Yearly Archives: 2019

ANA Group announces its fiscal year 2019 flight schedule

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has announced its Fiscal Year 2019 (FY2019) flight schedule.

Based on the rising global demand for air travel, ANA has expanded its network of routes, placing an emphasis on international flights. During FY2019, ANA plans to proactively develop new routes to areas where service was not previously available. New destinations include Perth in Western Australia and Chennai in Southern India. These decisions were based on ANA Group’s Mid-Term Corporate Strategy for FY2018-2022. ANA will further strengthen the “Tokyo Metropolitan Dual Hub Model” that makes full use of both Haneda and Narita airports.

ANA will continue to maintain and improve profitability by optimizing the size of the aircraft in accordance with demand trends and the competitive environment, all while also flexibly adjusting aircraft types in use.

Building upon the changes to its passenger side, ANA’s potential to meet demand for cargo transport will also increase with the introduction of a new Boeing 777F large-scale air freighter. This coincides with projected increases in demand over the medium to long term for routes between Asia and North America.

The airline also aims to further increase the comfort of passengers by introducing new state-of-the-art aircraft, products and services.

ANA will employ Japan’s first Airbus A380 aircraft on its Hawaii route, providing a new travel experience.

In addition, ANA plans to improve profitability by introducing the Boeing 787-10, the latest model in the Boeing 787 series, to its Southeast Asian routes. This new addition is expected to capture the increasing demand for connection traffic via Japan.

Below are the details of ANA’s schedule and frequency for the international, domestic, and freighter routes.

*Flight plans are subject to government approval. All schedules are subject to change.

International Routes

Following the launch of the Haneda-Vienna route on February 17, 2019, ANA will continue opening up new routes worldwide. On September 1, Narita = Perth daily service will be available and Narita = Chennai daily service will be available for the 2019 winter schedule period. These are cities where there are no direct flights from Japan. The new flights will provide convenient travel options for ANA passengers and appeal to the increasing number of travelers flying these routes.

ANA is expecting the flow of people and goods in the Asia-Pacific region to further expand with the strengthening of key economic partnerships such as RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership). By opening a new route, ANA will contribute to expanding commercial exchange between Japan and Australia as well as between Japan and India. The new routes will also strengthen the air travel network in the Asia-Oceania region, and further enhancing the presence of ANA in this vital market.

(1) New routes
- 1.Narita = Perth
  From Sept. 1, 2019, ANA will be the first airline in Japan to provide a route from Narita to Perth, Australia. This will be ANA’s second destination in Oceania.

– In addition to business demand from key industries – including mineral resources and natural resources – ANA will capture the increasing demand for travel to and from Japan.
– Perth is said to be the “most beautiful city in the world” and is Western Australia’s largest city. It features an elegant blend of historic and modern architecture with public green spaces.
– Since the seasons are reversed in Japan and Perth, there is a stable market for two-way leisure travel throughout the year.

Reservation and sales will start on Feb. 7, 2019.

- 2.Narita = Chennai
  Starting in winter 2019, ANA will begin to operate flights from Narita to Chennai, India, marking the first direct connection between Japan and Chennai. This will be the third destination in India that ANA will offer service to.

– India sends many visitors to Japan, and demand for travel to the country is increasing annually as economic growth continues. ANA intends to capitalize on this growth by opening the only direct flight from Japan to South India.
– Chennai has the second largest port in India and has an established automobile industry. Chennai is also called the “Detroit of India,” so cargo demand can be anticipated in addition to passenger demand.
– In addition, ANA will acquire travel demand from neighboring areas including Bengaluru (Bangalore) and Hyderabad, which are growing rapidly as the base of the Indian IT industry.

Information about the launch date, schedule, aircraft and timing for the start of sales will be announced when it becomes available.

(2) Resumed routes and increased frequency

(3) Changes in aircraft
Starting May 24, 2019, ANA will start operating the world’s largest passenger aircraft – the Airbus A380 – between Narita and Honolulu. The route will start with three round trips per week and will be expanded to 10 round trips per week from July 1, 2019, when ANA introduces its second Airbus A380 aircraft.

In addition, a 294 seat Boeing 787-10 (the latest and longest model in the Boeing 787 series) will serve the Narita – Singapore route from April 26, 2019, and Narita – Bangkok starting July 1, 2019, in order to capture the increasing demand for connection traffic via Japan.

Domestic Routes

ANA will continue its Haneda = Ishigaki, Haneda = Okinawa and Haneda = Hiroshima routes to capture the significant demand for travel between these destinations. In addition, ANA will increase the number of Narita = Nagoya (Chubu) flights to meet demand for international connections from the region to flights such as Narita = Honolulu flying on an Airbus A380. By providing customers visiting Japan access to flights all over the country, ANA will further increase its network of both domestic and international routes.

ANA will continue to maintain and improve profitability by optimizing the size of its aircraft in accordance with demand trends and market factors while also flexibly adjusting aircraft types in use.

(1) Resumed routes and increased frequency

Cargo Route

Cargo demand between Asia and North America is expected to increase over the medium to long term and ANA will respond with the introduction of a Boeing 777F aircraft capable of transporting large cargo. As freight demand grows alongside passenger demand, ANA will actively work to increase its share of both.

(1) New routes

(2) Changes in aircraft

(3) Reduced frequency

(4) Suspended routes
Midnight flights will be suspended due to changes in the market demand.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by ANA): ANA (All Nippon Airways) Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner JA823A (msn 42246) “787” HND (TMK Photography). Image: 945375.

ANA aircraft slide show:

Swiss to fly to Larnaca from Geneva

Swiss is expanding its route network from Geneva by offering a new connection to Larnaca (Cyprus) from July 3, 2019. This coastal resort joins the list of new summer destinations announced by Swiss in December.

Swiss International Air Lines is adding the Cypriot city of Larnaca to its destinations departing from Geneva, offering its passengers six new destinations for the summer of 2019. With the addition of the new flights to Ibiza, Mykonos, Brindisi, Faro, Alicante and Larnaca, the company will fly to 43 direct destinations from Geneva.

From July 3, 2019, SWISS will be offering a weekly flight between Geneva and Larnaca.

The flight will operate every Wednesday from July 3 to August 28, and every Saturday from September 7 to October 26, 2019.

ManaAir, LLC, completes the acquisition of ExpressJet Airlines

ManaAir, LLC, on January 22, 2019 announced the successful completion of its acquisition of ExpressJet Airlines. ExpressJet flies for United Airlines as a United Express carrier.

In 2019, ExpressJet will grow its fleet with 25 new dual-class Embraer E175 aircraft. The first delivery is scheduled for April.

In other news, ExpressJet Airlines today announced that it is increasing its pilot sign-on bonus to $22,000. Pilots with an eligible type rating will receive an additional $5,000. The increase makes ExpressJet pilots some of the most highly compensated among regional airline pilots.

ExpressJet plans to hire more than 600 pilots in 2019 as it adds 25 new Embraer E175 aircraft to its fleet and exercises options to grow its existing fleet of Embraer ERJ145 aircraft. Pilots who sign on with ExpressJet can expect an immediate class date and to complete training and begin flying within approximately three months.

The United Career Path Program allows ExpressJet pilots to secure a career with United while flying for ExpressJet. Since November 2016, over 250 ExpressJet pilots have progressed to United through the program.

ExpressJet hosts new-hire pilot training classes twice per month. After applying, pilots can be placed in class within as little as four business days.

All images by the airline.

Route Map:

Alaska Airlines delays the launch of Paine Field service

Alaska Airlines has issued this statement on their blog:

We hope you can appreciate the adage “good things come to those who wait,” because we have an update to pass along about our planned flights at Paine Field.

Several key groups within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which conduct crucial certification and oversight work required for the start of commercial air service at Paine Field, are subject to furloughs because of the government shutdown. The FAA’s work on the environmental assessment continues. However, essential work groups within the FAA are furloughed and further delays are expected if the shutdown continues.

