Star Alliance will join rivals SkyTeam and Oneworld in moving into China’s Pearl River Delta with Shenzhen Airlines’ agreement to join the group. The deal also means that Star will add mainland China’s fifth-largest airline to its member list, which already includes Shenzhen Airlines’ 51% shareholder, Air China. Initial network benefits largely will be limited to Asian partners, however, because Star members from farther afield do not fly to Shenzhen, the carrier’s main base. The airline’s second base, Guangzhou, attracts more long-haul traffic.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) plans to offer one long-haul flight with Boeing 787s by March, adding to domestic services that will begin when the first aircraft arrives, which the manufacturer says will be in August or September.

The great majority of Australia's people and defense industries are on the southeastern fringe of the continent. But valuable and vulnerable natural resources are in the north and west, much closer to Asia. Where should the country put the weight of its defense forces? Until now, the answer for the air force and navy has been “mostly in the southeast.” The government, no longer sure of that stance, launched a review of military basing on June 22.