Monthly Archives: June 2012

British Airways announces its winter schedule

British Airways‘ (London) winter 2012 schedule, beginning on October 28, 2012, has been unveiled, with UK regions set to benefit thanks to parent company IAG’s purchase of bmi (East Midlands).

The airline will add extra frequencies and use bigger aircraft on flights to Scotland enabling it to offer nearly 27,000 more seats a week between London and Scotland. This includes two extra flights a day between London Heathrow and Edinburgh and two extra flights per day between Heathrow and Aberdeen.

In addition British Airways is also starting a three-per-day service between London City and Aberdeen on September 24 to connect the two business hubs.

From December 9, British Airways will start four flights per day between Heathrow and Leeds Bradford, connecting Yorkshire with the airline’s extensive global route network at Heathrow and increasing consumer choice in the North of England. The airline has already taken over bmi’s six dailyย flights to Belfast, and will be launching a new timetable of seven flights a day between London and the Northern Irish capital on October 28.

A new London City to Isle of Man route has also recently launched.

At the time of EU approval for the bmi deal, IAG committed to launching new flights to important trading nations and delivering on that, British Airways is to begin flying six times a week to Seoul (Incheon) in South Korea from December 2, 2012.

Brand new, three times a weekย Las Vegas flightsย from London Gatwick start on October 29.

In Europe, Zagreb in Croatia will benefit from new daily flights to Heathrow from December 9 and six flights a week to Venice will be added to the London City route network on September 17. Customers looking forย holidays in Barcelonaย will benefit from more choice with a new three-per-week service from London Gatwick to Barcelona will launch on February 23, 2013.

From October 28, former bmi routes from London Heathrow to Agadir, Bergen and Stavanger will become new British Airways routes from Terminal 5, while former bmi routes to Belfast and Hanover will become new British Airways Terminal 1 routes.

British Airways aircraft and crew will operate these routes, and customers will receive the full-service airline’s on-board experience.

A number of existing British Airways routes including Basel, Dusseldorf, Luxembourg, Lyon and Toulouse will move from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1 on October 28.

There will be an increase in frequencies in winter 2012 (versus winter 2011) from Heathrow to Aberdeen (from six to eight flights per day), Edinburgh (from 10 to 12 flights a day), Manchester (from 10 to 11 flights a day), Oslo (from four to five flights per day), Zurich (from six to seven per day) and Phoenix (from six to seven flights per week). Flights to Bologna will be consolidated at Heathrow, with an increase in frequency on the existing Heathrow service from seven per week to 21 per week.

At Gatwick, services will increase to Faro (from four to five flights per week), Malaga (from seven to ten flights per week) and Marrakech (three to seven flights per week) from October 28, and extra services will be added to Salzburg and Turin for the winter ski season. Flights to Marseille will move from Gatwick to Heathrow on October 28.

Copyright Photo: Dave Glendinning.

British Airways:ย 

Hot New Photos:ย 

Frontier to start nonstop Durango-Las Vegas twice-weekly service on October 4

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver)ย today announced new nonstop service between Durango, Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada beginning on October 4, 2012. The twice weekly nonstop service will operate using 138-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Following are schedules for the new service:

Durango โ€“ Las Vegasย (beginning Oct. 4, 2012)

Route Departs Arrives Frequency Aircraft
LAS-DRO 5:59 p.m. 8:14 p.m. Thur/Sun A319
DRO-LAS 8:54 p.m. 9:09 p.m. Thur/Sun A319

In other news,ย Frontier Airlines today also announced it will extend its nonstop seasonal service between Pennsylvaniaโ€™s Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) and its Denver International Airport (DEN) hub through October 27, 2012. The carrier first launched the three weekly flights on May 24, 2012.

