Wizz Air to go public on the London Stock Exchange

Wizz Air (Budapest) according to Reuters plans to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange, with the goal to raise 200 million euros ($273 million) in order to grow further.

Read the full story from Reuters: CLICK HERE

In other news, on May 19 the low-fare airline celebrated its 10th anniversary. The company issued this statement:

Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe on May 19 celebrated the 10 year anniversary of its first flight from Katowice in southern Poland to London Luton on May 19, 2004. Wizz Air was established with the ambition of making flying more affordable to the citizens of CEE. To the end of 2013, Wizz Air carried a total of 69 million passengers. Wizz Air has built a current network of over 300 routes and 96 destinations across 35 countries. In FY 2014, Wizz Air carried 13.9 million passengers and looks forward to welcoming many more passengers on board its flights in the years ahead.

Wizz Air:

Routes from Budapest:

Flybe to add 2 new routes from Birmingham to Hamburg and Oslo

Flybe (Exeter) has announced it will operate two new routes from Birmingham Airport this winter namely a daily service to Hamburg and Oslo from October 26, 2014 through to March 27, 2015 with Embraer 175s.

Already Birmingham Airport’s largest carrier, the airline has also announced (May 20, 2014) that, due to early successes, it will extend to year-round on six of the new routes it is operating this summer. Flybe will continue to operate up to 28 weekly flights to Cologne, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Florence and Oporto with frequency aimed to provide convenience for business travellers and those passengers wanting a short break on the continent. Due to the popularity of its summer twilight flights to Reykjavik, it’s also moving this three times a week service to daytime flying, also with effect from October 26.

The move is estimated to result in Flybe carrying an additional 100,000 passengers a year at Birmingham Airport. Altogether, it’s another exciting week for Flybe in Birmingham as its last four remaining inaugural flights for summer take off to Newquay, Bordeaux, Palma and Toulouse.

In total, Flybe will operate up to 350 flights a week from Birmingham on 26 routes as part of its 2014-15 winter schedule.

Copyright Photo: Rob Skinkis/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 170-100STD (ERJ 175) G-FBJA (msn 17000326) arrives in Manchester.

Flybe:

Routes from Birmingham:

Atlantic Airways to phase out its last Avro (BAe) RJ100

Atlantic Airways (Vágar) is getting ready to lease out its remaining Avro (BAe) RJ100 (OY-RCC, msn E3357) as it becomes an all-Airbus A319 operator for its prime routes to the Faroe Islands. According to ch-aviation, the company will operate OY-RCC for the last time on August 22 from Reykjavik to Vágar. The company previously issued this statement:

Atlantic Airways’ last “remaining BAe (Avro) RJ100 aircraft in its fleet will be dry leased to Malmø Aviation for a period of 17-30 months with effect by end of August 2014.

The lease is in line with the original plan to phase out the BAe RJ fleet. The lease will not have an impact on expectations for the full-year result in 2014, and is expected to generate a positive cash-flow.

Atlantic Airways will from end August then operate three Airbus A319 aircraft, two Bell 412 helicopters, as well as one AW 139 helicopter from March 2014 due to the temporary off-shore operations in Faroese waters. Atlantic Airways’ future fleet plan will be part of a strategy review during the spring.

The Faroe Islands based carrier focuses primarily on providing the Faroe Islands with air services, but provides also capacity for operations outside the Faroe Islands.”

In other news, Atlantic Airways is expected to operate one of its Airbus A319s for WOW Air.

Atlantic Airways:

Virgin America’s flight attendants to vote on unionization

Virgin America’ (San Francisco) flight attendants will vote on whether to unionize, according to a quoted official at the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and this report by Reuters.

Virgin America is the last major U.S. airline to be non-union. The airline expects the vote to fail by its 850 flight attendants.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Virgin America:

Delta continues to add Seattle/Tacoma routes, this time to Calgary and Spokane

Delta Air Lines (Seattle/Tacoma) is adding more feeder routes to its growing Seattle/Tacoma mini international (and now domestic) hub in direct competition to its “partner” Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma). The carrier will add daily Delta Connection service from SEA to both Calgary and Spokane starting on November 3 with Bombardier CRJ700s.

Update: On May 27 Delta issued this statement:

Delta Air Lines this fall will add new service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to popular ski and beach destinations, including Spokane, Washington; Maui, Hawaii; Bozeman, Montana; Calgary, Alberta; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This will give Seattle-area travelers more choice as the airline continues growing its domestic and international network in the Emerald City. All new international destinations are pending foreign government approval, and Puerto Vallarta service is awaiting U.S. government approval and is not yet available for sale.

Delta’s new Seattle/Tacoma service beginning November 3, 2014, includes:

Four daily flights to Spokane International Airport using two-class, 65-seat CRJ700 aircraft
Two daily flights to Calgary International Airport using two-class, 76-seat Embraer ERJ 175 aircraft

New Seattle service beginning December 20, 2014, includes:

One daily flight to Maui’s Kahului Airport using a Boeing 757-200 aircraft

One daily seasonal flight to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport through Jan. 4, 2015, then

Saturday service from Jan. 10 through March 28, 2015, using two-class, 76-seat Embraer E-175 aircraft

Four weekly flights to Los Cabos International Airport through Jan. 10, 2015, then Saturday service beginning Jan. 17, 2015, using an Airbus A319 aircraft

Four weekly flights to Puerto Vallarta’s Licenciado Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport through Jan. 10, 2015, then Saturday service beginning Jan. 17, 2015, using an Airbus A319 aircraft

Delta began nonstop international service in March to London-Heathrow and will begin nonstop service to Seoul and Hong Kong on June 2 and 16, respectively.

The airline is in the process of beginning significant new Seattle/Tacoma growth to markets including San Francisco; Fairbanks, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; San Jose, Calif.; San Diego; Vancouver, British Columbia; Portland, Ore.; Phoenix; Palm Springs, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Jackson Hole, Wyo.; as well as expanded service to Anchorage; Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

In addition to London-Heathrow, Delta currently operates nonstop flights from Seattle/Tacoma to Amsterdam, Beijing, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Shanghai-Pudong, Tokyo-Haneda and Tokyo-Narita. By this summer, Delta will offer more international service from Seattle/Tacoma than all other carriers combined with 10 daily destinations and more than 2,500 daily international seats as part of the market’s 86 peak-day departures to 26 destinations.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. In the Seattle/Tacoma area Delta bills itself as “Seattle’s Global Airline”, even on baggage carts at SeaTac.

Delta Air Lines (current):

Delta and Virgin Atlantic unveil a new schedule between London Heathrow and Atlanta and Los Angeles, Virgin Atlantic to fly to Atlanta

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) will transfer operations for nonstop flights connecting London-Heathrow to both Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport this winter, offering more choices for the airlines’ customers on key routes across the Atlantic.

Effective October 26, 2014, Delta will begin operating one of two daily Heathrow-Los Angeles flights currently operated by Virgin Atlantic. This new Delta service will mark the airline’s first nonstop flight between Los Angeles and London Heathrow and is Delta’s seventh nonstop destination between London and the United States. Virgin Atlantic will begin operating one of Delta’s three daily flights between Heathrow and Atlanta. The two airlines will codeshare on each other’s operated services, allowing Delta and Virgin customers seamless access to the expanded network.

This announcement also shows how the partnership, which launched on January 1, 2014, is increasing the network of each carrier. Virgin Atlantic will have access to Delta’s Atlanta hub, the busiest airport in the world, for the first time, providing expansive and unprecedented access for Virgin Atlantic customers to connect to points throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The airline will now be able to offer more than 100 additional international and domestic connections to its customers. This brings the total number of connections available through the partnership to more than 200.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic’s new winter 2014 schedule between Heathrow and Los Angeles and Atlanta:

Combined, the two airlines operate a total of 32 peak daily nonstop flights between North America and the U.K., including 24 flights between London Heathrow and popular U.S. destinations. Delta recently co-located its New York, Boston and Seattle routes into Terminal 3 – Virgin Atlantic’s home at Heathrow Airport. This move provided additional choice and flexibility to customers while reducing onward transit times.

Virgin Atlantic will continue to operate two daily services to Los Angeles and Delta will continue to fly three daily services to Atlanta, until October 26, 2014.

Delta will continue to operate its Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul services from London Heathrow’s Terminal 4.

Virgin Atlantic will operate its Atlanta flight from Heathrow Terminal 3.

Copyright Photo: Luimer Cordero/AirlinersGallery.com. Virgin Atlantic is coming to Atlanta. Airbus A330-343X G-VKSS (msn 1201) is pictured arriving in Miami.

Delta Air Lines:

Virgin Atlantic:

San Juan Airlines and Northwest Sky Ferry merge

San Juan Airlines (Anacortes, Washington) mainly operates Cessna 206s and 207s from Anacortes and Bellingham, Washington to the San Juan Islands. The company has issued this statement about a merger with competitor Northwest Sky Ferry. San Juan Airlines will be the surviving company:

Northwest Sky Ferry and San Juan Airlines have merged flight operations and in May will become the new San Juan Airlines. Both airlines have a long history of serving the San Juan Islands and the Pacific Northwest.

Since taking over Northwest Sky Ferry in 2009, owners Skip and Katie Jansen have adopted a highly effective customer-first policy inspired by their own experience with the airline long before they took over. “This acquisition will keenly position us to expand our flight schedule, accommodate larger parties, and offer more destinations to better serve our customers’ needs,” explains Northwest Sky Ferry president, Skip Jansen.

San Juan Airlines offers daily scheduled, charter and scenic flights serving the San Juan Islands, Bellingham, Anacortes, Port Angeles, Point Roberts, Seattle, British Columbia and beyond.

In Bellingham, the new San Juan Airlines will be flying out of the former Northwest Sky Ferry facility at 4167 Mitchell Way. In Anacortes, Friday Harbor and Eastsound, the new merged company will continue using the San Juan Airlines facilities.

Boliviana de Aviacion is coming to Miami on June 6

Boliviana de Aviacion-BoA (Cochabamba) is planning to launch the Cochabamba-Santa-Cruz-Miami route (fours days a week) via a refueling stop at Panama City, Panama with Boeing 737-300 aircraft on June 6 per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-3Q8 CP-2554 (msn 26303) slips into the blue sky at Sao Paulo (Guarulhos).

BoA:

Ruili Airlines launches flight operations in Yunnan, China

Ruili Airlines (Kunming, Yunnan) formally started passenger operations on May 18 between its Kunming (KMG) base in southern China and Mangshi (LUX).

As previously reported, Ruili Airlines is owned by the Yunnan Jingcheng Group. In August 2013 the new airline ordered 18 Boeing 737 aircraft. Three aircraft, two Boeing 737-700s and the pictured 737-800 were delivered in order to commence operations.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Ex-Airberlin Boeing 737-86J D-ABMX (msn 37786) became B-1960 when it was delivered to Ruili Airlines on April 16, 2014.

Cathay Pacific to relaunch Hong Kong-Zurich flights

Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong) has announced that it will resume nonstop daily service from Hong Kong to Zurich on March 29, 2015.

The Zurich service will be operated by a Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft.

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. This dramatic “in your face” runway action photo shows Boeing 777-367 ER B-KPF (msn 36832) in the special “Hong Kong – Asia’s world city” livery at New York (JFK).

Cathay Pacific: