Summit Air to operate its Avro (BAe) RJ85s on two routes for First Air and to the Rio Tinto Diavik Diamond Mine

Summit Air (Yellowknife) will begin operating its 90-seat Avro (BAe) RJ85s on two routes for First Air (Ottawa). On January 27 the company will begin operating on the Yellowknife – Edmonton route and on February 2 it will begin operating on the Yellowknife – Norman Wells – Inuvik route.

On January 20 Summit Air announced the purchase of a second Avro RJ85 jet to meet market demand for remote destination crew movements and ACMI (aircraft, crew maintenance and insurance) contracts.

Summit Air is part of the Ledcor Group of Companies and operates a fleet of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest and Yukon Territories.

According to the company release, “The Avro RJ85 is a 100-seat high performance, short-haul passenger jet, offering modern, efficient operations on flights up to 1500 nautical miles (2,800 kilometers). Rugged and versatile, its high wing design is capable of operations on both paved and gravel runways and is equipped with self-contained boarding air stair and auxiliary power unit to provide independence at remote airfields.”

“In partnership with the Det’on Cho Logistics, our Avro RJ85 operations will service the Rio Tinto Diavik Diamond Mine from Edmonton,” said Rob Mauracher. “We have also inked a partnership agreement with First Air, flying commercial passenger services for them under a long term ACMI contract from Edmonton and Yellowknife.”

Summit Air’s second AVRO RJ85 is scheduled to be delivered in late April 2015.

Summit’s AVRO RJ85 is a UK-built aircraft equipped with auto throttle, EFIS flight deck, WAAS/LPV capable and is the only next generation jet certified in Canada for operations onto gravel runways. With a long-range cruising speed of 720 km/hr (450 mph), and a maximum operating speed of 763 km/hr (475 mph), the Avro has a 43,000 kg (97,000 lbs.) maximum takeoff weight.

The aircraft is powered by four Honeywell LF507-1F high bypass FADEC engines capable of 7000 lbs of thrust each. The engines feature low noise levels and low emissions, making it one of the quietest and greenest aircraft in its class.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. The first Summit Air BAe (Avro) RJ85 is pictured as G-CHKP (msn E2302) at Southend which became C-FLRJ on delivery.

First Air aircraft slide show:

Summit Air aircraft slide show:

Routes to be operated by Summit Air:

Delta to start seasonal service between Los Angeles and Managua

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will begin Saturday seasonal service between Los Angeles and Managua on June 5, 2015. The additional service will complement the current daily nonstop service from the Nicaraguan capital city to Atlanta, and will operate using a 160-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

With flights to 13 cities including San José, Costa Rica; Liberia, Costa Rica; San Salvador; Guatemala City; Belize City; Cancún; Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo; Manzanillo; Guadalajara; Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Monterrey; and now Managua, Delta serves more destinations in Latin America from Los Angeles than any carrier.

From Los Angeles, Delta currently operates 154 peak-day departures to 48 destinations and has continued expanding both international and domestic service over the past few months, including London-Heathrow in October; Dallas* and Austin, Texas* in November; and Vancouver, Canada* in December.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-832 N377DA (msn 29625) departs from Los Angeles International Airport.

Delta Air Lines aircraft slide show (current livery):

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-UnitedStates-1/Airlines-UnitedStates-1/Delta-air-lines

American Airlines takes delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, now has operated every Boeing-designed jetliner type

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) on January 22 took delivery of its first Boeing 787-8, the pictured N800AN (msn 40618) at Paine Field near Everett, Washington. The new type was ferried home yesterday to the the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) home later in the day arriving to a formal welcoming party.

Above Photo: American Airlines. N800AN departs from an overcast Paine Field on its delivery flight.

