Monthly Archives: October 2015

The first Airbus A350-900 for Singapore Airlines is painted and rolled out

Singapore Airlines‘ (Singapore) first A350-900 has been revealed in the airline’s livery following completion of painting in Toulouse. The aircraft is now set to move to the next stages of production, including the installation of engines and cabin furnishing, before starting ground and flight tests. The aircraft is scheduled for delivery to Singapore Airlines in the first quarter of 2016.

Singapore Airlines has ordered a total of 67 A350s and will operate the aircraft on long haul routes to Europe as well as on ultra-long range nonstop services to US and selected regional routes.

As previously reported, Singapore Airlines has selected Airbus’ newly launched Ultra-Long Range version of the A350-900 for nonstop flights to the US. Under an amendment to the carrier’s existing order for 63 A350-900s, seven of the aircraft will now be delivered with an Ultra-Long Range capability for flights of up to 19 hours. In addition, the carrier has placed an additional order for four A350-900s, taking its total firm orders for the A350 XWB Family to 67.

Optimized for nonstop flights to the US, the aircraft, designated A350-900ULR (Ultra-Long Range), will ‎include a modified fuel system to increase the fuel carrying capacity, an increase in Maximum Take-Off Weight, plus aerodynamic improvements, enabling service to the US West Coast, as well as to New York.

Representing a distance of some 8,700 nautical miles, the New York service will be the world’s longest commercial passenger route, with an expected flight time of up to 19 hours. Moreover, the unique flexibility offered by the A350 XWB allows operators to reconfigure their A350-900ULR to the standard long-haul A350-900 specification should they require it.

Photo: Airbus. Airbus A350-941 F-WZFU (msn 026) will become 9V-SMA on the hand over.

Singapore Airlines aircraft slide show:

Air China to arrive in Newark on October 26

Air China (Beijing) will add more flights to its Beijing-New York schedule from October 26, 2015.
The flights to be added four times a week will make Air China the only Chinese carrier serving Newark Airport. Up to now, Air China has been operating two daily flights from Beijing Capital International Airport to JFK Airport.

Currently, Air China serves 8 destinations in North America, including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Vancouver, Montreal and Hawaii, offering over 140 flights per week operated with Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 747-8. In addition, Air China also offers healthy seasonal in-flight meals and VIP chauffeured transfers between the airport and downtown for passengers on the China-US flights. Comfortable cabin environment and attentive services guarantee passengers a truly pleasant travel experience.

The flights CA819/820 Beijing-New York (Newark Airport) are operated with Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft four times a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 09:35 and arrives in Newark Airport at 11:05 local time. The inbound flight departs from New York at 13:25 local time and arrives in Beijing at 14:55 Beijing time the following day.

The flights CA981/982 Beijing-New York (JFK Airport) are operated with Boeing 747-800 on a daily basis. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 13:00 and arrives in JFK Airport at 14:30 local time; the inbound flight departs from New York at 16:50 local time and arrives in Beijing at 18:20 Beijing time the following day. At the same time, flights CA989/ 990 Beijing-New York (JFK Airport) are operated with Boeing 777-300 ER on a daily basis. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 10:00 and arrives in JFK Airport at 11:30 local time; the inbound flight departs from New York at 13:50 local time and arrives in Beijing at 15:40 Beijing time the following day.

Copyright Photo: Fred Freketic/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-39L B-2036 (msn 38676) is pictured during the winter at JFK International Airport.

Air China aircraft slide show:

JetBlue adds Wi-Fi to its first Embraer 190

JetBlue Airways (New York) today announced it has passed a major milestone on its path to becoming the only U.S. carrier to offer free high-speed Wi-Fi Internet on every aircraft.

JetBlue has completed installation of Fly-Fi® on its fleet of more than 150 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, and its first Fly-Fi-enabled Embraer E190 made its official inaugural flight this week. The airline anticipates it will complete the installation of Fly-Fi on all 60 of its E190s by fall 2016, at which point it will have completed installation of Fly-Fi on the entire JetBlue fleet.

Fly-Fi uses Ka-band satellite technology to offer a broadband Internet experience similar to what customers have at home, including the ability to stream video and use multiple devices at once.

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. JetBlue Airways Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW N334JB (msn 19000446) in the Barcode tail scheme taxies at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU).

JetBlue aircraft slide show:

SAS to launch eight new routes next summer

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS (Stockholm) is planning to launch eight new routes next summer. The airline made this announcement:

SAS continues to open new direct routes, providing nearly 600,000 more seats from Scandinavian airports in its 2016 summer timetable. More departures are also being added on a number of popular routes.

As the summer timetable gradually comes into effect from the end of March, SAS customers will be able to look forward to new direct year-round routes from Copenhagen to Reykjavik, Vienna, and Krakow, and from Stockholm to Gdansk. Krakow and Vienna are particularly popular holiday destinations, while Reykjavik and Gdansk both attract business and leisure travelers.

The new additions next summer also serve in-demand holiday routes during the peak season. During the summer, SAS will fly from Stockholm to the Greek island of Mykonos, from Copenhagen to Faro in Portugal, from Aarhus to Palma de Mallorca, and from Stavanger to Paris.

SAS is during the summer high season providing over 100,000 more seats to and from vacation destinations compared with last year.

More frequencies from Oslo

As well as the new routes, SAS is also enhancing its offering to and from Oslo with an additional daily departure on five key business routes. From April 2016, there will be flights to Aberdeen and Düsseldorf twice a day, to Brussels and Billund three times a day, and to Bodø eight times a day.

In addition to the new direct routes from Scandinavia to popular European destinations, SAS recently launched new direct year-round routes to the US in 2016: from Stockholm to Los Angeles, from Oslo to Miami, and from Copenhagen to Miami and Boston.

With the new routes to the US, SAS is opening a total of 12 new routes from Scandinavian airports in 2016. The new routes and additional departures mean that during the summer season SAS will be providing 579,000 extra seats compared with last year.

New routes

Copenhagen-Vienna
Departures from Copenhagen on SK695, on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday. During the summer peak season, departures on Monday and Thursday. First departure: March 24, 2016.

Copenhagen-Krakow
Departures from Copenhagen on SK1735, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. First departure: March 25, 2016.

Copenhagen-Reykjavik (Keflavik airport)
Daily departures from Copenhagen on SK595. First departure: March 27, 2016.

Copenhagen-Faro:
Departure from Copenhagen on SK2823 on Saturday. First departure: April 2, 2016.

Aarhus-Palma de Mallorca:
Departure from Aarhus on SK1513 on Monday. First departure: June 27, 2016.

Stockholm-Gdansk:
Departures from Stockholm on SK2759 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. During the summer peak season, departures on Friday and Sunday. First departure: March 25, 2016.

Stockholm-Mykonos:
Departure from Stockholm on SK2739 on Saturday. First departure: May 21, 2016.

Stavanger-Paris (CDG)
Departures from Stavanger on SK831 on Monday and Friday. During the summer peak season, departures on Monday and Friday. First departure: April 8, 2016.

SAS aircraft slide show:

Delta reports 3Q adjusted net income of $1.4 billion

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) today reported its financial results for the September 2015 (third) quarter, including adjusted net income of $1.4 billion or $1.74 per diluted share, up 45% from the September quarter of 2014.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Formerly painted in AirTran Airways’ Atlanta Falcons special scheme, Boeing 717-2BD N891AT (msn 55043) now flies for Delta, leased from Southwest Airlines.

Delta Air Lines aircraft slide show:

CityJet to acquire 15 Sukhoi Superjet 100s

CityJet (Dublin) made the following announcement today:

CityJet, the Irish European regional airline, today announced that it has agreed to take delivery of 15 Superjet SSJ100 passenger aircraft from Superjet International, commencing next year.

Superjet International (SJI) is a joint venture between Alenia Aermacchi, part of the Finmeccanica Group of Italy and the Russian Sukhoi corporation.

CityJet Executive Chairman Pat Byrne said: “We are very excited to be the very first airline in Europe to order this ‘’game-changing’’ aircraft that delivers a level of comfort, plush interior design and cabin capacity that is far superior to all of its competitors. This is a very versatile new generation jet which will fulfil our requirements with a capability to operate at smaller airports such as our hub at London City Airport and offer significant advantages in fuel efficiency, emissions ratings and noise reduction.”

The Executive Chairman added: “We intend introducing the SSJ100 on charter activity in 2016 and will place it on our London City route network in 2017. We believe our customers will love this jet,” he added.

The SSJ 100 seats 98 passengers and is the first aircraft in its class to offer five abreast seating in a generous 32” seat pitch. Combined with a wider seat and a cabin height of over 2m, the SSJ100 offers more cabin and overhead bin space than competitors. The SSJ100 utilises the latest in design and flight technology from key manufacturers such as Snecma (engines) and Thales (avionics) from France and Goodrich (wheels) and Honeywell (auxiliary power unit) from the USA. The interior benefits from the Italian design house of Pininfarina. The aircraft achieved European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification in February 2012.

CityJet has agreed to take four aircraft in 2016 with the delivery of an additional 11 throughout 2017. The airline has also taken options on an additional ten aircraft.

Images: CityJet.

American Airlines to drop the seasonal Miami – Frankfurt route

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) will not restore the seasonal Miami – Frankfurt route next summer according to Airline Route. The carrier had planned to operate a Boeing 767-300 ER on the route daily between May 12, 2016 and September 1, 2016.

Copyright Photo: Rob Finlayson/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 767-323 ER N369AA (msn 25196) lands at Miami International Airport (MIA).

American Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

Orange Air ends scheduled passenger operations, will add Boeing 737-800s for charters

Orange Air (Sanford) has announced that they are adding Boeing 737-800 aircraft to its fleet plan and preparing to launch new destination routes slated for the fall of 2016.

The airline continued;

As a pilot program Orange Air partnered with the City of Branson, Missouri, and Branson Air Express to serve the city as it is a major tourist destination from a number of cities across the Midwestern part of the country, and a good point of origin to service an international vacation destination like Cancun. After three months of preparation on May 6, 2015 Orange Air started its first schedule service with 3 flights a week between Cincinnati, Branson, New Orleans and Cancun. The partnership with Branson Air Express has been an exceptionally positive one and the projected numbers were met. Now as we conclude this contract, begin the next stage of our plan.

Orange Air will continue to operate as a domestic and international public charter operation based in the Sanford-Orlando International Airport. The Orange Air team will begin the process of changing to the new 737 fleet plan and preparing the new product slated to launch in the fall of 2016. Over the next six months we will phase out our current McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft for the Boeing 737-800 aircraft and build our fleet on this platform.

The 737 is the perfect aircraft model many airlines are using to replace the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft in airline service. The 737 is the established leader in the industry giving Orange Air one of the most fuel efficient, dependable and passenger-appealing solutions for success. Exceptional versatility means that the 737 delivers a strong competitive advantage regardless of business model or market.

Singapore Airlines selects Amsterdam as its first Airbus A350-900 destination, launches the ultra long range version for nonstop flights to the U.S.

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) has announced Amsterdam will be the inaugural destination for its new-generation Airbus A350 fleet, with services expected to begin by April 2016.

Singapore Airlines has 63 A350-900s on firm order, the first of which is due for delivery in January 2016. Prior to the introduction of Amsterdam services, the aircraft will be operated on select Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur flights on a temporary basis, for crew training purposes.

Singapore Airlines has selected Airbus’ newly launched Ultra-Long Range version of the A350-900 for nonstop flights to the US. Under an amendment to the carrier’s existing order for 63 A350-900s, seven of the aircraft will now be delivered with an Ultra-Long Range capability for flights of up to 19 hours. In addition, the carrier has placed an additional order for four A350-900s, taking its total firm orders for the A350 XWB Family to 67.

Singapore Airlines expects to take delivery of 11 A350-900s in the aircraft’s first year of operation.

Image: Airbus.

Singapore Airlines aircraft slide show:

United to add summer seasonal fights from Newark and Washington Dulles to three international destinations

United Airlines (Chicago) is adding daily trans-Atlantic summer-season service next year between:

Newark and Athens, Greece, from May 25 through October 5, 2016
Washington/Dulles and Barcelona, Spain, from May 25 through September 6, 2016
Washington/Dulles and Lisbon, Portugal, May 25 through September 6, 2016

All services are subject to government approval.

Newark to Athens

United’s daily nonstop service between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Athens (ATH) will operate using Boeing 767-300 aircraft.

Flight times will be 9 hours 50 minutes eastbound and 11 hours westbound.

Washington/Dulles to Barcelona

The nonstop flights between Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Barcelona (BCN) will operate daily with Boeing 767-400 aircraft (above).

Flight times for the Barcelona service will be 8 hours 10 minutes eastbound and 9 hours 15 minutes westbound.

United has served Spain for more than 20 years, and this new service complements the airline’s existing year-round flights to both Barcelona and Madrid from Newark.

Washington/Dulles to Lisbon

The airline will use Boeing 757-200 aircraft for flights between Washington/Dulles and Lisbon (LIS).

Flight times will be 7 hours 25 minutes eastbound and 8 hours 20 minutes westbound.

These flights are in addition to United’s existing year-round service to Lisbon from Newark. In 2016, United will mark 19 years of Lisbon service.

United and United Express offer nearly 500 daily departures from the New York/Newark area to more than 150 destinations – the most in North America, the most across the Atlantic, the most across the Pacific and the most to and from Latin America.

United, together with United Express, operates nearly 225 flights daily from its Washington/Dulles hub to destinations throughout the United States and to Europe, Asia, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

United Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):