Category Archives: Star Alliance

US Airways and South African Airways expand their codeshare agreement

US Airways (Phoenix) and fellow Star Alliance member South African Airways (Johannesburg) today announced a new bilateral codeshare agreement after receiving approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Transport โ€“ South Africa. Flights are currently available for sale for travel beginning on December 19.

US Airways customers will gain access to destinations throughout South Africa with the new agreement and to Dakar, Senegal pending final government approval, along with the convenience of a single-ticket purchase. Conversely, customers traveling on South African Airways will also receive expanded access to and throughout the United States.ย  US Airways customers will continue to have the ability to earn and redeem Dividend Miles on these new codeshare flights. South African Airways customers will also continue to earn and redeem miles as a member of the Voyager Frequent Flyer program.

US Airways customers will have access to South African Airways’ hub in Johannesburg as well as convenient connections to Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth in South Africa.ย  Customers will also have access to Dakar, Senegal via South African Airways’ Washington-Dulles to Johannesburg.ย  South African Airways customers will have access to US Airways’ hub cities of Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Phoenix as well as various destinations within the United States. Specific connection information is below:

 

New Connections for US Airways Customers on South African Airways New Connections for South African Airways Customers on US Airways
 

To Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) from:

  • Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
  • New York’s JFK International Airport (JFK)
  • Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
  • London’s Heathrow International Airport (LHR)
  • Munich, Germany (MUC)

 

To Dakar, Senegal (DKR)* from:

  • IAD

 

Continue from JNB to:

  • Cape Town, South Africa (CPT)
  • Durban, South Africa (DUR)
  • East London, South Africa (ELS)
  • Port Elizabeth, South Africa (PLZ)
  

To Philadelphia (PHL) from:

  • LHR

 

To Charlotte, N.C. (CLT) from:

  • IAD
  • JFK
  • Denver (DEN)
  • Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
  • Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
  • Las Vegas (LAS)
  • Los Angeles (LAX)
  • Miami (MIA)
  • Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)
  • San Francisco (SFO)
  • San Diego (SAN)

 

To Phoenix (PHX) from:

  • JFK
  • LAS
  • SAN
  • SFO

*Route is pending final government approval.

Top Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Boeing 767-2B7 ER N251AY (msn 24764) of US Airways lifts off from Heathrow Airport near London.

US Airways:ย AG Slide Show

South African Airways:ย AG Slide Show

Bottom Copyright Photo: Paul Denton. South African Airways operates both Airbus and Boeing narrow-body airliners on domestic and regional routes. Airbus A319-131 ZS-SFJ (msn 2379) prepares to land at the Johannesburg hub.

Avianca and TACA Airlines join the Star Alliance

Avianca (Colombia) (Bogota) and TACA Airlines (San Salvador) yesterday (June 21) announced their official entry into the Star Alliance. The airline network is the worldยดs largest in terms of daily flights, route network, service excellence and number of airline members.

After two years of work in the approval process and with the adoption of the highest standards of operation and service, Avianca and TACA Airlines now offer passengers the opportunity to access this global network, which brings together 28 internationally renowned airlines. It operates more than 4,200 latest generation aircraft, servicing 21,500 daily flights to 1,356 airports in 193 countries.

Star Alliance, with 15 years of experience (since 1997) is recognized as the first truly global airline alliance. Consistent with its goal of offering customers worldwide the largest number of destinations and a great travel experience, it now offers exclusive services and assistance to frequent flyers in 990 airport lounges on all five continents. It has the support of nearly half a million employees in America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

The Alliance transports an average of 650 million passengers per year and has sales revenues of USD 160bn.

The combined Star Alliance network will provide Avianca and TACA Airlines an opportunity to strengthen their presence in Latin America and the Caribbean in general. Passengers of the global network can quickly and seamlessly fly to over 50 destinations in the region through Avianca and TACA Airlines Hubs in Bogota (Colombia), San Salvador (El Salvador), Lima (Peru) and San Jose (Costa Rica).

Top Copyright Photo: Jay Selman.

Avianca (Colombia):ย 

TACA:ย 

Bottom Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough.

Copa Airlines joins the Star Alliance

Copa Airlines (Panama City) yesterday (June 21)ย officially joined Star Alliance.

Copa Airlines’ entry into Star Alliance provides its passengers access to 64 destinations throughout the Americas and the Caribbean through its Hub of the Americas, Latin America’s premier hub, increasing travel options and connectivity.

Copyright Photo: James Helbock. Boeing 737-86N HP-1728CMP (msn 39396) was acquired on March 21, 2012.

Hot New Photos:ย 

Copa Airlines:ย 

EVA Air is accepted to join the Star Alliance

EVA Air (Taipei) and the Star Alliance have announced theย Chief Executive Board (CEB) of the Star Alliance have unanimously accepted the membership application of EVA Air. According to the alliance, “this decision underscores the Allianceโ€™s long term strategy of seeking network growth and providing access to new markets which show strong economic potential and development.”

The integration process will now begin, with the respective teams at EVA Air and Star Alliance commencing the work which needs to be completed before a new airline can join the Star Alliance network. Air China will be assisting in this process as the mentor airline.

EVA Airโ€™s network of 62 destinations will add Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Surabaya in Indonesia as unique airports to the Star alliance network.ย  In addition, Taiwanโ€™s geographic location adds to the quality of the Star Alliance hubs in Asia, it has the shortest average distance to all major cities in the Asia-Pacific region. In total, the network of 30 airlines (the current 26 and four future members) will offer more than 22,000 daily flights to 1,345 destinations in 191 countries.

In other news, the company is planning to place an order for seven additional Boeing 777-300 ERs according to a report by Flightglobal.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing.

EVA Air Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Air India’s bid to join the Star Alliance is put on hold

Air India (Mumbai) has failed to meet the requirements to join the Star Alliance. The 27 members have now put the the bid on hold to join the alliance.

The Star Alliance issued the following statement:

“The member airlines of the Star Alliance network and Air India have jointly concluded that the integration of Air India into the global airline alliance will be suspended. This is due to the fact that Air India has not met the minimum joining conditions that were contractually agreed in December 2007.

Following a recent review of the status of Air India’s application at a meeting held between the Indian Ministry for Civil Aviation, Star Alliance CEO, Jaan Albrecht and the Air India CMD, Arvind Jadhav, the decision to suspend has received subsequent confirmation by the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board.

Existing bilateral relationships with Star Alliance member airlines are not affected by this decision, which also leaves room to discuss a potential Alliance membership at a future stage, if deemed appropriate by both parties.”

Air India Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Yannick Delamarre.

US Airways reports a $240 million third quarter profit

US Airways Group, Inc. (Phoenix) today reported its third quarter financial results. On a GAAP basis, the Company reported a net profit of $240 million for its third quarter 2010, or $1.22 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of ($80) million, or ($0.60) per share, for the same period in 2009. The $240 million net profit is the highest third quarter net profit in the Companyโ€™s history.

Excluding special items of $3 million, net profit for the third quarter 2010 was $243 million, or $1.23 per diluted share. Net loss excluding special items for the third quarter 2009 was ($110) million, or ($0.83) per share.

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean. Please click on photo for additional details.

Jazz Air reports 2Q net income of C$15.6 million

Jazz Air (Air Canada Jazz( (Halifax) reported second quarter net income of C$15.6 million.

Copyright Photo: Gilbert Hechema. Painted in the Star Alliance motif, Jazz Air’s Bombardier CRJ705 (CL-600-2C10) C-FUJZ (msn 15048) climbs rapidly at Montreal (Trudeau).

TAM Airlines firms up order for 20 Airbus A320 Family aircraft and five A350-900s

TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aereas) (Sao Paulo) has signed a firm order for 25 Airbus aircraft, bringing the Brazilian airlineโ€™s total Airbus order book to 176. This order for 20 A320 Family aircraft and five A350-900s follows the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) announced at ILA Berlin Air Show in June.

TAMโ€™s new A320 Family aircraft will replace existing A320 Family aircraft as part of the airlineโ€™s commitment to keep an average fleet age of six years.

As of today, TAM’s total Airbus orders have increased to 134 A320 Family aircraft, 15 A330-200s and 27 A350 XWB. 65 Airbus A320 Family aircraft, two A330-200s and 27 A350 XWB are still in the backlog.

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi. TAM’s sleek Airbus A320-232 PR-MBO (msn 3156) painted in the Star Alliance motif climbs away from Sao Paulo (Guarulhos).

Continental Airlines reaches 25 aircraft with new flat-bed Business seats

Continental Airlines’ (Houston) 25th aircraft with new flat-bed BusinessFirst seats and additional upgraded amenities took to the skies this week.

The carrier’s flat-bed seats made their operational debut in November 2009 and are being installed on aircraft used on long-haul international routes. Currently the seats are being installed on Continental’s Boeing 777 and 757-200 fleets, with 11 777s and 14 757-200s completed. In addition, Continental will take delivery of two new Boeing 777 aircraft outfitted with the flat-bed seats by the end of July. The seats will also be installed on many of Continental’s Boeing 767-400 aircraft starting in 2011 and on the Boeing 787 fleet as the new aircraft are delivered to the company.

The BusinessFirst flat-bed seat reclines 180 degrees and provides 6 feet 6 inches of sleeping space in the fully extended position on the Boeing 777 (6 feet 4 inches on the Boeing 757-200). It is one of the widest business-class seats in the air, measuring up to 27 inches (25 inches on the 757-200). Laptop power, headset and USB plugs are conveniently tucked above the customer’s shoulder. iPod connectivity allows each customer to view their personal videos and enjoy their music while their iPod is charging. The new seats feature 15.4-inch video monitors for customers to enjoy on-demand movies, music and games.

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean. One of the two new Boeing 777-224 ERs is N77022 (msn 39777). This spectacular picture shows N77022 making a planned missed approach at Everett (Paine Field) on July 14. Both of the two new Triple Sevens will be in the Star Alliance color scheme.

United and Continental are considering a stock-for-stock merger

United Airlines (UAL Corporation) (Chicago) and Continental Airlines (Houston) are considering a stock-for-stock merger with no premium, creating a company valued at roughly $6.6 billion, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday April 22 according to this Reuters report.

UAL Chief Executive Glenn Tilton would become chairman of the combined company, while Continental Chief Executive Jeff Smisek would become chief executive, according to the person, who declined to be named because the talks are private.

Read the full report:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/UAL-Continental-in-nopremium-rb-4108786161.html?x=0&.v=1

Copyright Photo: A beautiful capture of United Airlines’ Boeing 767-322 ER N653UA (msn 25391) climbing away from the Washington (Dulles) hub. Both carriers are members of the Star Alliance.