United to fly to Dublin from San Francisco

United Airlines has made this announcement:

Traveling between the Silicon Valley and Dublin, Ireland – two of the world’s leading centers of technology and innovation – will soon get a lot easier. Today United Airlines announced that it will launch new daily nonstop service from its hub at San Francisco International Airport to the Irish capital beginning June 5, 2020. United will be the only U.S. airline to offer daily flights direct to Dublin from the West Coast.

United will operate its new San Francisco-Dublin daily nonstop flights with the fuel-efficient Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. With the launch of this new service, United will have more daily business class seats between Dublin and the U.S. this summer than any other domestic airline.

Proposed Flight Schedule, Beginning June 5, 2020*
Flight	Frequency	City Pair	Depart	Arrive	Aircraft
UA 852	Daily	SFO – DUB	3:55 p.m.	9:45 a.m. +1	787-8
UA 853	Daily	DUB – SFO	11:50 a.m.	2:20 p.m.	787-8
*Subject to government approval

United in Ireland

United has proudly served Ireland for more than two decades. With the addition of San Francisco, the airline will offer customers direct flights to Dublin from four of its hubs, including Chicago O’Hare, Washington Dulles and Newark / New York. United provides seasonal service to Shannon, Ireland from Newark / New York as well.

United’s San Francisco Hub

From the Bay Area, United operates more than 300 flights each day to over 100 cities in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia – more flights to more destinations than any other airline. Along with Dublin, United offers nonstop service out of San Francisco International to seven major European cities including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Paris and Zurich. United continues to provide unparalleled access to points across the globe from its SFO hub, adding direct flights to 13 top international destinations since 2013 alone.

British Airways to fly from Portland, Oregon to London Heathrow

American Airlines has made this announcement:

American Airlines and Atlantic Joint Business (AJB) partner British Airways announced the first and only year-round service from Portland, Oregon (PDX), to London (LHR). British Airways will operate the flight, which starts June 1, 2020.

American and its joint business partners, including Iberia and Finnair, will launch eight new transatlantic routes for summer 2020 and extend five seasonal flights beyond the summer giving travelers more ways than ever to get to Europe.

Extended summer service

American will also extend summer seasonal service on select European routes. The following routes will operate into the winter:

Origin	Destination	Aircraft	New end date
Chicago (ORD)	Barcelona, Spain (BCN)	Boeing 787-8	Nov. 29, 2020
ORD	Athens, Greece (ATH)	Boeing 787-8	Oct. 24, 2020
Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)	Rome (FCO)	Boeing 787-8	Jan. 5, 2021
Philadelphia (PHL)	Prague (PRG)	Airbus A330	Jan. 5, 2021
PHL	Lisbon, Portugal (LIS)	Airbus A330	Jan. 5, 2021

These flights will be available for purchase on Dec. 23.

With the additional flights, the AJB will offer the widest selection of products, including economy, premium economy, business and the most first class seats traveling across the Atlantic next summer. As previously announced, beginning in June, customers can enjoy new seasonal service on American from ORD to Budapest, Hungary (BUD); Krakow, Poland (KRK); and PRG, in addition to new service between PHL and Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF). Iberia recently announced new service between Madrid (MAD) and Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), and International Airline Group (IAG) subsidiary, LEVEL, will launch new service from Paris-Orly, France (ORY), to Las Vegas (LAS) and Boston (BOS).

Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People spans the Willamette River into downtown Portland.

British Airways also made this announcement:

British Airways will soon become the first airline to offer a year round direct flight from the UK to Portland, Oregon. From June 1, 2020, the airline will launch a five-per-week service to the city from Heathrow Terminal 5.

The new route will take the number of US destinations the airline flies to from London up to 27, and the number of daily flights offered by British Airways and American Airlines as part of their transatlantic joint business up to 86 per day.*

Atlantic Joint Business partners, British Airways, American Airlines, Finnair and Iberia will add eight new routes between Europe and North America from next summer, including American Airline’s new service from Boston to London Heathrow* and Iberia’s new route from Madrid to Washington D.C.

View of Portland, Oregon overlooking the Willamette River on a Fall Afternoon

Flights to Portland will depart on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the route will be operated by one of British Airways’ newest aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

British Airways launched 16 new routes across the globe in 2019, its centenary year, including direct flights to Pittsburgh and Charleston in the USA. These new routes come as the airline rolls out a £6.5 billion, five-year customer investment plan, with a focus on excellence in the premium cabins and more choice and quality for all its customers.

The flight time from London to Portland is 10 hours 20 minutes

American will also extend summer seasonal service on select European routes. These routes will operate into winter of the next year:

Origin	Destination	Aircraft	New end date
Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)	Rome (FCO)	Boeing 787-8	Jan. 5, 2021
Chicago (ORD)	Barcelona, Spain (BCN)	Boeing 787-8	Nov. 29, 2020
ORD	Athens, Greece (ATH)	Boeing 787-8	Oct. 24, 2020
Philadelphia (PHL)	Prague (PRG)	Airbus A330	Jan. 5, 2021
PHL	Lisbon, Portugal (LIS)	Airbus A330	Jan. 5, 2021

These flights will be available for purchase on Dec. 23.

Timetable:

Flight number	Sector	Days of week	Dept time	Arrival time
BA299	LHR – PDX	Mon, Weds, Fri, Sat, Sun	15.05	16.55
BA298	PDX – LHR	Mon, Weds, Fri, Sat, Sun	18.45	12.10

Air Canada and Dreams Take Flight help make magical memories for children

Air Canada today unveiled a heartwarming video featuring three children from a plane full of kids with different challenges called Every Kid Deserves a Day Off. Thanks to the numerous Air Canada employee volunteers, support of the Air Canada Foundation and the work by the Dreams Take Flight organization, eight flights operate annually and in 2019, transported over 1000 children on a trip-of-a-lifetime to Disney. Dreams Take Flight has given more than 40,000 Canadian children a Dreams flight since 1989.

Dreams Take Flight is a non-profit primarily made up of current and retired Air Canada employees who volunteer to make these flights a reality. Each year, the organization provides once-in-a-lifetime trips from eight cities across Canada for kids who may be facing mental, physical or social challenges, giving them a break from their everyday. Over the past 30 years, Air Canada, as exclusive carrier and now through the Air Canada Foundation, has flown more than forty thousand children on Dreams Take Flighttrips.

Visit dreamstakeflight.ca to donate or volunteer.

Spirit unveils its redesigned cabin with new seats

Spirit Airlines has made this announcement:

America’s brightest airline livery is bringing its signature yellow glow inside the cabin as Spirit Airlines unveils a freshly updated interior. Complete with roomier seats, a larger tray table, and additional pre-recline on every row, this latest initiative is part of Spirit’s promise to Invest in the Guest by reviewing and improving every facet of the Guest experience. The first seats were installed at Spirit’s Detroit hangar on a brand-new Airbus A320neo delivered earlier this month. The updated cabin and recently refreshed outdoor paint scheme put the spotlight on Spirit’s all-Airbus Fit Fleet, one of the youngest, most fuel-efficient in the country.

The refreshed interior design features updated carpet, new signage and a Spirit-branded color palette throughout the cabin for an improved aesthetic and modern look and feel. The new ergonomically-designed seats – manufactured by Acro Aircraft Seating and previously announced in September 2019 – are padded with ultra-light weight foam and made of a composite skeleton to add comfort without increasing weight. Seat enhancements allow for a wider range of healthy postures and movements, offering an additional two inches of usable legroom compared to industry-standard flatback seats with the same pitch.

In addition, Spirit is adding comfort to its Big Front Seats™, making the best value in the sky even better. Spirit’s updated Big Front Seat™ will feature a new ergonomically-improved headrest with plush memory foam, additional memory foam in the seat cushion for comfort and thigh support, and sleek Spirit-branded aesthetic with yellow and black stitching. Guest feedback and survey results helped guide these design enhancements with manufacturer HAECO Cabin Solutions.

