Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc. (New York) today announced plans to enhance its Boeing 767 Intra-Asia services and 747 trans-Pacific services starting in early June 2013.

One Boeing 767-300 freighter will operate between Tokyo, Sydney and Seoul (Incheon), while a second 767-300F will operate between Taipei, Nagoya and Seoul (Incheon). With other previously announced routes, this will allow seamless connections to and from the United States.

Polar also announced the addition of two weekly flights between Hong Kong and Cincinnati responding to the market’s demand for additional capacity.

Polar Air Cargo: 

United Airlines (Chicago) as planned welcomed back its Boeing 787 today with the re-launch of commercial service from the airline’s hub in Houston (Bush Intercontinental). United’s flight UA 1 departure from Houston Intercontinental at 11 a.m. to Chicago O’Hare marked the return of regular service using the world’s most advanced and efficient aircraft on domestic and international routes.

United will operate additional Dreamliner flights on routes from Houston to other domestic hubs this week, and the airline will launch international 787 service on the much-anticipated Denver-Tokyo route on June 10. This summer United also plans to inaugurate 787 service on existing routes including Houston-London, Los Angeles-Tokyo, Los Angeles-Shanghai and Houston-Lagos.

The airline expects to take delivery of two more Dreamliners from Boeing in the second half of 2013.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com.

United Airlines: 

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) announced today that new service between Houston Hobby and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport will begin on August 4, 2013. The airline initially will operate one daily roundtrip flight between the two cities.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently awarded slot exemptions for this service by selecting Southwest’s application over competing applications by other airlines to serve other cities from Reagan National Airport.

The new route completes a triad of nonstop service options between Houston and the metropolitan airports in Boston, New York, and Washington, DC.

Southwest has served Houston Hobby since June 18, 1971, and has more than 2,800 Houston-based employees and currently operates 153 daily departures from Hobby Airport. Earlier this year, the Houston City Council approved Southwest’s proposal to construct a new five-gate international facility at Hobby Airport. New near-international service on Southwest Airlines is scheduled to begin in 2015.

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8H4 WL N8610A (msn 36635) completes its final approach into nearby Baltimore/Washington.

Southwest Airlines: 

Cyprus Airways (Larnaca) is moving closer to Air France (Paris) with an expanded code-share program. Air France-KLM is helping the airline with its reorganization. The carrier today made this announcement:

Air France and Cyprus Airways are building on their existing cooperation to now offer a total of 20 daily code-share flights.

This new agreement offers travellers a wider choice of seamless travel solutions. Passengers travelling on Air France’s extensive international network are now able to connect to and from Cyprus at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.

Flight options between Larnaca and Paris are also enhanced through several daily connections via Athens, in addition to the five weekly nonstop flights operated by Cyprus Airways. Customers can now take advantage of the domestic flights operated within Greece by Cyprus Airways, offering easy connections via Athens, between Paris, Rhodes and Heraklion.

Thanks to this new code-share agreement, Air France will now offer flights operated by Cyprus Airways: Larnaca-Paris, Larnaca-Athens, Athens-Heraklion and Athens-Rhodes. Cyprus Airways will also offer flights operated by Air France between Athens and Paris.

To better serve passengers on both airlines’ code-share flights, Cyprus Airways has conveniently moved from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 at Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport. Terminal 2 is also used by Air France for its own flight operations. Moreover, passengers on both Air France and Cyprus Airways flights can collect points for their frequent flyer programmes, Flying Blue and Sunmiles, with each airline on all code-share flights.

This expanded relationship follows the bank rejection of all overtures by MEA-Middle East Airlines (Beirut) to either acquire a share or all of Cyprus Airways. The Central Bank, which controls the majority shares of MEA, rejected the plan by MEA to buy into troubled Cyprus Airways which is undergoing an reorganization. The bank did not want the airline to take on this added risk.

Read the full report from The Daily Star: CLICK HERE

Meanwhile Cyprus Airways’ pilots are supporting the restructuring plan being designed by Air France-KLM.

Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 5B-DCK (msn 2275) approaches the Larnaca base for landing.

Air France: 

Cyprus Airways: 

Darwin Airline (Lugano) has announced a new European base at Cambridge, UK. Starting on September 2, Darwin will fly from Cambridge to Amsterdam, Paris (CDG), Milan (Malpensa) and Geneva with 50-seat SAAB 2000 aircraft. A total of 50 flights will be operated from Cambridge each week. This will include a planned timetable of 24 weekly flights to and from Amsterdam;
12 weekly flights to and from Paris CDG (East Anglia’s only air service to the French capital); eight
weekly flights to and from Milan Malpensa, and six weekly services to and from Darwin Airline’s main
hub at Geneva.

Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl/AirlinersGallery.com. SAAB 2000 HB-IZZ (msn 048) arrives at Zurich with a special S. Pellegrino logo.

Darwin Airline: 

Current routes from Geneva:

Ryanair (Dublin) has reported on its financial results for 2012. The company issued this statement:

Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low cost carrier (ULCC) today (May 20) announced (record) annual profits of €569 million ($731.3 million), up 13% on last year despite higher oil costs. Revenues rose 13% to €4.88 billion as traffic grew 5% to 79.3 million passengers. Unit costs rose 8% mainly due to an 18% (€292 million) increase in fuel. Excluding fuel unit costs rose by 3%, while average fares improved by 6%.

“Announcing these profits Ryanair’s, Michael O’Leary, said:

The highlights of the past financial year include:-

·         Profits grew by 13% to €569m.

·         Traffic grew 5% to 79.3m (despite grounding up to 80 winter aircraft).

·         7 new bases – Chania (Greece), Eindhoven (Netherlands), Fez (Morocco), Krakow (Poland), Maastricht (Netherlands), Marrakech (Morocco) & Zadar (Croatia).

·         217 new routes (y/e total over 1,600 routes).

·         15 new aircraft delivered (y/e fleet 305).

·         2nd special div. of €492m and €68m share buyback completed.

·         175 new aircraft order, delivery 2014 to 2018 (sub. to June 18 EGM approval).

Delivering a 13% increase in profits and 5% traffic growth despite high oil prices during a European recession is testimony to the strength of Ryanair’s ultra-low cost model. Fuel costs rose by over €290m, and now represent 45% of total costs.  Excluding fuel, unit costs were up 3% due to excessive and unjustified increases in Italian ATC, Eurocontrol and Spanish airport fees. Ancillary revenues outpaced traffic growth, rising 20% to €1,064m or 22% of total revenue.

Growth – New Routes and Bases

This summer Ryanair opened 7 new bases, and more than 200 new routes as we continue our strategy of growing Europe’s largest passenger airline. However with 9 (net) additional aircraft and longer sectors, traffic growth this summer will be very modest at approx. 2%. By grounding fewer aircraft next winter we expect to deliver slightly faster H2 monthly growth which should result in overall traffic growth for the full year rising by more than 2m to 81.5m passengers.

Our new route teams continue to handle more growth opportunities than our current fleet expansion allows. Significant opportunities are opening up in Germany, Scandinavia and central Europe in particular, where Air Berlin, SAS and LOT continue to restructure. We are in active discussions with the new owners of Stansted Airport and the new management at Dublin Airport and while no agreements have yet been reached, if a competitive cost base emerges, then we could restart growth at one or other airports as early as September 2013.

Ryanair continues to expand, making meaningful share gains in many of Europe’s largest markets. In addition to being the No. 1 passenger airline in Ireland, and Spain, we have in the last 12 months overtaken Alitalia and LOT to become Italy’s and Poland’s No. 1 airline, respectively. Ryanair believes that its unique low cost advantage will enable the airline to achieve a 20% share of the European short-haul market over the next 5 years, particularly given that many of Europe’s high fare incumbents are restructuring and cutting capacity.

Ryanair’s successful growth, allied to deep short-haul restructuring among many high fare competitors, gives us confidence that we can grow from 80m p.a. to over 100m passengers p.a. over the next 5 years. Our recent order for 175 firm B 737-800 aircraft represents an enormous opportunity for shareholders as Ryanair returns to higher rates (5% p.a.) of traffic growth. We are pleased to have reached acceptable  pricing with Boeing, and the controlled delivery programme from Autumn 2014 to end of 2018 will provide the opportunity to expand Ryanair’s fleet to over 400 aircraft and our traffic to over 100m p.a. Ryanair is now uniquely positioned to offer many of Europe’s airports sustained traffic growth in return for low cost, efficient facilities. I am confident that in time this new order will enable Ryanair to extend its traffic leadership over Europe’s airlines, and generate further returns for our shareholders.

We were disappointed that the European Commission in February 2013 decided to prohibit Ryanair’s third offer for Aer Lingus. It is bizarre that the EU can wave through BA’s offer for British Midland in Phase 1 with few remedies, yet months later reject Ryanair’s offer for Aer Lingus which was accompanied by a revolutionary remedies package delivering two upfront buyers to open competing bases in Dublin and Cork airports. We have no doubt that this was yet another politically motivated decision by Europe’s competition authority and it is inexplicable in the context of its stated policy of promoting European airline consolidation.

