Air Canada strategically expands its South Pacific Network

Air Canada today announced a strategic expansion of its South Pacific schedule with the return of daily service to Sydney and resumption of services to both Brisbane and Auckland. Air Canada’s Australia and New Zealand flights operate from its trans-Pacific hub at Vancouver International Airport which the carrier has built to conveniently connect its international network to its vast North American network.

Australia and New Zealand Schedule

Flight	From	To	Days of Week	Departs	Arrives	Aircraft	Begins
AC033	YVR	SYD	Ramps up to daily beginning early May	23:15	07:45 (+2 days)	Boeing 777	Currently operating
AC034	SYD	YVR	Ramps up to daily beginning early May	09:30	07:10	Boeing 777	Currently operating
AC035	YVR	BNE	Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun	22:55	06:35 (+2 days)	Boeing 787 Dreamliner	Jul. 1
AC036	BNE	YVR	Tue/Wed/Fri/Sun	10:15	06:50	Boeing 787 Dreamliner	Jul. 3
AC039	YVR	AKL	Tue/Thu/Sat	22:45	10:05 (+2 days)	Boeing 787 Dreamliner	Nov. 10
AC040	AKL	YVR	Mon/Thu/Sat	14:30	06:30	Boeing 787 Dreamliner	Nov. 12

Air Canada may continue to adjust its schedule as more opportunities arise or based on COVID-19’s trajectory and the further easing of travel restrictions by government. For details on the full schedule please visit aircanada.com

Easy and convenient connections
Air Canada’s South Pacific flights connect seamlessly and conveniently to and from its extensive North American network in YVR including: New York–Newark, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Victoria, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles among other cities.

In Sydney and Brisbane, Air Canada’s flights will connect easily to and from Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Cairns and other destinations with code-share partner Virgin Australia.

Air Canada inaugurates enhanced Cold Chain Handling Facility at its Toronto Pearson Cargo Hub

Air Canada today announced the inauguration of Air Canada Cargo’s new cold chain handling facility at its Toronto Pearson International Airport cargo facility. The $16-million project was undertaken to expand and enhance Air Canada Cargo’s cold chain handling capabilities for shipments such as pharmaceuticals, fresh food and other perishables.

The upgraded facility will feature over 30,000 square feet of temperature-controlled areas and an expanded cooler to fully meet the requirements of cold chain shipments, such as pharmaceuticals, fresh food and other perishables. These enhancements are the first step in a multi-year investment plan for the facility and are part of several planned infrastructure investment projects for Air Canada Cargo.

To contribute to Air Canada’s long-term net zero emissions goal, the renovations included the installation of energy efficient equipment such as temperature controllers that will constantly monitor the conditions inside the facility and only regulate the temperature as needed, resulting in reduced energy consumption. As well, rapid roll-up doors have been installed to minimize the energy loss when the cooler is accessed to store or retrieve goods. LED lighting has been installed throughout the facility, further reducing energy consumption.

British Airways introduces Aviation American gin onboard

British Airways and Aviation American Gin are announcing a new partnership; with the gin launching on board. Customers flying across the pond and all other long-haul routes will be offered it from the in-flight menu and short-haul customers will be able to buy it from the on-board Speedbird café.

The partnership builds on the opening of a brand-new area – the Aviation Gin bar in the airline’s Club Lounge in JFK airport in October 2021.

Aviation American Gin was founded in Portland in 2006 and is a metaphor for taste and adventure. The gin is infused with a democratic blend of botanicals – cardamom, coriander, French lavender, anise seed, sarsaparilla, juniper, and two kinds of orange peel to create a smoother, softer, more refined take on gin.

British Airways will be launching a new route to Portland, Oregon on 3 June. Flights will operate 5 times a week – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. As well as being a vibrant city to visit, this route will open up a whole variety of connections for our customers to explore all of the West coast of America.

We hope our customers join us in celebrating, with a refreshing gin and tonic.” Gareth Williams, International Brand Director at Aviation American Gin said: “We’re so excited to get on board with the UK flag carrier British Airways and take Aviation American Gin to new heights – the sky! Through this partnership, we’re keen to enhance each traveller’s experience with a deliciously refreshing Aviation Gin cocktail for flyers to enjoy on journeys near and far, offering an American twist on this quintessentially British drink!”

The partnership is being launched with a hilarious alternative safety video starring Aviation American Gin co-owner Ryan Reynolds. You can watch via @AviationGin’s social channels.

