Widerøe is coming to Liverpool

Widerøe has announced that it is planning to start operating a twice weekly service between Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) and Bergen in Norway.

The new service will commence on August 17, 2018 with departures on Mondays and Fridays with connections available in Bergen to other Scandinavian cities including Oslo and Helsinki.

Widerøe will use their 114 seat Embraer E190-E2 jet aircraft on the route, which will be the first time this new generation jet aircraft will have operated to a UK regional airport.

Bergen is Norway’s second largest city and also the gateway to the Fjords, with this new direct service giving passengers across the North West the opportunity to either visit this popular city or the region’s beautiful fjordal area.

Photo: Widerøe.

PSA Airlines to open a new maintenance base operation at Pensacola International Airport

PSA Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines, announced its plans to open a new maintenance base operation at Pensacola International Airport (PNS).

PSA’s immense fleet expansion necessitates additional locations to support the maintenance and reliability of its growing fleet. The operation at PNS will mark PSA’s eighth maintenance facility, joining Akron-Canton Airport (CAK), Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT) Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), Dayton International Airport (DAY), Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), Norfolk International Airport (ORF), and Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV).

PSA plans to employ 30-35 team members to include mechanics, leads, inspectors and stores personnel. PNS is an ideal location for PSA to add to its network of facilities, providing greater facility flexibility for a terminal operation.

PNS has been identified as a sustainable workforce location with the presence of local military and the abundance of technical schools within the state. PSA is looking for the best and brightest to join the top maintenance workforce in the regional industry. The airline offers top-of-industry pay for A&P mechanics and prospective candidates can look forward to working for a rapidly growing airline where they can advance their career in maintenance.

Copyright Photo: American Eagle (2nd)-PSA Airlines (2nd) Bombardier CRJ200 (CL-600-2B19) N218PS (msn 7885) CLT (Jay Selman). Image: 403747.

PSA Airlines aircraft slide show:

British Airways to connect with Fiji Airways

British Airways and Fiji Airways, Fiji’s National Airline, have today announced a new partnership which will open up more routes between London and the South Pacific than ever before.

From today, British Airways will start selling flights between Singapore, Los Angeles and San Francisco and the Fijian gateway of Nadi direct on ba.com.

This new partnership comes just days after Fiji Airways signed up to become the first oneworld connect partner – a new platform for airlines to link up to the global airline alliance which includes British Airways as a founding member. British Airways is one of Fiji Airways’ oneworld connect sponsors – enabling customers to enjoy more services and benefits when flying on either airline.

Fiji Airways operates international and domestic services to 12 countries and 31 cities, including Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.

British Airways aircraft slide show (Boeing):

Air China launches a new Chengdu – London route

Air China Ltd. launched a new, nonstop service between Chengdu and London on July 3, 2018. The nonstop route will carry Air China passengers from China’s “Land of Abundance” to the beautiful banks of the river Thames.

In recent years, Air China has been expanding its international and domestic route networks, centered around its main hub in Beijing, and supported by its three regional bases in Chengdu, Shanghai and Shenzhen. As part of this effort, Air China has recently launched international routes between Chengdu and Frankfurt, Paris, Sydney and Bangkok. Given its geographical advantage, this year Air China will continue to develop Chengdu as a hub and expand its route coverage there, stepping up passenger throughput to European destinations.

Currently, Air China operates 82 routes out of Chengdu. These include 14 international/regional routes to destinations such as Frankfurt, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Bangkok, Singapore, Rangoon, Kathmandu, Colombo, Hong Kong and Taipei, covering the continents of Asia, Europe and Oceania. As a member of the Star Alliance network, Air China also offers convenient routes to 1,330 airports in 192 countries.

Flight information:

The Chengdu – London route is operated under flight numbers CA423/4 on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays every week. Outbound flights depart from Chengdu at 15:45 and arrive in London at 20:00; return flights depart from London at 22:00 and arrive in Chengdu at 15:40 the following day (all times are local). The new route is operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Business Class travellers enjoy lie-flat seats, while all booking classes enjoy personal in-flight entertainment, ensuring passengers can stretch out and travel in comfort.

