Monthly Archives: June 2012

JetBlue names San Juan a “focus city”

JetBlue Airways (New York) has named its growing San Juan operation a “focus city”. During a ribbon-cutting ceremony held yesterday (June 28) in celebration of JetBlue Airways’ new home at Terminal A in San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU), the airline’s President and CEO Dave Barger, together with Puerto Rico’s Governor Luis Fortuno, announced that San Juan has become the sixth focus city in JetBlue’s 71-city network.

San Juan joins Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York and Orlando as the sixth focus city in JetBlue’s network. The designation of San Juan as a focus city in JetBlue’s growing route network underscores the airline’s ever-increasing commitment to the Puerto Rican community and its expansion into the new Terminal A at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, which will be able to accommodate further growth.

In Puerto Rico, JetBlue currently serves Aguadilla, Ponce and San Juan, with service to 13 nonstop destinations, nine within the continental US: Boston, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Hartford/Springfield, Jacksonville, New York, Newark, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach and; four within the Caribbean: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and St. Croix. The airline has announced it will begin the only direct nonstop to Washington Reagan National Airport, its 14th city out of San Juan, on August 23, 2012.

JetBlue:

Delta expands Wi-Fi-equipped fleet to include international aircraft

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will begin offering in-flight Internet service on its long-haul international fleet of more than 150 aircraft, which includes Boeing 777, 767, 747, Airbus A330 and transoceanic Boeing 757 aircraft in early 2013.

The expanded Wi-Fi service will use satellites to provide coverage internationally and will complement the existing air-to-ground service already provided by Gogo for aircraft flying within the domestic U.S.

Delta already operates the world’s largest Wi-Fi-equipped fleet of aircraft with more than 3,000 flights daily, including its entire fleet of 550 domestic mainline aircraft. More than 800 Delta aircraft, including all Delta Connection two-class regional jets, are equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi service offering more than 400,000 customers per day access above 10,000 feet.

The international service will use high-bandwidth Ku-band capacity satellites to provide global coverage. When complete in 2015, Delta will operate approximately 1,000 Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft in its worldwide fleet.

Delta:

BA CityFlyer to fly to Ibiza and Palma year round

BA CityFlyer (British Airways) (London-City) is bringing a bit of winter sunshine to London City Airport by extending its popular Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza flights to a year-round service.

At present the two Balearic Island destinations are summer-only but from October 2012 they will continue through the winter with two flights a week on Thursdays and Sundays.

BA CityFlyer:

GE Capital Aviation Services to lease 10 new Boeing 737-800s to China Southern Airlines in 2014

GE Capital Aviation Services Limited (GECAS) (Stamford, CT), the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of GE, announced it will lease 10 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft to China Southern Airlines (Ghangzhou) as part of the airline’s fleet renewal program.

The 10 aircraft come from GECAS’ existing order book with Boeing and are scheduled for delivery in 2014.

China Southern has been a GECAS customer since the early 1990s. It is one of the largest airlines in Asia with a fleet of more than 400 aircraft flying to more than 200 destinations.

China Southern:

South African Airways to add Abidjan and Brazzaville

South African Airways (Johannesburg) will add two new African destinations, Abidjan and Brazzaville, bringing its total of African destinations to 28.

Abidjan, Ivory Coast, will be served twice-weekly with the pictured Airbus A330-200s starting on August 17.

Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, will also be served two days a week with Airbus A319s, starting on September 13.

South African:

United’s CEO Jeff Smisek won’t oppose a possible American-US Airways merger

United Airlines‘ (Chicago) CEO Jeff Smisek will not oppose a possible merger between American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) and US Airways (Phoenix) according to this report by Bloomberg Businessweek.

Read the full article: CLICK HERE

United Airlines:

Hawaiian Airlines puts its ninth Airbus A330 into revenue service

Hawaiian Airlines (Honolulu) took delivery of Airbus A330-243 N389HA (msn 1316) on June 20, 2012. N389HA is the fourth to join Hawaiian’s fleet this year and the ninth overall since June 2010, when the company began its long-haul fleet renewal and expansion program. The aircraft was flown nonstop from the Airbus Factory in Toulouse, France to Los Angeles last week where it underwent final preparations for entry into service.

Hawaiian’s newest A330 is named Keali‘iokonaikalewa, which is the Hawaiian name for the star Canopus, the second-brightest star in the night sky. Each of Hawaiian’s new A330s is named for a constellation or star used by Polynesians for celestial navigation in ancient times when they voyaged in sailing canoes across the Pacific to Hawai‘i.

Hawaiian will take delivery of 13 additional new A330s between 2013 and 2015, bringing to 22 the total number of A330s in its fleet.

Hawaiian’s new A330s are more fuel-efficient and have a longer operating range than its fleet of Boeing 767-300 aircraft, giving Hawaiian the capability to open new nonstop routes between Hawai‘i and points throughout North America and eastern Asia.

Hawaiian:

Airbus considers opening a new assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama

Airbus (Toulouse) is considering opening a new assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama as a direct competition to Boeing in the largest single market according to this report by Reuters.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Alaska Airlines to add seasonal Bellingham-Maui flights on November 8

Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma) on November 8 will launch new seasonal service between Bellingham, Washington (between Vancouver and Seattle), and Kahului, Maui, Hawaii with four weekly flights. The new route will operate with Boeing 737-800s.

Summary of seasonal Bellingham-Maui flights:

Start date	City pair	Departs	Arrives	Frequency
Nov 8-April 13	Maui-Bellingham	3 p.m.	10:55 p.m.	Mon, Tue, Thu, Sat
Nov 9-April 14	Bellingham-Maui	11 a.m.	3:20 p.m.	Tue, Wed, Fri, Sun

All times based on local time zones

Alaska Airlines:

Emirates to add a second Airbus A380 flight to New York starting on January 1

Emirates Airline (Dubai) is to further boost its fast-growing US network with the start of a second daily A380 service to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

From January 1 2013, flight EK 203 from Dubai to JFK, and its return sector EK 204, will become A380 flights, offering an increased capacity of almost 1,000 additional seats in both directions every week. The service is currently operated by a Boeing 777-300 ER.

Emirates: