Monthly Archives: April 2018

Primera Air takes delivery of its first Airbus A321neo

Primera Air, a low-fare Nordic airline, has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321neo at an event in Hamburg, Germany attended by Andri Már Ingólfsson, CEO and President of Primera Travel Group and Kimon Sotiropoulos, Vice President Sales Northern and Central Europe from Airbus.

The aircraft, the pictured A321-251N WL OY-PAA (msn 8145), which was assembled in Hamburg, is the first of three A321neos to be leased from GECAS in 2018. Primera Air will also lease a further five A321neos from other lessors, including two A321LRs, growing its fleet to eight aircraft in 2018.

The aircraft, powered by CFM International LEAP-1A engines features a two-class layout with 16 premium and 182 economy seats. The aircraft was selected by Primera Air for its outstanding operational efficiency, comfort and range. The aircraft will be deployed in the United Kingdom and France on transatlantic destinations to North America.

The A321 is the largest member of the A320 Family, seating up to 240 passengers, depending on cabin configuration. Incorporating the latest engines, aerodynamic advances and cabin innovations, the A321neo offers a reduction in fuel consumption of at least 15 percent per seat from day one and 20 percent by 2020.

About Primera

Primera Air is a low-fare Nordic airline that offers scheduled flights from Europe to more than 70 destinations across the Mediterranean, Middle East, Asia, Caribbean and North America. Originally founded in Iceland in 2004 as a charter provider, Primera Air has grown to become a fully scheduled LCC that now carries over one million passengers each year. Initially, Primera Air operated charter flights for major Scandinavian tour operators with its main hubs in Denmark and Sweden, but gradually it has moved towards scheduled services. Today, Primera Air operates mid and long-haul flights from its bases in Scandinavia, UK and France.

Photo: Airbus.

Primera Air issued this statement:

Nordic long-haul low-fare airline Primera Air has received the first Airbus A321neo in a special delivery event in Hamburg on April 16. The aircraft has already made its first flights from Hamburg to Copenhagen and Billund before leaving to the UK where it soon will start operations to New York, Boston and Toronto.

Primera Air president Andri Már Ingólfsson: “We are witnessing changes in aviation as long-haul flights are becoming more available to everyone. This change is brought by the new narrow body aircraft as A321neo and we are proud to operate it on our transatlantic flights.” This is the first of three A321neos to be leased from GECAS in 2018. Primera Air will also lease a further five A321neos from other lessors, including two A321LRs, growing its fleet to eight aircrafts in 2018. Primera Air will be the launch operator of A321LR, which is a modification of A321neo with even more extended flight range.

The aircraft is powered by CFM Leap-1A engines that allows to reach flight range of 4,000 nm. A321neo will have a two class layout with 16 premium and 182 economy seats. Meanwhile, the A321LR will be delivered later this year and recently it already had its maiden flight. According to Airbus it will set a new flight record for single-aisle twin jets of 4,750 nm.

As previously announced, Primera Air is opening new bases in Birmingham (BHX), London Stansted (STN) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to commence flights to New York, Boston, Washington DC and Toronto this spring, along with new routes from UK to Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Barcelona and Chania. Within the next two years Primera Air plans to increase its presence on current bases and to add new transatlantic routes and bases as it has 20 new Boeing MAX 9 ER on order.

Air France offers a new contract to its striking unions, only until Friday

Air France has issued this statement:

On April 10, 2018, Air France management offered the representative unions the launch of multi-year pay negotiations (2019-2021) in order to find a solution to the continuing conflict.

The negotiations (1), launched on Thursday April 12, resumed on April 16 at 9am. At the end of three days of talks and to put an end to this conflict, Air France management assumed its responsibilities by proposing a final agreement for signature up to Friday April 20, 2018 at midday.

This final draft agreement ensures general salary increases for 2018 (an additional measure), 2019, 2020 and 2021, within the framework of a “growth pact” for the future.

It includes proposals that are both strong and economically sustainable:

For 2018:
- an additional pay increase of 1%, bringing the overall increase to 2% at April 1, 2018
- this additional increase of 1% is accompanied by a minimum threshold of 25 euros per month.
For 2019, 2020 and 2021:
- a general wage increase of 5% over the period (1.65% per year), guaranteed under the growth pact
- This increase of 1.65% per year is accompanied by a minimum threshold of 40 euros per month.

With this agreement, salaries would increase, on average over the period, by 12.5% (including a general increase of 7% for all categories of staff as well as individual increases and the sliding seniority and skills pay scale).

This “growth pact” includes plans to adapt the increase in case Air France’s financial result is less than 200 million euros and to apply a reversion clause in case of higher inflation or a negative financial result.

It provides a positive and long-term answer to wage expectations while preserving the continued investment necessary for the company’s growth.

The continuing strike action is having serious consequences for the company, its customers and staff. It is financially destructive for the airline and its staff and is putting the company’s future in danger. The estimated cost of these strikes, including 17 and 18 April, is 220 million euros.