In recent years high oil prices and competitor fuel surcharges have made Ryanair’s fares even more attractive to hard pressed European consumers. The combination of high oil prices, increasing competitor losses, together with a shortage of financing for weaker credits, will lead to continued EU consolidation and closures. Ryanair is 90% hedged for FY’14 at $980 per tonne (approx. $98 p.bl) and we have now extended our hedges into FY’15 with 25% of H1 hedged at $930 per tonne (approx. $93 p.bl). We hope to continue to make meaningful reductions in our oil costs into FY’15.

Ryanair’s balance sheet remains one of the strongest in the industry. Our aircraft which have been purchased at substantially discounted prices, represents a significant long term benefit for our shareholders. We have gross cash over €3.5bn and year-end net cash of €61m, despite having returned almost €500m to shareholders in November (€1.5bn over the past 5 years) via a second special dividend. We have also taken advantage of current low interest rates to secure almost 70% of our fleet financing all in at under 3% and we have completed our Capex hedging programme to the end of 2014 at Euro/Dollar exchange rate of 1.32.

We expect traffic in FY.14 to grow by 3% to 81.5m. Growth will be slower in H1 at approx. 2%, but rise to approx. 5% in H2 as we ground fewer winter aircraft (up to 60) compared to prior years. Unit costs will increase primarily due to rising oil prices, a 3% growth in sector length, and unjustified higher Eurocontrol and Spanish airport charges. Due to lower yields and higher fuel costs Q1 Net Profit will be lower than last year due to the timing of Easter (which boosted Q4 revenues) and its presence in the prior year Q1 comparable. With almost zero yield visibility into H2 and the EU wide recession, we expect that there will continue to be downward pressure on yields which will dampen full year profit growth. We expect modest yield and traffic growth for the full year to be partly offset by higher oil and Eurocontrol costs resulting in another year of profit growth in FY’14 which – subject to winter yield outturns – should increase to a range of between €570m to €600m”.

Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. In November of 2006 Ryanair added these biting “bye bye Latehansa” markings to this Boeing 737-8AS EI-DLM (msn 33594) pictured landing at the Dublin base. The aircraft has since gone on to Nok Air as HS-DBM.

Ryanair: 

China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320 aircraft equipped with Sharklet fuel saving wing-tip devices, becoming China’s first carrier to do so. The aircraft is also the first Sharklets equipped A320 assembled and delivered in Tianjin, China.

The A320, powered by IAE V2500 engines, features a comfortable two class cabin, seating 158 passengers with eight in business class and 150 in economy. The A320 will make its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Dalian on May 18.

Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. They are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft and standard on all members of the new A320neo family. They offer operators up to four per cent fuel burn reduction on longer range sectors and provide the flexibility of either adding an additional 100 nautical miles range or increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.

China Eastern is one of the largest airlines in China and is the first Chinese airline operating Airbus aircraft in 1985. Now it operates an Airbus fleet of over 230 aircraft including A300s, A319s, A320s, A321s, A330s and A340s.

Airbus Tianjin Delivery Centre has delivered 126 aircraft since June 2009 and it plans to deliver 46 aircraft in total in 2013.

Copyright Photo: Airbus. Wearing temporary marks of B-513L, this Airbus A320-232 was handed over as B-9921 (msn 5516).

China Eastern Airlines: 

Tatarstan Airlines (Tatarstan Aircompany) Airbus A319-111 VP-BDZ (msn 2446) (RusLine colors) DXB (Paul Denton). Image: 912185.

Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com.

Tatarstan Airlines: 

Frameable Color Prints and Posters: 

Quebecair BAC 1-11 402AP CF-QBR (msn 009) YYY (Bruce Drum). Image: 102855.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum.

Quebecair: 

Frameable Color Prints and Posters: 

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) and US Airways (Phoenix) have circled August 31 as a target date for its possible merger approval pending any anti-trust concerns of the government. In the meantime, according to this Wall Street Journal update, 29 employee teams are currently analyzing differences between the two carriers and ways to integrate the merger process. This research will lead to a sequence of events once the approval is granted. CEO Parker and CEO Horton co-lead the transition team. The new American livery still remains an resolved issue for the possible new American.

Read the full story: CLICK HERE 

Copyright Photo: Brian Peters/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-323 ER N722AN (msn 31547) arrives at the DFW hub.

American Airlines: 

US Airways: 

Harbour Air Seaplanes (Vancouver Harbour), Westcoast Air (Vancouver Harbour) and Kenmore Air (Kenmore, WA) are coming together to build a new seaplane terminal in Victoria’s Inner Harbour, replacing the present facility consisting of converted trailers. The city council of Victoria has approved the variances to build the new terminal on city property according to this report by the Times Colonist.

Harbour Air acquired the assets of Westcoast Air on April 30, 2010.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Harbour Air’s de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Turbo Otter C-FRNO (msn 21) is captured beautifully inflight near Sechelt, British Columbia.

Harbour Air: 

Westcoast Air: 

Bottom Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Westcoast Air and parent Harbour Air are now developing a common livery. Westcoast Air’s de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100 Twin Otter C-GQKN (msn 94) showcases 2013 livery which replaces the more colorful green, blue and white color scheme from 2008.

Route Map:

Hawkair Aviation Services (Terrace, BC) will start the Terrace-Prince George-Calgary route on June 3. The new route will be operated as a Central Mountain Air (Smithers, BC) flight using Hawkair’s Bombardier DHC-8s.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Hawkair introduced this new look in June 2012. The unique tail design was created by Roy Henry Vickers.

Hawkair: 

Air Corsica Airbus A320-214 F-HDMF (msn 4463) (100th Tour de France Official Supporter) TLS (Eurospot). Image: 912097.

Copyright Photo: Eurospot.

Air Corsica: 

Frameable Color prints and Posters: 

Coastal Air Lines Lockheed 049-46-10 (C-69-5-LO) Constellation N2737A (msn 1976) OAK (Christian Volpati Collection). Image: 912167.

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati Collection.

Frameable Color Prints and Posters: 

Piedmont Airlines (2nd) (US Airways Express) (Salisbury) had an incident around 0100 this morning at Newark Liberty Airport. The crew operating a flight from the Philadelphia hub to Newark were forced to make a wheels-up landing at Newark with Bombardier (de Havilland Canada) DHC-8-102 Dash 8 N934HA (msn 139) after it was unable to lower the gear. 31 passengers and three crew members were able to walk away from the incident.

Read the full account (with a video) from ABC Channel 7: CLICK HERE

Video:

USA Airways Express/Piedmont Airlines: 

AviancaTaca Holding (Avianca and TACA) (Bogota and San Salvador) has announced its financial results for 2012 and the first quarter of 2013 and issued this statement:

AviancaTaca Holding and its subsidiaries reported an increase of 12.9% in passenger numbers compared to 2011.

During 2012, AviancaTaca Holding S.A. recorded net profit of COP$351,684 million ($190.9 million), up 73.9% compared to 2011.

In 2012 AviancaTaca Holding S.A. continued work on expanding its network of routes and creating new air services for travelers flying to and from the Americas and Europe.

According to AviancaTaca’s CEO, Fabio Villegas: “Following the integration of Avianca and TACA operations the Company has launched 46 new routes, and over the last year has emphasized connectivity between high demand points in the local markets of Colombia, Peru and Central America, and throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. This expansion process is taking place in parallel with the renewal of the aircraft fleet and the development of an intensive campaign to further improve the internal service culture.”.

As a result of the increase in seat capacity, flight services to key destinations and also an improvement in service standards, AviancaTaca Holding and its subsidiaries transported 23.1million passengers in 2012, an increase of 12.9% compared to 2011.

Between January and December 2012 the number of travelers transported in markets within Colombia, Peru and Ecuador was 13,255,502, up 18.5% compared to 2011. The number of passengers transported by the Company on international routes was 9,837,031, an increase of 6.1% compared to 2011.

Financial Results

Between January and December 2012, Avianca, TACA and subsidiaries recorded an operating income of $4,254 million (USD), up 11.2% from 2011. Operating profit for the year was $282 million (USD).

The EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and aircraft leasing payments) for 2012 was USD$737.5 million and net profit totaled $195.6 million (USD).

Consistent with an increase of 10.3% in ASK capacity (seats available per kilometer flown), passenger traffic in RPK (passenger revenue per kilometer flown) increased by 10.3%. The average Load Factor was 79.6%.

In the first quarter of 2013, the Company reported net income of $75.3 million (USD).