Following are schedules for the extended Harrisburg service:

Harrisburg-Denverย (Sept. 7 – Oct. 27, 2012)

Route Departs Arrives Frequency Aircraft
DEN-MDT 4:40 p.m. 9:55 p.m.
Wed, Fri, Sun
A319
MDT-DEN 9:47 a.m. 11:37 a.m. Mon, Thur, Sat A319

Copyright Photo: Eddie Maloney.

Frontier:ย 

American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association reach a tentative agreement

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) and the Allied Pilots Association (APA) today (June 27) reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The pilot’s union voted to send the agreement to the members for ratification. If approved by the members, this will advert the bankruptcy court from having to rule on American’s request to void all labor contracts.

Read the full story from Reuters: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum.

American:ย 

Allegiant to start Ogden-Mesa flights on September 20

Allegiant Air (Las Vegas) will add the Ogden, Utah-Mesa, Arizona (near Phoenix) route on September 20.

The new flights will operate twice weekly between Ogden Airport (OGD)ย and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IWA).

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck.

Allegiant:ย 

US Airways announces a new code share agreement with Croatia Airlines

US Airways (Phoenix)ย and Croatia Airlines (Zagreb) today (June 27) announced a new bilateral codeshare agreement after receiving approval from the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). US Airways’ customers will enjoy expanded service to destinations in Croatia and the convenience of a single-ticket purchase for a seamless travel experience. Customers traveling on Croatia Airlines will also receive expanded access to the United States.

US Airways customers will be able to connect to Zagreb on Croatia Airlines flights from Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London-Heathrow, Munich and Zurich. Equally, Croatia Airlines’ customers traveling from Zagreb will have access to US Airways’ East Coast hubs of Charlotte and Philadelphia when traveling from these European destinations. Croatia Airlines will also add its code on US Airways flights from Philadelphia to Cleveland, Detroit and St. Louis. In the future, US Airways and Croatia Airlines intend to expand their relationship to include flights to and from Dubrovnik and Split.

Top Copyright Photo: Jay Selman.

US Airways:ย 

Croatia Airlines:ย 

Bottom Copyright Photo: Keith Burton.

Transaero Airlines starts Moscow-Rome flights

Transaero Airlines (Moscow) today (June 27) launched nonstop Moscow (Vnukovo)-Rome (Fiumicino) service with Boeing 777-200s.

Initiallyย  Transaeroโ€™s flightsย  UN 399/400 between Moscow and Rome will be operated five times a weekย  (except Mondays and Tuesdays) under the following schedule.

Departures from Moscowย  at 9:15 am (0915), arrivals in Romeย  at 10:50 am (1050).ย  Departures from Rome at 11:40 am (1140), arrivals in Moscow at 5:10 pm (1710).ย  All times local.

From September 24, 2012, the service willย  be offered daily.

Eventually Boeing 737 aircraft with two-classย  configuration including Business and Economy classes of services will beย  operated on the Moscow โ€“ Rome route.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems.

Transaero Airlines:ย 

Air Finland shuts down and files for bankruptcy protection

Air Finland (Helsinki) operated its last flight last night (June 26) and immediately filed for bankruptcy protection. The airline commenced operations on April 3, 2003. The closure has stranded around 1,000 passengers.

Read the full report from YLE – Uutiset: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems.ย 

Air Finland:ย 

Air Pacific returns to profitability

Air Pacific (2nd) (Nadi), the national airline of Fiji, has achieved a significant milestone in its transformation plan, posting a return to profit for the first time in three years, with its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012.

Despite a challenging aviation market over the last 12 months, Air Pacific Ltd. and Air Pacific Group both reported operating profits combined with a significant increase in passenger numbers and revenue.

  • Air Pacific Ltd. reported an operating profit of $16.5 million, compared to an operating loss of $3.7 million for the previous financial year
  • Air Pacific Group reported an operating profit of $13.4 million, compared to an operating loss of $4.3 million for the previous financial year.ย (Air Pacific Group includes the national airline, its wholly owned subsidiary Pacific Sun, and a 38.75% stake in the Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa on Denarau Island).

On a net basis, Air Pacific Ltd. reported an after tax statutory profit of $11.4 million ($24.8 million for last fiscal year), and Air Pacific Group reported an after tax statutory profit of $10.7 million ($25.3 million for last fiscal year).

A focus on increasing passenger numbers, improvements to its network and achieving significant efficiencies across the airline saw Air Pacific also record its highest ever revenue of $645.9 million, an increase of $90.5 million in passenger revenue over FY2010/2011 and an increase of $130 million compared to FY2009/2010. Without any increase in the size of the airline’s fleet, the carrier increased passenger numbers by 85,000 for the fiscal year 2011/2012, and carried 122,000 more passengers compared to FY2009/2010.

The latest initiatives in the turnaround strategy include the recent announcement that Air Pacific will re-brand and revert to its former name Fiji Airways, coinciding with the delivery of brand-new Airbus A330-200 aircraft in 2013.

All amounts are in Fijian dollars.

Copyright Photo: John Adlard.

World Airline News:ย 

Air Pacific:ย 

IndiGo performs the first RNP approach into Kochi, India’s first

IndiGo Airlines (Delhi) on June 24 conducted the first ever Required Navigation Performance (RNP) approach in regular airline operations, while landing at Kochi on their scheduled flight, 6E 345 from Bengaluru. IndiGo has collaborated with Quovadis, a subsidiary of Airbus, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to enable an even more secure and safe landing procedure at the Kochi International Airport. IndiGo becomes the first carrier in India authorized to implement this effective, fuel-saving practice. The Kochi International Airport is Indiaโ€™s seventh busiest airport, and equipped with one ILS (Instrument Landing System) on runway 27 and a VOR (both ground based installations) that are used for guidance for landing procedures on both ends of the runway.

IndiGo has been working with Airbus and the government to develop and implement the RNP procedure, which brings great benefits to both the authorities and IndiGo:

  • Accurate flight path on contained and secure trajectories
  • A shorter flight path, saving 75 KM for IndiGo on each approach, which is approximately 400 kgs of fuel saving per landing, and a corresponding amount of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
  • Freedom from dependence on conventional ground based navigation installations by using on board systems and Global Positioning System (satellite based positioning)
  • Easier traffic management in non-radar environments

The entire process that has been successfully validated on Airbus simulators and in the aircraft, has now been flown successfully in regular commercial operations by IndiGo on its Airbus A320 on June 23, 2012.

Copyright Photo: Clement Alloing.

IndiGo:ย 

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ILFC delivers the first Boeing 737-700 to Eznis Airways

International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) (Los Angeles), a wholly owned subsidiary of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), has announced it delivered a Boeing 737-700 aircraft to Eznis Airways (Ulaanbaatar), the largest Mongolian privately owned airline.

The new aircraft will expand Eznis Airwaysโ€™ international operations and be used to better serve the countryโ€™s rapidly growing air traffic demand. As of the first quarter of 2012, inbound and outbound international traffic in Mongolia has increased by 30% compared to the same period last year.

Eznis Airways currently owns the largest air fleet in Mongolia and the addition of this Boeing-manufactured airplane marks its 7th aircraft. The 737 series is a medium-range twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner and is the best-selling jet airliner in the history of aviation. The aircraft can fly nonstop to Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong from Ulaanbaatar.

Eznis Airwaysย was established on January 6, 2006 by Newcom Group, one of the largest holding companies of Mongolia. The airline operates domestic scheduled and charter flights to 11 destinations in 9 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia and operates international scheduled service to Hailar in China’s Inner Mongolia region and Ulan-Ude in Russian Federation’s Buryat Republic, and charter services to points in China, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Copyright Photo: ILFC. Formerly operated by Copa Airlines as HP-1528CMP, Boeing 737-7V3 JU-9921 (msn 29360, ex N201LF) was officially handed over to Eznis Airways on June 14, 2012.