Additional highlights of the cabin redesign:

No more back pouches and safety cards in the way. Our literature pockets are now elevated, saving valuable real estate for Guests’ knees.
The new seats have full-sized tray tables.
New galley carts weigh 4 pounds less than existing carts, and each new seat is 2.6 pounds lighter, savings hundreds of pounds per flight and maintaining high fuel efficiency on Spirit’s Fit Fleet™.
Middle seats will gain another inch of width, and every seat will gain nearly an inch of pre-recline compared to Spirit’s current seating configuration, with exit rows adding even more.

The redesigned interior will be installed on nearly 150 new Airbus A320 Family aircraft being delivered to Spirit over the next several years. Additionally, Spirit will update the interiors of aircraft cycling through scheduled maintenance. Other projects in the pipeline as part of the Invest in the Guest initiative include inflight Wi-Fi, a revamped Loyalty program, and self-bag drop operations to reduce check-in lines.

Spirit Airlines aircraft photo gallery:

QANTAS to take off to Tokyo Haneda and starts Sapporo service

QANTAS Airways will become the first airline to launch nonstop flights between Melbourne and Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport.

New flights to Haneda

The year-round flights to Haneda will operate daily from March 29, 2020* with an Airbus A330 aircraft, replacing the airline’s existing service between Melbourne and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport

The flights are expected to save travellers more than an hour commuting into the city and complement QANTAS’ existing daily flights from Sydney to Haneda which the Australian national carrier has operated since 2015.

Seasonal service to Sapporo commences

The announcement comes as the airline’s new seasonal flights from Sydney to Sapporo took off on December 16, coinciding with the busy ski season in Japan.

QANTAS is the only airline to connect Australia directly with the Hokkaido region and the service is the national carrier’s fifth route between Australia and Japan.

The national carrier has also announced it will extend its seasonal service to Sapporo for another year.

The flights will operate three times per week during the 2020-21 ski season from December 14, 2020 to February 27, 2021* with the airline’s upgraded A330.

The Qantas Group operates more than 40 flights per week from Japan to Australia. This includes Qantas’s flights from Brisbane to Narita; Melbourne to Narita (from March 2020, this will be replaced with Melbourne to Haneda); and Sydney to Osaka, Haneda and Sapporo (seasonal). The Group’s low-cost carrier, Jetstar, operates flights from Cairns to Narita and Osaka, and Gold Coast to Narita.

*Subject to government and regulatory approval.

QANTAS Airways aircraft photo gallery:

British Airways and China Southern Airlines launch joint business

British Airways has signed a joint business agreement with China Southern Airlines, for travel from January 2, 2020.

The agreement will benefit customers of both airlines by opening more destinations between the UK and China, with a greater choice of flights and enhanced frequent flyer benefits. It will allow the airlines to cooperate on scheduling and pricing, providing customers with more flexible flight options and an attractive range of fares.

British Airways customers will be able to travel more easily on a combined route network which will develop over time thanks to both airlines’ move to the new Beijing Daxing International Airport. The joint business will initially see the two airlines code-sharing on all direct flights operated on mainland routes between London and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Sanya, Wuhan and Zhengzhou. This will expand to both airlines’ extensive domestic networks.

Customer benefits will include greater opportunities to collect frequent flyer points, the ability to book through both airlines’ web or app-based platforms, enhanced lounge access and access to high-quality Chinese and British products and services on board and on the ground.

British Airways and China Southern Airlines launched a codeshare agreement across ten routes in 2017. In January 2019, the airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand the agreement on each other’s networks and implement reciprocal frequent flyer benefits.
In October 2019, British Airways was the first international airline to its all operations to Beijing Daxing International Airport, in recognition of its importance in driving travel between China and the UK and its offer of a world-class customer experience.
Under the joint business, customers will initially benefit from 31 direct flights a week between London and the six Chinese locations.

Star Air to be acquired by Comair

Star Air of South Africa will be merged into Comair Limited.

The Competition Commission of South Africa has approved the acquisition of Star Air by Comair.

Star Air is a South African registered company that has a Part 121 Domestic and International Aircraft Operating Certificate (AOC). Our company specializes in the wet, dry or damp leasing on short to medium term leases to airlines in Africa.

Star Air currently operates 8 Boeing 737-300 aircraft (4 passenger and 4 freighter aircraft).

Air Canada completes installation of satellite connectivity across full Air Canada Rouge fleet

Air Canada said today that Rouge Wi-Fi high-speed satellite-based connectivity provided by Gogo is now available across the entire Air Canada Rouge fleet of 65 aircraft that fly globally and across North America.

Air Canada Completes Installation of Satellite Connectivity Across Full Air Canada Rouge Fleet (CNW Group/Air Canada)

Customers can choose from a selection of Wi-Fi packages to suit their requirements with starting prices of $8.50 CAD simply by connecting to the “Rouge Wi-Fi” network onboard and following the instructions.

In addition to the full Air Canada Rouge fleet, satellite based Wi-Fi is already available on all Air Canada Boeing 777s, and most Boeing 787s and Airbus A330s with the remainder to be completed early 2020. Air Canada Wi-Fi connectivity is also available across the carrier’s entire mainline narrow body fleet and the Air Canada Express Embraer 175 and Bombardier CRJ-900 fleets. Air Canada’s new Airbus A220 fleet which it begins taking delivery of before the end of 2019 will come equipped with satellite based wi-fi.

Air Canada Rouge aircraft photo gallery:

David Neeleman selects Salt Lake City for his new airline

The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) is pleased to announce a corporate headquarters in Salt Lake for Breeze Aviation, a new company with plans to create 369 jobs in the next five years.

Breeze Aviation is founded by David Neeleman, who previously co-founded Morris Air (later sold to Southwest), WestJet, JetBlue, and Azul Brazilian Airlines. Neeleman has been one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the airline business. Breeze Aviation plans to unveil an as-yet-unnamed low-cost carrier in the new year which will provide flyers with convenient non-stop service from secondary airports.

Breeze Aviation may earn up to 20% of the new state taxes it will pay over the five-year life of the agreement in the form of a Utah Legislature-authorized Economic Development Tax Increment Finance (EDTIF) tax rebate. The GOED Board has approved a post-performance tax rebate not to exceed $1,082,000. Each year the company meets the criteria in its contract with the state, it will earn a portion of the total tax rebate.

American insources additional brake and wheel component work at its Tulsa Maintenance Base

American Airlines made this announcement:

American Airlines will insource additional component maintenance work in the Brake and Wheel Center (BWC) at its Base Maintenance facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, beginning January 1, 2020. The work will be transitioning from an outside vendor to Tulsa and will include wheel and brake component maintenance for aircraft, including the Airbus A319, A320, A321, A321neo and A330 fleets, as well as Boeing 757 and 787 fleets.

The new component work rounds out a year of growth at Tech Ops – Tulsa. Earlier this year, American and the City of Tulsa invested in a new tail slot modification for Hangar 2D at the base maintenance facility to allow space for larger aircraft. The team also began maintenance work on the first scheduled line of Airbus A319 fleet as well as scheduled maintenance on the Boeing 787 fleet. To support the additional work this year, the base also hired more than 500 maintenance positions.

“This additional wheel and brake component work is great for the Tech Ops – Tulsa team,” said Erik Olund, Managing Director of Base Maintenance at American. “Today’s news is just another example of sustainable, cost-saving work that our highly skilled team of professionals will produce reliably and safely.”

American insources more maintenance work than any other airline. Increasing the component work performed in-house further demonstrates American’s long-term commitment to the Tulsa operation and the talented Base Maintenance team. This new work, and the work that Tech Ops – Tulsa regularly performs today, is an integral part of helping the airline run a safe and reliable operation.

The BWC performs overhaul and repair work on nearly all of the brakes and wheels on American’s fleet. The 80,000-square-foot facility was established in 2014 and is responsible for the machining, engineering and welding of worn brakes and wheels on aircraft.

With the increased maintenance work in the BWC, American expects to add nearly 30 support and Overhaul Support Mechanic positions.

More than 5,400 people currently work at Tech Ops – Tulsa, including more than 100 at the BWC. The 22 buildings on the main base, which includes 3.3 million square feet of hangar and shop space, sit on 330 acres, which makes it the largest commercial aviation maintenance facility in the world.