Eve and Global Crossing Airlines sign Letter of Intent for up to 200 eVTOL aircraft and enable future collaboration for UAM

Eve UAM, LLC and Global Crossing Airlines Group, Inc. (GlobalX) have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to order up to 200 of Eve’s electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL). This potential sale is included in Eve’s current order backlog of up to 1,785 eVTOLs. The company expects to start the deliveries in 2026.

The agreement also enables a promising partnership that intends to explore the development of an ecosystem to scale Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and reinforces the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) in Miami-Dade County that was announced today. GlobalX’s expertise as a flag airline will contribute not only to the formulation of the infrastructure needed to permit eVTOL flights, but also the deployment of Eve’s aircraft throughout their network.

TAP Air Portugal celebrates its 77th anniversary

On March 14 TAP Air Portugal celebrated its 77th anniversary at the Air Museum!

On this special day, the airline commemorated the reopening of a dedicated area to TAP’s history.

Here are some photos of the best moments!

Today marks our 77th anniversary. The challenges are still not over for us, but today our message is one of hope, gratitude and determination. We thank you for flying with us on this incredible journey! ✈️ pic.twitter.com/HD4VZLUbP3

— TAP Air Portugal (@tapairportugal) March 14, 2022

The new Flybe selects Belfast as its second base

Flybe (2nd), after naming Birmingham as its first base in November, has selected Belfast City Airport to be its second base.

Next week the resurrected carrier will announce its first routes.

George Best Belfast City Airport issued this statement:

Flybe Ltd is set to go on sale next week with a full list of routes, destinations, and everyday low fares due to be announced for its first two bases of operation at Birmingham and Belfast City Airport.

Having announced Birmingham as the home of its new headquarters and first crew base in November, Flybe is pleased to announce it will also be adding Belfast City Airport to its network—as its second main base of operations with plans to rapidly grow, create more jobs, and add more flights as the summer progresses.

Flybe CEO, Dave Pflieger, said: “Next week is going to be an exciting time for customers and communities that have been waiting to hear from us about low fares, new routes, and new destinations—all of which are being timed to coincide with the restart of the economy and a return to normality after two difficult years for all.

“As you’ve heard, our team has been working hard for over a year and a half to bring customers a new airline that people will love, and we are particularly excited to be flying to Belfast City Airport and serving Northern Ireland.

“Once we start flying from Birmingham, Belfast, and many other cities in the UK and EU, we are confident that a new and improved Flybe will provide customers with great value, more choices, and the opportunity to quickly and more conveniently visit loved ones, go on holiday, and more easily visit customers or attend important meetings.

“Given that goal, Flybe hopes to do its part to help communities across the country bounce back from the dramatic impact of the global pandemic.”

Qatar Airways to resume flights to London Gatwick

Qatar Airways is to resume flights to London Gatwick Airport from June 5, 2022. The multi-award winning airline will operate a daily service from Gatwick to Doha using a state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an environmentally advanced aircraft. It consumes 20 per cent less fuel and its carbon dioxide emissions are 20 per cent lower than other similar aircraft.

The resumption of the London Gatwick service complements recently launched flights to Doha from Gatwick by Qatar Airways’ Joint Business partner British Airways, meaning the airlines can now jointly offer more options between London and Doha and beyond, earning Avios frequent flyer points as they go.

UK customers will now have access to four gateways including five-times daily services from London Heathrow, 18-times weekly from Manchester and four-times weekly from Edinburgh rising to daily from 2 June.

Flights from UK:

London Gatwick – Twice daily (one daily Qatar Airways’ flight, one daily British Airways’ flight)

London Heathrow – Five times daily

Manchester – 18 flights a week

Edinburgh – Four flights a week, rising to daily from 2 June, 2022

Emirates sets June 23 for Tel Aviv launch

Emirates has confirmed that it will be commencing daily services to Tel Aviv from June 23, 2022. Emirates will operate its three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the route, featuring eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 304 spacious seats in Economy Class.

The first flight taking off on June 23 will operate as EK931, leaving at 15:50hrs, and arriving at Ben Gurion Airport at 18:00hrs local time. The return flight EK 932 will depart Tel Aviv at 19:55hrs, arriving in Dubai at 23:59hrs (local time). Flight schedules have been timed to provide convenient access to Dubai, and optimum connection opportunities to popular holiday destinations like Thailand, India, Philippines, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Emirates has an extensive Middle East network and currently flies to 12 cities across the region from Dubai.

Finnair continues its journey towards carbon neutrality and invites customers to offset their flight emissions

Starting on March 16, 2022, Finnair invites its customers to offset their flight emissions with a service that combines Sustainable Aviation Fuel and trusted climate projects.

Through the service, a platform powered by Chooose, Finnair customers can calculate their flight’s emissions and seamlessly offset their journey by choosing a mix of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and certified offset projects. The pricing varies depending on how the contribution is shared between the two.

The high price and limited availability of sustainable aviation fuels still present challenges for increasing its usage in commercial aviation, and thus stimulating demand and supply is important to drive down the price of SAF and to increase its availability. Meanwhile, offsets continue to be central in reaching carbon neutrality in aviation, and trustworthy offset projects with concrete and verifiable emission cuts are needed.

Finnair’s previous offsetting service was discontinued in March, 2020 due to Finnish legislation, which has since then been changed to allow companies to offer CO2 offsetting services to consumers.

Finnair targets to halve the emissions by the end of 2025 and reach carbon neutrality by the end of 2045, and is working systematically towards these targets The toolkit for achieving the CO2 reduction targets is the same as before the pandemic – with the focus on reducing own emissions through aircraft weight reduction, fuel-efficient flying and the use of sustainable aviation fuels and offsetting.

Finnair supports Ukrainians with a 95% discount on net fares for one-way tickets from Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk, Budapest and Prague to Helsinki. The discount is available with code Ukraine95 at https://t.co/WWKAxOEyod through March. Taxes and fees will be added to ticket prices. pic.twitter.com/iwpCw1a4rE

— Finnair (@Finnair) March 9, 2022

Norse Atlantic Airways secures London Gatwick slots and adapts launch plans

Norse Atlantic Airways made this announcement:

The current market situation is heavily impacted by the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine that have resulted in increased fuel prices and uncertainties relating to travel demand. To ensure that the Company enters the market at the right time, Norse has adjusted its launch of ticket sales and initial route offering; the company plans ticket sales to commence in April and first flight is expected to be in June 2022. At the same time, the Company has secured important slots at London Gatwick Airport.

“The tragedy unfolding in Ukraine creates uncertainties within international air transport that we take seriously. Norse’s flexible fleet arrangements, low cost base and strong financial foundation allow us to take a careful approach to launch. We are in a unique position as we have not yet started flying, which gives us the advantage to enter the market cautiously in line with demand and quickly adapt to unforeseen events. A gradual approach where ramp-up is exclusively driven by demand, will enable us to preserve our strong, debt-free balance sheet and cost base,” said CEO and Founder Bjørn Tore Larsen of Norse.

Norse intends to commence flights in June, flying between Norway and select destinations in the U.S. It plans to add other European destinations, such as Paris and London, as soon as the market situation allows. Recently securing important slots at London Gatwick Airport gives the airline access to one of the most attractive markets in Europe. The slots were awarded to Norse at no cost by the UK airport slots coordinator.

“We’re thrilled to have been awarded slots to operate flights to and from London Gatwick Airport as it gives us access to a very attractive market. We look forward to working closely with the great team at Gatwick Airport,” Larsen said.

The route network will be announced when ticket sales are launched.

“We have the necessary flexibility to quickly adapt to unforeseen events and ramp up with more aircraft and affordable flights to exciting destinations as soon as the market situation allows. A highly motivated Team Norse and the fact that we currently only pay for our aircraft when they are in operation also gives us a competitive advantage,” Larsen added.

“The current global situation makes it challenging to predict the demand for transatlantic travel. However, we strongly believe that the demand will bounce-back with full force because people will want to explore new destinations, visit friends and family and travel for business. Norse will be there to offer attractive and affordable flights on our more environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliners to both leisure and cost-conscious business travelers,” Larsen said.

Pilot and cabin crew recruitment

Norse has secured pilots and cabin crew sufficient for the initial routes. A pilot base has been established in Oslo and the first cabin crew base has been established in Fort Lauderdale. Training of the pilot and cabin crew instructors has commenced with a steady ramp-up planned for crew to start to ensure that Norse only takes on crew cost immediately before take-off. The company has also started cabin crew recruitment in Oslo and will establish crew bases in several locations in line with increased operation.

Norse has signed collective bargaining agreements with pilot and cabin crew unions in Norway, the US and UK.

Dreamliner fleet

Norse has a fleet of modern, more environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The Company has taken delivery of nine aircraft that are currently parked at Oslo Airport. The remaining six will be delivered consecutively in the coming months. The company will start utilizing its fleet cautiously and gradually add capacity in line with demand.

Norse received its Air Operator Certificate by Norway’s Civil Aviation Authority in December 2021. The airline received a foreign air carrier permit from the U.S. Department of Transportation in January.