JetBlue Airways and Royal Air Maroc to codeshare

JetBlue Airways (New York) and Royal Air Maroc (Casablanca) have today filed an application with the U.S. Governments to enter into a codeshare partnership that will offer customers easy connections between the two airlines’ networks.

Under the proposed codeshare agreement, Royal Air Maroc will place its “AT” airline code on JetBlue flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and 22 destinations in the U.S., including Boston (BOS), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Denver (DEN), Los Angeles (LAX), Orlando (MCO), San Francisco (SFO), Tampa (TPA) and Washington D.C. (IAD).

Additionally, JetBlue and Royal Air Maroc customers will be able to easily purchase a single ticket with seamless bag transfers via Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport (CMN) to Marrakesh and 15 other Moroccan destinations, as well as a further 24 destinations in West Africa.

Less than two weeks ago, Royal Air Maroc introduced its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft (above) on the Casablanca-New York/JFK route.

The airlines have successfully partnered on an interline basis since 2012, and look forward to the further cooperation this codeshare agreement brings.

Copyright Photo: Jacques Guillem/AirlinersGallery.com. Royal Air Maroc’s barnd new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner CN-RGB (msn 43817) is pictured on the ramp at Paris.

JetBlue Airways aircraft slide show:

Royal Air Maroc aircraft slide show:

EgyptAir to resume Manchester service

EgyptAir (Cairo) will resume the Cairo – Manchester route on July 3 initially with three weekly flights per Airline Route.

EgyptAir aircraft slide show:

Air Canada to operate the new Boeing 787-9 from Toronto to Tokyo Haneda

Air Canada (Montreal) is planning to operate the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner daily on the Toronto (Pearson) – Tokyo (Haneda) route starting on December 1. The new type will replace existing Boeing 777-200 LR equipment.

Air Canada aircraft slide show:

Virgin Australia introduces its new Boeing 737 Business Class to New Zealand, announces a half year financial turnaround

Virgin Australia Airlines’ (Brisbane) announced its Business Class began flying across the Tasman Sea on February 28, as part of a progressive rollout in the New Zealand and Pacific Island markets.

The inaugural return flight operated from Auckland to Sydney and signifies an enhancement to the airline’s premium service offering on trans-Tasman and Pacific Island routes. All other services come into effect on March 31, 2015.

A progressive refit on 10 of the airline’s Boeing 737 fleet is currently underway, reconfiguring the aircraft with the 2-2 business class configuration, which feature luxury leather seating and menus designed by resident head chef Luke Mangan, as well as the introduction of priority services including check-in and boarding.

Virgin Australia Business Class features include:

Luxury leather seating with 38” seat pitch on the Boeing 737 (above)
Comfort packs with luxurious blankets, pillows, and International-style amenity kits including Australian organic cosmetics by GROWN for flights over three hours
Newspapers until noon daily
Exclusive Luke Mangan gourmet full service dining experience
Premium Australian wines, beers, and spirit selection
Gourmet tea selection from Madame Flavour
Priority baggage service where available

On the financial side, the company issued its half year results ending on December 31, 2014. CEO John Borghetti announced a significant improvement with an underlying profit before tax of A$10.2 million, an improvement on a loss of A$45.4 million in the first half of 2014.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Colin Hunter/AirlinersGallery.com. Virgin Australia Airlines Boeing 737-8FE ZK-PBB (msn 33797) taxies at Auckland, New Zealand.

Virgin Australia aircraft slide show:

Jetstar Airways to phase out the Airbus A330-200s on international routes

Jetstar Airways (Melbourne) is replacing its Airbus A330-200s on international routes with new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. According to Airline Route, the last international A330-200 flight will be on September 15 between Melbourne and Singapore. By this date, the 787s will operate all Jetstar international routes.

Copyright Photo: John Adlard/AirlinersGallery.com. Jetstar Airways (Jetstar.com) (Australia) Airbus A330-202 VH-EBB (msn 522) departs from Sydney.

Jetstar Airways aircraft slide show:

Virgin Atlantic to offer a second daily flight to San Francisco, will use Sony devices

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) has announced a second daily London (Heathrow) – San Francisco flight starting on October 25.

Flights VS 41 LHR-SFO and VS 42 SFO-LHR will operate with the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

In other news, the airline has announced a trial with Sony Mobile Communications to test how new wearable technology can help improve the airline’s maintenance and engineering processes. The airline issued this statement:

Engineers working on Virgin Atlantic aircraft at the airport and in the hangar will be testing the use of Sony’s SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1, tablet, mobile phone and SmartWatch 3 (above) in an eight-week trial, starting next week. The trial will take place at London Heathrow and will test how the technology can be used for real time communication between the engineering team on the aircraft and in the engineering support areas.

Using Sony’s SmartWear alongside a smart phone or tablet will remove paper from some engineering processes and reduce the journey times between an aircraft and technical control. This will enable the engineers and technicians to remain on the aircraft during turnarounds – helping to save valuable time, as well as make a significant contribution to Virgin Atlantic’s targets to reduce paper waste.

Phil Maher, Director of Operations at Virgin Atlantic, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Sony to trial wearable technology within our engineering team.

During the trial, engineers will be able to receive notifications on their SmartWatch 3 devices about any changes to job allocations, or detail in the tasks. Managers will be able to get instant feedback that the engineer has read the notification and that the task is in hand.

Engineers will be able to use SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 to take pictures or video of the tasks they are working on. This will be linked to an app running on a smartphone which will allow the engineers to efficiently complete and submit a form requesting further technical assistance. SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 will also be used for real-time video streaming to allow office-based engineering staff to see a problem from the engineers’ point of view in order to provide more rapid technical assistance.

Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner G-VNEW (msn 40956) “Birthday Girl” gracefully climbs away from the London (Heathrow) base.

Virgin Atlantic aircraft slide show:

New videos from Boeing

Powering an aircraft could soon be a sustainable endeavor. Fuel cell technologies being explored by Boeing use a fusion of hydrogen and oxygen to help power aircraft electricity, produce heat, and provide clean water.

The 777 Signature Interior continues to be preferred by passengers because of its spaciousness and ability to accommodate many unique configurations. Airlines continue to be creative in curating new experiences for their passenger. See a sampling of the unique configurations available on today’s 777.

Less than six months after Boeing and South African Airways (SAA) announced their plans to turn “energy tobacco” into sustainable aviation biofuel, farmers in South Africa’s Limpopo province are harvesting their first crop of a nicotine-free, energy-rich tobacco plant.

Thanks to our automated drilling system, the Flex Track, we can manufacture the 777 in a safer, more efficient and more flexible way.

Video from Virgin Australia: The repainting of the last Virgin Blue aircraft

Who remembers our red aircraft? We’ve just completed the repainting of our fleet in our current white and red livery. Watch the 11 day process of repainting a Virgin Australia aircraft here, in two minutes!