Continuing this conflict and rejecting this particularly favourable agreement proposal for Air France staff would represent a grave responsibility towards the entire company and its customers.

The negotiations are taking place, in accordance with the Law, with the representative unions. However, the SNPL, SPAF and CGT have welcomed into their delegation, as the law allows, employees who are members of the non-representative unions SUD, ALTER, SNGAF and CFTC

Meanwhile today, the fight schedule for today, Tuesday 17 April 2018, is operating according to forecast.

For tomorrow, Wednesday, April 18, 2018, Air France plans to operate 70% of its flights:

70 % of its long-haul flights;
55 % of its medium-haul flights on departure to and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle;
80 % of its short-haul flights, Paris-Orly and French provinces.

In view of a percentage of staff on strike, subject to the Diard law and expected to work on April 18, 2018, estimated at:

31.1 % of pilots;
22.4 % of cabin crew;
13.8 % of ground staff.

Air France aircraft slide show:

airBaltic launches flights from Riga to Kaliningrad

airBaltic on April 16, launched a new route from Riga International Airport to Khrabrovo Airport in Kaliningrad, Russia. The new route will offer convenient connections between the two cities.

Route

Flight frequency

Start date

Price *,

Basic

Price *,

Premium

Price*,

Business

Riga – Kaliningrad

6 flights weekly

April 16, 2018

29 EUR

89 EUR

349 EUR

*Lowest fare (one way), including taxes, fees and service charges, on www.airBaltic.com, subject to availability

Starting April 16, 2018, airBaltic flies between Riga and Kaliningrad six times a week on a Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft, and the flight is scheduled to last 55 minutes. One-way ticket price from Riga to Kaliningrad starts at 29 EUR, including airport fees and transaction costs.

airBaltic serves over 70 routes from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, offering the largest variety of destinations and convenient connections via Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East. For summer 2018, airBaltic has introduced eight new destinations from Riga to Malaga, Lisbon, Split, Bordeaux, Gdansk, Almaty as well as Sochi and Kaliningrad. In addition, airBaltic launched a new direct route connecting Tallinn and London.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by airBaltic): airBaltic (airBaltic.com) Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) YL-BAY (msn 4331) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 907348.

airBaltic aircraft slide show:

Airbus pushes mission-critical standard solutions for 5G networks

Airbus has made this announcement:

Airbus will intensively contribute to the next steps in finding a global standard for mission-critical multimedia group communication. After the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) completion of release 14 of secure multimedia group communication in December 2017, Airbus and its partners within 3GPP are now working on release 15 and 16 by the end of 2019. 3GPP is a global initiative that unites various standard development organisations and sets international telecommunications standards as well as system specifications.

One of the prime intentions is to improve real-time video group communication (MCVideo) and develop a thorough 5G solution. “It is all about verifying the current developments and test transparently the interfaces between our solutions and those of our partners in the 3GPP. We are expecting that the outcome evolves powerfully and will be confirmed in tests in June 2018 and in 2019,” says Eric Davalo, Head of Strategic Development for Secure Land Communications at Airbus.

One of the areas Airbus will closely look at during the plug test in June 2018 is how its application Tactilon Agnet will work with Mission-Critical Push to Talk and Mission-Critical Data solutions (the safe transmission of messages, pictures and videos, but not in real-time). These solutions equally comply with the 3GPP releases 13 and 14 standard definitions. Both mission-critical functions refer to a functionality which allows immediate availability for group and one-to-one communication.

However, the definition of the Mission-Critical Video will still require further improvements with the release 15, before it can be intensively tested. Furthermore, the application’s hybrid use in Tetra and broadband networks will also be under scrutiny to find the best standard.

“Next June we will take part in an international plug test in Disaster City in Texas, United States, where we will check collaboratively the next level of standard developments with other companies,” says Eric Davalo. “Afterwards, we will be focusing on mission-critical video group communication and start considering the 5G networks which evolve naturally out of the existing 4G technology. Our ideas look really promising.”

Photo: Airbus.

Finnair extends Alaska Airlines partnership with new codeshares for the U.S. West Coast

Finnair has announced a new codeshare partnership with Alaska Airlines, which will further strengthen Finnair’s reach on the West Coast of the United States.

Starting May 20, Finnair’s code will be added to flights operated by Alaska Airlines between San Francisco and the following cities: Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County and Palm Springs. The new codeshares will offer smooth connections for Finnair customers connecting in San Francisco, where Finnair operates from Helsinki with up to three weekly frequencies between May 3 and December 5, 2018.

Finnair and Alaska Airlines announced a frequent flyer partnership in May 2017, which enables members of both the Finnair Plus loyalty program and the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan to earn and redeem miles or points on flights operated by both airlines.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Air Mauritius continues to expand

Air Mauritius is planning to add a weekly flight from Mauritius to Wuhan, China. The new route will start on July 6, 2018 with Airbus A340-300s according to Airline Route.

Last month, Air Mauritius added twice-weekly service to Amsterdam on March 26, 2018.