It’s a tough decision, but we believe the responsible action is to postpone the start of service at Paine Field. Originally set for Feb. 11, 2019, we’re now scheduling service to begin on March 4 – subject to receipt of all required government approvals.

If you bought a ticket for a Paine Field flight, your first question might be: what now?

Here’s what we’re doing for guests:

Guests with tickets for travel between Feb. 11 and March 4 will receive an email notification from us today that they’re automatically being confirmed, waiving any fees, on a new flight on the same travel date from Sea-Tac International Airport. It’ll be for a time that’s closest to their original Paine Field flight.
If guests wish to keep Paine Field as their departing or arriving airport for a new flight on March 4 or later, you can do that, waiving any fees, by calling us at 1-800-252-7522.
And if you prefer not to travel, we’ll provide a full refund to your original form of payment, waiving any fees. To make that happen, call us at 1-800-252-7522.

“We know our guests who purchased tickets to and from Paine Field will be disappointed by this delay – so are we,” said Andrew Harrison, Alaska Airlines’ chief commercial officer. “There are certain things that are simply out of our control. We apologize if your travel plans need to change. But we remain eager and committed to giving you – our loyal guests – a much-needed airport alternative north of Seattle, and a great experience.”

We’re still moving forward to prepare for operations at Paine Field, including hiring and training our employees, who look forward to serving you in the coming months. And we’ll continue to work closely with the FAA as it completes its environmental assessment and other needed approvals.

It’s still not clear when the government shutdown will end. Why was March 4 selected as the new start of service date?

It’s a judgment call on our part because we don’t know when the government shutdown will end. We selected a new date for start of service that could allow time for a resolution, but not too far out in case the shutdown suddenly ended. We’re hopeful our operations at Paine Field will get up and running soon and we can get our guests going places.

If the shutdown continues, could Alaska be put in a position to once again delay start of service?

Unfortunately, yes. We can’t start flying at Paine Field until we have all the required, final government approvals. We’re making the best business decisions we can during a difficult situation.

Why not re-route all flights to Sea-Tac that are scheduled to fly between Feb. 11 and March 4 at Paine Field?

We are indeed moving a majority of the previously scheduled flights from Paine Field to Sea-Tac to accommodate our guests. We can also rely on our normal, robust flight schedule at Sea-Tac to get our guests to their destinations.

Revised flight schedule

Service Begins	Route	Flight Time
Mar. 4 only	Paine Field-Portland	10:00 a.m.-10:55 p.m.
Mar. 4 only	Portland-Paine Field	11:55 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
Mar. 4 only	Paine Field-Las Vegas	10:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Mar. 4 only	Las Vegas-Paine Field	1:55 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Mar. 4	Paine Field-Phoenix	12:00 p.m.-3:55 p.m.*
Mar. 4	Phoenix-Paine Field	4:55 p.m.-7:05 p.m.*
Mar. 5	Paine Field-Portland	6:30 a.m.-7:25 a.m.
Mar. 5	Portland-Paine Field	10:20 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
Mar. 5	Paine Field-Las Vegas	9:20 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
Mar. 5	Las Vegas-Paine Field	12:35 p.m.-3:20 p.m.
Mar. 5	Paine Field-San Diego	10:40 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Mar. 5	San Diego-Paine Field	2:20 p.m.-5:20 p.m.
Mar. 5	Paine Field-Los Angeles	11:25 a.m.-2:15 p.m.
Mar. 5	Los Angles-Paine Field	3:35 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Mar. 5	Paine Field-Los Angeles	4:00 p.m.-6:50 p.m.
Mar. 5	Los Angles-Paine Field	7:55 p.m.-10:50 p.m.
Mar. 6	Paine Field-Portland	6:00 p.m.-6:55 p.m.
Mar. 6	Portland-Paine Field	9:35 p.m.-10:35 p.m.
Mar. 6	Paine Field-San Diego	7:45 p.m.-10:35 p.m.
Mar. 7	San Diego-Paine Field	7:45 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
Mar. 7	Paine Field-Los Angeles	7:00 a.m.-9:45 a.m.
Mar. 7	Los Angles-Paine Field	10:30 a.m.-1:20 p.m.
Mar. 7	Paine Field- San Francisco	8:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
Mar. 7	San Francisco-Paine Field	12:05 p.m.-2:20 p.m.
Mar. 7	Paine Field-San Jose	2:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m.
Mar. 7	San Jose-Paine Field	5:45 p.m.-7:55 p.m.
Mar. 9	Paine Field-San Francisco	3:00 p.m.-5:15 p.m.
Mar. 9	San Francisco-Paine Field	6:10 p.m.-8:25 p.m.
Mar. 10	Paine Field-Los Angeles	7:10 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Mar. 10	Paine Field-Portland	9:05 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Mar. 11	Los Angles-Paine Field	7:05 a.m.-9:45 a.m.
Mar. 11	Portland-Paine Field	7:40 a.m.-8:40 a.m.
Mar. 11	Paine Field-San Jose	7:30 a.m.-9:45 a.m.
Mar. 11	San Jose-Paine Field	10:30 a.m.-12:40 a.m.
Mar. 11	Paine Field-Portland	1:20 p.m.-2:15 p.m.
Mar. 11	Portland-Paine Field	3:50 p.m.-4:50 p.m.
Mar. 11	Paine Field-Las Vegas	5:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Mar. 11	Las Vegas-Paine Field	8:40 p.m.-11:25 p.m.
Mar. 12	Paine Field-Orange County	8:00 a.m.-10:40 a.m.
Mar. 12	Orange County-Paine Field	5:50 p.m.-8:40 p.m.

*Due to daylight saving time, the Phoenix flight times will change starting Mar. 10:

Paine Field-Phoenix 12:00 p.m.-2:55 p.m.
Phoenix-Paine Field 3:55 p.m.-7:05 p.m.

All images by Alaska.

easyJet to partner with Cathay Pacific, now has 130 aircraft registered in Austria for Brexit

easyJet has made this announcement:

easyJet customers will be able to connect seamlessly between easyJet flights across its European network flying into London Gatwick Airport and onwards on Cathay Pacific flights, initially between London Gatwick and Hong Kong once it is live on Worldwide in the coming weeks.

Worldwide by easyJet has been consistently growing in popularity. Chicago is currently the most popular longhaul destination connecting through Rome while the Rome-Reykjavik connection is the most popular shorthaul connection. To date, more than 5,000 unique origins and destinations which have been booked in combination with partner airlines.

easyJet has leadership positions at more of Europe’s major airports and flies on more of Europe’s 100 largest routes than any other airline which makes it the most attractive European short haul airline partner. The introduction of this disruptive product opens up new 70m market segment for easyJet.

This addition of Cathay Pacific compliments easyJet’s existing relationships with long haul carriers Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Norwegian, WestJet and Singapore Airlines.

Worldwide by easyJet launched in September 2017 enabling customers to connect easyJet flights through London Gatwick to long haul flights, with launch airline partners WestJet and Norwegian. This quickly expanded to Thomas Cook Airlines, Corsair, La Compagnie and Loganair and the connections platform was extended to Milan Malpensa airport in December 2017. Virgin Atlantic and Emirates joined as partners in October 2018 followed by Singapore Airlines.

Worldwide by easyJet now connects to a total of 11 airports across Europe, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris CDG and Orly, which in addition to London Gatwick, Milan Malpensa, Berlin Tegel and Venice Marco Polo, means that over half of the airline’s flights – and 53 million easyJet customers a year – will be able to connect to airline partner services and other easyJet flights in a single booking through easyJet’s digital booking portal.

