Viva Air finalizes order for 50 A320 Family aircraft

Airbus made this announcement:

Following an MOU signed at Le Bourget Paris Airshow in June, Viva Air, the Latin America low cost carrier group owned by Irelandia Aviation, has signed a purchase agreement with Airbus for 50 A320 Family aircraft. The 35 A320neo and 15 A320ceo will be operated by the group’s airlines VivaColombia (below) and Viva Air Peru and will allow the two all-Airbus operators to modernize their fleets and capture growth opportunities across Latin America.

Above Copyright Photo: VivaColombia (VivaColombia.com) Airbus A320-214 HK-4811 (msn 1564) MIA (Bruce Drum). Image: 104301.

The Airbus-VivaColombia relationship began in 2012 when the airline began operations with A320 aircraft. VivaColombia, based in Medellin, has been an all-Airbus operator since, and today it operates 11 A320s. Viva Air recently launched Viva Air Peru, the sister airline of VivaColombia based in Lima. Viva Air Peru currently operates three A320 aircraft.

Viva Air is a Panamanian headquartered group created by Irelandia Aviation and led by Declan Ryan. Irelandia has successfully developed six low cost carriers around the world, namely Allegiant, Ryanair, Tigerair, VivaAerobus, VivaColombia and most recently Viva Air Peru. Combined, the airlines have a fleet of more than 420 aircraft and have carried over a billion passengers.

Top Image: Airbus.

VivaColombia:

Belavia’s flight B2 8243 with EW-336PA leaves the pavement at Kiev

Belavia’s flight B2 8243 operating from Minsk to Kiev on December 22, 2017 reportedly with the pictured Boeing 737-3Q8 EW-336PA (msn 26312) reportedly left the payment after landing on runway 18L at Kiev. The passengers and crew members safely evacuated the aircraft. It is unclear at this time if the surface was the runway or the taxiway.

More information to follow. The airline has not put out a statement.

Top Copyright Photo: Belavia Belarusian Airlines Boeing 737-3Q8 EW-336PA (msn 26312) AYT (Paul Denton). Image: 909060.

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Alaska Airlines is ready to tackle wintry conditions at Sea-Tac and Portland

From Alaska Airlines:

A new round of winter weather is forecast for the Pacific Northwest over the coming days, just as the Christmas travel rush gets started. For Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Horizon Air, preparation is essential – especially when it comes to the potential for light snow and ice in Seattle and Portland, which are primary hubs.

Whenever conditions get too cold and moisture is present, there’s a chance frost or snow can accumulate on aircraft surfaces. That’s possible Thursday and Friday nights at both airports. When this happens, a plane needs to be deiced so its surfaces can be clean and clear before takeoff. This season, significant changes have been made in how that work gets done.

‘A good game plan’

deicing 5 Alaska Airlines ready to tackle wintry conditions at Sea Tac and Portland At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Alaska has hired Integrated Deicing Services (IDS). At Portland International Airport, Aero Mag has been brought onboard. Deicing planes is each company’s sole, dedicated responsibility. Operations at each airport are prepared for a wintry mix of weather, which includes having the right number of deicing crews on standby and plenty of deicing fluid.

Also a new addition: Alaska is now testing a remote deicing location at Sea-Tac for use when weather and Air Traffic Control (ATC) conditions allow. Planes can be deiced away from the gates and closer to the runway prior to takeoff. With a spot for remote deicing, two aircraft at a time can be sprayed, freeing up badly needed gate space and maintaining a better flow for aircraft.

“You never know exactly what winter will bring. But having a good game plan in place to tackle the elements can make a world of difference,” said Cees Verkerk, Alaska Airlines’ managing director of station operations support. “We’re always looking at ways to be more efficient in how we deice our aircraft to keep those flights moving.”

New processes, technology, equipment

deicing 3 Alaska Airlines ready to tackle wintry conditions at Sea Tac and Portland IDS and Aero Mag will use new processes, new technology and new equipment when deicing aircraft. At Sea-Tac, IDS equipment uses a combination of forced-air and deicing fluid, or glycol, to increase the rate of snow removal. At Portland International Airport, Aero Mag has deicing equipment that can precisely blend deicing fluid to best suit specific weather conditions.

With improvements in how the deicing fluid is delivered, crews can not only work faster but also use 30 to 50 percent less solution on each plane, which is better for the environment.

Tracking software will allow for increased dispatch efficiency and improved remote monitoring of deicing operations, including notification to crews on which planes need to get deiced first so operations can keep moving.

Check the status of your flight

Alaska is also working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the ATC delays at Sea-Tac. If conditions require it, controllers may need to slow down the number of planes arriving at the airport – say from 60 an hour to 30 – especially during bad weather or poor visibility. That triggers delays on arrivals and departures.

