines said on May 30 that it will re-launch the world's longest commercial flight in October, a journey of almost 19 hours from the city-state to New York, but it will not be available to economy travelers.

Turkish Airlines organized a surprise celebration for a Dutch couple to mark their 50th wedding anniversary during their flight from Istanbul to Singapore, Doğan Agency reported on Dec. 26.

Dubai's Emirates said on Dec. 29 it has reached an agreement with Rolls-Royce over a "technical issue" relating to the engines of Airbus's A380 superjumbo, and confirmed receiving one plane this week.

The carrier also said it "will continue to receive deliveries of both A380s and (Boeing) 777s in 2017."

Lufthansa has signed a route sharing deal with China's flagship carrier Air China , capping off two years of talks that will boost Germany's biggest airline's access to the world's fastest growing aviation market.