Monthly Archives: May 2019

Volotea launches a new base in Cagliari

Volotea inaugurated on May 30 its thirteenth base, in Cagliari, where two Airbus A319s will be permanently based to operate 15 routes, ten of which exclusively offered by Volotea.

Since Volotea started operations in Cagliari in 2012, Volotea has carried over 750,000 passengers, increasing its number of customers’ year-on-year. In 2018, the airline has carried 270,000 passengers from Cagliari, up by 66% in comparison to the previous year and achieving an average 94% seat load. For 2019, Volotea will offer 414,000 seats, increasing its capacity by 44%.

Volotea also operates in Olbia’s Airport, transporting in 206,000 passengers in 2018 and in Alghero, where last year has transported 51.000 passengers. Since 2012 Volotea has transported in Sardinia more than 1,6 million of passengers. With the launch of Cagliari’s base Volotea will offer in Sardinia more than 700,000 seats and 26 international and national routes to connect the Italian island with different destinations.

In 2019, Volotea is opening 41 new routes to serve a lineup of 319 routes, operating flights to more than 80 mid and small-sized European cities in 13 countries: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Malta, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg and Morocco. The airline expects to carry more than 7.5 million passengers in 2019.

Volotea has currently twelve bases: Venice, Nantes, Bordeaux, Palermo, Strasbourg, Asturias, Verona, Toulouse, Genoa, Bilbao, Marseille and Athens. These last three have been inaugurated in 2018. Volotea will inaugurate a new base in Cagliari on May 30^th 2019.

Volotea operates its network with 36 aircraft, Boeing 717s and Airbus A319s, after adding six additional aircraft in 2019.

The Airbus A319 is the aircraft model selected for its future growth and will allow the company to increase its passenger capacity by 25% to 156 seats and to serve longer routes.

Photo: Volotea.

American to add Honduras service from DFW

American Airlines is adding two new international routes to Honduras from its Dallas/Fort Worth hub.

According to Airline Route, the carrier will add service to Tegucigalpa on June 6 and San Pedro Sula on June 7 with Airbus A319s.

Top Copyright Photo: American Airlines Airbus A319-132 N801AW (msn 889) ONT (Michael B. Ing). Image: 946606.

American Airlines aircraft slide show:

Emirates announces the shortest Airbus A380 route

Emirates is gearing up for a big summer in Muscat with the deployment of double daily Airbus A380 flights from July 1, 2019.

The airline will operate the A380 on EK 862/863 and EK864/865 to and from Muscat International Airport (MCT).

Muscat will become Emirates’ shortest scheduled A380 flight, flying a distance of 340 kilometers (211 miles) each way.

The new A380 services to Muscat demonstrate the airline’s agile approach to fleet deployment and its commitment to providing an enhanced onboard experience for its passengers.

The launch of the A380 flights will come exactly one year after the first deployment of a scheduled one-off A380 service that marked 25 years of operations to Oman, and reaffirmed the airport’s infrastructure readiness to handle double-decker operations.

The twice daily A380 services will replace EK 862/863 and EK 864/865. Emirates morning flight, EK 862, will depart Dubai at 0825hrs, arriving in Muscat at 0940hrs. The return flight, EK 863, will depart Muscat at 1115hrs, arriving in Dubai in the afternoon at 1225hrs. Emirates late afternoon flight EK 864 will depart Dubai at 1610hrs and will arrive in Muscat at 1725hrs. EK 865 will depart Muscat at 1905hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2015hrs. Flight timings will vary slightly with the commencement of the winter schedule in late October.

Both A380s flying to Muscat will be operated in a three-class configuration, with 429 seats in Economy Class on the lower deck, as well as 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites on the upper deck. Passengers travelling across all three classes will enjoy the airline’s award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, offering more than 4,000 channels of entertainment, and savour regionally inspired meals.

Emirates has been flying to Oman since 1993, and today operates three daily services utilising the Boeing 777-300ER between Dubai and Muscat, connecting passengers to over 150 global destinations in the Far East, Europe and the US.