Passengers are encouraged to check alaskaair.com or Alaska’s mobile app before heading to the airport to verify the status of their flight. With weather moving through, there could be the potential for delays or cancellations.

Photos: Alaska Airlines.

Air Canada captures the feeling of “Home” in new ad narrated by Ryan Reynolds

Air Canada celebrates the Canadian spirit with the launch of a new ad called “Our Home.” Running on television, online and in theaters throughout the holidays, the ad portrays the deeply personal connections we have to the place we call home, brought to life in a heartfelt narration by Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds:

“The feeling of home is about something much more than a place,” said Andy Shibata, Managing Director, Brand at Air Canada. “We wanted to express what Canadians are feeling about their homes as they reunite with loved ones, and also show our pride in a country the world admires so much but we simply all call home.”

“I felt a connection to this script because I know what it’s like to carry that feeling of home with me wherever I go,” said Reynolds. “Being a Canadian who travels all over the world, I understand how my home made me who I am and the special regard people everywhere have for Canada. But what’s even more exciting to me is that Air Canada, through the Air Canada Foundation, has been involved with Canadian charities like SickKids, an organization I’ve also been fortunate to work with.”

The ad is part of a larger campaign Air Canada launched in November to celebrate home. Canadians were asked on social media to share a story about who they most wished to spend the holidays with. Eight from the most fun to the most meaningful entries were chosen and awarded a pair of tickets from anywhere Air Canada flies to bring those special people home. Air Canada also hosted in-airport celebrations to make the reunions even more memorable when passengers arrived and saw their loved ones waiting for them at the airport. Among the inspiring stories were brothers who hadn’t seen each other in more than five years and grandparents from Boston who longed to be reunited with their grandson in Regina.

“The stories we heard were all unique and really touching,” said Shibata. “It’s very gratifying to experience these moments because our customers are always at the centre of everything we do.”

Ryan Reynolds will continue to work with Air Canada in 2018 with new projects already on the horizon.

Hainan Airlines adds a new route to Cairns

Hainan Airlines on December 19, 2017 commenced new twice-weekly nonstop service between Shenzhen and Cairns, Australia.

This new route follows the Shenzhen-Brisbane service started in September 2017.

From	To	Flight No.	Dept. Time	Arr. Time	Frequency	Price for Round Trip
Cairns	Shenzhen	HU746	10:30	15:45	Wednesday, Sunday 2017/12/19-2018/03/24	From 611AUD
Shenzhen	Cairns	HU745	23:05	8:30+1	Tuesday, Saturday 2017/12/19-2018/03/24	From 611AUD

Hainan is assigning Airbus A330-200 aircraft to the new route.

European Commission approves the Lufthansa Group’s acquisition of LGW – Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter

Lufthansa Group made this announcement:

The European Commission gave its formal approval on December 21, 2017 to the acquisition of Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter mbH (LGW) by the Lufthansa Group. The approval follows an extensive assessment of the planned transaction by the European Union’s competition authorities in their merger control capacity, after the Lufthansa Group concluded an agreement on October 13, 2017 to take over parts of the insolvent Air Berlin Group. The Lufthansa Group had made extensive concessions in advance of this approval.

All LGW personnel to be taken over

The acquisition of LGW will see 33 aircraft firmly added to the Eurowings Group fleet: 20 Bombardier DHC-8-400s (Q400s) (above) and 13 aircraft of the Airbus A320 family. All the employees of LGW will transfer to Eurowings with their current contracts of employment. With additional recruitments, the number of personnel in LGW’s flight operations should rise to up to 870 in 2018.

The formal transaction for the acquisition of LGW has been scheduled for January 2018.

Over the past few weeks, Eurowings has already hired over 500 employees, including a large number of pilots and flight attendants. By now, we have collective expansion agreements with all the unions ensuring that all flight operations of Eurowings, without exception, will be able to grow in the near term.

Copyright Photo: All LGW aircraft with now operate in the Eurowings livery, shedding the Airberlin color scheme. Airberlin (airberlin.com) (LGW) Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) D-ABQB (msn 4226) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 928479.

Lufthansa to base 5 Airbus A380s at Munich along with new destinations

Lufthansa has made this announcement about its Munich hub:

The summer brings many changes for Lufthansa in Munich. The biggest event will be on March 25, 2018 at the very beginning of the new flight schedule period – Lufthansa will be stationing five A380 aircraft in Munich and will operate daily flights to Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Beijing throughout the summer.

In the winter, the A380 destinations will change – the Lufthansa flagship will then connect Munich with Miami, Shanghai and San Francisco.

On March 27, 2018 a Lufthansa Airbus A350-900 will fly to Singapore for the first time. Five flights a week will head to the vibrant economic hub in Asia from Munich. Lufthansa will have a total of eleven Airbus A350-900 aircraft stationed in Munich until the end of the summer flight schedule in October.