Strategic projects

During 2012 the Company incorporated 14 new jet aircraft: two Airbus A330s, four Airbus A319, seven Airbus A320 and one Airbus A330F exclusively for cargo. It also announced the firm order for 15 ATR 72-600 aircraft and rights to purchase 15 more, which will be assigned to cover regional routes within Colombia and short and medium-haul markets in Central America.

In other news, TACA is eliminating routes from San Jose, Costa Rica and laying off 261 employees. The airline issued this statement:

Starting May 17, the Airline adjusts operations to and from San Jose, Costa Rica, in order to meet market needs

The airline will keep direct flights between San Jose and Caracas, Mexico, Miami, Guatemala, Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Managua, and Panama, as well as the connecting flights to hubs in El Salvador, Bogota, and Lima

All travelers with a reservation in flights from San Jose to Caracas, Mexico, Miami, Guatemala, Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Managua and Panama, as well as to our hubs in El Salvador, Bogota and Lima, will keep their itinerary as scheduled.

Flights canceled as of May 17, 2013:

Flights canceled as of June 16, 2013:

TACA was founded in 1931 and boasts more than 80 years of history. It links the Americas together through its four Hubs (Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Peru), and its extensive route network from Canada to Brazil, flying to 50 destinations in 22 countries. Its fleet consists of Airbus A319, A320 and A321 aircraft and new Embraer 190 aircraft. In addition, its regional operations service 39 destinations in Central American countries with a fleet of ATR 42, Short SD3-60, Twin Otter and Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum. The TACA name and brand will be retired at the end of May ending a long history. TACA’s Airbus A320-233 N682TA (msn 3581) arrives at Miami painted in the last (2008) livery for the company. All TACA aircraft will be repainted into the red and white Avianca brand and operate under the Avianca name. Goodbye TACA.

Avianca (Colombia): 

TACA: 

Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated (Portland, Oregon) which operates the Erickson S-64 Aircrane, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Evergreen Helicopters, Inc. (EHI) (McMinnville, Oregon), has acquired five aircraft for $10.1 million that it has historically leased from a third-party. The acquired aircraft include two Bell 214STs, two Beechcraft 1900Ds and one CASA 212-CC. The Company’s total fleet size remains unchanged at 85 aircraft, now comprised of 35 leased and 50 owned aircraft.

Erickson Air-Crane closed its acquisition of Evergreen Helicopters, Inc.(EHI) from Evergreen International Aviation, Inc. on May 2, 2013.

EHI currently operates a fleet of 65 aircraft of varying rotary-wing and fixed-wing types for a wide range of passenger transport and light, medium and heavy load-carrying missions. This diverse fleet serves both government and commercial customers, including significant and critical programs with the US Military in support of overseas operations. EHI maintains a global presence with operations in North America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Total consideration for the acquisition was: $185.0 million of cash, $17.5 million in unsecured promissory notes issued by Erickson, and approximately four million newly-issued preferred shares, mandatorily convertible, at the option of the Company, into an equal number of common shares, subject to shareholder approval under NASDAQ marketplace rules, which the Company now intends to seek. As part of the acquisition, Erickson funded the acquisition by EHI of nine aircraft from an affiliate of EIA for approximately $13 million. As part of its integration plans, the Company will consolidate operations and will incur restructuring and other costs as a result.

Travel Service Airlines (Czech Republic) Boeing 737-8Z9 WL OK-TVX (msn 33833) (Prague loves you – Prague Airport) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 912156.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com.

Hot New Photos: 

VIASA Venezuela Boeing 747-273C N749WA (msn 20653) MIA (Bruce Drum). Image: 102779.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum.

VIASA: 

Frameable Color Prints and Posters: 

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) is gradually replacing its large FRONTIER billboard titles on its aircraft with equally large FLYFRONTIER.COM billboard titles. The move will be gradual as new aircraft are added or when the older aircraft need to be repainted. The move is to drive more traffic to its website.

In other news, Frontier Airlines launched new routes this week from its Denver, Colorado (DEN) hub to three new cities: Cincinnati, OH (CVG); Eugene, OR (EUG); and Fresno/Yosemite, CA. (FAT).

Following is the schedule for Frontier’s Cincinnati service:

Denver-Cincinnati (beginning May 16, 2013)

Following is the schedule for Frontier’s Eugene service:

Denver-Eugene (beginning May 16, 2013)

Following is the schedule for Frontier’s Fresno service:

Denver-Fresno (beginning May 17, 2013)

Top Copyright Photo: Frontier Airlines. Mickey, the Moose is back on newly-acquired Airbus A319-112 N954FR (msn 1786).

Frontier Airlines: 

Bottom Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough. Airbus A320-214 N213FR (msn 4704) displays the old silver FRONTIER titles as it lands at Washington (Reagan National).

Alaska Air Cargo (Alaska Airlines) (Seattle/Tacoma) today (May 17) delivered the season’s first shipment of Copper River salmon to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. According to the airline, “the arrival of the coveted Copper River salmon marks the start of the summer salmon season and is anticipated by seafood lovers throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.”

The Alaska Airlines plane arrived early this morning with Copper River king and sockeye salmon from three seafood processors: Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Trident Seafoods and Copper River Seafoods. At least four more Alaska Airlines flights today will transport salmon from Cordova, Alaska, to Anchorage, Alaska, Seattle and across the United States.

“We’re proud to be the first to bring wild and sustainable Copper River salmon to seafood lovers across the country, in many cases within 24 hours after the fish is caught,” said Betsy Bacon, managing director of Alaska Air Cargo. “With so much demand for sustainable wild Alaska seafood, airline crews in South-Central and Southeast Alaska will kick into high gear to ship more than 2 million pounds of salmon across our 95-city network.”

Copper Chef Cook-off

Following the arrival of the first fish, three top Seattle chefs will compete to create the best salmon recipe in Alaska Air Cargo’s annual “Copper Chef Cook-off.” Pat Donahue, executive chef of Anthony’s Restaurants and the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Copper Chef winner, will compete against executive chefs John Howie of Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, and Chris Bryant of Wildfin American Grill. Also competing against the three chefs in the cook-off will be Master Sgt. Robert Shulman, a 31-year U.S. Air Force Reserve chef representing the 446^th Airlift Wing (AW) out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, located in Tacoma, Wash.

The chefs will have 30 minutes to prepare and serve the first catch of the season to a panel of judges, including Jay Buhner, Seattle Mariners Hall of Famer; Mike Fourtner, deckhand on the F/V Time Bandit, as featured on Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch;” Chief Master Sgt. Tony Mack, 446th AW command chief from JBLM; and Jeff Butler, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of customer service-airports and cargo.

In a special tribute to the military, 10 citizen airmen from the 446^th AW, joined in the morning festivities to cheer on the four chefs and sample the season’s first Copper River salmon. Among the other onlookers awaiting the freighter’s arrival were five Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan MVP Gold members invited to sample the season’s first Copper River salmon. These frequent fliers donated 500,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles to Fisher House Foundation’s Hero Miles program to attend the event. Hero Miles turns donated frequent-flier miles into free airfare for wounded, injured and ill service members and/or their families who are undergoing treatment at a military or VA medical center and for other authorized events. Through Alaska Airlines’ partnership with Fisher House, the nonprofit that administers the program, nearly 6 million miles were donated last year to assist U.S. servicemembers injured and wounded in service to their country.

“The Copper Chef Cook-off helps to showcase the proud relationship the Air Force Reserves has with Alaska Airlines and hundreds of other employers and industry leaders here in Washington State,” said Chief Master Sgt. Tony Mack, 446^th Airlift Wing command chief from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. “Chef is only one of hundreds of vocations in the Air Force Reserve, and allowing one of our finest to compete is a testament to the relationships we have within the community.”

Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier Horizon Air employ dozens of reservists who serve as pilots, aircraft maintenance technicians as well as other air and ground crew. An estimated 10 percent of current Alaska and Horizon employees either still serve in the military or have veteran status.

The airline will use its Twitter account, @AlaskaAir, to announce the winning Copper River salmon recipe. The recipes that will be prepared for the Copper Chef Cook-off are available to download at http://bit.ly/13qe3gS. Fish lovers are encouraged to share their own favorite salmon recipes on Twitter, using the hashtag #SalmonChef.

Enhanced seafood quality training program

Copper River salmon shipped on Alaska Air Cargo this season will arrive as fresh as possible to grocery stores and restaurants across the nation, thanks in part to a cool chain training program required of all airline employees who handle perishables. Alaska Air Cargo employees are required to adhere to strict seafood quality standards and pass an annual food quality course.

Seafood processors and shippers follow these cool-chain standards to provide a temperature-controlled environment for proper food handling. The goal is to keep seafood moving rapidly throughout its journey on Alaska Airlines and maintain a consistent temperature range from the time it leaves the water to when it arrives at stores and restaurants.

Copyright Photo: bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Alaska Air Cargo’s Boeing 737-490 (F) N709AS (msn 28896) arrives at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport hub.

Alaska Airlines: 

Air India (Mumbai) is considering selling all eight of its Boeing 777-200 LRs (Longer Range) according to a report by Reuters. The airline is working with Boeing on the sale of the aircraft. The aircraft would be replaced with newer Boeing 787s.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-237 LR VT-ALD (msn 36303) climbs into the clear sky at Tokyo (Narita).

Air India: 

Transaero Airlines (Moscow) has issued the following short statement concerning its financial performance during 2012.

Transaero Airlines has published its financial results under RAS for 2012 which demonstrate the Company’s growth.

• Revenue from all activities in 2012 reached RUB 97.6bln, 13% more than in 2011
• Traffic revenue from in 2012 made up RUB 90.3bln, a 35% increase on 2011
• Revenue from asset transactions decreased by 64% and reached RUB 6.8 bln
• The Company’s revenue grew faster than prime costs and expenses.
• Transaero’s sales revenue increased 2.9 times over 2011, to RUB 7 bln

Net profit reached RUB 902 million ($28.7 million), a 51% decrease over 2011. The Company’s profit was mainly ensured by revenues from the main carrier’s activities. Transaero has achieved these results amid a significant growth of air fuel price, social payment and taxes.

In other news, the Russian airline added twice-weekly Boeing 737-500 service from St. Petersburg to Kaliningrad on May 12 in competition against Rossiya Airlines per Anna Aero.

Kaliningrad is a seaport city and the administrative capital of the Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave located between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. This enclave is geographically separated from the rest of Russia.

Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 747-446 EI-XLD (msn 26360) approaches the Turkish resort destination of Antalya.

Transaero Airlines: 

airBaltic (Riga) on May 12, 2013 launched a new route from Riga to Malta. The new route will offer convenient travel between the airports, and beyond to destinations in the Baltics, Scandinavia, Russia, and the CIS.

airBaltic will fly from Riga to Malta once a week on Sundays, the return flight from Malta to Riga will be operated also on Sundays to secure convenient connections. Passengers will board a Boeing 737-300 aircraft (above) for a flight that will last for 3 hours and 40 minutes.

airBaltic serves 60 destinations from its home base in Riga, Latvia. airBaltic offers convenient connections via North Hub Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East. For summer 2013, airBaltic has introduced six new destinations – Prague (Czech Republic), Heviz-Balaton (Hungary), Olbia (Sardinia, Italy), Rijeka (Croatia), Larnaca (Cyprus), and Malta.

On the financial, the struggling flag carrier stated it trimmed its first quarter net loss by over $12 million. The airline issued this statement:

Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “After improving our consolidated net result by LVL +66 million in 2012, we were again able to beat our own plan.”

For the January to March period, airBaltic achieved +41% improvement of its net result, compared to the same period a year ago. airBaltic achieved +10% yield improvement in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, and generated LVL 44.5 million in revenues. The unit revenue, or RASK – revenue per available seat kilometer, was improved by +8% in the January to March period, compared to the same period a year ago.

airBaltic operated 9,685 flights in the first quarter of 2013, or 9% less than in the first quarter of 2012 when airBaltic operated 10,637 flights. In March 2013, airBaltic operated 3,442 flights. The airline carried 534,879 passengers in the first three months of 2013 in its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East, but in March 2013 the airline carried 201,757 passengers. The airline’s load factor, which represents the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of available seats, in the first quarter of 2013 was at a level of 63%, while in March it stood at 69%.

The 15-minute flight punctuality indicator for airBaltic was at a level of 83.9% in the first quarter of 2013. This means that 83 of every 100 airBaltic flights in the first quarter of 2013 departed at the planned time or with a delay of no more than 15 minutes.

For summer 2013, airBaltic has introduced six new destinations - Prague (Czech Republic), Heviz-Balaton (Hungary), Olbia (Sardinia, Italy), Rijeka(Croatia), Larnaca (Cyprus), and Malta.

Copyright Photo: Ole Simon/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-33V WL YL-BBK (msn 29332) taxies past the camera at Paris (CDG).

airBaltic: 

LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw) has received welcome news from the European Commission of the European Union. The EC was looking into the state aid the airline received last year. The commission stated the aid did fall into the guidelines for state aid and approved the loan from the government of Poland.

Read the full story from NASDAQ: CLICK HERE

Meanwhile the struggling carrier will relaunch Boeing 787-8 jet service on June 5 to Chicago (O’Hare) and  later, to New York (JFK), Toronto (Pearson) and Beijing.

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean/AirlinersGallery.com. A beautiful portrait of Boeing 787-8 SP-LRC (msn 35940) on a clear day at Paine Field near Everett.

LOT Polish Airlines: 

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) has launched a new systemwide boarding process that saves overall boarding time by allowing customers who are traveling light to board earlier. Customers traveling with one personal carry-on item that fits under the seat in front of them will be invited to board before Group 2.

The new boarding process is another example of how American is reinventing itself by continuously seeking out ways to streamline processes, creating a more efficient and enjoyable customer journey. With on-time performance being a key factor in the airline’s dependability rating, every minute saved during boarding allows American to push back from the gate earlier, resulting in a more timely departure and arrival.

“For customers, departing on time and arriving at their destination on time is a huge factor in how they feel about their overall experience,” said Carol Wright, American’s Vice President – Customer Planning. “Our tests indicate that this new boarding process will improve our dependability and on-time performance, while being easier and more enjoyable for our customers. It’s another example of our promise to put our customers at the center of everything we do.”

The new boarding process follows successful testing done earlier this year at American Airlines gates at airports in Austin, Texas (AUS), Baltimore (BWI), Denver (DEN), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Fla. (FLL), Kansas City, Mo. (MCI), Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) and Washington-Dulles (IAD).

The test received overwhelmingly positive feedback from American’s customers, and agents like the new process because it allows for smoother and quicker boarding for everyone. American expects to see a notable reduction in average boarding time per flight with the new boarding process.

American is continually looking for innovative ways to enhance the customer experience. Other recent enhancements designed to give customers more choices when traveling include:

• The expansion of American’s next-generation kiosks with self-tag capabilities for checked baggage, speeding up the check-in process
• New fare choices with perks that include preferred seating, early boarding and same-day flight changes
• More power ports onboard to help customers stay charged and connected throughout their journey

American’s baggage policy allows each customer to take onboard at no charge one personal item that will fit under the seat in front of them and one bag that meets the FAA-mandated carry-on size requirements to fit into the overhead storage compartment. With the new boarding process, customers who wish to board early before Group 2 can gate-check their carry-on bag at no charge.

Copyright Photo: Joe G. Walker/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-823 WL N980AN (msn 33203) arrives at Las Vegas.

American Airlines: 

Spring Airlines Japan Boeing 737-81D WL N272LM (JA01GR) (msn 39429) BFI (Rick Schlamp). Image: 912049.

Copyright Photo: Rick Schlamp.

Hot New Photos: 

Compañía Mexicana de Aviación (Mexicana) Airbus A320-231 N405MX (msn 405) LAX (Roy Lock). Image: 912127.

Copyright Photo: Roy Lock.

Mexicana: 

Frameable Color Prints and Posters: 

Emirates (Dubai) has announced it will add Airbus A380 service to Brisbane and Auckland.

Brisbane is set to become Emirates’ third Australian destination to welcome the airline’s flagship Airbus A380, with the announcement that Emirates will operate the A380 on the Dubai to Brisbane and Auckland route from October 1, 2013.

Adding the A380 to one of Emirates’ two daily Brisbane services will see an increase in capacity of 135 seats for sale per flight and 1,890 week, reinforcing Emirates’ commitment to its Queensland and Auckland passengers. The double-daily service is currently operated by Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft.

Together with QANTAS Airways (Sydney), from October 1 a total of six daily A380 services will operate to Dubai, offering a seamless A380 experience through Dubai International Airport’s Concourse A, the world’s first purpose built A380 concourse, to 21 A380 serviced destinations on the network including London Heathrow, Manchester, Paris and Rome.

Today’s announcement caps off a range of recent upgrades to Emirates’ Australian services, including the introduction of a daily Melbourne A380, a daily Adelaide service and a three times daily Perth service. A second A380 for Sydney from June has been announced.

Emirates sets the pace for A380 deployment, with the aircraft having carried 14 million passengers on 35,000 trips spanning 200 million kilometres since A380 operations commenced five years ago. In 2012 alone, Emirates added 11 A380s to its fleet and is the largest operator of the aircraft, with 33 in the fleet and 57 on order.

The Emirates A380 is set in a three-class configuration, with 399 seats in Economy Class on the lower level and 76 fully flat-bed, mini-pods in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites on the upper level. Passengers in the First Class cabin can freshen up in one of two on-board Shower Spas before joining fellow premium class travellers in the On-Board Lounge where they can enjoy complimentary beverages and canapés.

Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best.

