Monthly Archives: January 2012

Tiger Airways to take a one third interest in the new Mandala Airlines to get it airborne again

Tiger Airways (Singapore) has finalized its acquisition of a 33 percent share in the grounded Mandala Airlines (Jakarta), becoming the second largest shareholder after the Saratoga Group (51.3 percent). The creditors and previous owners will hold the remaining 15.7 percent share.

Mandala will resume operations this year under the Tiger Airways low-cost model according to this article by The Economic Times.

Read the full article: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: John Adlard. This intricate Mandala design will fade into aviation history as the renewed carrier will also adopt the Tiger Airways brand.

Thai AirAsia to drop the Bangkok-Delhi route

Thai AirAsia (AirAsia.com) (Bangkok) will delete the Bangkok-Delhi (India) route on March 24 per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Please click on the photo for additional information.

PIA drops the Karachi-Colombo route

PIA-Pakistan International Airlines (Karachi) has dropped the twice-weekly Karachi-Colombo (Sri Lanka) route.

Copyright Photo: Ole Simon.

PIA Slide Show: CLICK HERE

RAK Airways to fly again to Kathmandu and now Bangkok

RAK Airways (Ras al-Khaimah) will restore the Ras al-Khaimah-Kathmandu route on February 15 (three times a week). The airline will also launched a new long-haul route extending eastward to Bangkok commencing on June 1. The latter route will be operated with four roundtrips a week. BKK will be the company’s 12th destination.

Copyright Photo: Paul Denton. Please click on the photo for additional information.

RAK Airways Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Current Route Map:

Please click on the map to enlarge.

Air Namibia to return to Zimbabwe after 13 years

Air Namibia (Windhoek) is planning to return to Zimbabwe after a 13-year absence. The airline will fly a Windhoek-Harare route with four roundtrips a week starting in mid May.

Read the full full story from News Day: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Bernhard Ross.

S7 Airlines to start twice-weekly service to Tokyo from Khabarovsk on March 25

S7 Airlines (Novosibirsk) will launch new twice-weekly flights from Khabarovsk to Tokyo (Narita) starting on March 25 according to Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Karl Cornil.

S7 Slide Show: CLICK HERE

United Airlines completes Economy Plus rollout on international 757-200 flights

United Airlines (Chicago) today announced it is now offering Economy Plus seating on all long-haul international Boeing 757-200 flights, offering economy customers the option of six inches of extra legroom.

With the reconfiguration, the aircraft have 16 flat-bed seats in BusinessFirst, 45 seats in Economy Plus and 108 in Economy. The 757-200 reconfiguration project, which began in late November, outfits those aircraft with 1,845 Economy Plus seats.

The 41 aircraft principally operate between New York/Newark and Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Lima, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Manchester, Oslo, Paris, Shannon, Stockholm and Stuttgart, and between Washington/Dulles and Amsterdam and Paris.

United introduced Economy Plus in 1999. Today, the company offers the extra-legroom seating on more than 400 mainline aircraft and more than 150 regional jets. When fully deployed, United will offer customers more extra-legroom economy class seats than any airline in the world.

In addition to the expansion of Economy Plus seating, United continues to invest in onboard improvements:

1. United has recently modified 28 three-cabin Boeing 777-200 aircraft with new premium cabins, offering flat-bed seats and audio and video on demand, as well as larger video screens and power ports in United Economy.

2. United plans to modify 18 more Boeing 777 aircraft in the next year. United’s 23 Boeing 747-400, 21 three-cabin B767-300, 22 two-cabin B777-200 and 41 international B757-200 aircraft are already equipped with new premium cabins.

3. One Boeing 767-400 aircraft now features new premium-cabin flat-bed seats, Economy Plus seating and audio and video on demand. The airline will similarly modify 11 additional Boeing 767-400 aircraft and 14 Boeing 767-300 aircraft. When completed, United will offer more flat-bed seats than any airline in the world.

4. The airline will begin expanding the overhead bins in its 152 Airbus aircraft, increasing the available carryon-bag storage space by approximately two-thirds.

5.ย United will install satellite-enabled inflight Internet service on its aircraft beginning later in 2012.

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck.

United Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Donavia to add two routes from Sochi

Donavia (Rostov-on-Don) is adding two new routes from Sochi to both Ekaterinburg and Volgograd starting on May 26 per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Ole Simon. Please click on the photo for additional information.

Donavia Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Finnair to drop service to Kiev and Stuttgart

Finnair (Helsinki) will drop the Helsinki-Kiev route on March 8 per Airline Route. The route is operated by Embraer ERJ 170s three days a week. The carrier is also cutting the Helsinki-Stuttgart route on February 29 which is operated by Flybe Nordic.

Copyright Photo: Paul Denton.

Finnair Slide Show: CLICK HERE

American Eagle to end Halifax-New York service on April 2

American Eagle Airlines (2nd) (Dallas/Fort Worth) as part of an on-going reorganization, will drop the Halifax-New York (JFK) route on April 2. The company has served the Halifax market since June 2004.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum.

American Eagle Slide Show: CLICK HERE