The Amsterdam flights are operated in collaboration with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Air France. To recall, KLM kicked off these joint operations in October 2017 with three weekly flights between Amsterdam and Mauritius.

“The start of operations to Amsterdam is part of our plan to develop a second hub in Europe. Many of our key routes have been built on the strong historical ties we share with the countries we operate to. Our history with the Netherlands is more than four centuries old. Mauritius was indeed named after Prince Maurits of Nassau, during the Dutch settlement in 1598. Today Schiphol Airport, the home base of our partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, gives us access to 50 code share destinations all over Europe. We expect Amsterdam to develop into an important hub in our network, particularly for passengers from Nordic and East European countries. This will contribute to boost tourist arrivals toMauritius”, stated Somas Appavou, CEO.

Air Mauritius’ main hub in Europe is Paris from where it offers nearly 40 code share destinations in Europe, with partner Air France. Air Mauritius and the Air France/KLM group have built close ties over the years, Air France having been an important partner indeed since Air Mauritius was incorporated in 1967. In 1998 the two airlines signed a collaborative agreement to jointly operate the Mauritius – Paris route. This agreement was extended and reinforced in 2008 and 2014.

Air Mauritius will operate 2 weekly frequencies on Mondays and Fridays throughout the Northern Summer of 2018. A third flight will be operated on Wednesdays during the peak period corresponding to July and August.

Air Mauritius aircraft slide show:

Wizz Air to add two new routes from Vienna

Wizz Air on July 2 will start a new route from Vienna to Eindhoven. The next day, July 3, the carrier will start a new route linking Vienna with Malaga.

Wizz Air aircraft slide show:

Nolinor Aviation Boeing 737 lands on a frozen lake

Nolinor Aviation today made this announcement on social media:

El Al tentatively schedules the last Boeing 747 flight

https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Endangered-Species-List/Endangered-Species-List/i-PNNKXKF/A

El Al Israel Airlines, according to Airline Route, is currently planning to operate the last Boeing 747-400 revenue flight on March 31, 2019. The last flight is currently scheduled on the Bangkok (BKK) – Tel Aviv (TLV) route.

El Al aircraft slide show:

CBS’ “60 Minutes” TV show spotlights Allegiant Air

CBS’ TV show 60 Minutes last light investigated Allegiant Air.

Steve Kroft talks with 60 Minutes Overtime about safety concerns aboard Allegiant Air—and his own close call decades ago on a press charter.

Video:

Watch the full report on “60 Minutes”: CLICK HERE

Allegiant Air’s official response:

Captain Eric Gust, Vice President of Operations

“It is unfortunate and disappointing that CBS 60 Minutes has chosen to air a false narrative about Allegiant and the FAA. This unoriginal and outdated story bears no resemblance to Allegiant’s operations today, and shows a fundamental misunderstanding of FAA compliance practice and history. It focused primarily on events of several years past, prior to the FAA’s most recent comprehensive audit of Allegiant Air, which revealed no systemic or regulatory deficiencies.

“It has come to our attention that the story was instigated by a terminated employee, currently engaged in a lawsuit seeking monetary damages from the company. The story features cherry-picked interviews with people involved in the lawsuit, including featured comments from John Goglia, a paid plaintiff’s witness presented by CBS as an unbiased industry expert. This one-sided presentation falls far short of responsible journalistic standards expected from reputable outlets, including 60 Minutes.

“The FAA is recognized around the world as the gold standard with regard to transportation safety, and as a result the airline industry in the U.S. has never been safer.

“The FAA exercises rigorous oversight of Allegiant, as they do all airlines operating in the United States. Allegiant complies with all FAA requirements and participates in numerous voluntary safety programs to ensure we operate to the highest standards. Additionally, we expect our team members to follow all company policies and practice strict adherence to FAA regulations and guidelines. Several anonymous, non-disciplinary reporting systems are available through Allegiant as well as through the FAA for team members to report safety concerns. Interestingly, none of the concerns allegedly expressed by Allegiant team members during the 60 Minutes episode were found to have been reported through any of these appropriate channels.

“Allegiant’s workforce is made up of more than 4,000 dedicated and hard-working people who wake up every day thinking about how to move our customers safely from one place to another. Our team members safely operate thousands of flights each week, which will transport more than 14 million passengers this year. We have safely carried nearly 90 million passengers since beginning operations in 2001.

“If 60 Minutes had been interested in current information, they would have reported that today, according to just-released Department of Transportation data, Allegiant is a leader in reliability, with the second-lowest cancelation rate among all US airlines.

“Not only do we expect our team members to adhere to all company procedures and policies, but many positions are subject to statutory and regulatory obligations, the violation of which would not only trigger punitive action from the company, but could also result in enforcement action from regulatory agencies, loss of a certification, and even criminal charges. To suggest that Allegiant would engage in the practice of asking team members to violate company and regulatory obligations is offensive and defamatory.”

Follow-up from CBS: Allegiant Air goes on the defensive after “60 Minutes” report: CLICK HERE