Air Serbia to launch Trieste and Bologna flights

Air Serbia, the national airline of the Republic of Serbia, will commence scheduled flights between Belgrade and Trieste on June 2, 2022, as well as a scheduled Belgrade-Bologna service on June 6, 2022. Flights to both destinations in Italy will operate three times a week – to Trieste on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and to Bologna on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

With the introduction of flights to Trieste and Bologna, and existing flights to Rome and Milan, as well as announced flights to Venice and Bari, Italy becomes the market with the currently largest number of destinations to which Air Serbia operates from Belgrade – six in total.

Jeju Air to operate cargo flights to survive the COVID-19 pandemic

Jeju Air announced today it will operate cargo flights for the first time in order to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline currently operates 39 Boeing 737-800s.

Jeju Air operates 84 routes, including the Gimpo-Jeju route, the world’s most frequently traveled aviation route, and routes to 49 destinations in the Asia-Pacific, including Japan, China, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Guam, Saipan, Russia, and Laos. As of August 202, JejuAir is a 3,200-employee operation, with flights operating mainly out of Gimpo Airport and Incheon Airport in Korea.

Top Copyright Photo: Jeju Air Boeing 737-8JP WL LN-NOT (HL8304) (msn 37816) QLA (Antony J. Best). Image: 941149.

Jeju Air aircraft slide show:

Jeju Air aircraft photo gallery:

United flight 90 from Newark to Tel Aviva is forced to turn around after 2 passengers attempt to sneak into Business Class

United Airlines flight 90 from Newark to Tel Aviv with a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner was forced to return to EWR on Thursday after two passengers reportedly attempted to sneak into the business class section.

The pair became unruly when asked to show proof of their assigned seats by the flight attendants, according to Israeli news outlet N12.

Gol secures US $600 million in financing for fleet transformation

Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. , Brazil’s largest domestic airline, has closed a financing of up to US $600 million with Castlelake LP to finance the acquisition of new 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

The transaction will comprise 10 finance leases and two sale-leasebacks. The interest rate for the finance leases is approximately 6% p.a., which represents a reduction when compared to operating lease costs of existing aircraft in the fleet. The funds originated by the transaction will cover 100% of the acquisition cost of the new aircraft and provide resources that will be directed to obligations and return costs on GOL’s 737 NG aircraft. The Company expects to return up to 18 737 NG aircraft in 2022 and a total of 34 NG aircraft by year-end 2025, which is expected to further reduce unit costs.

Delivery of these additional 12 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft begins in January 2022, in line with GOL’s plan to accelerate the transformation of its fleet and have half of its aircraft under finance leases by 2026. In 3Q21, the Company signed agreements for 26 additional MAX 8 aircraft, and currently has a total of 102 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to be delivered.

“Accelerating our fleet transformation to the 737 MAX positions us more competitively for growth through greater flexibility in our capacity management and enables the expansion of routes and destinations, which will ensure we are highly efficient at meeting fluctuations in travel demand,” said Celso Ferrer, COO. “Furthermore, adding these new aircraft will reduce the average age of GOL’s fleet from 11 to seven years.”

The Boeing MAX is also a key component in the Company’s goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, as this aircraft consumes 15% less fuel, produces 16% fewer carbon emissions and 40% less noise, and has a greater flight range than the NG aircraft.

Photo: DHL Air (UK) Boeing 777F G-DHLY (msn 67138) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 956567.

RDU’s main runway has reopened

Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) made this announcement:

RDU’s main runway (5L/23R) has reopened. Delta Connection flight DL 5501 landed safely around 9 p.m. on Friday, and while taxiing to the terminal, left the paved area and became stuck in the grass adjacent to the runway. There were no injuries to the crew members and passengers on board.

First Airbus A320neo with Airspace Cabin delivered to Swiss

Swiss has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320neo featuring the new Airspace cabin configuration.

The new Airspace cabin features include: slimmer sidewall panels for extra personal space at shoulder level; better views through the windows with their redesigned bezels and completely integrated window shades; the largest overhead bins for 60% more bags; the latest full LED lighting technologies; LED-lit ‘entrance area’; and new lavatories with hygienic touchless features and antimicrobial surfaces.

Swiss is a long standing Airbus customer, operating Airbus A220 and A320 Family Aircraft on its European network and in addition A330s and A340s globally.

In 2018 Lufthansa Group, the parent company of Swiss, chose to equip more than 80 of its new A320 Family aircraft on order from Airbus with Airspace cabins.

Air New Zealand reviews 2021: A year in the air at 35,000 ft

Before 2022 starts to fly by, Air New Zealand has been crunching the numbers from the past 12 months to reveal all that’s been carried, eaten and sipped onboard our flights.

Air New Zealand carried almost 8 million customers (7,919,929 to be exact) and operated 118,721 flights around Aotearoa and the world in 2021.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says if the year has taught the airline anything, it was that Kiwis absolutely love to travel around Aotearoa.

“7.4 million customers travelled on our domestic network last year, up from 6.7 million in 2020, which is just fantastic to see.”

The increase is despite Auckland, which accounts for a significant percentage of domestic travelers, being in lockdown for several months.

One of the airline’s busiest days on the domestic network was not long after Auckland’s borders opened, with more than 30,000 customers taking to the skies on 23 December.

“We also welcomed many frequent flyers, with our most frequent flyer taking 230 flights in 2021, clocking up a staggering 96,121 kilometres in the air.”

Air New Zealand crew also helped quench customers’ thirst and handed out almost 4.5 million Cookie Time cookies, 8 million famous Air New Zealand lollies, and 1.3 million savoury snacks.

Among the other things customers enjoyed was:

176,796 litres of juice
96,632 litres of soft drink
123,922 litres of beer
40,095 litres of red wine
21,182 litres of Chardonnay
23,050 litres of Sauvignon Blanc
2,142 litres of whiskey
591,280 crackers

And it’s not just a cookie and a cuppa tea that’s a match made in heaven, so too is the airline’s continued partnership with the Department of Conservation, helping protect New Zealand’s native species.

In 2021, Air New Zealand helped relocate more than 600 threatened species and flew 73 conversation dogs around the country.

We also donated more than 720,800 goods including blankets, pillows, and cookies to support a range of charities, such as Women’s Refuge.

Keeping our customers, employees and communities safe, as always, was front of mind and in 2021, the airline was responsible for using and giving out 5,653 litres of hand sanitizer.

Air New Zealand also helped some 300 people get vaccinated, after transforming a 787-9 aircraft into a special “Jabaseat” vaccination clinic.

Shipments of vaccines and other medical supplies were carried by the airline into New Zealand, as well as Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Rarotonga, Niue and Australia.

It was a busy year, especially for the airline’s cargo operation, carrying 121,000 tons of cargo across New Zealand and the world.

This includes:

12,200 tonnes of fresh produce (largest quantities being capsicums, blueberries, avocados and tomatoes)
6,300 tonnes of chilled meat (lamb, beef and chicken)
2,700 tonnes of chilled salmon
1,600 tonnes of lobsters
6,400 tonnes of other seafood (fish, clams, tuna, mussels, oysters)

Last year Air New Zealand also welcomed three new aircraft into its fleet, including two new A320neo aircraft and one ATR 72-600 to help connect Kiwis to the regions, across the Tasman and beyond.

Ms Geraghty says despite lockdowns and continued restrictions on travel caused by the global pandemic, Air New Zealand achieved a phenomenal amount in 2021.

“I’m incredibly proud of the Air New Zealand team and all that’s been achieved last year. Things are certainly looking up for 2022, with borders expected to open in the months ahead. We’re looking forward to carrying more Kiwis to where they need to be, relocating native wildlife, transporting cargo and everything in between!”

CNN: The 5G-airlines crisis was mostly averted. Here’s what happened – and what we still don’t know

From CNN:

“Potentially abysmal air travel interruptions were narrowly avoided this week when wireless carriers made a last-minute change to their planned 5G rollout in response to fears that new cell service towers could interfere with a key component on passenger jets that allows them to safely land in low visibility conditions.

Warnings of mass flight cancellations came as AT&T, Verizon and the airline industry hashed out a deal to delay 5G deployment around major airports. And on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration cleared a greater number of commercial airliners to fly in the situations where pilots consider possible 5G interference to be the most dangerous. Now, nearly 80% of the United States’ entire commercial airliner fleet has that clearance.

In the end, crisis seemed to be mostly averted. No planes fell out of the sky. And — with a few exceptions — air travel stayed mostly on schedule.”

Read the full article:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/tech/5g-airlines-crisis-what-happened/index.html