American Airlines has now operated all of the Boeing-designed jetliners:

Boeing 707 (-123, -123B, -323B and -323C models)

Boeing 717 (designed by McDonnell Douglas as the MD-95, inherited from TWA but not officially operated)

Boeing 720

Boeing 727 (both models)

Boeing 737 (-200, -300 and -800 models)

Boeing 747 (-100 and SP models)

Boeing 757 (-200 model)

Boeing 767 (-200 and -300 models)

Boeing 777 (-200 and -300 models)

Boeing 787 (now the 787-8 model)

American Airlines issued this statement:

American Airlines on January 23 officially welcomed its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. American took delivery of the airplane, a 787-8 with registration number N800AN, on Thursday at Boeing’s factory in Everett, Washington, and arrived in Dallas/Fort Worth on Friday afternoon.

Above Photo: American Airlines. The delivery crew of N800AN prepares for the delivery flight.

Above Photo: DFW Airport. N800AN arrives at DFW after its delivery flight from Paine Field.

American has placed firm orders for 42 Boeing 787 aircraft, with the right to acquire an additional 58. American will take delivery of both the 787-8 and 787-9 as part of the 42 firm orders. American expects its first 787 to enter revenue service in the second quarter, flying domestically between American’s hubs for several weeks before being launched on international flights.

American already has the youngest fleet of the U.S. global network carriers, with an average aircraft age of 12.3 years. In 2015, American plans to take delivery of an average of two new aircraft per week. These new deliveries will make American’s fleet even younger, more modern and more efficient and will provide a solid foundation for continued improvements in technology, products and services.

American is retrofitting its entire fleet of Boeing 777-200s and selected 767-300s, 757-200s and Airbus A319s to refresh the cabins and enhance the experience on domestic and international flights.

In other news, American has filed with the DOT to begin service between Los Angeles and Guadalajara and between Miami and Monterrey according to Daily Airline Filings.

Above Copyright Photo: Royal S. King/AirlinersGallery.com. A sunny portrait of N800AN before the delivery day at Paine Field.

American Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-UnitedStates-1/Airlines-UnitedStates-1/American-Airlines

Video: A previous test flight of N800AN at a foggy Paine Field:

Japan Airlines to introduce the “JAL Sky Suite 787” on its 787-9s in July, announces its schedule and aircraft plans

JAL-Japan Airlines (Tokyo) has announced it will introduce the Boeing 787-9 with an all-new cabin interior, called JAL SKY SUITE 787 (SS9), on the Tokyo (Narita) – Jakarta route (JL725/JL726) from July 2015.

The SS9 will adopt a similar three-class configuration as the airline’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, called JAL SKY SUITE 787 (SS8) aircraft, which were first introduced in December 2014. SS9 will offer fully-flat JAL SKY SUITE seats in its Business Class and spacious JAL SKY PREMIUM seats in Premium Economy. In Economy Class, JAL SKY WIDER II seats will be installed. JAL will also maintain its existing 2-4-2 configuration in the SS9’s Economy Class, which achieves approx. 5cm wider for each seat width than the common configuration of JAL Economy Class seat on Boeing 787s. Additionally, the seat pitch was increased approximately 5 cm to provide more space and comfort during every journey.

The company also issued this statement on its upcoming schedules and fleet plans:

JAL Group (JAL) on January 21 announced its flight frequency and fleet plans on both international and domestic routes for fiscal year 2015 (ending March 31, 2016).

In regards to the airline’s international network, Japan Airlines FY2015 fleet plans include newly added Boeing 787-9s, which will be configured with the airline’s latest cabin interior (JAL SKY SUITE) from July 2015, in addition to the airline’s current JAL SKY SUITE 767/777/787 configured aircraft. The airline will concurrently expand the availability of aircraft featuring JAL SKY WIDER seats in Economy Class on more international routes in order to further deliver improved service to customers.

Furthermore, JAL will increase flight frequency from 3 to 4 round-trip flights weekly between Tokyo (Narita) and Moscow to meet an increase in business travel demand.

In regards to the airline’s domestic network, JAL will adjust its flight frequency plan on select Japan-domestic routes to meet seasonal demand primarily to and from Tokyo (Haneda), which will result in the reintroduction of continuous summer operations of six domestic routes to provide enhanced customer convenience. Additionally, the airline’s well-received JAL SKY NEXT service will mainly expand onto more domestic routes to and from Haneda.

# The following plans and schedules are subject to government approval.

1. Expanding JAL SKY SUITE Aircraft onto More International Routes

JAL will introduce the Boeing 787-9 with latest cabin interior (indicated as “SS9” in JAL Flight Schedule) onto its international network in FY 2015. The new aircraft will be configured with fully-flat JAL SKY SUITE seats in Business Class, spacious JAL SKY PREMIUM seats in Premium Economy and the well-received JAL SKY WIDER II seats in Economy Class. JAL SKY SUITE aircraft will be available as indicated on the following routes:

Route	Effective Period	Flight No.	Aircraft	Remarks
Narita – Paris	March 29, 2015 ~	JL415/416	787-8	JAL SKY SUITE 787 (SS8) (*3)
Narita – Helsinki	June 1, 2015 ~	JL413/414	787-8	JAL SKY SUITE 787 (SS8) (*3)
Narita – Jakarta	July 1, 2015 ~	JL725/726	787-9	JAL SKY SUITE 787 (SS9) (*4)
Narita – Delhi	March 29, 2015 ~	JL749/740	787-8	JAL SKY SUITE 787 (SS8) (*3)
Narita – Honolulu	March 29, 2015 ~	JL784/783	767-300ER	JALSKY SUITE 767 (SS6)
Narita – Honolulu	March 29, 2015 ~	JL786/785	767-300ER	JALSKY SUITE 767 (SS6)
Narita – Manila	March 29, 2015 ~	JL741/742	767-300ER	JAL SKY SUITE 767 (SS6)
Narita – Manila	June 1, 2015 ~ (*5)	JL745/746	767-300ER	JAL SKY SUITE 767 (SS6)

# The schedule for launching the new service is subject to change due to the delivery of aircraft. For latest information, please visit JAL website.
(*3) Premium Economy service will be provided in line with the introduction of SS8 on these routes.
(*4) First Class service will not be available in line with aircraft type changing from JAL SKY SUITE 777 (SS7) to SS9 on this route and SS8 will be operated on this route every Thursday only.
(*5) JL746 will start to be operated by SS6 from June 2, 2015.

Other Aircraft Type Changes Route

Narita – Frankfurt Haneda – Bangkok

Haneda – Ho Chi Minh City Narita – Ho Chi Minh City Narita – Sydney Haneda – Beijing

Haneda – Seoul (Gimpo)

Haneda – Taipei (Songshan)

Kansai – Shanghai (Pudong)

Kansai – Taipei (Taoyuan)

Effective Period	Flight No.	Aircraft	Remarks
March 29 ~ October 24, 2015	JL407/408	787-8 to 777-300ER	(*5)
March 29(*6) ~ June 30, 2015	JL033/032	777-200ER to 787-8	(*7)
July 1, 2015 ~	JL033/032	787-8 to 777-200ER	(*7)
March 29, 2015 ~	JL079/070	767-300ER to 787-8
March 29, 2015 ~	JL759/750	767-300ER to 787-8
March 29, 2015 (*8) ~	JL771/772	777-300ER to 777-200ER	(*9)
March 30, 2015 ~	JL021/022	767-300ER to 787-8
March 30, 2015 ~	JL091/092	767-300ER to 787-8
March 30, 2015 ~	JL093/094	767-300ER to 787-8
March 29, 2015 ~	JL097/098	777-200ER to 767-300ER
March 29, 2015 ~	JL891/894	767-300ER to 737-800
March 29, 2015 ~	JL813/816	767-300ER to 787-8

(*5) First Class Service will be available in line with introduction of SS7 on this route.
(*6) JL033 will start to be operated by 787-8 from March 30, 2015.
(*7) Premium Economy service will not be available on this route during March 29 and June 30, 2015. (*8) JL772 will start to be operated by 777-200ER from March 30, 2015.
(*9) First Class service will not be available in line with aircraft change on this route

(*10) JAL maintains codeshare flights (operated by Korean Air) between Kansai and Seoul’s Gimpo, and between Kansai and Seoul’s Incheon.