Emirates: 

Video:

Airbus (Toulouse) has completed the painting of the first A350 XWB (msn 001). On May 13 the new type was fully completed as it emerged in its Airbus livery out from the paintshop in Toulouse. This latest milestone shows that msn 001 is progressing well on its route to first flight.

The aircraft painting was achieved in less than seven days and follows the recent completion of msn 001’s flight-test-instrumentation (FTI) verification. Last month the aircraft underwent its engines installation, and passed a subsequent intensive phase of ground vibration tests. Msn 001 will soon start the final tests before its maiden flight this summer.

Copyright Photos: Airbus. The new airliner is officially an A350-941 with the registration of F-WXWB (msn 001).

Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) has announced its financial results for 2012. The company has returned to profitability and issued this statement:

• Net result of EUR 6.8 million ($8.7 million), 33.3 million guests
• Group revenue of EUR 4.31 billion, capacity utilization and yield increased
• Strategic partnership with Etihad Airways provides joint revenue of EUR 100 million, new code share routes expected to provide further growth
• First “Turbine” measures started – EUR 400 million until the end of 2014
• 180 positions already cut between January and the end of March 2013
• As of summer 2013, the Berlin and Dusseldorf hubs will be strengthened with increased flight frequencies and new destinations
• Revenue growth with fewer routes and increased frequencies: routes will be reduced from 523 in summer 2012 to 438 in summer 2013.
• Fleet reduction by twelve aircraft to 143 aircraft by the end of 2013
• The goal for 2013 is operational profitability, break-even at the EBIT level

Over the first months of the year, Airberlin, Germany’s second-largest airline, implemented numerous measures of the “Turbine” turnaround program. At the press conference on the 2012 results, airberlin’s CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer stated: “With Turbine, we are setting up airberlin in line with the market. We are becoming leaner, faster and are, at the same time, continuously improving our service and flight offers. In the first months of 2013, we have initiated a number of measures. It goes without saying that such programs have a start-up phase and start-up costs. We will reach ‘cruising altitude’ by the end of 2014.”

This two-year program will enable Germany’s second-largest airline to further expand its presence in core markets and to make structural changes aimed at making the company sustainably fit for the future. For that purpose, airberlin will further promote its integrated business model through which the company caters to tourist travelers and business clients. Up to the end of 2014, the Turbine program includes initiatives of approximately EUR 400 million, so as to achieve a sustainably competitive profit situation.

Turbine program with multiple measures started

The turnaround program comprises in particular the areas network and fleet, sales & distribution, products and services as well as operations. The first Turbine measures have already been implemented in this year’s summer flight schedule. The optimized offer strengthens airberlin’s presence in Europe and further expands the long-haul connections to North America. Airberlin is carrying out the network optimization by using the principle of increasing frequencies on economically profitable routes. The target is a robust network that is less susceptible to seasonal fluctuations and provides for more productive aircraft and personnel. As a result the airline is strengthening its long-haul hubs Berlin and Dusseldorf with additional long-haul frequencies and improved flight connections. These will increase in Berlin from ca. 7,600 to ca. 11,000, and in Dusseldorf from ca. 3,000 to ca. 4,050. At both airports, the number of weekly flight frequencies will grow by a total of 61 additional connections as compared to the previous year. At the same time airberlin has reduced economically unprofitable routes, with the number of routes decreasing from 523 to 438 on an annual comparison. With the optimized flight schedule, the fleet will be reduced from 155 aircraft at the end of 2012, to 143 aircraft at the end of 2013.

Network and station optimization will result in increased crew productivity. In the future, comprehensive aircraft maintenance (Base Maintenance) will only be carried out in Munich.

In connection with the restructuring cost reductions in personnel are necessary. Between January and the end of March 2013, 180 jobs will have been eliminated.

Airberlin is expanding its service in line with passenger requirements. From mid-year onwards, a modular catering concept will be introduced on the short and medium-haul flights. This will provide passengers with services commensurate with the duration of the flight. An example is the new Business Class seats introduced on long-haul flights.

Net profit for 2012

Airberlin concluded the 2012 business year with a return to profitability. The operating profit before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 70.2 million was a significant improvement over the previous year results. The company’s net income of EUR 6.8 million marks a return to profitability and follows a loss of reported EUR 271.8 (restated: -420.4 million) in the 2011 business year.

In the past year, airberlin increased its group revenue to EUR 4.31 billion (2011: EUR 4.23 billion). While the number of passengers decreased by 5.5 per cent to 33.3 million (previous year: 35.3 million), capacity utilisation increased by 1.6 percentage points to 79.80 per cent (previous year: 78.21 per cent). This was achieved by a further fleet reduction of 15 aircraft to 155 aircraft and improvements of the flight schedule. Yield (revenue per passenger) improved by 7.7 percent to EUR 120.05 (previous year: EUR 111.43).

The spin-off of the frequent-flyer program “topbonus”, the implementation of the efficiency program “Shape & Size” and the increasing synergy effects resulting from the strategic partnership with Etihad Airways have contributed to the positive development of the operating result. In this context, Shape & Size has contributed EUR 250 million.

“The profit of the past financial year and the successful placement of the convertible bond enabled us to further stabilize the financial basis of the company. The favorable conditions, the swift placement and over-subscription of the bond demonstrate the market’s confidence in our company,” stated Airberlin’s Chief Financial Officer, Ulf Hüttmeyer. The goal for 2013 is a break-even at the EBIT level and therefore operational profitability.

The strategic partnership with Etihad Airways, which started at the beginning of 2012, has already shown positive effects within less than 12 months. By the end of 2012, codeshare routes enabled the two airlines to generate together a revenue increase of EUR 100 million. airberlin and Etihad Airways have already concluded almost 100 agreements with companies and sales partners and through synergies have further increased revenue and reduced operating costs. By further expanding codeshare routes with other Etihad Airways partners, airberlin will be able in the future to offer more destinations and increase revenue generated by codesharing. Furthermore, the strategic partnership is increasingly reducing costs for both airlines. For example, in the areas of procurement, maintenance, training and product harmonization, the two airlines are increasingly making use of their synergy potentials and expect these to reach their full potential in the coming years.

Global network established

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer assesses the advantages of the strategic partnership with Etihad Airways: “Our cooperation with Etihad Airways exceeds all our expectations.” This cooperation enabled airberlin to set up a global route network in the course of the past year. Within one year, Etihad Airways and airberlin have increased the number of codeshare routes to 90 connections and are flying to a combined 239 destinations in 77 countries. In 2012 alone, more than 320,000 passengers used the common flight network.

Airberlin’s membership in the global airline alliance, oneworld_^®, which started in March 2012, is also positive. The number of passengers traveling on these codeshare routes increased to 310,000 passengers.

Airberlin CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer added: “Our optimized route network together with the global network of our partners will enable us to be sustainably successful in the future. For that purpose, we need a functional hub in Berlin and the new airport BER that adheres to the operating times as foreseen in the official planning.”

Copyright Photo: Ole Simon. Airbus A320-214 D-ABFK (msn 4433) climbs away from Stuttgart.

Airberlin: 

Surinam Airways (Paramaribo) is celebrating 50 years as an airline. Organized in 1953, the airline commenced scheduled commercial operations on January 6, 1955 as SLM (Surinaamse Luchtvaart Maatschappij) flying from Paramaribo to Moengo with a Cessna 170B aircraft. The Surinam Airways name was adopted in 1966 and gradually replaced all references to SLM.

Read the full story from the Curacao Chronicle: CLICK HERE

Peter Sanches has written a beautiful book (we helped Peter with many of the photos) on the first 50 years of Surinam Airways: Flying on Trusted Wings: 50 Years of Surinam Airways (hardcover).

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems. Ex-Air France  Airbus A340-311 F-GLZG became PZ-TCP (msn 049) with Surinam Airways and is the European lifeline aircraft for the company flying between Paramaribo and Amsterdam.

Surinam Airways: 

Route Map:

DAE-Dutch Antilles Express (Curacao) has been barred from flying to Venezuela due to safety concerns cited by the INAC. Venezuela is its main market. DAE will take legal action against INAC and will continue operations to other destinations including Miami and Orlando. The airline will also ask the government of Curacao to take similar actions against Venezuelan carriers according to this report by El Universal.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

In other news, DAE is considering upgrading its McDonnell DC-9-83 (MD-83) fleet (operated by Falcon Air) with newer Airbus A319s or A320s. Falcon Air would acquire and operate the new aircraft for DAE.

Top Copyright Photo: Greg Drawbaugh/DRAW Decal. The Fokker 100s will also have to be replaced at some point. Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100 (Fokker 100) PJ-DAA (msn 11310) prepares to depart from St. Maarten. All other images below by DAE.