Air China aircraft slide show:

Air Creebec improves its network of routes to connect all the Cree Communities on the eastern and western shores of James Bay

Air Creebec has made this announcement:

Aware of the challenges facing air travel for the Cree communities along the shores of James Bay, Air Creebec has decided to open new routes. Starting in the summer of 2018, travellers from the Ontarioside will be able to fly from the James Bay coast to Montréal via Timmins!

Since last spring, the King Air has been replaced by the Dash-8 100 and transports passengers on all regular Air Creebec flights. This aircraft, which is more comfortable and can accommodate more passengers and a larger volume of freight, offers better service on all air routes originating on the James Bay coast.

Beginning July 9, 2018, the Ontario coast of James Bay will be connected to the other air routes on the Quebec side, with a stop in Rouyn-Noranda. From Timmins, passengers will be able to travel to Montreal with Air Creebec. The new stop planned in Rouyn-Noranda will offer two flights per day to Montreal-Trudeau every week day and once a day on the weekend. Air travel across Canada and around the world will be considerably simpler.

Founded in 1982, Air Creebec is a regional airline based in Waskaganish, Québec. The airline offers regular flights, charters and cargo services in Quebec and Ontario. Air Creebec is based principally at the Val-d’Or, Montreal and Timmins airports, and also has hubs in Waskaganish, Chisasibi and Moosonee.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Air Creebec/Jean-Philippe Richard): Air Creebec de Havilland Canada DHC-8-103 Dash 8 C-GYWX (msn 175) YUL (Pierre Langlois). Image: 934146.

Air Creebec aircraft photo gallery:

Air Creebec aircraft slide show:

Route Map:

Frontier adds another 15 new routes

Frontier Airlines announced today service on 15 new routes.

Frontier will bring the most new routes to San Diego International Airport (SAN) with a total of five.

Las Vegas sees three new routes and Austin, Las Vegas, Orlando and San Antonio will each see the addition of two new routes.

Highlights of this announcement:

-Now serving 31 destinations to/from Austin, Texas with the addition of service to/from Louisville, KY and Orange County, Calif.

-Now serving 27 destinations to/from Las Vegas with the addition of new service to/from Calgary, Canada,Norfolk, VA and Spokane,Wash..

-Now serving 39 destinations to/from Orlando with the resumption of service to/from Pittsburgh and new daily service to Ontario, Calif.

-Now serving 9 destinations to/from San Diego with the addition of new service to/from Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Raleigh/Durham.

-Now serving 25 destinations to/from San Antonio, Texas with the addition of service to/from Orange County and Salt Lake City.

-Growing service from Calgary, Canada, now serving two destinations with service to Denver and Las Vegas.

Summary of New Service

SAN DIEGO (SAN) to/from PITTSBURGH (PIT)

F9 1292 Depart SAN: 10:17 a.m. Arrive PIT: 6:42 p.m.

F9 1293 Depart PIT: 9:46 a.m. Arrive SAN: 11:52 a.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A321

Frequency: Monday, Friday

Service Start: August 13

SAN DIEGO (SAN) to/from CLEVELAND (CLE)

F9 1615 Depart SAN: 10:17 a.m. Arrive CLE: 5:53 p.m.

F9 1669 Depart CLE: 10:10 a.m. Arrive SAN: 11:52 a.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A321

Frequency: Wednesday, Saturday

Service Start: August 15

SAN DIEGO (SAN) to/from INDIANAPOLIS (IND)

F9 1654 Depart SAN: 12:52 p.m. Arrive IND: 7:52 p.m.

F9 1653 Depart IND: 11:52 a.m. Arrive SAN: 1:12 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A321

Frequency: Monday, Friday

Service Start: August 13

SAN DIEGO (SAN) to/from MILWAUKEE (MKE)

F9 1636 Depart SAN 12:52 p.m. Arrive MKE: 6:47 p.m.

F9 1471 Depart MKE 11:02 a.m. Arrive SAN: 1:12 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A321

Frequency: Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday

Service Start: August 14

SAN DIEGO (SAN) to/from RALEIGH/DURHAM (RDU)

F9 1717 Depart SAN: 12:52 p.m. Arrive RDU: 9: 24 p.m.

F9 1714 Depart RDU: 10:37 a.m. Arrive SAN: 1:12 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A321

Frequency: Wednesday, Saturday

Service Start: August 15

ORLANDO (MCO) to/from ONTARIO (ONT)

F9 1215 Depart MCO: 9:27 p.m. Arrive ONT: 11:30 p.m.

F9 1212 Depart ONT: 12:59 a.m. Arrive MCO: 8:47 a.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Frequency: Daily

Service Start: August 13

LAS VEGAS (LAS) to/from SPOKANE (GEG)

F9 261 Depart LAS: 10:30 a.m. Arrive GEG: 12:50 p.m.

F9 1140 Depart GEG: 1:40 p.m. Arrive LAS: 4 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Frequency: Monday, Friday

Service Start: August 13

LAS VEGAS (LAS) to/from NORFOLK (ORF)

F9 1629 Depart LAS: 6:40 a.m. Arrive ORF: 2:29 p.m.

F9 1628 Depart ORF: 9:00 p.m. Arrive LAS: 11:21 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Frequency: Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday

Service Start: August 14

LAS VEGAS (LAS) to/from CALGARY (YYC)

F9 108 Depart LAS: 10:30 a.m. Arrive YYC: 2:13 p.m.

F9 109 Depart YYC: 3:08 p.m. Arrive LAS: 4:55 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Frequency: Wednesday, Saturday

Service Start: August 15

ORLANDO (MCO) to/from PITTSBURGH (PIT)

F9 1292 Depart MCO: 6:23 a.m. Arrive PIT: 8:46 a.m.

F9 1293 Depart PIT: 7:42 p.m. Arrive MCO: 10:02 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A321

Frequency: Monday, Friday

Service Start: August 13

SAN ANTONIO (SAT) to/from ORANGE COUNTY (SNA)

F9 797 Depart SAT: 4:29 p.m. Arrive SNA: 5:26 p.m.

F9 796 Depart SNA: 10:47 a.m. Arrive SAT: 3:39 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Frequency: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday

Service Start: August 13

SAN ANTONIO (SAT) to/from SALT LAKE CITY (SLC)

F9 1813Depart SAT: 1:15 p.m. Arrive SLC: 3:10 p.m.

F9 1600 Depart SLC: 4 p.m. Arrive SAT: 7:46 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Frequency: Wednesday, Saturday

Service Start: August 15

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (MSP) to/from CHARLESTON (CHS)

F9 456 Depart MSP: 9:45 a.m. Arrive CHS: 1:39 p.m.

F9 461 Depart CHS: 2:24 p.m. Arrive MSP: 4:32 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A319

Frequency: Wednesday, Saturday

Service Start: August 15

AUSTIN (AUS) to/from LOUISVILLE (SDF)

F9 884 Depart AUS: 12:50 Arrive SDF: 4:02 p.m.

F9 885 Depart SDF: 4:54 p.m. Arrive AUS: 6:05 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Frequency: Monday, Friday

Service Start: August 13

AUSTIN (AUS) to/from ORANGE COUNTY (SNA)

F9 1509 Depart AUS: 5:28 p.m. Arrive SNA: 6:23 p.m.

F9 1508 Depart SNA: 11:48 a.m. Arrive AUS: 4:38 p.m.

Aircraft: Airbus A320

Frequency: Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday

Service Start: August 14

Copyright Photo: Frontier Airlines (2nd) Airbus A320-251N WL N324FR (msn 7967) (Summer, the Swan) SNA (Michael B. Ing). Image: 941932.

Frontier aircraft slide show:

Route Map:

Southwest offers a fare sale on select routes

Southwest Airlines has made this announcement to stimulate sluggish traffic:

Southwest Airlines has launched a three-day sale offering low fares for fall travel, so book your next trip now! Customers may take advantage of available low domestic fares starting at $49, $79, $99, and $129 one-way to select destinations today through June 7, 2018, 11:59 p.m. in the respective time zone of the originating city. Seats and days are limited. Blackout dates apply. See full fare rules and terms and conditions below. Domestic travel is not valid on Fridays and Sundays. Travel to Florida and Nevada and from Florida to Nevada is valid only on Sundays through Wednesdays. Travel from Florida and Nevada and from Nevada to Florida is valid only on Tuesdays through Fridays.

