WestJet lands in Roatán

WestJet is celebrating carrying guests for the first time to the snorkeling and diving paradise of Roatán, Honduras following yesterday’s inaugural flight between Toronto and Roatán.

WestJet's inaugural flight connects guests to the Caribbean paradise of Roatan from Toronto (CNW Group/WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership)

With convenient access to 14 Caribbean destinations non-stop from Toronto this winter, WestJet’s new service to Roatán is operated on the airline’s Boeing 737 aircraft featuring WestJet’s Premium and Economy cabins.

Flights are timed to optimize connectivity to WestJet’s Toronto hub and provide for WestJet Rewards accumulation and redemption along with additional benefits for WestJet Rewards top tier members.

Details of WestJet’s service between Toronto and Roatán:

Route

Frequency

Departing

Arriving

Effective

Toronto-Roatán

(Sunday)

Once weekly

9:30 a.m.

1:11 p.m.

December 15, 2019

Roatán- Toronto

(Sunday)

Once weekly

2:10 p.m.

7:27 p.m.

December 15, 2019

British Airways expects to fly over a million passengers during the holidays

British Airways has made this announcement for the rest of the month:

British Airways is warming up for the great Christmas getaway, with more than one million customers flying with the airline over the festive period.

The most popular long-haul destinations are New York, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Cape Town and this year’s busiest short-haul route is Paris, with many travellers opting to celebrate Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve in the French capital.

More than 210 British Airways flights will take to the skies on December 25 and 721 flights will operate on New Year’s Eve. The airline will deliver over 1.5 million bags across the network from now until December 27.

Customers will be able to enjoy a sky-high festive feast as the airline’s award-winning cabin crew will be serving over 100,000 traditional Christmas dinners which is made up of 450,000 brussels sprouts, 360,000 roast potatoes, and 11,000kgs of turkey. In addition, 135,000 mince pies will also be given out to customers.

The airline is also showcasing its largest ever Christmas themed inflight entertainment channel, that will feature nearly 50 hours of festive films, TV shows and audio. The festive favourites include Home Alone, The Holiday, Elf, Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special and the Nutcracker audio book.

British Airways colleagues will be spreading the holiday cheer, on the ground and in the air, by wearing Christmas jumpers and accessories, decorating aircraft and playing seasonal songs at 35,000 feet.

United to add two additional routes from the Washington Dulles hub

United Airlines has announced it will add United Express twice-daily service between the Washington Dulles (IAD) hub and Bangor (BGR) on June 4, 2020 and Madison (MSN) on May 8, 2020.

The Bangor route will operate with Embraer ERJ 145s and Madison on either Bombardier CRJ700s or Embraer ERJ 145s.

Previously the airline announced service from Dulles to West Palm Beach (PBI) starting in February, 2020 and Akron/Canton (CAK) and Philadelphia (PHL) starting in May, 2020.

StarLux Airlines to start operations on January 23, 2020

StarLux Airlines received its AOC from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications on December 12.

As a result, the airline has announced its first routes will start on January 23, 2020. The first routes will be between Taipei (TPE) and Macau, Da Nang and Penang.

The first routes will be operated with Airbus A321neo aircraft.

Aeroflot expands Asia route offering with four flights weekly to Osaka

Aeroflot has launched ticket sales for scheduled direct flights from Moscow to Osaka, Japan’s third city, beginning on June 1, 2020.

The addition of a second destination in Japan strengthens Aeroflot’s offering on transit routes to Asia from Europe and North America, which forms a key part of the airline’s strategy. The Russian flag carrier offers convenient and fast transfers through its hub at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, with total travel times up to three hours shorter than those of competitors in Europe and Asia.

Flights will operate on the following schedule (all times local):

Moscow-Osaka

Flight SU0268 departs Sheremetyevo at 19:05 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arriving at Kansai at 11:05 the following day.

Osaka-Moscow

Flight SU0269 departs Kansai at 12:45 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arriving at Sheremetyevo at 16:45 the same day.

Osaka is Aeroflot’s second destination in Japan. The Russian flag carrier has operated daily scheduled flights to Tokyo since 1967.

Aeroflot is Russia’s flagship carrier and a proud member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. Aeroflot serves 149 destinations in 53 countries.

Aeroflot aircraft photo gallery:

Cabo Verde Airlines starts a new route to Porto Alegre

Cabo Verde Airlines began regular flights between Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Sal, Cabo Verde.