New European destinations

Two Polish cities will be introduced at the start of the summer flight schedule – from March 27 and 28, 2018 there will for the first time be flights connecting Munich with Katowice and Lodz. Lufthansa will fly to Lodz five times a week – Poland’s third largest city, located in the center of the country. Katowice is around 300 kilometers south west of Warsaw in the Upper Silesian industrial region. Starting in spring, Lufthansa will operate daily flights between this Polish city and Munich.

Funchal is the name of the new destination for holidaymakers. As of March 31, 2018 there will be no-stop 4-hour flights from Munich to Madeira, complementing the range of flights on offer from Frankfurt. From spring, a Lufthansa flight will take off from the Bavarian metropolis to Funchal (Madeira) every Saturday.

Lufthansa is also significantly expanding its range of European flights from Munich. There will be more weekly flights next summer, especially to Spain and Poland. There will also be more frequent flights to popular holiday destinations, in particular to Greece and Portugal.

Pegasus Airlines orders 25 Airbus A321neo ACFs (Airbus Cabin Flex configuration)

Pegasus Airlines has placed an order for 25 Airbus A321neo ACF (Airbus Cabin Flex configuration) aircraft. This comes on top of 18 Airbus A321neo and 57 A320neos already on order bringing Pegasus Airlines total firm order to 100 Airbus A320 Family aircraft.

Pegasus’ selection to move to an all-Airbus fleet reflects its strategy to grow its domestic as well as its international network with the best middle-of-the-market aircraft available.

The A321 is the largest member of the A320 Family, seating up to 240 passengers. Incorporating the latest engines, aerodynamic advances, and cabin innovations, the A321neo offers a significant reduction in fuel consumption of at least 15 percent per seat from day one and 20 percent by 2020.

The A321neo ACF introduces new door and fuselage enhancements allowing airlines to make better use of the cabin space and also provide provision for more underfloor fuel capacity for up to 4,000nm transatlantic range. With more than 5,200 orders received from 95 customers, the A320neo Family has captured nearly 60 percent share of the market.

Image: Airbus.

United is adding new service to ski destinations and Hawaii

https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-USA6/United-Airlines-NC-Boeing/i-Trg9Dh4/A

United Airlines hass issued this statement:

United is increasing service to popular ski destinations across the United States. The airline has added three new routes this winter – Chicago–Reno, Nevada; Chicago–Sun Valley, Idaho; and San Francisco–Vail, Colorado – and is flying more flights on existing markets between its hubs and popular ski cities, including Aspen, Colorado; Vail, Colorado; Crested Butte, Colorado; Steamboat Springs, Colorado; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Sun Valley, Idaho; Bozeman, Montana; Glacier National Park, Montana; and Reno, Nevada.

In addition to winter fun, United offers more ways to get to the Hawaiian Islands than any other airline from the mainland and is strengthening its gateways to Hawaii from its hubs in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

From Chicago, United offers the only nonstop service to Hawaii and is now increasing its service to Maui to five times weekly while continuing daily, year-round nonstop service to Honolulu.

Denver has become one of United’s Hawaiian gateway cities and is now connecting more than 90 mainland cities to Honolulu, Kona, Lihue and Maui. In addition to offering customers more opportunities to connect, United is increasing from seasonal to daily, nonstop service to Kona, Lihue and Maui and continues to operate year-round daily service to Honolulu.

From Los Angeles, United offers nonstop service to more Hawaiian Island destinations than any other airline. This year, United is increasing service between Los Angeles and all United Hawaii destinations – Hilo, Honolulu, Kona, Maui and Lihue. United is the only U.S. airline with nonstop service from Los Angeles to Hilo, on the Island of Hawaii.

In addition to its five-times-daily service between San Francisco and Honolulu in February, United is increasing service to Kona, Lihue and Maui. From San Francisco, United offers more nonstop service to more Hawaiian destinations than any other airline.

Sun Country Airlines announces two new destinations, will fly to Hawaii

Sun Country Airlines has announced seasonal service to new destinations Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL), and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (MYR) from Minneapolis/St. Paul. The new flight segments offer Sun Country customers access to these popular beach destinations, expanding Minnesota’s Hometown Airline™ network to 43 domestic and international destinations.

Honolulu, Hawaii

Seasonal flights to Honolulu will be offered May 19 through August 19, 2018, via Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, Terminal 2, and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Passengers departing from Minneapolis will have a short stop in Los Angeles before continuing to Honolulu. The new service will fly four times a week, Friday through Monday.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Seasonal flights to Myrtle Beach will be offered April 6 through June 4, 2018, via Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, Terminal 2. The new service will fly twice a week, Monday and Friday.