Customers may also book flights to international destinations with some of Southwest’s low international fares starting at $99 one-way to select destinations today through June 7, 2018, 11:59 p.m.in the respective time zone of the originating city. Seats and days are limited. See full fare rules and full terms and conditions below. International travel is valid only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

See below for examples of these great low fares and for restrictions and exclusions.

Examples of Southwest Airlines’ domestic low fares include (see fare rules below):

As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Phoenix and San Diego and one-way nonstop between Nashville and Kansas City
As low as $79 one-way nonstop between Atlanta and Houston Hobby Airport and one-way nonstop between Washington DC (Reagan National) and Orlando
As low as $99 one-way nonstop between Dallas (Love Field) and Portland, Ore. and one-way nonstop between St. Louis and Tampa
As low as $129 one-way nonstop between Denver and Raleigh-Durham and one-way nonstop between Austin and San Jose, Calif.

Examples of Southwest Airlines’ international low fares include (see fare rules below):

As low as $99 one-way nonstop from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood to San Jose, Costa Rica and one-way nonstop from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos

Copyright Photo: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 WL N955WN (msn 36671) (Arizona One) SNA (Michael B. Ing). Image: 941786.

Southwest Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

Alitalia to add the Milan Linate – Geneva route

Alitalia will add Alitalia CityLiner Embraer 175 daily service between Milan (Linate) and Geneva starting on September 3, 2018 according to Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Alitalia CityLiner Embraer ERJ 170-200STD (ERJ 175) EI-RDF (msn 17000337) BRU (Ton Jochems). Image: 942234.

Alitalia CityLiner aircraft slide show:

Star Alliance: Successful strategy shift from membership growth to improving seamless travel experience

Jeffrey Goh, CEO Star Alliance, used the occasion of the 74th IATA (International Air Transport Association) Annual General Meeting in Sydney to brief the world’s aviation media on the latest developments at the Alliance.

He began by reminding the audience that Star Alliance had undertaken a shift in its strategic focus from membership growth to improving the seamless travel experience, especially for those customers who fly on multi-carrier journeys. Having control over their journey at their fingertips is of high importance to many travellers. Hence, harnessing digital technologies to provide a better and digital travel experience lies at the heart of this strategic repositioning.

“At Chief Executive Board Meeting the member carrier CEO’s re-affirmed the shift in strategy and endorsed the Alliance’s plan to enable more interconnectivity between the digital services of the member airlines to elevate the customers’ Alliance travel experience”, commented Goh.

In order to achieve this, the Alliance has set out to develop digital capabilities centrally, which can then be used by its member carriers to enhance their own products, so that they can offer extended care to their regular customers even when they are travelling elsewhere on the network.
The groundwork for this digital transformation was put into place at Star Alliance several years ago, with the creation of an IT hub infrastructure. This has already enabled the better integration of back-end services between the member airlines. Improvements have, for example, been achieved in the reliability of through-check in for multi-carrier itineraries or ensuring faster crediting of accrued frequent flyer miles into the correct customer account.
The next milestone was the launch of the Star Alliance Digital Services Platform (DSP) which officially went live in February this year. Lufthansa uses the DSP to provide baggage tracking information for customers connecting to or from other Star Alliance member airlines. The necessary data is sourced from the average six and a half million baggage messages per day, which are currently processed by the Star Alliance baggage hub.

Meanwhile, United has enabled advanced seat reservations for flights operated by Singapore Airlines, for customers who book these through United’s website, app or mobile site. Further Star Alliance member carriers have indicated that they would like to offer this enhancement to their customers and the necessary work on this has already commenced.

Those attending the briefing were given the opportunity to follow a live product demonstration.

Many additional enhancements of this type will be introduced over the next few years. Individually, these will offer an incremental improvement. Taken together, they will provide customers a completely new level of information and control of their journey.

Photo: Star Alliance.

Sun Country asks its employees to vote on a new livery

Sun Country Airlines is planning to update its livery. Like American Airlines, Sun County is asking its employees to choose the new design from four choices.

The carrier made this announcement on social media: