SkyTeam welcomes ITA Airways

SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, has welcomed ITA Airways – Italy’s new national carrier – into the alliance, replacing Alitalia. With ITA Airways on board, SkyTeam’s 700 million customers will continue to enjoy seamless connections to key destinations across Italy.

Alitalia ceased operations on October 14 and left the SkyTeam global airline alliance on the same date. SkyTeam has agreed with Alitalia Loyalty to continue the partnership that will enable the six million members of the MilleMiglia frequent flyer program to earn and redeem miles on selected SkyTeam members’ flights, offering a wealth of opportunities and exclusive services.

Air France-KLM loses 192 million euros in the third quarter

Air France-KLM has made this announcement:

Hawaiian Airlines increases California and Seattle/Tacoma flights

Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaiʻi’s largest and longest-serving airline, is offering holiday travelers more options to reconnect with family or take a Hawaiʻi vacation with additional nonstop flights between the islands and the U.S. West Coast.

To meet anticipated holiday demand, the carrier is expanding once-daily service between Honolulu (HNL) and Seattle (SEA) and San Francisco (SFO), as well as between Kahului, Maui (OGG) and Los Angeles (LAX), with the following additional flights:

Flight No.	Route	Holiday Schedule*	Date of Holiday Additions	Est. Departure Time	Est. Arrival Time
HA 27	SEA-HNL	2 daily flights	19-Nov-21 to 21-Nov-21 27-Nov-21 to 29-Nov-21 17-Dec-21 to 5-Jan-22	8:00	12:15
HA 28	HNL-SEA	2 daily flights	18-Nov-21 to 20-Nov-21 26-Nov-21 to 28-Nov-21 16-Dec-21 to 4-Jan-22	21:45	5:30
HA 55	LAX-OGG	2 daily flights	19-Nov-21 to 21-Nov-21 27-Nov-21 to 29-Nov-21 17-Dec-21 to 5-Jan-22	12:05	15:45
HA 56	OGG-LAX	2 daily flights	18-Nov-21 to 20-Nov-21 26-Nov-21 to 28-Nov-21 16-Dec-21 to 4-Jan-22	22:00	5:00
HA 54	HNL-SFO	1 daily flight Mon-Thur 2 daily flights Fri-Sun	18-Dec-21 to 9-Jan-22	13:15	20:30
HA 53	SFO-HNL	1 daily flight Tue-Fri 2 daily flights Sat-Mon	19-Dec-21 to 10-Jan-22	8:00	11:45
* All listed routes operate once-daily before the holiday additions

Guests traveling between HNL and SEA will enjoy the roominess and comfort of Hawaiian’s wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft, which features 18 lie-flat leather seats in First Class, arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration tailored for couples, families and honeymooners while offering great functionality to business travelers. Hawaiian also offers 68 of its popular Extra Comfort premium seats with more legroom and enhanced amenities, in addition to 192 Main Cabin seats. The carrier will use its quiet and fuel-efficient narrow-body Airbus A321neo to operate the additional flights between LAX and OGG and HNL and SFO. The aircraft features 16 luxurious leather recliners in First Class, 44 Extra Comfort premium seats and 129 Main Cabin seats. All guests will enjoy Hawaiian’s award-winning hospitality, including island-inspired meals prepared by Hawai’i’s leading chefs.

Flair Airlines expansion to the U.S. begins with first flights to Florida and Las Vegas

Flair Airlines, Canada’s only independent ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC), expands service into the United States Sunday as the airline reaches a major milestone as part of its unprecedented growth. Flair’s rapidly expanding fleet and network is changing the way Canadians travel, and the inaugural flights to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Las Vegas mark the start of ultra low fares for travel outside of Canada.