In other news, easyJet also reported on its financial performance through December 31, 2018:

easyJet has delivered a good performance in the quarter with robust customer demand driving passenger and ancillary revenue which is in line with expectations. Underlying revenue per seat was positive, including good ancillary revenue growth. This was offset, as expected, by the impact from last year’s one-off revenue benefits, the dilutive impact of flying at Tegel and new accounting standards delaying the recognition of revenue. easyJet has made good progress with its cost and operational performance but both were affected by the impact of drone activity at London Gatwick over the Christmas period.

Commenting; Johan Lundgren, easyJet Chief Executive said:

“easyJet has made a good start to the 2019 financial year with robust customer demand and ancillary sales, driving solid revenue generation. This was underpinned by good operating and on-time performance across the network, with the exception of the disruption caused by the Gatwick closures due to drone sightings. There has been be a one-off cost impact from this incident, but underlying cost progress is in line with expectations. I am proud of the way our teams worked around the clock to mitigate the impact of the incident and looked after affected customers.

“Recognition of the easyJet brand continues to grow. We made good progress on our strategic initiatives; holidays, business, loyalty and data during the quarter.

“For the first half of 2019, booking levels currently remain encouraging despite the lack of certainty around Brexit for our customers. Second half bookings continue to be ahead of last year and our expectations for the full year headline profit before tax are broadly in line with current market expectations.”

Revenue

Total revenue in the first quarter to 31 December 2018 increased by 13.7% to £1,296 million. Passenger revenue increased by 12.2% to £1,025 million and ancillary revenue increased by 19.9% to £271 million.

Passenger¹ numbers in the quarter increased by 15.1% to 21.6 million, driven by an increase in capacity² of 18.2% to 24.1 million seats which was slightly lower than originally planned due in part to the drone issues at London Gatwick and to late A321 deliveries from Airbus.

Load factor³ decreased by two percentage points to 89.7%, as anticipated, due to the one-off increase in prior year late demand and the dilutive impact of Tegel flying.

Total revenue per seat decreased by 4.2% at constant currency, in line with expectations. This performance has been driven by:

An increase in underlying revenue per seat of 1.5% due to:

– Robust underlying demand and disciplined capacity growth by competitors on easyJet’s markets, supported by easyJet’s increasing brand recognition

– Continued growth in ancillary revenue per seat through better bag and allocated seating sales

The negative impact from:

– The dilutive impact of first time flying in Q1 at Berlin Tegel (where the schedule is still in the early stages of optimisation)

– One-off benefits experienced in 2018 not being repeated:

Air Berlin and Monarch bankruptcies (Q1 2018 benefit of c.£30m)
Ryanair winter schedule cancellations last year (Q1 2018 benefit of c.£20m)

– The impact of the move to IFRS 15 accounting standards (c.£8m revenue impact in Q1)

– Cancelled flights and lost revenue resulting from the drone issue at London Gatwick (c.£5m revenue impact)

Cost

easyJet’s underlying cost performance has been solid and in line with expectations, before the cost impact of the drones at Gatwick. Headline cost per seat excluding fuel at constant currency increased by 1.0% in the quarter reflecting:

– A £10 million cost impact of the drones at Gatwick relating to customer welfare costs (representing c.1ppt of cost per seat in Q1). The incident affected around 82,000 customers and led to over 400 flights being cancelled

– Annualisation of crew pay deals; better than expected crew retention; and some additional inefficiency relating to Gatwick disruption

– Ownership costs reflecting new aircraft year on year, some additional leasing costs resulting from late Airbus aircraft deliveries and the impact of IFRS 16 accounting

easyJet’s cost programme has continued to deliver substantial savings in particular in:

– Airport costs, driven by discounts on additional passenger volumes, and

– Fleet up-gauging from A319 ceo to A320 neo and A321 neo, albeit this has been marginally impacted by Airbus delivery delays

– Reduced level of cancellations and delays over 3 hours despite the drone issue at Gatwick

Customer and operational performance

easyJet has improved its On-Time Performance (OTP) since the difficult 2018 summer. The closure of Gatwick airport due to the drone issues had a negative impact on OTP but after adjusting for this December network OTP was better at 81%.