Flight No.	Route	Dep. Time	Arr. Time	Aircraft	Details	Effective Period
JL441	Narita – Moscow	10:45	15:00	787-8	Increase from 3 to 4 weekly flights (Additional flight on Monday)	March 29 ~ October 24, 2015 (Mo, We, Fr, Su)
JL442	Moscow – Narita	17:15	08:35+1	787-8		March 29 ~ October 24, 2015 (Mo, We, Fr, Su)

Flight No.	Route	Details	Effective Period	Remarks
JL971	Osaka (Kansai) – Seoul (Gimpo)	Suspension of JL971/974 daily round-trip operation	March 29, 2015 ~	(*10)
JL974	Seoul (Gimpo) – Osaka (Kansai)	Suspension of JL971/974 daily round-trip operation	March 29, 2015 ~	(*10)

Domestic Network
1. Continuation of Seasonal Operations

Route	Details	Effective Period
Itami – Matsumoto	1 daily flight	August 1 ~ August 31, 2015
Itami – Memanbetsu	1 daily flight	July 18 ~ July 20, 2015 and July 25 ~ August 31, 2015
Sapporo (New Chitose) – Izumo	4 weekly flights	August 1 ~ August 31, 2015 (Mo, We, Fr, Su)
Sapporo (New Chitose) – Tokushima	3 weekly flights	August 1 ~ August 31, 2015 (Tu, Th, Sa)
Nagoya (Chubu) – Kushiro	3 weekly flights	August 1 ~ August 31, 2015 (Tu, Th, Sa)
Nagoya (Chubu) – Obihiro	4 weekly flights	August 1 ~ August 31, 2015 (Mo, We, Fr, Su)

3. Flight Frequency Changes

Route	Details	Effective Period
Haneda – Sapporo (New Chitose)	16 daily to 17 daily flights	March 29 ~ October 24, 2015
Haneda – Okinawa (Naha)	12 daily to 14 daily flights	March 29 ~ October 24, 2015
Itami – Sapporo (New Chitose)	3 daily to 4 daily flights	March 29, 2015 ~

Route	Details	Effective Period
Haneda – Itami	16 daily to 15 daily flights	March 29, 2015 ~
Haneda – Izumo	6 daily to 5 daily flights	March 29, 2015 ~
Kansai – Sapporo (New Chitose)	4 daily to 3 daily flights	March 29, 2015 ~

Copyright Photo: Fred Freketic/AirlinersGallery.com. While JAL awaits the delivery of its first stretched Boeing 787-9, the company continues to expand 787-8 operations. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner JA835J (msn 34850) taxies onto the runway at New York (JFK).

Video: Sam Chui. Flying on JAL First Class from Tokyo to London on Boeing 777-300 ER JAL Suite:

JAL aircraft slide show:

Hermes Aviation (FlyHermes.com) stops flying, strands passengers

Hermes Aviation (FlyHermes.com) (Luqa, Malta) suddenly cancelled its flights on January 6 according to the Malta Independent. The sole aircraft (above) has been on the ground at Turin, Italy since January 12. According to the report, the airline is under investigation by the Italian civil aviation authority – ENAC (L’Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile). The airline had been offering flights from Malta to Comiso and Palermo in Sicily and Turin in northern Italy.

The airline does not mention the stoppage on its website and has not issued any statement.

Read the report from the Times of Malta: CLICK HERE

Read the report by the Malta Independent: CLICK HERE

The airline started operations on June 6, 2014.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. FlyHermes.com (Hermes Aviation) Boeing 737-4K5 9H-HER (msn 24901) taxies at Palma de Mallorca.

FlyHermes aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Hermes-Aviation-FlyHermescom

Lufthansa to offer two more routes from Munich to the Canary Islands

Lufthansa (Frankfurt) will offer new weekly service from its Munich hub to Fuerteventura starting on Saturday October 25, before the start of the autumn holidays in Bavaria, while flights to Tenerife will be offered from Sunday October 31.

Both destinations will be served by an Airbus A321 with 200 seats in a two-class configuration.

Lufthansa is also resuming flights to Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria, next winter.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-131 D-AIRY (msn 901) with “Die Maus” (The Mouse) markings at Zurich.

Lufthansa aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Lufthansa

Vueling adds three new African destinations from Barcelona

Vueling Airlines (Barcelona) will add Rabat (Morocco), Yerba (Tunisia) and Accra (Ghana) from Barcelona starting on June 20.

The airline will also launch a summer service to Istanbul. From June through October the airline will fly three times a week from Barcelona.

After launching flights to Marrakech in 2009, the airline gradually added new African services and now has 16 routes reaching 11 destinations on the continent: Marrakech, Rabat, Casablanca, Nador, and Fez in Morocco; Tunis and Yerba in Tunisia; Algiers and Oran in Algeria; Dakar in Senegal; Banjul in Gambia; and Accra in Ghana. At 3,960 km, the Barcelona-Ghana route will be the longest operated by the airline.

Vueling aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-3/Airlines-Europe3-QZ/Vueling-Airlines

Air France to cut another 800 positions through a “voluntary departure plan”

Air France (Paris) will cut another 800 positions due to a “weaker revenue trend”. The airline issued this statement:

In 2015, Air France will benefit from the impact of the measures taken within the framework of Transform 2015 and from the fall in the fuel price. However, as announced in December 2014, the Group will also have to contend with the weaker unit revenue trend that has developed since the summer of 2014, which requires the implementation of additional measures.

Within this framework, the Air France management presented a number of actions to the Corporate Works Council: downwards revision in fleet and capacity growth, new initiatives to drive revenues, the reinforcement of ‘purchasing’ initiatives, maintained wage moderation and productivity efforts and further adaptation of headcount to requirements.

In particular, during a meeting of the Corporate Works Council to be held during the first fortnight in February, the Air France management will provide details on proposed new Voluntary Departure Plans. These Voluntary Departure Plans will relate to ground staff and cabin crew and aim at the departure of approximately 800 people. These measures relate to both the full execution of Transform 2015 and an immediate adaptation to the Group’s competitive environment.

In parallel, the Group is pursuing its efforts within the framework of the new Perform 2020 strategic plan. A progress report on this topic will be given during the Full Year 2014 results presentation on February 19. All the items shared during this meeting of the Air France Corporate Works Council refer exclusively to Air France and its subsidiary, and not Air France-KLM, whose targets remain unchanged.

Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 F-GKXJ (msn 1900) climbs away from Heathrow Airport near London.

Air France aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-1/Airlines-Europe-1/air-france

Gem Air of Idaho applies for an EAS contract in Nebraska

Gem Air (Salmon, Idaho) has applied to the Department of Transportation (DOT) to operate Essential Air Service (EAS) in Nebraska between Chadron and Alliance according to ch-aviation.

Gem Air is an Idaho owned and operated air service that currently offers year-round scheduled flights between Salmon and Boise, Idaho.

During the summer season, the airline offers an expanded schedule with multiple daily flights between Salmon, Boise, McCall, and Stanely, Idaho.

Copyright Photo: Gem Air. Gem Air operates the nine-seat Idaho-built Quest Aircraft Company Kodiak 100 including the pictured N838SA (msn 100-002).

Centurion Cargo to return to Amsterdam

Centurion Cargo (Miami) will restore the Miami-Amsterdam route on February 19 with Boeing 747-400F freighters per Cargo Facts. The carrier dropped its only European route last year. The company is restoring services and redeploying its previously parked aircraft.

Centurion Cargo aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-UnitedStates-1/Airlines-UnitedStates-1/Centurion-Cargo