Note: The new flights will break Emirates’ previous record. The airline previously operated the world’s shortest scheduled A380 service (Dubai – Doha), a distance of 379 kilometers (236 miles).

Photos: Emirates.

UPS upgrades the Boeing 757 and 767 cockpits

UPS Airlines made this announcement on social media:

Check out this before and after of our Boeing 757 Large Display System (LDS). We’re modifying our 757 and 767 cockpits with advanced avionics technology that will enhance safety and improve reliability.

Photo: UPS.

Swoop carries its one-millionth traveller

Swoop has made this announcement:

Swoop celebrated its one-millionth traveller on a flight from Edmonton to Hamilton earlier this week. William and Emily Burchat were surprised to be selected as the lucky recipients of a round-trip for two on Swoop and a commemorative, Swoop branded, model aircraft. The pair were travelling to Hamilton with their twin infant daughters who were meeting their grandparents for the first time.

“It was an awesome experience. They were all super helpful, every single one of them,” said William of his first Swoop flight. “Their prices are cheap, but the quality isn’t. We save as much money as we can to give them (the twins) a better future. Every penny counts with them.”

“Both of us and the girls flew here for half the price it would have cost,” said Emily about why they chose Swoop. “We wouldn’t have been able to actually make the trip. It’s hard to travel as a family.”

A small Swoop team was on hand in Edmonton to kick-off the festivities, which included celebratory décor and refreshments at the gate. Travellers were encouraged to record their favourite travel stories at the Swoop Stories Video Booth to be shared on the Swoop social channels. Every traveller received an exclusive Swoop luggage tag, promo code and the hugely popular, Swoop piggy bank.

Swoop President Steven Greenway was waiting in Hamilton to surprise the millionth traveller.

“We suspected the millionth traveller would be flying this week, so we decided to have some fun and share the experience with an entire flight,” said Steven Greenway, President of Swoop. “After all, every traveller is equally as valued and we were eager to show our appreciation in a unique way.”

“The best compliments we receive are affirmations from word-of-mouth referrals,” said Karen McIsaac, Sr. Advisor of Communications for Swoop. “Of those who try us, more than 94 per cent say they would fly with Swoop again. † This kind of awareness and endorsement has been our biggest ally in bringing more affordable air travel to everyone.”

†Based on a 2019 Swoop survey of 23,830 participants.

Swoop is a month shy of reaching one full-year of operation, having begun flights on June 20, 2018 with an initial fleet of three aircraft and a network of five Canadian cities. Since then, the airline has quickly expanded service to include 16 destinations across four countries. The Edmonton base has seen an exponential increase in weekly flights and now employs 104 Swoopsters. Hamilton has almost quadrupled its weekly flights since launch and currently employs 166 Swoopsters.

CNBC: United CEO says he’s not sure travelers will want to fly a Boeing 737 MAX

From CNBC:

“United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz on Thursday said he’s under no assumption that all passengers will feel comfortable flying on a Boeing 737 MAX plane anytime soon.”

“We will be incredibly communicative to all our customers and very transparent when that aircraft comes back,” Munoz told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau at New York’s LaGuardia airport, where the carrier is opening up a new terminal. Munoz added, “The first and foremost objective is to not assume everyone will want to fly, or assume everyone will get over it.”

Read the full story and video.

United Airlines begins flight operations at LaGuardia Airport’s new Terminal B Eastern Concourse on June 2

United Airlines has made this announcement:

This weekend United customers traveling through New York-LaGuardia Airport will experience new gates on the Terminal B Eastern Concourse, following the first phase of the $4 billion, 1.3-million-square-foot redevelopment project of Terminal B, operated by LaGuardia Gateway Partners. With soaring ceilings up to 55-feet high and plenty of natural light, customers will have thirteen new shops, restaurants and services in the concourse to visit; all inspired by the best of New York – from the iconic Shake Shack and local Irving Farm Coffee Roasters to an outpost of New York’s famous toy store, FAO Schwarz.