DAE-Dutch Antilles Express: 

LATAM Airlines Group (LAN Airlines) (TAM Linhas Aereas) (Santiago and Sao Paulo) has reported its financial results through March 31, 2013 for the first quarter:

HIGHLIGHTS

• LATAM Airlines Group reported operating income of $114.2 million (US) for first quarter 2013, a 149.8% increase compared to the $45.7 million pro forma operating income in first quarter 2012. Operating margin reached 3.4%, an increase of 2.0 points compared to 1.4% in 2012. This result reflects a steady recovery in business operations as we advance in the process of achieving the expected synergies from the merger between LAN and TAM.

• Net income reached $42.7 million for first quarter 2013, compared to a pro forma consolidated net income of $83.7 million for the same period in 2012, which represents a decrease of 48.9% mainly due to a foreign exchange gain of $133.4 million recognized at TAM during the first quarter 2012.

• TAM continues to make significant progress in the turnaround of the domestic Brazil passenger operations, maintaining capacity discipline with a 9.2% reduction in ASKs during the first quarter 2013 as compared to the first quarter 2012. Healthy traffic growth of 3.4%,as well as improved market segmentation and revenue management practices have resulted in strong load factor improvements of 9.5 percentage points as compared to the first quarter 2012,reaching 77.7%. This led to a significant increase in revenue per ASK,as measured in Brazilian reais. Results in U.S. dollars were affected by a 13% depreciation of the Brazilian currency during the quarter as compared to the first quarter 2012. We remain convinced that capacity discipline and an adequate segmentation of the market will provide the basis for continued healthy load factors and a significant improvement in operating results in 2013.

• We remain confident in our synergy target of between $600 and $700 million, to be fully achieved by the fourth year after the merger (June 2016). Important progress was made in recent months with the code share agreement signed between TAM and American Airlines as well as with LATAM’s election of oneworld as its global alliance. We have begun to harmonize the airlines’ frequent flyer programs,as well as advanced on cost initiatives related to contract renegotiations and process standardization. Furthermore, important synergies have been achieved through the coordination of the LAN and TAM cargo operations. We expect merger synergies to be between $250 and $300 million during 2013. However,we expect to continue to incur certain costs related to the integration process.

• Total revenues in the first quarter 2013 reached $3,409.0 million compared to pro forma revenues of $3,360.2 million in first quarter 2012. The increase of 1.5% is a result of a 1.5% increase in passenger revenues and a 38.6% increase in other revenues, partially offset by a 3.2% decrease in cargo revenues. The slight increase in revenues reflects capacity reductions in the domestic Brazil passenger operations and a more challenging environment for international passenger operations, as well as weak market demand in the cargo business. Passenger and cargo revenues accounted for 84.2% and 13.5% of total revenues, respectively, in first quarter 2013.

• During the first quarter 2013, LATAM received a total of 5 Airbus A320 family aircraft and 1 Boeing 767-300 passenger aircraft. Furthermore, the Company returned 1 Airbus A320-200 and sold 2 Airbus A318 aircraft.

Top Copyright Photo: Alvaro Romero/ModoCharlie.com. LAN Airlines’ Airbus A318-121 CC-CVR (msn 3390) carries special Telethon 2011 logo at Santiago. The snow-capped Andes Mountains are in the background.

LAN Airlines: 

TAM Linhas Aereas: 

Bottom Copyright Photo: Bernardo Andrade. TAM’s Airbus A319-132 PT-TMD (msn 4192) in the retrojet color scheme climbs away from Santos Dumont Airport in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Please click on the photo for the full-size view.

Southwest Air Lines-SWAL/JTA (Japan Transocean Air) Boeing 737-446 JA8999 (msn 29864) HND (Akira Uekawa). Image: 912016.

Copyright Photo: Akira Uekawa/AirlinersGallery.com.

Hot New Photos: 

Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71 N1305L (msn 46072) FLL (Christian Volpati Collection). Image: 912117.

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati Collection.

Delta Air Lines: 

Croatia Airlines (Zagreb) today (May 15) was hit again by a strike of its employees protesting wage and job cuts as part of the state airlines’ restructuring. The airline cancelled 22 flights today per Global Post. The company issued this statement:

Current Travel Information: Strike actions announced for Wednesday, May 15, 2013

All information about flight status for Wednesday, May 15, 2013 you may find under the link below:

www.croatiaairlines.com/Industrial-action-of-Croatia-Airlines-employees

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding and patience.

The three unions representing the pilots and flight attendants started their strike against the company yesterday after negotiations failed to reach a new contract.

Read the full report from the Global Post: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Bernhard Ross/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-212 9A-CTM (msn 671) in the Star Alliance motif rests between flights at Frankfurt.

Croatia Airlines: 

Boeing (Chicago) and Southwest Airlines (Dallas) announced today the launch of the 737 MAX 7, the third member of the 737 MAX family. The carrier and launch customer for the 737 MAX program became the first airline to order the 737 MAX 7, when it converted 30 existing orders for Next-Generation 737s into orders for the 737 MAX 7.

Southwest also exercised options to add five more Next-Generation 737-800s to its fleet. These airplanes, along with the 737 MAX 7s, are part of Southwest’s ongoing effort to improve fuel efficiency and profitability. The 737 MAX 7 supports Southwest’s expanding fleet modernization effort. Southwest is expected to take its first 737 MAX 7 delivery in 2019.

“We are thrilled to announce that Southwest Airlines and Boeing have entered into an agreement for Southwest to be the launch customer for the Boeing MAX 7 series, with deliveries beginning in 2019,” said Gary C. Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO. “The 737 MAX 7 builds on the strengths of today’s Next-Generation 737-700, incorporating the latest CFM International LEAP-1B engines is expected to reduce fuel burn and CO2 emissions by an additional 12 percent over today’s most fuel-efficient single-aisle airplane.”

The 737 MAX 7 (below) brings the most advanced engine technologies to the world’s best-selling airplane, building on the strengths of today’s Next-Generation 737-700. The 110-ft long airplane incorporates the latest CFM International LEAP-1B engines to deliver improved efficiency with the most reliability and passenger comfort in the single-aisle market. The 737 MAX 7 also will extend the range over today’s 737-700 by approximately 400 nautical miles (741 km).

Image: Boeing.

“Southwest has been a valued partner in the evolution of the 737 program,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. “We have worked together to launch several models of the 737 including the 737 MAX family in 2011. We are excited to bring the 737 MAX 7 to market with Southwest.”

With the MAX 7 conversions and exercised options for 737-800s, Southwest’s unfilled orders consist of 180 737 MAX airplanes and 137 Next-Generation 737s. The 737 MAX now has orders for 1,315 airplanes.

In other news, Southwest Airlines’ Board of Directors, at its meeting held today, significantly increased the Company’s quarterly dividend to $.04 per share from $.01 per share.  Annualized, this amounts to over $100 million.  The increase in the quarterly dividend will begin with the 147^th consecutive quarterly dividend declared today to Shareholders of record at the close of business on June 5, 2013 on all shares then issued and outstanding.  The dividend will be paid on June 26, 2013.  The Board also increased the Company’s existing $1 billion share repurchase authorization to $1.5 billion.  Of the remaining share repurchase authorization, an initial $250 million of Southwest common stock will be repurchased under an accelerated stock repurchase program.

Gary C. Kelly, Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO, stated: “Over the past 24 months, we have returned over 20 percent of our operating cash flows, or approximately $770 million, to Shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. I am pleased to announce several actions taken today by our Board that follow through with our commitment to deploy free cash flow¹ to our Shareholders. The Board authorized an increase in our quarterly dividend payment to $.04 per share from $.01 per share.  Based on yesterday’s closing stock price of $13.98, this would provide an approximate one percent annual dividend yield to our Shareholders.  The Board also increased our existing $1 billion share repurchase authorization to $1.5 billion.  To date, $725 million in share repurchases of the $1.5 billion authorization have been completed since August 2011.  This means we have the authority to repurchase an additional $775 million of our common stock.  We intend to execute an agreement today to repurchase $250 million of our shares under an accelerated stock repurchase program, which, upon implementation, will immediately bring shares back into the Company.

Top Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. With this announcement, Southwest exercised options to add five more Next-Generation 737-800s to its growing fleet. Boeing 737-8H4 WL N8308K (msn 36682) arrives at Washington (Reagan National).

Southwest Airlines: 

Helvetic Airways (Zurich) has acquired this Airbus A319 to supplement its fleet of six Fokker 100s.

For the current summer season, Helvetic will be operating the newly-acquired Airbus A319 for Kuoni on the following routes:

Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner/AirlinersGallery.com. Captured this morning in the early morning light at Zurich, Airbus A319-112 HB-JVK (msn 1886) was leased from AWAS on May 3, 2013.

Helvetic Airways: 

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) is one of the fastest growing airlines in Europe and continues to launch new routes. The airline has issued this statement concerning the launch of 20 new routes for the coming winter season:

Norwegian is planning to launch 20 new routes this winter season starting in the autumn of 2013. From Stockholm, the company expands the number of direct routes to Malaga, Gran Canaria, Alicante and Tenerife.