The inaugural flight between Porto Alegre and Sal took place on Thursday, December 12, 2019 departing from Salgado Filho Airport at 08.55 pm, local time, and arriving at Amílcar Cabral International Airport at 07.55 am, local time.

The route starts with two connections a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays between Sal Island and Porto Alegre and on Thursdays and Saturdays between Porto Alegre and Sal. From December 23rd, there will be a third connection, leaving Sal on Mondays and departing from Porto Alegre on Tuesdays.

All flights will connect to Cabo Verde Airlines’ international hub in Sal, and there it will be able to connect to the airline’s destinations in Cabo Verde, Senegal (Dakar), Nigeria (Lagos), Europe (Lisbon, Paris, Milan and Rome), Washington DC and Boston.

In addition to the hub connections on Sal Island, Cabo Verde Airlines’ Stopover program allows passengers to stay up to 7 days in Cabo Verde and thus explore the diverse experiences on the archipelago at no additional cost on airline tickets.

This new route between Porto Alegre and Sal seeks to strengthen the connection between Brazil and Cabo Verde, as part of the company’s strategy for the South American market. In Brazil, besides Porto Alegre, Cabo Verde Airlines also flies to Fortaleza, Recife, and Salvador.

Top Copyright Photo: Cabo Verde Airlines Boeing 757-236 WL D4-CCF (msn 25808) IAD (Brian McDonough). Image: 948548.

Cabo Verde aircraft slide show:

Air Canada inaugurates seasonal service from Vancouver to Auckland

Air Canada’s inaugural flight AC51, 787 Dreamliner service which departed December 12 from Vancouver has arrived in Auckland, marking the carrier’s launch of seasonal service between Canada and New Zealand. Flights operate four times weekly until the end of March 2020.

An Air Canada Boeing 787 Dreamliner. (CNW Group/Air Canada)

Air Canada’s state-of-the-art Boeing 787-8* Dreamliners feature 20 Signature Class lie-flat seats, 21 Premium Economy and 214 Economy Class seats with upgraded in-flight entertainment at every seat throughout the aircraft. All Air Canada flights provide for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption and, for eligible customers, access to priority services, Maple Leaf Lounges and other benefits.

Flight	Departs	Arrives	Days of Week
AC51	Vancouver (YVR) 23:45	Auckland (AKL) 11:05 + 2 days	Mon, Tue, Thur, Sat
AC52	Auckland (AKL) 14:30	Vancouver (YVR) 06:30	Mon, Wed, Thur, Sat

*Air Canada’s inaugural flight operated with a Boeing 787-9 exceptionally

Air Canada’s Vancouver–Auckland service is the latest of three new international routes the carrier just inaugurated, following Air Canada’s launch of the only flights from Montreal–Sao Paulo on Dec. 11 and from Toronto–Quito on Dec. 8.

Air Canada aircraft photo gallery:

flydubai touches down in Krabi

flydubai’s inaugural flight has touched down in Krabi in Thailand, becoming the first UAE-based airline to offer flights to the popular holiday destination. The daily flights are operated via a short stop in Yangon, Myanmar and are codeshared with Emirates.

On board the inaugural flight was a senior delegation led by Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations (UAE, GCC, Subcontinent and Africa) at flydubai. Upon arrival, the aircraft was greeted by Somkuan Khanngern, the Vice Governer of Krabi, Attaporn Nuang-udom, the Director of Krabi Airport, Uthit Limsakul Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Krabi Office and Pichaya Saisaengchan, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Dubai and Middle East Office.

flydubai has become the first carrier in the UAE to operate flights to Krabi and with the new daily service from the UAE, the GCC and those connecting from Europe and the USA on the Emirates network now have more options to explore Asia and the Far East. Passengers from Thailand have more opportunities to benefit from direct flights to Dubai and beyond.

Krabi is a popular holiday destination for beach goers and adventures alike. While limestone cliffs, dense mangrove forests and the famous Phi Phi Island will amaze nature enthusiasts, Krabi also offers activities like diving, hiking or exploring the Huay Toh Waterfall in Phanom Bencha National Park.

Photos by the airline.

Eurowings wins HLX Touristik as new partner for Eurowings Holidays

Eurowings has made this announcement:

With HLX Touristik GmbH, Eurowings has gained a new partner for its tour operator brand ‘Eurowings Holidays’, founded in 2017: With immediate effect, Eurowings cooperates with HLX, a travel provider specializing in the packaging of flight and hotel offers with guaranteed best prices. Eurowings customers can book high-quality low-cost package tours via the ‘Eurowings Holidays’ portal at holidays.eurowings.com. HLX is one of the leading providers in this segment and has been successfully operating holiday portals for Lufthansa and Swiss for several years.

Eurowings Digital Managing Director Oliver Schmitt comments: “As Germany’s largest holiday airline, we are significantly expanding the range of ‘Eurowings Holidays’ together with HLX. With Eurowings you can not only fly cheaply, but also book complete trips with many additional services, such as rental cars, insurance and local activities – with just a few clicks, simply and conveniently from one source.

Above Copyright Photo: Eurowings (Europe) Airbus A320-214 WL OE-IQD (msn 7056) (Eurowings Holidays) AYT (Ton Jochems). Image: 943735.

The change to HLX is associated with a significant expansion of the range of low-cost package tours and additional services. Thus, the hotel offer which is availabe on the reservation portal holidays.eurowings.com grows on over 45.000 hotels. New are also the “Nobag” tariffs which are very popular particularly in combination with city trips.

Karl Heinz Kögel, Managing Director of HLX Touristik: “We look forward much to the partnership with Eurowings. Together we offer customers professionally organized, high-quality package tours with individual design options and a best-price guarantee. Many of these are exclusive to ‘Eurowings Holidays’.”

The ‘Eurowings Holidays’ portfolio includes short and city trips to vibrant metropolises as well as long-haul trips to the world’s most beautiful holiday destinations. In addition to an expanded hotel portfolio, customers will also benefit in future from top offers with best price guarantees and a fresh brand presence with an optimized user experience. They also have the option of booking individual trips with or without free baggage allowance.

Members of the Eurowings Boomerang Club receive one flight mile for every euro they spend. When booking a package tour with a Eurowings flight, Boomerang Club members additionally receive 250 (domestic German), 500 (continental) and 750 miles (intercontinental) per route, depending on the destination. At the start of the cooperation, there will be a special campaign: when booking between 6 and 16 January 2020, customers will receive an immediate discount of up to 220 euros on the travel price.

Eurowings aircraft photo gallery:

Aegean to expand in 2020 with new aircraft and a new base at Corfu

Aegean Airlines has made this announcement:

Aiming for 2020 to mark the starting point for greater growth and extroversion, Aegean invests in the further expansion of its network and the overall expansion of its business activity. With a significant capacity increase to 19.2 million seats, 1.5 million additional seats compared to 2019, AEGEAN will be operating in 155 destinations with 65 aircraft, including the first 6 Airbus of A320 / A321neo family expected to join the Aegean fleet by the first half of the year.

Aegean’s 2020 growth strategy rests on three pillars:

The expansion of its activity and presence in Thessaloniki, as well as the Corfu base, reaching 8 bases in total.
Continuous investment and focus on Athens, as the main hub of the company
The constant ongoing efforts for the extension of Greece’s tourism season

In this context, the company adds 11 new routes to its international network flight schedule from the bases of Athens, Thessaloniki and Corfu. Aegean is also adding 3 new destinations to its network directly to Birmingham, Paphos, Bilbao. Moreover, the company plans to increase capacity in another 47 international routes, adding 1.1 million seats to its annual activity and bringing the total capacity up to 11.4 million seats.

Specifically, Aegean has planned a plan of robust extroversion and potential growth for the city of Thessaloniki, with routes to Barcelona, Brussels, Rome, Milan, Zurich, Berlin, and an increase in international capacity by 25%. The company adds a total of 8 new destinations from Thessaloniki (6 international and 2 domestic), and invests in the upgrade of the overall passenger experience with a new 500m2 lounge.

At the same time, aiming to expand the coverage of the key tourism markets, Aegean is establishing a new base in Corfu, constituting its 8th base in Greece and Cyprus. In 2020, a scheduled route will be directly connecting Corfu to Paris, while 12 charter destinations will be added, offering additional 95,000 seats compared to the previous year, meeting thus, the island’s tourism demands.

Athens remains a landmark-destination for the overall performance of Greek Tourism in general, and Aegean in particular, but also serving as the company’s main hub for access to the country’s smaller islands. Τhe significant increase in capacity of the Athens network, planned for 2020, will once again stem from frequency increase in existing routes, expanding timetables for more routes, as well as the addition of four new destinations (Bilbao, Nuremberg, Paphos, Birmingham).

Aegean aircraft photo gallery: