Monthly Archives: March 2021

Alaska Airlines officially joins oneworld

Alaska Airlines has made this announcement:

Marking a milestone in its 89-year history, Alaska Airlines today (March 31) celebrated its first day as a member of oneworld. Alaska becomes the 14th full member of the global alliance, just eight months after receiving a formal invitation from oneworld in July 2020.

N487AS is the first to wear the oneworld livery at AS.

With safety protocols in place due to the pandemic, Alaska and oneworld hosted a virtual celebration and news conference today in Seattle, the airline’s hometown. Fellow airline members from around the world welcomed Alaska to the alliance with video greetings and provided versions of employees performing the Alaska Safety Dance (see below), briefly renamed the Global Safety Dance.

Effective today, all Alaska Mileage Plan members can earn miles when they fly any of the other 13 member airlines. Mileage redemption for flights on airlines that Alaska did not have previous partnerships with will occur in the coming months.

The 14 full members of oneworld are: Alaska Airlines; American Airlines; British Airways; Cathay Pacific Airways; Finnair; Iberia; Japan Airlines; Malaysia Airlines; Qantas; Qatar Airways; Royal Air Maroc; Royal Jordanian; S7 Airlines and SriLankan Airlines. Fiji Airways is a oneworld connect partner offering select alliance benefits to frequent flyers from any oneworld member airline traveling on their flights.

Video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN2H35Xlflo&w=560&h=315%5D

In other news from Horizon Air:

Ethiopian transports more than one million COVID -19 vaccine doses from Beijing to Harare

Ethiopian Airlines has transported 1,056,000 doses of COVID19 vaccines in a single flight. Ethiopian transported the vaccines in 6 envirotainers from Beijing to Harare via Addis Ababa and arrived in Harare today – March 31, 2021.

Ethiopian has also transported 300,000 vaccines donated by Chinese Government to Ethiopia. The vaccine delivery flight arrived yesterday at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

Addis Ababa Bole International Airport has been chosen as a Humanitarian Air Hub for the distribution of medical supplies for Africa.

Spirit Airlines expands in Los Angeles, adds third destination in Mexico

Spirit Airlines has announced plans to expand internationally from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after two decades of providing high value and low fares domestically. The airline will offer daily flights between LAX and Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) starting May 5, and nonstop flights to Puerto Vallarta’s Licenciado Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR), starting on July 1.

Spirit will also offer Guests the only nonstop flights from LAX to Columbus (CMH), Milwaukee (MKE), LaGuardia (LGA) and Louisville (SDF), as well as a new nonstop flight to St. Louis (STL), substantially expanding the airline’s flight offerings in Southern California.

New Spirit Airlines Service in Los Angeles

Destination:

Flights Available:

Start Date:

Los Cabos (SJD)

Daily

May 5

  Louisville (SDF)

Daily

  May 27

  St. Louis (STL)

Daily

  May 27

Columbus (CMH)

Daily

June 9

  LaGuardia (LGA)

Saturday Only

 June 12

Milwaukee (MKE)

Daily

June 24

  Puerto Vallarta (PVR)

Daily

  July 1

In 1999, Spirit launched its service in California with flights out of LAX, and later grew to serve Sacramento (SMF), Oakland (OAK) and San Diego (SAN) as well. Recently, Spirit stepped up investments in the LA Basin by adding service to Burbank (BUR) and Orange County (SNA).

In other news, Spirit is expanding on its international growth with new flights from Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Los Angeles to Puerto Vallarta.

The airline will offer daily flights between Puerto Vallarta and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), along with service three times weekly from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Spirit Airlines Service to Puerto Vallarta

Destination:

Flights Available:

Start Date:

Los Angeles (LAX)

Daily

July 1

  Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)

3x Weekly

  July 1

  Houston (IAH)

3x Weekly

  July 1

Spirit will also add nonstop service between LAX and Los Cabos, Mexico (SJD) starting May 5. The route will be Spirit’s first international service from Los Angeles, which will be joined by Puerto Vallarta when it launches the following month.

 

Swoop to expand operations in British Columbia

Swoop has announced an expansion to its summer schedule, bringing new routes and more ultra-low fares to British Columbia. The airline’s expanded summer operations will bring new service to Victoria and celebrates the return and addition of new routes from Kelowna.

The airline, which had previously postponed planned operations to Victoria in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will now see an increase of flights and routes in three cities within British Columbia, ensuring that Canadians across the province have access to domestic air travel at an affordable price tag. Today’s announcement is the first of several to come for the airline as they intend to bring even more ultra-low-fares coast-to-coast.

Swoop’s new service to Victoria will include flights from Toronto, ON and Edmonton, AB. In addition, beginning June 20, 2021, service to Kelowna will now be available from Hamilton, ON and once again from Winnipeg, MB. Full details of Swoop’s expanded service in British Columbia can be found below.