OTP % arrivals within 15 minutes	Oct	Nov	Dec	Q1
Q1 ’19	76%	86%	77%	79%
Q1 ’18	81%	88%	74%	81%

Traffic statistics

As announced at the full year results in November, easyJet will now be reporting monthly passenger statistics within its quarterly reports. Load factor was slightly lower than Q1 2018 due to one-off prior year benefits and the dilutive impact of Tegel flying.

easyJet experienced 764 cancellations in Q1 2019 compared to 1,051 cancellations in Q1 2018, with the biggest number of cancellations due to the drone issue at London Gatwick.

	Oct	Nov	Dec	Q1
Passengers (‘000)	8,578	6,182	6,831	21,592
Passenger growth	14.1%	15.6%	16.1%	15.1%
Load factor	90.5%	89.2%	89.2%	89.7%

Sale and Leaseback

easyJet has entered into another planned sale and leaseback arrangement for 10 A319 aircraft which has generated £120 million in cash and further facilitates our fleet management strategy. Six were completed during the quarter and a further four were finalised on 8 January. This will be disclosed as a non-headline item in the income statement and is currently expected to be a small loss on disposal.

Brexit

easyJet is well prepared for Brexit. It now has 130 aircraft registered in Austria and has made good progress in ensuring it has a spare parts pool in the EU27 and in transferring crew licences, both of which will be completed by 29 March. Both the EU and the UK have committed to ensure that flights between the UK and EU will continue in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Routes from Vienna:

In order to remain owned and controlled by EEA qualifying nationals, as required by EU regulations, easyJet has a number of options, including the use of the provisions contained in its Articles of Association which would permit it to suspend rights to attend and vote at meetings of shareholders and/or forcing the sale of shares owned by non-qualifying nationals as well as other potential actions. easyJet has increased its ownership by qualifying EEA (excluding UK) nationals to around 49%.

Outlook

Despite the consumer and economic uncertainty created by Brexit, demand currently remains solid and forward bookings for the period after 29^th March are robust.

For the year ending 30 September 2019, easyJet expects:

Full Year capacity to grow by c.10%; H1 2019 growth of c.15%
With approximately 40% of forward bookings secured for the second quarter, revenue per seat at constant currency for the first half is expected to decrease by mid to high single digits. This update reflects:

– Continued positive underlying trading in line with Q1, but larger than previously anticipated phasing impact from H1 to H2 from the impact of new IFRS 15 accounting standards and the shift of Easter into H2. IFRS 15 is expected to have a negative impact of around £50 million in the first half and Easter is expected to have a negative impact of around £50 million in the first half. Both of these will reverse in the second half

– A more competitive market in Berlin as well as constraints on our ability to deliver network optimisation as quickly as anticipated. easyJet now expects a loss in FY 2019 in Berlin

Full Year headline cost per seat excluding fuel at constant currency to be circa flat (assuming normal levels of disruption), using new IFRS 15 and 16 accounting standards and including the £10m cost impact from the drones issue at London Gatwick
Full Year unit fuel bill is likely to be £10 million to £60 million adverse⁴. The total fuel bill is expected to be c.£1.46 billion, reflecting a reduction in the price of oil since November and continued higher carbon pricing.
Foreign exchange⁴ movements will have a c.£10 million adverse impact on headline profit before tax
easyJet expectations for the full year are broadly in line with current market expectations⁵

Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline): easyJet (Europe) Airbus A320-214 WL OE-ICR (msn 6885) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 944772.

easyJet (Europe) aircraft slide show:

Swoop announces its summer schedule

Swoop has released its full summer schedule with nonstop flights available for booking from April 28, 2019 through October 26, 2019. Along with three new destinations of London ON, Kelowna BC and Oakland CA, the schedule boasts five new domestic markets, two new transborder markets and an extension of two international routes.

The new domestic markets include service between London and Halifax six times per week and daily service from London to/from Abbotsford and Edmonton. Service between Kelowna and Winnipeg will be offered three times a week. The schedule also sees the return of the seasonal route between Abbotsford and Winnipeg four times per week.

Edmonton will enjoy increased transborder capacity with thrice-weekly flights to/from Oakland and a weekly flight to/from Orlando.

Internationally, Swoop will continue its Hamilton service to Montego Bay and Cancun, with a weekly return flight throughout the summer.

Amongst the routes that will end for the summer are Hamilton to Puerto Vallarta and Tampa Bay, and Abbotsford to Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán. Edmonton to Mesa will take a short hiatus and suspend service at the end of May before resuming October 5, 2019.

Details of Swoop’s summer schedule:


Domestic Markets	Weekly Frequency	Service Offered	Total One-Way Price From†
Edmonton and Hamilton	14x	Daily	$139 CAD
Edmonton and Abbotsford	16x	Daily	$59 CAD
Hamilton and Halifax	13x	Daily	$139 CAD
Hamilton and Winnipeg	6x	Daily except Saturday	$89 CAD
Hamilton and Abbotsford	12x	Daily	$159 CAD
Edmonton and Winnipeg	6x	Daily except Saturday	$69 CAD
New Domestic Markets
London and Halifax	6x	Daily except Saturday (starts May 24, 2019)	$139 CAD
London and Abbotsford	7x	Daily (starts May 24, 2019)	$159 CAD
London and Edmonton	7x	Daily (starts April 28, 2019)	$139 CAD
Abbotsford and Winnipeg	4x	Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri (starts May 24, 2019)	$129 CAD
Kelowna and Winnipeg	3x	Mon, Wed, Fri (starts May 24, 2019)	$119 CAD
Transborder Markets
Edmonton and Mesa	2x	Wed, Sat (ends May 25, 2019 and resumes October 5, 2019)	$159 CAD
Edmonton and Las Vegas	7x	Daily	$139 CAD
Abbotsford and Las Vegas	2x	Thu, Sun	$119 CAD
Hamilton and Las Vegas	4x	Tue, Thu, Fri, Sun	$159 CAD
Hamilton and Fort Lauderdale	2x	Mon, Fri	$149 CAD
Hamilton and Orlando	3x	Mon, Wed, Sat	$159 CAD
Hamilton and Tampa	3x	Wed, Thu, Sat (ends May 22, 2019)	$119 CAD
New Transborder Markets
Edmonton and Oakland	3x	Tue, Thu, Sun (starts May 26, 2019)	$159 CAD
Edmonton and Orlando	1x	Sat (starts June 1, 2019)	$199 CAD
International Markets
Hamilton and Montego Bay	1x	Sat	$199 CAD
Hamilton and Puerto Vallarta	1x	Sat (ends May 18, 2019)	$139 CAD
Hamilton and Cancun	1x	Sat	$139 CAD
Abbotsford and Puerto Vallarta	2x	Mon, Sat (ends May 20, 2019)	$159 CAD
^†Every day low fares. Lower promotional fares may be available during select travel periods.

All images by the airline.

Route Map:

Roots and Air Canada partner to mark “International Sweatpants Day” onboard Air Canada’s longest international flight

Iconic Canadian brands, Roots and Air Canada, partnered to make a long journey even more comfy in celebration of International Sweatpants Day. The two companies surprised more than 250 customers on Air Canada’s longest nonstop flight from Vancouver, Canada to Melbourne, Australia with a gifted set of Roots signature Salt & Pepper™ sweatpants, hoody and a handcrafted made-in-Canada Roots leather passport holder, bringing Roots quintessential cabin-meets-city style to the airplane cabin.

Landing at 10:05 a.m. in Melbourne, Australia and sporting Roots stylishly comfortable sweats, customers onboard the Air Canada flight will be some of the first people in the world to celebrate International Sweatpants Day in 2019.

To further mark International Sweatpants Day, Roots and Air Canada are calling on Canadians to enter the Roots x Air Canada contest. Entrants will have the opportunity to win the ultimate journey in comfort and style. Prizes include two Air Canada round-trip airfares to any destination in Canada as well as two Roots comfort and style travel packages, containing Roots sweats, a Banff Bag and more. The contest is open from January 21 to 25, 2019. For more details on how to participate, please see the following link.

Established in 1973, Roots is a premium outdoor lifestyle brand. We unite the best of cabin and city through unmistakable style built with uncompromising comfort and quality. We offer a broad range of products including: women’s and men’s apparel, leather goods, footwear, accessories and kids, toddler and baby. Our valued consumers can experience Roots through 118 stores in Canada, seven stores in the United States, 115 partner-operated stores in Taiwan, 30 partner-operated stores in China and a global eCommerce platform (as at November 3, 2018). Roots Corporation is a Canadian corporation doing business as “Roots” and “Roots Canada”.

There once was a Roots Air.

Bottom Copyright Photo: Roots Air (Skyservice) Airbus A320-231 C-FRAR (msn 447) YYZ (TMK Photography). Image: 944260.

Southwest Airlines to add more Atlanta flights for the Super Bowl

Southwest Airlines today added additional nonstop service options for football fans flying to and from the Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia.

On Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, the carrier will field the following nonstop service for fans:
Boston to Atlanta, four flights (an increase of two flights)
Los Angeles (LAX) to Atlanta, two flights (an increase of one flight)
St. Louis to Atlanta, five flights (an increase of one flight)

After the weekend, Southwest has fans covered with even more nonstop options for the trip home. On Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, the carrier will offer the following additional flights:
Atlanta to Boston, four nonstop flights (an increase of two flights)
Atlanta to Los Angeles (LAX), two nonstop flights (an increase of one flight)
Atlanta to St. Louis, five nonstop flights (an increase of one flight)

QANTAS Airways to return to Fiji

QANTAS Airways has made this announcement:

QANTAS Airways is making it easier for customers to holiday in Fiji by relaunching new nonstop flights from Sydney, meeting a growing demand from customers wanting a premium travel option to the islands*.

From March 31, 2019, the direct service will operate four times per week to Nadi, the country’s main gateway, with a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, offering a checked baggage allowance, inflight entertainment and food and drinks all included as part of the fare, and the option to fly or upgrade to Business class.

The flights add to Jetstar’s direct services which also operate four times per week and will see the QANTAS Group offer customers more than 75,000 seats on the route annually and the choice to fly to the popular holiday destination six days a week.

QANTAS will also add its code to Jetstar’s flights between Sydney and Nadi, for travel from February 1, 2019.

QANTAS will also continue to codeshare on Fiji Airways’ services to Nadi.

QANTAS’ Sydney-Nadi (Fiji) schedule effective March 31, 2019

Route	Flight	Dep Time^	Arr Time^	Frequency	Aircraft
SYD-NAN	QF 101	1030	1630~	Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun	B737
NAN-SYD	QF 102	1735~	2000	Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun	B737

* Subject to government and regulatory approvals.

** Lounge access available in NAN operated by Fiji Airways and ports with Qantas operated lounges only.

^Times above are local.

~ 1 hour earlier in ADST.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by QANTAS): QANTAS Airways Boeing 737-838 WL VH-VZF (msn 33481) BNE (Ton Jochems). Image: 945055.

QANTAS aircraft slide show:

Bangkok Airways welcomes its 40th aircraft to its fleet

Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited led by AM. Dechit Chareonwong, Vice President of Flight Operations (center) and Mr. Nijjapat Piyapant, Vice President of Ground Operations (4th from right) welcomed the latest Airbus A319 as the 40th aircraft to its fleet at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

This aircraft type consists of 144 economy class seats and will be served popular domestic and international routes such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, Samui, Krabi, Myanmar (Yangon, Mandalay), Cambodia (Siem Reap, Phnom Penh), India (Mumbai) and Vietnam (Danang). This includes the city of Cam Ranh which is the airline’s latest route starting January 25.

Currently, Bangkok Airways’ fleet consists of 4 ATR 72-500s, 11 ATR 72-600s, 16 Airbus A319s and 9 Airbus A320s.

Photo: Bangkok Airways.