Eurowings Discover, the new long-range leisure airline of the Lufthansa Group, will start a new route connecting the Frankfurt hub with the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The airline will fly into Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport.
The new route will operate three days a week starting in November 2022.
https://twitter.com/lufthansaNews/status/1492100452967723008?s=20&t=hsoZDvQIHg7sC6cCUiokdA
Austrian Airlines is planning to resume service to Gรถteborg Landvetter Airport (Gothenburg) on March 27.
The restored route will be operated three days a week with Embraer 195s.
The Swedavia Airports issued this statement:
Austrian Airlines has paused air traffic to Gรถteborg Landvetter for a few years during the pandemic.ย The carrier is now returning and will relaunch its popular direct route to the Austrian capital.
The service will debut on March 27 when passengers once again can fly directly from Gรถteborg Landvetter to Vienna three times weekly with Austrian Airlines. The airline is part of the Lufthansa Group and a member of Star Alliance. The resumed service will facilitate for travelers from Gothenburg to transfer both domestically in Austria and to central and eastern Europe via Austrian Airlines’ hub at Vienna Airport. In addition to Austrian Airlines, another operator serves the route.
In the years before the outbreak of the pandemic, about 25,000 passengers flew from Gothenburg to Vienna annually and the number of travelers doubled between the cities. The route is in demand from both leisure and business travelers and there is an even distribution between Swedish and Austrian passengers. Both Vienna and Gothenburg are popular weekend destinations and Austrian Airlines’ timetable offers a good connection for a short or long weekend in one of the cities.
Starting on March 27, Austrian Airlines will operateย Gรถteborg Landvetter Airport (GOT) โย Vienna International Airportย (VIE)ย with three weekly departures on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays with an Embraer 195-jet.
Austrian Airlines has a strong focus on sustainability work and on achieving the goals of the International Air Transport Association, IATA, in terms of fuel efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. With the aim of reducing climate-impacting carbon dioxide emissions, the airline offers travellers the opportunity to buy biofuel for all or part of their flight.
Azores Airlines made this announcement:
From now on, it is possible to combine Transavia and Azores Airlines flights, which makes it easier for passengers to discover several islands in the Azores.
With the interline virtual agreement, Transavia passengers can, in addition to direct flights from Amsterdam to Ponta Delgada, choose one of many Azores Airlines flights to the Azores, via Porto, Lisbon, and Funchal. Azores Airlines passengers can do the same by using Transavia flights to Europe. This is made possible by introducing Transavia Smart Connect, together with Dohop, the digital interline platform provider.
Smart Connect knows how to link different flights smartly. The user-friendly platform offers passengers more convenience in searching for combined flights and allows them to discover even more beautiful islands of the Azores. The partnership with Azores Airlines is the first collaboration using Transavia Smart Connect.
To offer this service, Azores Airlines and Transavia work with Dohop. Dohop is an Icelandic company specialized in virtual interlining technology. Dohop helps airlines with the technology and the necessary platform. In addition, Dohop is responsible for the connection service. That means that Dohop will arrange a new flight and possible hotel accommodation for passengers who do not make it to their flight due to circumstances such as a delay or cancellation.
From now on, it is possible to combine Transavia and Azores Airlines flights, which makes it easier for passengers to discover several islands in the Azores.
With the interline virtual agreement, Transavia passengers can, in addition to direct flights from Amsterdam to Ponta Delgada, choose one of many Azores Airlines flights to the Azores, via Porto, Lisbon, and Funchal. Azores Airlines passengers can do the same by using Transavia flights to Europe. This is made possible by introducing Transavia Smart Connect, together with Dohop, the digital interline platform provider.
Smart Connect knows how to link different flights smartly. The user-friendly platform offers passengers more convenience in searching for combined flights and allows them to discover even more beautiful islands of the Azores. The partnership with Azores Airlines is the first collaboration using Transavia Smart Connect.
To offer this service, Azores Airlines and Transavia work with Dohop. Dohop is an Icelandic company specialized in virtual interlining technology. Dohop helps airlines with the technology and the necessary platform. In addition, Dohop is responsible for the connection service. That means that Dohop will arrange a new flight and possible hotel accommodation for passengers who do not make it to their flight due to circumstances such as a delay or cancellation.
Azores Airlines aircraft slide show:
Silver Airways LLC, the U.S. launch operator of the fuel efficient and environmentally friendly ATR 600 series turboprop aircraft, has successfully implemented critical strategic objectives including raising $50 million of new capital through the placement of senior secured convertible notes to provide further support to Silverโs business plan and capital structure and further accelerates its growth. Silver Airways, owned by affiliates of investment firm Versa Capital Management, LLC (โVersa Capitalโ), operates regional passenger networks in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean, and provides regional cargo services with five ATR 72-500 aircraft operating out of Ft. Worth, Texas.
Silverโs new financing was arranged by Jefferies LLC aviation banking team and was fully subscribed to by funds and accounts managed by Brigade Capital Management, LP (โBrigadeโ), a leading global credit asset management firm with $30 billion under management, after a competitive placement process.
Silver has also recently implemented the following corporate initiatives to position the airline for growth and continued expansion of its customer offerings:
Silver President and CEO Steven A. Rossum said, โWithout minimizing the tremendous support of so many business partners and stakeholders throughout this unprecedented period, none of this could have been accomplished without the dedication, hard work, sacrifice, and grit of Silver and Seaborneโs loyal Team Members who continued to provide safe, reliable, and customer-friendly service to our customers every day. Silver and its Team Members now deservedly have the opportunity for long-term stability and growth with an airline poised to undergo rapid and dramatic expansion.โ
Rossum added, โAfter the most extraordinary period in commercial aviation history, we are humbled and energized by achieving these transformational initiatives. With new, long-term financing, a fleet portfolio comprised of young, fuel efficient, and environmentally friendly aircraft, the final integration of our San Juan-based subsidiary Seaborne Airlines, and our new cargo operations all in place, Silver is now positioned to execute on its tremendous opportunities in the regional passenger and cargo sectors.โ
Gregory L. Segall, Chairman of Silver and of its owner Versa Capital commented, โOver the last few years, Steve Rossum and his leadership team steered Silver through extraordinary challenges and implemented bold initiatives that have validated Silverโs value proposition to the airlineโs passenger, codeshare and cargo partners. By transforming our fleet into the modern and efficient ATR turboprops and with new long-term financing secured, Silver now has the resources to aggressively execute its growth strategy. Having achieved these successes, we are excited to be a part of Silverโs bright future.โ
In the private placement, Silver was represented byย Jefferies LLCย as its financial advisor and placement agent, and byย Smith Gambrell & Russell LLPย as legal counsel, while Versa Capital and its affiliates were represented byย Dechert LLPย as legal counsel. Brigade was represented byย McGuire Woods LLP.
Silver Airways aircraft slide show:
Silver Airways aircraft photo gallery:
United Airlines made this announcement:
United today announced it plans to expand service to one of the worldโs most popular vacation destinations by offering three nonstop flights per week, year-round, between Newark and Cape Town International Airport, subject to government approval.
United will fly a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that includes 48 lie-flat, United Polarisยฎ business class seats, 21 United Premium Plusยฎ seats and 39 seats in Economy Plusยฎ. All seats are equipped with seatback on-demand entertainment to help customers pass the time and relax during their travels.
United is the only airline to offer nonstop flights between the U.S. and Cape Town and offers more flights to South Africa than any other North American carrier.
United first launched flights to Cape Town in December 2019, and it quickly became one of the airlineโs marquee international routes. The airline later built upon this success in Africa with the launch of flights between New York/Newark and Johannesburg in June 2021, new service between Washington D.C. and Accra, Ghana in May 2021 and between Washington D.C. and Lagos, Nigeria in November 2021.
This expanded service also strengthens Unitedโs leading network from Newark. United offers service to 74 international destinations from New York/Newark, more than any U.S. carrier. In 2022, the airline will introduce new service to additional international destinations including Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Azores, Portugal; Bergen, Norway; Tenerife, Spain and Nice, France.
Top Copyright Photo: United Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner N29981 (msn 66142) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 950791.
United Airlines aircraft slide show (Boeing, current livery):
United Airlines aircraft photo gallery:
From Teague: How they developed the Orca design on N932AK for Alaska Airlines.
By Jim Farmer.
You may have never flown on a commercial airplane. Still, chances are pretty high you’ve seen oneโwhich means it’s likely you’ve seen a livery designed by Teague. Liveries are graphic schemes applied to the exteriors of airplanes. And we’ve created hundreds. Teague has a livery team whose sole purpose is to partner with airlines around the world to design and wrap such schemes. Post-design process, these graphics are usually hand painted. In rare instances, they’re printed on decals. But what if you could print graphics directly onto an airplane?
Livery graphics are usually hand painted. What if you could print graphics directly onto an airplane?
On a traditionally painted livery, each color is sprayed from a paint gun separately and by hand. This means no fades, no color blending; think paint by numbers, but with fewer colors. Extra layout, more spray time, and additional drying cycles equate to more hours and more money. On the other hand, with a printer, anything goes. And instead of taking days to paint, any design could be printed in a matter of hours.
Always the innovator, Boeing set out to develop a custom printer capable of producing large-scale images. In 2019 they were ready to pilot a new direct-to-shape 3D inkjet printer backed by 120 patents. The canvas: a white 737 vertical stabilizer, i.e., a plane’s tail. It sat waiting in an airplane hangar as Boeing began talks with Alaska Airlines, asking if the airline would be the first to try out their first-of-its-kind printer. Alaska agreed, and talk turned to graphics. Boeing wanted ideas that could show off the benefits of inkjet technology. Alaska liked ideas that highlighted the surroundings of their headquarters in the Pacific Northwest.
Teague has collaborated with Boeing for 76 years and Alaska Airlines for 20+. So, when asked to design graphic concepts, we jumped at the chance to pilot the new technology. Our designers came up with ideas ranging from West Coast birds, orcas, the northern lights, and even an octopus illustrating with its own squirted ink. After many reviews, Alaska decided their 737 should pay tribute to the mighty orca. It was a perfect fit. For thousands of years, the orca whale has been revered as a symbol of the West Coast and considered a guardian of the sea, a protector of humans, and an icon of power.
Together our teams decided a photograph would best showcase the color blending capabilities of the inkjet printer. After mocking up a selection of photos on Alaska planes, a vertically posed orca photo taken by Jane Cogan, a retired Boeing engineer who volunteers with the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island, was chosen and sized to fit a 24-foot tall vertical stabilizer. The Boeing printer was then mounted, turned on, and left to work its magic. The half breaching mammal was revealed line by line. The result was beautiful and fast; it took just 12 hours to print both sides of the tail, a quick job compared to the many days and large crew it would take to hand paint such a design.
Because the new printing technology was designed for the tail, fuselage graphics would still have to be hand-painted by Boeing’s talented paint crew, requiring a new Teague illustration that had to pair perfectly with the printed photo. Our livery designers went to work, grabbing pencils, mouses, and styluses. We created gorgeous concepts of all things orca, ranging from tribal to modern, abstract to representational. For a month, Alaska considered three final concepts. Each one from a different Teague designer, each showcasing a unique composition, each a standout.
Once Alaska Airlines picked a final design, we quickly pivoted from conceptual to concrete. While our livery designers focus on composing and illustrating graphics, Teague’s Catia designers step in for engineering. Still part of the livery team, this group understands each measurable surface of every commercial aircraft exterior. They took the scheme and wrapped it around lights, doors, windows, and wingsโtucking, pinching, altering, and fitting the graphics onto the aircraft with precision. Once everything was in place, the files were delivered to Boeing Design Engineers to create pre-mask stencils for their painters to reference.
While the direct-to-shape inkjet printer technology is new and not currently integrated into Boeing’s production process, printing directly onto a 737 vertical stabilizer is a huge step in understanding the future of livery application.
On December 2, 2021, the Boeing 737-9 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines Orca plane rolled out of the paint hangarโa beautiful bird, destined for the sky and wrapped from head to tail in one of the greatest wonders of the sea.
Emirates, the worldโs largest international airline, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maldivian, the national airline and leading domestic carrier in the Maldives, to explore codeshare, interline, and joint holiday package opportunities.
The two carriers are reviewing a codeshare agreement that will enable Emiratesโ customers to conveniently book and connect from Maleโ to more than 15 domestic destinations and the international destinations served by Maldivian.
Emirates and Maldivian will also explore opportunities to cooperate on their respective tour operating arms, to offer customers tailor-made packages including hotel stays at world class resorts and exclusive tours.
Emirates launched operations to the Maldives in 1987, and the airline currently serves the island-nation with 28 weekly flights, playing a vital role with supporting the countryโs trade and tourism recovery. The airline was recently crowned as top carrier in the Maldives, connecting 265,000 passengers to the island-nation from top markets including, UAE, UK, US, Russia, and Germany.
Island Aviation Services Limited established in 2000 is wholly owned by the Government of Maldives and is based in the capital Maleโ.ย Maldivian also the national airline of the country operates inter-island services within the county as well as international services to India, Bangladesh Thailand and China from its main hub at Velana International Airport.
Emirates currently has codeshare agreements in place with 23 airline partners and two rail companies. The airline also has an interline agreement with over 115 airlines and rail companies.
Emirates has safely restarted operations to more than 120 destinations within its global network, via Dubai.
Maldivian aircraft slide show:
Maldivian aircraft photo gallery:
Air Austral made this announcement:
In order to help the victims of Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar, a Boeing 777-300ER from Air Austral was chartered by FLYTRANS on behalf of Civil Security / COGIC in Paris, to operate a special flight Paris-Antanarivo.
The Air Austral teams have therefore done everything possible to ensure that this special flight can take place on time. allotted.
Flight UU050 took off on Tuesday February 8, 2022, from Paris CDG Airport at 23:00. The aircraft landed successfully Wednesday, February 9 in Antanarivo at 11:20 a.m. local time. This flight allowed the transport of 60 firefighters and the routing of 20 tons of freight, consisting mainly humanitarian cargo and medical equipment.
Top Copyright Photo: Air Austral Boeing 777-39M ER F-OLRE (msn 61736) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 935281.
Air Austral aircraft slide show:
Air Austral aircraft photo gallery:
Copa Holdings, S.A. today announced financial results for the fourth quarter of 2021 (4Q21) and full year 2021. The following financial information, unless otherwise indicated, is presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). See the accompanying reconciliation of non-IFRS financial information to IFRS financial information included in the financial tables section of this earnings release. Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons with prior periods refer to the fourth quarter of 2019 (4Q19) (which the Company believes are more relevant than year-over-year comparisons due to the significant impacts in 2020 of the COVID-19 pandemic).
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