Planned Network Service: New and Returning Routes  

Route 

Frequency 

Planned Start Date  

Toronto – Victoria  

Up to 6x weekly

May 20, 2021  

Edmonton – Victoria

Up to 7x weekly

May 20, 2021  

Hamilton – Kelowna

Up to 6x weekly

June 20, 2021

Winnipeg – Kelowna

Up to 3x weekly

June 20, 2021

Additional BC Network Service

Route 

Frequency 

Abbotsford – Edmonton  

Up to 21x weekly

Abbotsford – Hamilton

Up to 7x weekly

Abbotsford – Toronto

Up to 7x weekly

Abbotsford – Winnipeg

Up to 7x weekly

Kelowna – Toronto

Up to 7x weekly

 

Ryanair announces two new routes to Zadar and a new base at Zagreb

Ryanair has announced a new Liverpool to Zadar route, commencing in July 2021 and flying twice weekly as part of Ryanair’s UK Summer 2021 schedule.

The airline also announced a Newcastle to Zadar route, commencing in July 2021 and flying once weekly.

Finally the airline announced a new base at Zagreb with 36 weekly flights and 12 new routes (Brusseles, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Memmingen, Milan, Rome, Podgorica, Oslo, Gothenburg, Paris and London) starting in June.

ASL Airlines UK commences operations

ASL Airlines (UK) (ABV) (East Midlands) operated it first ATR 72-200 freighter flight from East Midlands to Belfast on March 29.

ASL Aviation Holdings issued this statement:

ASL Airlines United Kingdom has received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and its Operating Licence from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, becoming the world’s newest cargo airline.

This is the first fixed-wing AOC issued by the CAA post Brexit and ASL Airlines UK has now taken its place in the ASL Aviation Holdings group of airlines which already includes four European airlines and two associated non-European airlines.

The new airline’s first flight was operated by an ATR 72-200 freighter from East Midlands Airport to Belfast International Airport. The aircraft, registered G-OASL, became the first aircraft on the AOC and it will operate to Belfast International Airport daily from ASL Airlines UK’s new base at East Midlands.

Currently the ASL Airlines UK AOC is for the operation of cargo flights on a single route, but the airline is looking at opportunities to grow its domestic UK network and is applying for an EASA Third Country Operator (TCO) authorization for cargo flights from the UK to Europe.

ASL UK will be closely aligned to ASL Airlines Ireland with common SOPs and shared support services. This corresponds to ASL Group’s program to harmonize operations, remove unnecessary duplication and the creation of ‘centers of excellence’ serving all airlines.

ASL Airlines United Kingdom’s ICAO 3 letter designator is ABV and its callsign is CARGOBLUE.

 

Emirates expands its US network with restart of flights to Orlando

Emirates has announced it will resume four-weekly services to Orlando from June 2, 2021, further expanding its US network, and offering customers worldwide more travel choices and enhanced connectivity via Dubai.

With the addition of Orlando, Emirates will be serving over 60 weekly services to and from 11 US destinations including Boston, New York (JFK), Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C, Seattle/Tacoma, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Newark (in June), reaffirming the airline’s ongoing commitment to this growing market and offering a convenient connections to travelers headed from and towards the Middle East, West Asia, and Africa via Dubai. Emirates customers also have seamless access to other US cities via the airline’s codeshare agreements with Jetblue and Alaskan Airlines.

Flights to/from Orlando will operate four times weekly on Emirates’ two-class Boeing 777-200LR, offering 38 lie-flat seats in Business and 264 ergonomically designed seats in Economy class. Emirates flight EK219 will depart Dubai at 08:55hrs, arriving in Orlando at 16:30hrs while the return flight EK220 will depart Orlando at 21:00 hrs, arriving in Dubai at 19:10hrs the next day.

Qatar Airways announces its summer schedule with plans to expand network to more than 140 destinations

Qatar Airways has announced its summer schedule, maintaining its position as the leading international carrier providing reliable global connectivity. Having never stopped flying throughout the pandemic the airline has worked diligently to be the world’s leading airline for safety, innovation and customer experience. By the peak of the IATA Summer Season, the national carrier of the State of Qatar plans to operate over 1,200 weekly flights to more than 140 destinations.

Qatar Airways continues to expand its network of destinations, offering more flights to international destinations than any other airline. By the middle of summer 2021, Qatar Airways’ plans to rebuild its network to more than 140 destinations including 23 in Africa, 14 in the Americas, 43 in Asia-Pacific, 43 in Europe and 19 in Middle East. Many cities will be served with a strong schedule with daily or more frequencies.

Qatar Airways destinations operating by the peak of IATA Summer Season 2021*:

Africa

Abuja(ABV),Accra (ACC), Addis Ababa (ADD), Alexandria (HBE), Algiers (ALG), Cairo(CAI), Cape Town (CPT), Casablanca (CMN), Dar Es Salaam (DAR), Djibouti (JIB), Durban (DUR), Entebbe (EBB), Johannesburg (JNB), Kigali (KGL), Kilimanjaro (JRO), Lagos (LOS), Luanda (LAD), Maputo (MPM),  Mogadishu (MGQ), Nairobi (NBO), Seychelles (SEZ), Tunis (TUN), Zanzibar (ZNZ)

Americas

Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami(MIA), Montreal (YUL), New York (JFK), Philadelphia (PHL), San Francisco (SFO), Sao Paulo (GRU), Seattle(SEA), Washington D.C. (IAD)

Asia-Pacific

Adelaide (ADL), Ahmedabad (AMD), Amritsar (ATQ), Auckland (AKL), Bali (DPS), Bangalore (BLR), Bangkok (BKK), Brisbane (BNE), Calicut (CCJ), Cebu (CEB), Chennai (MAA), Clark (CRK), Colombo (CMB), Dhaka (DAC), Goa (GOI), Guangzhou (CAN), Hangzhou (HGH), Hanoi (HAN), Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), Hong Kong (HKG),  Hyderabad (HYD), Islamabad (ISB), Jakarta (CGK), Karachi (KHI), Kathmandu (KTM), Kochi (COK), Kolkata (CCU), Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Lahore (LHE), Male (MLE), Manila (MNL), Melbourne (MEL), Mumbai (BOM), New Delhi (DEL), Perth (PER), Peshawar (PEW), Phuket (HKT), Seoul (ICN), Singapore (SIN), Sialkot (SKT), Sydney (SYD), Tokyo Narita (NRT), Trivandrum (TRV)

Europe

Adana (ADA), Amsterdam (AMS), Antalya(AYT), Ankara (ESB), Athens (ATH), Baku (GYD), Barcelona (BCN), Belgrade (BEG), Berlin (BER), Bodrum (BJV), Brussels (BRU), Bucharest (OTP), Budapest (BUD), Copenhagen (CPH), Dublin (DUB), Edinburgh (EDI), Frankfurt (FRA), Helsinki (HEL), Istanbul (IST), Istanbul Sabiha (SAW), Izmir (ADB), Kiev (KBP), Larnaca (LCA), London (LHR), London Gatwick (LGW), Madrid (MAD), Manchester (MAN), Milan (MXP), Moscow (DME), Munich (MUC), Mykonos (JMK),  Oslo (OSL), Paris (CDG), Prague (PRG), Rome (FCO), Sofia (SOF),  Stockholm (ARN), Tbilisi (TBS), Vienna (VIE), Warsaw (WAW), Yerevan (EVN), Zagreb (ZAG), Zurich (ZRH)

Middle East

Abu Dhabi (AUH), Amman (AMM), Baghdad (BGW), Basra (BSR), Beirut (BEY), Dammam (DMM), Dubai (DXB), Erbil (EBL), Isfahan (IFN), Jeddah (JED), Kuwait (KWI), Mashhad (MHD), Muscat (MCT), Najaf (NJF), Riyadh (RUH), Salalah (SLL), Shiraz (SYZ), Sulaymaniyah (ISU), Tehran (IKA)

*Subject to regulatory approval

Southwest Airlines is now offering pre-cleared arrival into Hawaii

Southwest Airlines has introduced an added convenience for Customers flying to Hawaii on Southwest Airlines®—an ability to present evidence of their compliance with the Hawaii Safe Travels program. Customers who have uploaded an approved negative COVID-19 test result, required travel information, and completed a health questionnaire before departing the mainland may be eligible to bypass airport screening when arriving in Honolulu (Oahu) and Kahului (Maui). This pre-clear convenience complements the carrier’s approach to serving Hawaii with industry-leading value, comfort, and Hospitality, and pairs access of pre-trip testing options in select California cities with a streamlined arrival into the Islands.

Southwest Airlines is a Trusted Travel Partner of the State of Hawaii. The program allows visitors and returning residents to bypass a mandatory 10-day quarantine on arrival provided they have met key requirements of the program and have correctly uploaded these items into a traveler profile on the State of Hawaii website:

  • Updated and complete travel information including flight details for the initial flight segment into Hawaii, all lodging details for each traveler aged 18 or older (with younger travelers included in the profile of one parent);
  • A valid, negative COVID-19 test result for each passenger, taken within 72 hours of departure for Hawaii, obtained from a State-of-Hawaii-approved Trusted Travel Partner; and,
  • A mandatory health questionnaire within the Safe Travels account.

Southwest® Customer Service Agents now are available starting 90 minutes prior to departure to confirm Customers’ State-of-Hawaii-approved profile. Completing this verification at a gate before departure allows a faster arrival on-island. Southwest is offering the new service to Customers either starting their journey or connecting in the five California airports from which it offers nonstop service to the Hawaiian Islands—Oakland; San Jose, Calif.; Sacramento; San Diego; and Long Beach, Calif. The State of Hawaii reserves the right to re-screen or validate the screening of any passenger.

Visit Southwest.com/coronavirus/Hawaii to learn more about the requirements, procedures, and pre-departure testing options that uniquely complement the value of Southwest.

With the addition this month of Long Beach as a gateway with daily service to Hawaii (nonstop to both Honolulu (Oahu), and Kahului (Maui)), Southwest aircraft currently are scheduled to takeoff for Hawaii 14 times a day from a total of five gateway airports in California. In addition, nonstop service between Lihue (Kauai), and the Bay Area (Oakland and San Jose) is scheduled to resume June 6, 2021. Southwest Airlines also operates 24 departures a day to offer interisland service within the State of Hawaii. Southwest’s Hawaii service on Boeing 737-800 aircraft features spacious seating for 175 Customers.