The new concourse features ample gate seating, with charging stations throughout the seating area along with free unlimited high-speed Wi-Fi, offered by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Additional features include a “park area” complete with greenery and benches, an airport themed children’s play area which contains a 16-foot interactive display and restrooms with spacious stalls and above sink shelves that will keep belongings dry while washing hands.

As part of the terminal redevelopment, United will open its newest United Club on June 2. Conveniently located after security near United’s gates, the new club offers a private oasis of 10,500 square feet with sweeping views of the tarmac. The Club, which is 30 percent larger than the prior LGA United Club location, combines the sleek styles of New York City with the modern touches travelers desire and features more than 200 seats.

Customers can enjoy an expanded food menu including distinctly New York selections such as the iconic New York Bagel provider, Ess-a-Bagel, which will be paired with assorted cream cheese, jams and smokehouse salmon spread, a Greek salad bar and rotating hot foods including oven-baked Neapolitan ziti, fast-fired pesto and goat cheese flatbread, bite sized reuben corned beef with sauerkraut and more. Menu options will rotate throughout the day with hot and cold entrees available all-day. Additional amenities include complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi, wellness rooms and phone booths.

All photos by United Airlines.

Southwest Airlines extends its flight schedule through the end of 2019, will expand at Long Beach

Southwest Airlines today announced it extended its bookable flight schedule through January 5, 2020.

New and Returning Service

Beginning November 3, 2019, Southwest will add daily nonstop service between Baltimore/Washington and Greenville-Spartanburg. This route was previously offered in 2016.

Just a few days later, on November 9, 2019, the carrier will add new weekly service on Saturdays between Boston and Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood.

Long Beach Service

Having recently received additional slot allocations from the City of Long Beach, Southwest is rounding-out service for Long Beach Customers with additional flights. Effective October 1, 2019, the carrier will offer the following service:

Between Long Beach and Oakland (Four daily flights)*
Between Long Beach and San Jose, Calif. (Four flights a day on weekdays and three flights on Saturdays and Sundays)
Between Long Beach and Sacramento (Four flights a day on weekdays and three flights on Saturdays and Sundays)
Between Long Beach and Las Vegas (Two flights a day on weekends)

*Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31, there will be an additional flight on Saturdays and Sundays between Long Beach and Oakland.

In October, the carrier will also offer one roundtrip a day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between Long Beach and Las Vegas and one roundtrip a day on Saturdays and Sundays between Long Beach and Denver.

Holidays on the Beach
The carrier also announced today the return of several seasonal routes linking key cities across the United States with the Caribbean and Latin America.

Effective November 3, 2019, daily service will resume between:
Austin and Cancun

Effective November 9, 2019, weekly service on Saturdays will resume seasonally between:

Houston (Hobby) and Aruba
Nashville and Cancun
Milwaukee and Cancun
San Antonio and Cancun
Baltimore/Washington and Liberia, Costa Rica
Baltimore/Washington and San Jose, Costa Rica
Denver and Belize
Chicago (Midway) and San Jose del Cabo/Cabo San Lucas

Top Copyright Photo: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-76N WL N7729A (msn 32675) LGB (Michael B. Ing). Image: 946605.

Southwest Airlines aircraft slide show:

Lufthansa retires its first Airbus A320 – D-AIPA

Lufthansa made this announcement on social media:

An era has come to an end:

Our very first Airbus A320 landed on May 29 for the last time at Frankfurt (FRA).

Since 1989 D-AIPA has been flying all over Europe. CEO Carsten Spohr thanked the crew and colleagues of Lufthansa Technik for their great commitment.

So long, Papa Alpha!

All photos by Lufthansa.

In other news, Lufthansa is also setting an example for Europe after the election: the standard livery of all Lufthansa aircraft will be changed. In addition to the German flag, the European flag will also be on display in future.