Norwegian also announced new routes and increased frequencies on existing routes from Finland, Denmark, Norway and England.

From Sweden and Denmark, the Norwegian winter offer even more departures to several Spanish destinations. From Stockholm, Norwegian is increasing number of flights to Malaga from five to six times per week, to Las Palmas from four to five, Alicante 4-5 and Tenerife from 2 to 3 times a week.

From Gothenburg, Norwegian is increasing the number of flights to Tenerife from one to two times a week. The cvompany is increasing the Copenhagen-Malaga route from eight to nine times a week.

Norwegian has got a very nice reception in the Finnish market and the number of passengers increases constantly resulting in new routes and more departures. For the winter season, Norwegian will fly directly from Oulu to Tenerife and from Turku to Alicante. In addition to these new routes, Norwegian also extends the direct route between Oulu and Alicante in the winter program.

To meet market demand, Norwegian is also increasing flights from Helsinki to several Spanish destinations. The direct flights to Tenerife increases from two to three times a week, Alicante from four to six and Las Palmas from three to four times a week.

As previously reported, Norwegian continues to grow internationally and is launching 11 new routes from Germany to several Spanish destinations. From Hamburg, Norwegian Air Shuttle routes to Alicante, Malaga, Las Palmas and Tenerife. From Cologne launched routes to Alicante, Malaga, Las Palmas and Tenerife. From Munich there will be direct routes to Alicante, Malaga and Tenerife.

In other news, Norwegian has announced flights from London Gatwick to the popular Spanish Canary Island of Fuerteventura starting on October 30. Norwegian will fly twice a week between London Gatwick and Fuerteventura. The new route becomes the 15th route from LGW.

Norwegian has become a significant player at London Gatwick and recently established a UK base at the airport. The airline currently has three aircraft based at London Gatwick and has increased its weekly flights from 198 in 2009 to 320 by the end of the summer.

Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8JP WL LN-DYW (msn 39010) with the image of Thorbjorn Egner on the tail taxies past the camera at Dublin.

Norwegian: 

Flybe (Exeter) is reportedly in discussions with EasyJet (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) and others to possibly acquire its 25 landing and takeoff slots at London (Gatwick) according to this report by the BBC. Flybe has been losing money and is currently cutting costs and selling some of its assets.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Terry Wade/AirlinersGallery.com. Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) G-JEDP (msn 4085) in the unique “Low Cost, but not any cost” color scheme approaches the runway at London (Gatwick).

Flybe: 

EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) has reported its first half financial results:

A. HIGHLIGHTS

Revenue initiatives and the focus on maintaining EasyJet’s cost advantage, combined with competitor capacity reductions and the timing of Easter have enabled easyJet to reduce its first half pre-tax loss year on year by £51 million to £61 million.

EasyJet ended the first half of the financial year with £1,194 million of cash, a decrease of £17 million against last year. Net cash as at 31 March 2013 was £433 million compared to £42 million at 31 March 2012.

On 1 May 2013, John Barton succeeded Sir Mike Rake as easyJet Chairman. The whole team at easyJet wishes to note its thanks for Sir Mike Rake’s strong leadership of the Board for three years during which easyJet’s total shareholder return was 233%.

Progress against strategic objectives:

Drive demand, conversion and yields across Europe

• Total revenue per seat increased by 8.6% year on year on a constant currency basis, and by 5.8% per seat on a reported basis, to £53.39 as the half year benefited from an early Easter, competitor capacity retrenchment, returns focused changes to EasyJet’s network and improvements to its revenue management system.
• Average load factors increased by 1.7 percentage points to 88.6% whilst capacity grew by 3.3% to 30 million seats.

Maintain cost advantage

• Cost per seat excluding fuel grew by 3.4% on a constant currency basis and by 3.1% on a reported basis to £38.89. Year on year cost increases were largely driven by increased charges at regulated airports and from higher weather related disruption and de-icing costs.
• EasyJet lean delivered an incremental £25 million of savings in the period.

Build strong number 1 and 2 network positions

• Successful deployment of capacity from Madrid base which was exited in December 2012 to strengthen easyJet’s position in Edinburgh, Manchester, Gatwick, Geneva, Lisbon and Lyon.

Disciplined use of capital

• In the six months to 31 March 2013, EasyJet has returned £85 million or 21.5 pence per share to shareholders through the increased payment of ordinary dividend, at three times earnings cover.
• Further to the January 2013 IMS, easyJet has signed sale and operating leaseback agreements for 12 new A320 and 12 of the oldest A319 aircraft.
• Significant improvements have been made in underperforming routes increasing overall network returns.
• easyJet is in the final stages of the commercial evaluation of the next generation of short-haul engine technology. The process has been subject to high standards of governance. In the event that the Board of easyJet concludes that an order will be in the interest of all shareholders, easyJet will bring a proposal to shareholders that will cover both the next generation of deliveries, which are likely to be after 2017, and a plan for the bridging period from 2015 to 2017.

Commenting on the results, Carolyn McCall, easyJet Chief Executive said:

“EasyJet delivered a strong first half performance, demonstrating the Company’s structural advantage in the European short-haul market against both legacy and low cost competition, and a continuing resilience against a challenging European macro-economic environment.

Our performance reflects measurable progress against EasyJet’s four key strategic objectives that have been amply demonstrated by a significant reduction in the loss for the first half and significant improvement in ROCE over the same period.

Whilst there is always the potential for unexpected events to impact short term financial performance, the outlook for the second half of the financial year combined with the strong reduction in first half losses means that EasyJet expects to deliver improved returns and profitability for the year ending 30 September 2013.”

In other news, the company is nearing a decision to order the re-engined Airbus A320neo or the Boeing 737 MAX.

Read the full story and analysis by Reuters: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZBR (msn 3088) with the special Airbus 100 markings stops at Paris (CDG).

EasyJet (UK): 

Copa Holdings, S.A. (Copa Airlines) (Panama City) has announced financial results for the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13). The terms “Copa Holdings” or “the Company” refer to the consolidated entity. The following financial information, unless otherwise indicated, is presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).  See the accompanying reconciliation of non-IFRS financial information to IFRS financial information included in financial tables section of this earnings release. Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons with prior periods refer to the first quarter of 2012 (1Q12).

OPERATING AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Copa Holdings reported net income of US$113.8 million for 1Q13, or diluted earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.56.  Excluding special items, Copa Holdings would have reported an adjusted net income of $124.4 million, or $2.80 per share, a 37.3% increase over adjusted net income of US$90.6 million and US$2.04 per share for 1Q12.
• Operating income for 1Q13 came in at US$142.6 million, a 27.9% increase over operating income of US$111.6 million in 1Q12.  Operating margin for the period came in at 22.2%, compared to 20.5% in 1Q12, as a result of lower unit costs.
• Total revenues increased 18.0% to US$641.3 million.  Yield per passenger mile decreased 0.8% to 17.6 cents and operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM) decreased 1.5% to 14.0 cents.  However, adjusting for a 6.3% increase in length of haul, yields and RASM increased 2.2% and 1.5%, respectively.
• For 1Q13, robust demand trends resulted in passenger traffic (RPMs) growth of 19.5% on a 19.9% capacity expansion.  Consolidated load factor came in at 76.9%, or 0.3 percentage points below 1Q12.
• Operating cost per available seat mile (CASM) decreased 3.6%, from 11.3 cents in 1Q12 to 10.9 cents in 1Q13.  CASM, excluding fuel, decreased 4.7% to 6.5 cents.
• Cash, short term and long term investments ended 1Q13 at US$733.4 million, representing 31.2% of the last twelve months’ revenues.
•  During the first quarter, Copa Airlines took delivery of two Boeing 737-800 aircraft.  As a result, Copa Holdings ended the quarter with a consolidated fleet of 85 aircraft.
• For 1Q13, Copa Holdings reported consolidated on-time performance of 90.0% and a flight-completion factor of 99.7%, maintaining its position among the best in the industry.

⁽¹⁾ Breakeven Load Factor, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS for 1Q13, 1Q12, and 4Q12 exclude non-cash charges/gains associated with the mark-to-market of fuel hedges.   Additionally, for 1Q13 excludes a US$13.9 million charge related to the devaluation of the Venezuelan currency.
Note: Attached to this press release is a reconciliation of non-IFRS financial measures to the comparable IFRS measures.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-86N WL HP-1826CMP (msn 38031) approaches the runway for landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

Copa Airlines: 

British Airways Airbus A380-841 F-WWSK (G-XLEA) (msn 095) XFW (Gerd Beilfuss). Image: 912074.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss.

Video:

Hot New Photos: 

British Airways: 

Air Canada Boeing 727-233 C-GYNF (msn 22346) MIA (Bruce Drum). Image: 102830.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum.

Air Canada: 

Frameable Color Prints and Posters: 

We hope you will like this new look of the new World Airline News. We believe we have made this news and photo blog more useful to the reader with these new features.

We have taken this opportunity to refresh the look and also the feel of this very popular news blog. We have added a new Right Column which now features real time RSS live feeds from these websites:

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We believe the World Airline News now offers the latest news and new photos in one location.

Besides our regular Guest Editor columns, we are also adding a new “Newsworthy Photo of the Day” and also a “Historic Photo of the Day” to rekindle the memories of our older readers.

Thank you for your readership, contributions and support of the World Airline News and the AirlinersGallery.com.

Bruce Drum

Editor

JetBlue Airways (New York) and Emirates (Dubai) today announced their intention to expand their current partnership to include bilateral codesharing, pending FAA and DOT regulatory approval and subject to receipt of foreign government operating authority. Under the expanded agreement, JetBlue will place its “B6″ airline code on all flights currently operated by Emirates between the U.S. and Dubai International Airport, as well as between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Milan, Italy.

The agreement deepens a three-year partnership between JetBlue and Emirates. Emirates started placing its code on select JetBlue-operated flights in April 2012, expanding an interline agreement that dates back to 2010. Current codeshare routes offered by Emirates on JetBlue-operated flights cover 28 destinations including Boston, Chicago, Orlando and Puerto Rico. Since March this year, Emirates also began placing its code on additional JetBlue routes, including Bridgetown, Barbados, Cancun, Mexico, Montego Bay, Jamaica and Santo Domingo, Santiago and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Through the existing agreement, customers enjoy the convenience of a single combined ticket for Emirates and JetBlue-operated flights, plus other benefits including one-stop check-in and baggage transfer.

Members of Skywards, the Emirates reward program, can earn miles on JetBlue-operated flights and also redeem miles for flights to any of JetBlue’s 77 destinations (and counting) throughout the Americas. Similarly, members of JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program can earn points for Emirates-operated flights worldwide.

Emirates’ global network encompasses 133 destinations in 77 countries across six continents and the airline currently operates 56 passenger flights per week between Dubai and the U.S. including flights from Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and the twice daily A380 service from JFK to Dubai International Airport. , Emirates’ extensive network gives travellers in the U.S. access not only to the carrier’s home of Dubai, the commercial and tourism hub of the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf region, but also to cities across Africa, India, and throughout Asia Pacific.

From New York JFK, Emirates offers two daily nonstop flights to its global hub at Dubai International Airport – both aboard its flagship A380 – offering travellers fine dining, personalized service and multi award-winning entertainment options. From Washington Dulles, Emirates offers one daily nonstop flight to Dubai.

Top Copyright Photo: Stephen Tornblom. Airbus A320-232 N779JB (msn 3811) (Real Salt Lake-2009 Champions) taxies from the gate at Long Beach.

JetBlue Airways: 

Emirates: 

Bottom Copyright Photo: Stephen Tornblom. Airbus A380-861 A6-EDN (msn 056) carefully taxies at New York (JFK).

Boeing (Chicago) has delivered a 767-300 ER (extended range) to MIAT Mongolian Airlines (Ulaanbaatar), the first-ever direct purchase delivery to the airline.

“This is a momentous step forward for MIAT Mongolian Airlines as we continue to enhance our fleet,” said Jargalsaikhan Gungaa, President and CEO of MIAT Mongolian Airlines. “We are pleased with the comfort, range and payload of the new 767-300ER and we look forward to introducing it into our long-haul fleet.”

Mongolia’s flag carrier completed a historic order in 2011 at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., marking the first time in more than two decades that the airline extended its route network by purchasing Boeing airplanes instead of leasing them.

“We congratulate MIAT Mongolian Airlines on the delivery of their first direct purchase 767-300ER,” said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Sales for Northeast Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “With the new passenger-pleasing cabin interior and low operating costs, Boeing is confident that the 767-300ER will play an important role as MIAT Mongolian Airlines continues expanding into new markets.”

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean. Boeing 767-34G ER JA-1021 (msn 41519) was handed over to the carrier on May 13.

Mongolian Airlines: 

Route Map:

Norwegian Long Haul (Norwegian Air Shuttle) (Oslo) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Virgin Atlantic Airways (London). The agreement enables Norwegian to tap into Virgin Atlantic’s expertise on long-haul operations, while Virgin Atlantic’s instructors will receive pilot training on board Norwegian’s brand new 787-8 Dreamliner. Norwegian’s first Dreamliner is due for delivery at the end of June.

The cooperation with Virgin Atlantic will enable Norwegian’s long-haul pilots to make use of the airline’s vast long-haul experience. Virgin Atlantic will make all its training material available to Norwegian.

Virgin Atlantic’s pilots to train on board Norwegian’s 787 Dreamliner

At the same time, Virgin Atlantic’s 787 instructors will conduct the final part of their pilot training on board Norwegian’s Dreamliners. Virgin Atlantic’s most experienced instructors will continue flying on board Norwegian’s aircraft until the airline receives its first 787 Dreamliner in September 2014, just over a year after Norwegian’s first Dreamliner delivery.

“Introducing a new aircraft type to an airline is an extensive affair. It is therefore important that we learn from each other,” says Director of Flight Operations Norwegian Long Haul, Torstein Hoås.

A great advantage to both parties

“Virgin Atlantic is a successful long-haul airline with almost 30 years of Trans-Atlantic experience. It will be very beneficial for us to receive this support. At the same time, we are looking forward to helping Virgin Atlantic introduce the 787 Dreamliner to its fleet. The cooperation will be a great advantage to both parties,” he continues.

Virgin Atlantic will be the launch customer in Europe of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, a slightly bigger version of the 787-8 Dreamliner. In the agreement signed on Friday, Virgin Atlantic states that it will train a number of Norwegian pilots on board its future Dreamliners.

“Virgin Atlantic are delighted to announce our training partnership with Norwegian. Our combined experience is being effectively utilised to ensure the safe and efficient introduction of the Boeing 787 aircraft to our fleet. We have much in common with Norwegian, having similar high quality training requirements, which has allowed our partnership to take shape,” says Captain Dave Kistruck, GM of Flight Operations for Virgin Atlantic.

In other news, Norwegian is expanding in the Germany-Spain market. The company has issued this statement:

Norwegian Air Shuttle continues its European expansion. The company has announced that it will launch new routes from Hamburg, Cologne and Munich to several Spanish destinations this autumn.

“The expansion in the German market is part of our future strategy to expand our presence outside of the Nordic region in order to meet the strong competition in the airline industry. We see that Germans frequently choose Norwegian when flying to Scandinavia and we believe that there is a demand for a quality airline that offers inexpensive fares between Germany and Spain. We are looking forward to welcoming passengers on board our modern and more eco-friendly aircraft,” said CEO of Norwegian Bjørn Kjos.

From the end of October, Norwegian launches brand new routes between Germany and Spain and will fly to Malaga, Alicante, Gran Canaria and Tenerife from Hamburg and Cologne. From Munich, Norwegian will offer flights to Malaga, Alicante and Tenerife.

Strong expansion

Norwegian is Europe’s third largest low-fare airline. As one of the fastest growing airlines in Europe, it is establishing itself outside of the Nordic region by opening bases in the UK and Spain. At the end of the month, Norwegian will, as the first European low-fare airline, commence long-haul flights to the US and Asia.

From Hamburg

Hamburg-Malaga (November 1), 3 weekly flights, from EUR 29,- one way
Hamburg-Alicante (November 1), 3 weekly flights, from EUR 29,- one way
Hamburg-Gran Canaria (October 27), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 49,- one way
Hamburg-Tenerife (October 27), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 49,- one way

From Cologne

Cologne-Malaga (October 31), 3 weekly flights, from EUR 29,- one way
Cologne-Alicante (November 1), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 29,- one way
Cologne-Gran Canaria (October 28), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 49,- one way
Cologne-Tenerife (October 28), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 49,- one way

From Munich

Munich-Malaga (November 1), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 39,- one way
Munich-Alicante (October 31), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 39,- one way
Munich-Tenerife (October 29), 2 weekly flights, from EUR 59,- one way

Copyright Photo: Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Norwegian: 

Virgin Atlantic: 

Turkish Airlines (Istanbul) has finalized a firm order for 40 737 MAX 8s, 10 737 MAX 9s and 20 Next-Generation 737-800 jets, valued at $6.9 billion at list prices. The order, originally announced as a commitment last month, also includes options for an additional 25 737 MAX 8s and is the largest Boeing order in Turkish Airlines’ history.

This announcement brings the total number of 737 MAXs ordered to date to 1,285 and Boeing currently has more than 3,100 unfilled orders for 737s.

Turkish Airlines currently operates more than 85 Next-Generation 737s.

Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl. Boeing 737-8F2 TC-JFU (msn 29781) approaches Zurich for landing.

Turkish Airlines: