SAS to restore the Copenhagen – Shanghai route

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS has made this announcement:

From September 29, 2020, it will once again be possible to fly direct from Scandinavia to China with SAS. There have been no direct flights since January 31, 2020, but SAS has now obtained approval from the Chinese authorities and is reopening the route from Copenhagen to Shanghai with a weekly frequency.

The reopening of the route is vital for trade. With the reopening of the route, SAS is aiming to meet demand for business travel and air freight services between Scandinavia and China.

At the end of October, SAS is also planning to resume flights to Beijing provided that SAS obtains the necessary approval from the authorities.

SAS will operate the Shanghai route using the new Airbus A350-900. This state-of-the-art aircraft will enable SAS to offer a unique travel experience. The aircraft has a much lower fuel consumption and up to 30 percent lower CO2 emissions than previous comparable aircraft.

SAS is currently flying to 75 destinations and operates up to 380 flights a day. SAS is monitoring market developments on a weekly basis and is ready to step up its services when travel restrictions are eased and demand for travel increases again.

As there is still uncertainty regarding restrictions and there are changes in travel advice, SAS offers travellers the option to change a planned journey/ticket for a SAS Travel Voucher, up to 16 days prior to departure, for all international travel, until January 15.

SAS aircraft photo gallery:

Austrian Airlines resumes flights to Shanghai

Austrian Airlines has made this announcement:

Austrian Airlines will fly to Shanghai again from October 2, 2020. After several postponements of the resumption due to the dynamic market situation, the return to China is now fixed. A Boeing 767-300 will fly from Vienna to Shanghai every Friday. The return flight will take place the following Sunday. Further connections to China are a conceivable option for Austrian Airlines.

The long-haul portfolio of Austrian Airlines is thus expanding to include another destination. In addition to Shanghai, Austria’s home carrier already flies to Chicago, New York and Washington, among others.

Route                       Flight number   Flight day      Departure – Arrival (local times)
Vienna – Shanghai    OS 75              Friday           1:30 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. (next day)
Shanghai – Vienna    OS 76              Sunday         10:10 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.

Austrian Airlines aircraft photo gallery:

Ryanair to open a new Beauvais base in Winter 2020

Ryanair has announced it will open a new base at Beauvais (near Paris), from December 3, 2020, with 2 based aircraft and 32 routes (2 new to/from Paphos and Manchester) connecting Paris to 13 countries across Europe.

Ryanair aircraft photo gallery:

KLM further reduces its winter schedule

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has issued this statement:

Owing to adjusted travel warnings, prompting Code Orange (essential travel only) designations for the UK, Spain, parts of France and other countries, the planned upscaling of KLM’s European network in September has been put on hold. The quarantine rules in the United Kingdom have had a particularly marked impact on KLM’s network. For the period thereafter, KLM will keep close tabs on the developing situation with regard to travel warnings issued by the authorities in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, KLM’s winter schedule will be a lot more restricted than it was in the same period last year. The timetable for the European network in November is currently around 55% of capacity in 2019.

KLM was gradually and responsibly expanding its European and intercontinental network, after the corona crisis had prompted severe restrictions on destinations and frequencies. KLM’s primary aim is to offer customers the widest range of destinations, after which we will consider increasing the number of frequencies or expanding capacity by deploying larger aircraft.

In August, KLM served almost 100% of its European network in terms of destinations, with capacity at approximately 60% compared to pre-coronavirus levels. Effective October 25, 2020, KLM will begin operating daily flights to the Polish city of Poznan.

Intercontinentally, KLM served 80% of its destinations at 60% capacity. At present, a third of these intercontinental flights are carrying cargo only. This means seat capacity is way down. KLM will carry passengers on these flights again as soon as local travel regulations allow.

From the beginning of September, KLM will resume a twice-weekly service to the Chinese city of Hangzhou, flying via Seoul Incheon in South Korea. KLM will also operate a twice-weekly service to Cairo. Riyadh will also be added to the KLM network as a new destination (original start was September 26th, but is now scheduled for December 7th). On October 29, KLM will also start a circle flight to add Edmonton back to the Canadian network. The flight will depart to Calgary, then call at Edmonton and fly back to Amsterdam.

Slot Waiver

It is good news that the European Commission has announced the extension of the so-called ‘slot waiver’ to the entire winter timetable. It will enable KLM to respond more adequately to the rapidly changing market conditions as a result of COVID-19, even during the winter season. In addition to the financial impact, operating less well-filled flights would also be undesirable from a sustainability perspective.

KLM aircraft photo gallery:

United launches online ‘Map Search’ feature, a first among U.S. airlines

United Airlines made this announcement:

Let’s say you live in Chicago, have $250 to spend on a flight and are looking to go somewhere warm for the holidays. Or you’re on the east coast and want to head west for a last-minute getaway to visit a national park. Now, instead of doing multiple, time-consuming searches online, United Airlines has launched a quick and easy way to see all your travel options in one place.

United today announced that it is the first U.S. airline to introduce an interactive map feature powered by Google Flight Search Enterprise Technology. Customers can access Map Search on United.com to easily compare and shop for flights, based on departure city, budget and location type, including popular national park, skiing and cultural destinations. This new digital tool displays fares in a map view, allowing customers to simultaneously compare travel to a variety of destinations in a single search.

“We’ve reinvented the way people search for flights and introduced something new for our customers that is simpler, provides better results and is easy to use,” said Linda Jojo, Executive Vice President for Technology and Chief Digital Officer. “Leveraging the power of Google’s Flight Search technology, we are able to provide an all-in-one solution that streamlines the search process and allows our customers to more easily find the flights that work best for them.”

Customers can apply over a dozen filters to their map search, including viewing non-stop only flights, specific or flexible dates, and one-way or round-trip options. Additionally, customers can set their preferred departure city and maximum price preference, and filter options based on the type of destination they’re looking to visit. The feature currently offers filters to view destinations that are popular for the following offerings:

National Parks
Beaches
Beer & Breweries
Culture
Food & Drink
Hiking
Outdoors
Romantic
Skiing & Snowboarding
Snorkeling and Scuba

The ‘national park’ filter was a more recent addition to United’s map search feature given the increased interest we’ve received from customers over the past few months for flights to destinations where they can more easily recreate responsibly. These Map Search filters were designed to highlight the destination types that are most popular with today’s traveler, including the top national park destinations served by United. The airline operates more flights to more national park destinations than any other U.S. carrier.

In addition to the filter options available on Map Search, MileagePlus members can also use the tool to view all of their past travels with United. With the “Where I’ve Been” feature, the map will highlight all the destinations a customer has traveled to with United.

This tool was developed in direct response to customer feedback and United and Google are continuing to collaborate on enhancing this innovative map search capability. Map Search follows a number of recent innovations introduced by United to streamline the travel process. Earlier this month, United debuted its Destination Travel Guide, which allows customers to filter and view destinations’ COVID-19 related travel restrictions. Additionally, as part of its United CleanPlus^SM program, the airline recently introduced touchless check-in, text alerts for passengers on standby and upgrade lists to reduce person-to-person interaction, and a new chat function to give customers a contactless option to receive immediate access to information about cleaning and safety procedures.

American to start Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 pilot training in November

American Airlines is planning to re-start Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 training for its pilots in November according to an internal memo.

From Forbes:

American Airlines Pilots Say Plastic Cockpit Checklists Don’t Work For Some Boeing 737 Max Emergencies And Noisy Alerts Can Distract

American Airlines aircraft photo gallery (Boeing):

JetBlue unveils “Streamers” tail fin for the London route in 2021

JetBlue Airways gave this sneak peak of its latest tail fin design named Streamers on social media.

Ryanair launches new Leeds route to Vilnius, Lithuania

Ryanair has announced a new Leeds route to Vilnius, flying 3 times per week from October 26, 2020 as part of Ryanair’s British Winter 2020 schedule.

Ryanair aircraft photo gallery:

QANTAS to end its relationship with Rugby Australia and the Wallabies

QANTAS Airways has made this announcement:

Qantas has reviewed its five key sporting sponsorships as it continues to manage the fallout from COVID on the aviation industry.

The review examined how the national carrier could continue its association with existing partners using in-kind support (for example, commercial flights as well as access to Qantas-owned channels for marketing), given its need to conserve cash while travel restrictions remain in place.

As a result of the review and negotiations with partners, Qantas will continue its association with Cricket Australia and the Football Federation of Australia on an in-kind basis over the next 12 months, with a further review at that time.

The national carrier will also continue its association with the Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia, with a view to supporting our athletes at the rescheduled Tokyo Games in 2021.

Regrettably, Qantas is not in a position to continue its 30 year relationship with Rugby Australia beyond the end of this calendar year.

Qantas Chief Customer Officer, Stephanie Tully, said: “In an environment where thousands of our people have lost jobs and thousands more are stood down while they wait for flying to restart, we can’t maintain these sponsorships in the way we have in the past. While we’re dealing with this crisis and its aftermath, the cash cost of our sponsorships has to be zero.

“Without exception, our partners have been incredibly understanding of the situation, particularly as most are facing their own COVID challenges.

Photo: Stuart Walmsley/Rugby AU Media

“Qantas has had a very long association with Rugby Australia and the Wallabies, and we’ve stuck with each other during difficult times. Unfortunately, this pandemic has been the undoing. Like all Australians, we’ll continue to cheer them on from the sidelines.”

“Sadly, we will have to end several of our arts and community sponsorships, but we’ve agreed to maintain a connection with a number of them, including the National Gallery of Australia and Museum of Contemporary Art in the hope there are projects we can work on together in future.

Copyright Photo: QANTAS Airways Airbus A380-842 VH-OQH (msn 050) (Go Wallabies – Stronger as One) LHR (SPA). Image: 931397.

“Our focus right now is getting through this crisis, which unfortunately means lots of difficult decisions like these. We know things will eventually recover and, when they do, we’ll be ready to support Australian cultural and sporting life, in whatever form that takes.”

Qantas remains committed to its work with Indigenous and regional communities, including through its five-year Regional Grants program. The national carrier will continue to work closely with Tourism Australia and state-based tourism bodies to provide in-kind support to stimulate domestic tourism as borders re-open, and promote Australia to the world once international travel resumes.

Boeing licenses Ultraviolet Wand to Healthe, Inc. to counter COVID-19

Boeing entered into a patent and technology license with Florida-based Healthe® Inc. today under which Healthe will manufacture an ultraviolet (UV) wand designed to sanitize airplane interiors. Boeing designed and developed the UV wand as part of the company’s Confident Travel Initiative (CTI) to support customers and enhance the safety and well-being of passengers and crews during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The UV wand is designed to be more effective than similar devices. It quickly disinfects surfaces on an airplane and further strengthens other layers of protection for passengers and crew,” said Mike Delaney, who leads Boeing’s CTI efforts. “Boeing spent six months transforming an idea for the wand into a working model, and Healthe will now take that prototype and make it available to the world at large.”

Healthe will produce and distribute the commercial wand, helping airlines and potentially others combat the coronavirus pandemic. The technology could be available for airlines in late fall. The device is an addition to sanitizing and protective measures already in place, which include the use of high-efficiency particulate air filters that trap more than 99.9% of particulates and prevent them from re-circulating back to the cabin.

“We are proud to be assisting Boeing as they work with their partner airlines to enhance in-cabin plane sanitization efforts. This could also benefit schools, hospitals, offices, wherever pathogens go,” said Abe Morris, Healthe executive chairman. “As we ramp up deployment of our cutting-edge UVC and Far-UVC 222 light solutions across many sectors, this new commercial-grade wand will be another powerful tool in the sanitization arsenal to protect passengers against the spread of harmful viruses.”

The UV wand uses 222 nanometer UVC light. Research indicates 222 nanometer UVC inactivates pathogens effectively.

Using the self-contained apparatus that resembles a carry-on suitcase, crews can pass UV light over high-touch surfaces, sanitizing everywhere the light reaches. The UV wand is particularly effective in compact spaces and sanitizes a flight deck in less than 15 minutes.

As part of CTI, Boeing solicited feedback from multiple industry sources, which aided in quickly validating this technology. Etihad Airways was the first to evaluate the device, and the UV wand was demonstrated on the Etihad 787-10 ecoDemonstrator airplane on Aug. 21.

The mission of Boeing’s Confident Travel Initiative is to be a leader in the global effort to provide passengers and crew a safe, healthy and efficient travel experience.