Flair’s inaugural flights to the US are:

October 31, 2021:

Flight #334 – Ottawa (YOW) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), 7:00am EST – 10:30am EST

Flight #144 – Toronto (YYZ) to Orlando Sanford (SFB), 11:15am EST – 2:00pm EST

Flight #111 – Toronto (YYZ) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), 12:00pm EST – 3:20pm EST

November 2, 2021:

Flight #176 – Toronto (YYZ) to Las Vegas (LAS), 1:00pm EST – 3:00pm MST

Flair is in the midst of exponential growth as it continues to expand into new markets while it takes delivery of new 737 MAX aircraft. The growing fleet of aircraft provide Flair remarkable fuel savings and reduce the airline’s CO2 emissions by 14%. Flair is striving to become Canada’s greenest airline as it grows its fleet to 50 aircraft by 2025.

Photo: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX 9 N915AK (msn 44080) (Seattle Kraken) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 955694.

Copyright Photo: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX 9 N915AK (msn 44080) (Seattle Kraken) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 955694.

Alaska to add the Seattle/Tacoma – Cleveland route

Alaska Airlines has made this announcement:

We’re all about exploring new horizons at Alaska Airlines. As we continue to grow, we’re landing at new destinations – the places our guests are eager to visit. The newest dot on our expanding route map: Cleveland! We’ll start daily nonstop service between the northern Ohio city and Seattle/Tacoma on June 16. On that same date, we’ll also add a second daily roundtrip flight between Seattle/Tacoma and both Cincinnati and Columbus.

Next summer, we’re currently scheduled to be the only airline connecting Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus with nonstop service to the West Coast. We’re also set to have the most flights between the West Coast and Ohio.

Schedule:

Starts	City Pair	Departs	Arrives	Frequency	Aircraft
June 16	Seattle – Cleveland	9:50 a.m.	5:15 p.m.	Daily	737
June 16	Cleveland – Seattle	6:25 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	Daily	737
All times are local times

United adds five new flights from the U.S. to London

United today announced it is adding five new flights to London’s Heathrow Airport, including two more flights from Newark, additional trips from both Denver and San Francisco, as well as an all-new direct flight from Boston. The new service begins in March of 2022 and with these additions, United will be the only U.S. carrier to offer nonstop service between the nation’s top seven business markets and London. United will offer 22 flights per day from the U.S. to London, and more flights between New York City and London than any other U.S. carrier. London was the most booked international destination for United’s business customers in October, and the airline expects this trend to continue into 2022.

United in London

These new flights build on United’s largest-ever trans-Atlantic expansion announced earlier this month. United currently operates a total of seven flights to Heathrow from the U.S.: two daily flights from New York/Newark and Washington D.C., and one daily flight from Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco. In December, service will increase to 10 daily flights, with additional flights from New York/Newark and Chicago, just in time for the winter holidays.

The five new flights will make hopping across the pond easier and more comfortable for both leisure and business travelers, as United will:

Begin brand-new, daily flights from Boston operated with United’s premium Boeing 767300ER, which features 46 United Polaris® business class seats and 22 United Premium Plus® premium economy seats.
Resume daily flights from Denver and add a second daily flight operated by a Boeing 787-9.
Add sixth and seventh daily flights from Newark, each of which will be operated by United’s premium Boeing 767-300ER and allow for hourly service in the evening.
Add a third daily flight from San Francisco operated by a Boeing 787-9.
Resume daily service to London from Los Angeles.

Air Canada to support the development of sustainable fuel and decarbonization technology through a new industry group

Air Canada today announced it is a founding member of, and the first Canadian carrier to join, the Aviation Climate Taskforce (ACT), formed to tackle the challenge of rising CO2 emissions from commercial aviation. The new, non-profit organization, made up of ten global airlines and the Boston Consulting Group, was established to accelerate research and advance innovation related to emerging decarbonization technologies, including through the development of sustainable aviation fuels.

“Air Canada is highly focused on its environmental performance and has committed to reduce its footprint further by setting a target of net zero emissions by 2050. Combatting global warming requires a global response, and we are pleased to be the first Canadian airline to join the Aviation Climate Taskforce. As a founding member, we will work with other global carriers and invest in emerging technologies to advance the decarbonization of our sector and build a long-term, sustainable aviation industry,” said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer at Air Canada.

As part of its climate targets to reach a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions throughout its global operations by 2050, Air Canada has committed to invest up to $50 million in alternative fuels and carbon reductions, a portion of which will be invested through ACT. For more information on Air Canada’s environmental programs please visit: https://leaveless.aircanada.com/ca/en/index.html#!/.

Read the Aviation Climate Taskforce’s press release here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aviation-leaders-to-tackle-co2-emission-challenge-301410532.html.

About the Aviation Climate Taskforce

The Aviation Climate Taskforce (ACT) is a non-profit coalition focused on accelerating breakthroughs in emerging technology to drive the decarbonization of the aviation sector. ACT will support the advancement of emerging technologies through two key pillars, an Innovation Network and Collaboration Forum. The Innovation Network will use proven tools to pinpoint collaboration opportunities across the ecosystem, and provide grant funding as well as utilize challenge platforms to tackle critical barriers from novel angels. The Collaboration Forum will identify other ways to expedite the adoption and scale-up of next generation technologies. ACT was founded in 2021 by leading global airlines in conjunction with The Boston Consulting Group. ACT welcomes additional airlines and other members of the aviation ecosystem to join us.

ITA Airways and Air Malta sign a codeshare agreement

ITA Airways and Air Malta, have signed a broad codeshare agreement connecting the networks of the two airlines. This new commercial partnership, which applies to flights departing from Sunday 31st October, is bound to boost business travel and tourism between Italy and Malta and will offer customers more options and better flight schedules when traveling through the two airlines’ hubs in Rome and Luqa, Malta.

Following this agreement, ITA Airways’ and Air Malta’s customers can now fly seamlessly to their desired destination with a single ‘unique’ ticket, checking-in at the airport of departure, and collecting their checked-through baggage at the end of their trip in the arrival airport.

ITA Airways will apply its ‘AZ’ code on all services operated by Air Malta between Italy and Malta. Similarly, Air Malta will codeshare AZ flights between Malta and Rome, connecting Italian domestic services beyond Rome Fiumicino Airport and Milan Linate and selected connecting international services.

The new codeshare flights are now available for sale through the airlines’ respective websites (itaspa.com and airmalta.com), reservation systems and in travel agencies.

Top Copyright Photo: Malta – airmalta.com (Air Malta 2nd) Airbus A320-251N WL 9H-NEB (msn 8940) ZRH (Andi Hiltl). Image: 955682.

Air Malta aircraft slide show:

Air Malta aircraft photo gallery:

Norwegian produces a profit before taxes in the third quarter

Norwegian Air Shuttle issued this financial statement:

Norwegian reported its results for the third quarter of 2021. The figures show continued positive progress following the successful completion in May of the respective reconstruction processes. Passenger demand is returning across all our markets and forward bookings remain strong leading into our summer 2022 season.

“The third quarter results clearly demonstrate that the actions taken across the organization to safeguard the future of Norwegian by lowering debt and liabilities, while focusing on cost efficiencies, have succeeded. We are now in a strong financial position going into the traditionally more challenging winter months. We have seen a positive trend in forward bookings month on month and an increasing number of passengers are choosing to fly Norwegian across our European network,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Profit before tax (EBT) showed a net profit of NOK 169 million compared to a loss of NOK 980 million in the same period in 2020. During the third quarter, close to 2.5 million passengers travelled with Norwegian, compared with approximately one million during the same period last year. Production (ASK) increased by 130 percent and passenger traffic (RPK) increased by 177 percent compared with the third quarter in 2020. The load factor was 73.1 percent, an increase of 12.5 percentage points. Average sector length increased by 20 percent. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, the total fleet comprised 51 aircraft.

Continued cost control throughout the company combined with low cash burn has resulted in a strong financial position entering into the winter period with NOK 7.6 billion in cash and equivalents.

The stringent focus on costs and expenditure places Norwegian in a far stronger position over the winter months than previous years. Booking curves continue to show a positive trend well into 2022 as an increasing number of passengers choose to fly with Norwegian. Our passengers appreciate our modern fuel-efficient aircraft, welcoming service and extensive European network. We are especially pleased to be able to fully reopen our award-winning Norwegian Reward program which is a much valued part of the passenger experience.