Wow Air (Keflavik), despite its financial concerns, today (December 7) launched its new route to Delhi, India.
The new route willย operate three a week ย using its only 345-seat Airbus A330-300 (TF-GAY).
Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline):ย Wow Air Airbus A330-343 TF-GAY (msn 1098) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 935285.
Wow Air aircraft slide show:
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Southwest Airlines flight 278 from Oakland to Hollywood/Burbank overran the runway on landing at BUR in the rain.
The aircraft was stopped by the protective EMAS (Engineered Material Arresting System) bed at the end of the runway.
The airline issued this statement on social media:
Southwest Flight 278 from OAK to BUR landed safely and rolled to a stop at the end of a runway. Customers deplaned the aircraft via air stairs, with no reported injuries among the 112 Customers and five Crewmembers.
Video:
Photo on social media:
NAC has signed an agreement to lease seven new Embraer E190 aircraft to HOP!. The seven aircraft are from NACโs existing Embraer order book.
Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to lease seven new E190 aircraft to HOP!. The placement of the seven new aircraft are from NACโs existing Embraerorder book, the first of which is expected to deliver to HOP this month.
This leaseย will bring HOP!โs total Embraer fleet to 47 aircraft (32 E-Jets and 15 ERJ145s). It also marks further progress on converting Letters of Intent announced at Farnborough to firm purchase agreements – three of the seven aircraft being placed by NAC in this deal were announced this week as firm orders.
Top Copyright Photo:ย Hop! For Air France Embraer ERJ 190-100LR F-HBLJ (msn 19000311) TLS (Paul Bannwarth). Image: 929869.
Hop! aircraft slide show:
Hop! destinations in Europe:
American Airlines mad this announcement:
Better boarding for American Airlines customers arrived today at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with the launch of the carrierโs first-ever biometric boarding pilot program.
American customers traveling on select international departures from LAX Terminal 4 can now enjoy additional convenience during the departure process thanks to cutting-edge technology. Instead of scanning boarding passes, the new one-step facial recognition program will scan and verify a customerโs identity with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in seconds at the gate.
โLAX is Americanโs gateway to the Asia-Pacific region, making it the perfect location for American to launch biometric boarding,โ said Suzanne Boda, Senior Vice President of Los Angeles at American. โThe goal of the new technology is to provide a more efficient, modern experience for our customers and team members while enhancing aviation security. That is exactly what weโve been working to do here in Los Angeles.โ
When customers begin the boarding process, the facial recognition program will scan an image of their face and send it to an existing cloud-based CBP database. The system then instantly matches the image against the passport photo already on file with CBP and sends back a yes or no determination on whether they are cleared to board within seconds at the gate.
Agents will continue to ensure customers have their passports with them before departing. Customers may also choose not to use the new system and board with their regular boarding pass.
The pilot program will be used at LAX for 90 days as American evaluates its potential expansion to more flights and locations throughout its global network.
All photos by American Airlines.
Indigo Partners has issued this update:
Indigo Partners and Wow Air initiated diligence meetings this week in Reykjavik as the initial steps to a potential Indigo investment after the signing of a term sheet last week. ย A team from Indigo Partners spent the last two days with Wow Air management to review the business and opportunities of the airline going forward.
The overall process is progressing and both parties are working to finalize the investment.
Issues remaining include Wow’s planned network development, vendor contracts including aircraft leases and certain waivers from Wow’s bondholders.ย
“We are very pleased with the visit from Indigo Partners and it’s clear that we can learn a lot from Bill Franke and his team on how to build a successful low cost airline.ย I don’t think we can find a better and more experienced partner to bring WOW air to the next level,” said Skuli Mogensen, CEO and founder of WOW air.
Wow is advised in this transaction by Plane View Partners LLC, the U.S. air transportation advisory firm.
About Indigo Partners
Indigo Partners is a private equity firm established by W. A. Franke in 2003 to pursue acquisitions and strategic investments in the air transportation and related industries. The firm was a lead investor in Tiger Airways based in Singapore and Spirit Airlines based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and maintains lead investments in Wizz Air Holdings, Plc, a ULCC with multiple bases in Central and Eastern Europe; Frontier Airlines, a ULCC based in Denver; Volaris Airlines, a ULCC based in Mexico City; and JetSMART, a ULCC based in Chile. Indigo is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Top Copyright Photo:ย Wow Air Airbus A330-343 TF-GAY (msn 1098) CDG (Jacques Guillem). Image: 944647.
Wow Air aircraft slide show:
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PrivatAir (Geneva) has issued this statement:
It is with great sadness that PrivatAir SA, Switzerland, announces today that it has filed to commence insolvency proceeding in Switzerland. Likewise its subsidiary PrivatAir GmbH in Germany has also filed for insolvency on December 5, 2018.
Over the past few weeks, a number of events have had a significant impact on the companiesโ future business forecast and viability, which forced the companies to file for insolvency.
PrivatAir was created in 1977 in Switzerland. It directly employs today 226 staff in Switzerland, Germany and Portugal. It also uses the services of 65 crew members via an external contracting entity for its operation in Middle East (Jeddah โ Riyadh shuttle). It will remain known as a truly unique company built by amazing people who showed extreme dedication to their work and unmatched service levels, and proved many times that the impossible in aviation could be made possible.
Top Copyright Photo (all other by the airline):ย PrivatAir Boeing 757-23A WL HB-IEE (msn 24527) LHR (Keith Burton). Image: 901873.
PrivatAir aircraft slide show:
Video:
Royal Air Maroc will join oneworldยฎ.
Its election as a oneworld member-designate was announced when the chief executives of the allianceโs 13 current member airlines, gathered in New York for their year-end Governing Board meeting. The announcement came just weeks before the alliance celebrates the 20th anniversary of its launch.
Royal Air Maroc is expected to become part of oneworld in mid-2020 when it will start flying alongside some of the biggest and best brands in the airline business. Its regional subsidiary, Royal Air Maroc Express, will join as a oneworld affiliate member at the same time.
Royal Air Maroc
As part of the alliance, Royal Air Maroc will offer the full range of oneworld customer services and benefits; more than 1 million members of the airlineโs Safar Flyer loyalty program will be able to earn and redeem rewards on all oneworld member airlines and with its top-tier members able to use the allianceโs more than 650 airport lounges worldwide.
While Southern Africaโs Comair, which flies as a franchisee of British Airways, has been a oneworld affiliate member since the alliance launched in February 1999, Royal Air Maroc will be oneworldโs first full member from Africa โ the only continent, apart from Antarctica, where the alliance hasnโt had a full member.
It will also be the allianceโs first new full-member airline signed since 2012, although Fiji Airways links to the alliance starting today as the first partner of oneworld connect, the first new membership platform since the alliance was established.
Today, Royal Air Maroc is the largest unaligned carrier in Africa, with a transformational strategy well underway to develop it quickly into a global airline and the continentโs leader in terms of both size and quality.
Royal Air Maroc carried 7.3 million passengers last year on a fleet of 55 aircraft. The airlineโs network currently connects its Mohammed V International Airport (CMN) base in Casablanca, Morocco, with 94 destinations in 49 countries across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America, including oneworld hubs Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar (DOH); Heathrow Airport in London (LHR); Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport in Spain (MAD); Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME); John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York (JFK) and Sao Paulo International Airport in Brazil (GRU).
The airlineโs schedule will add 34 new destinations and 21 countries to the oneworld map, taking the allianceโs network to 1,069 airports in 178 countries and territories.
Under Royal Air Marocโs ambitious five-year strategy, it plans to expand its fleet significantly, carrying 13 million customers a year across a global network serving 121 destinations in 68 countries. This will add another 15 destinations and nine countries to the alliance network, giving the alliance a total of 1,084 destinations in 187 countries and territories.
Three established oneworld member airlines โ British Airways, Iberia and Qatar Airways โ currently serve three destinations in Morocco between them: CMN, Marrakesh Menara Airport (RAK) and Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport (TNG).
Royal Air Maroc CEO Abdelhamid Addou said, โRoyal Air Maroc is excited and honored to have been invited to become oneworldโs wings of Africa. We look forward to completing our flight on board speedily and smoothly so that we can offer the services and benefits of the worldโs best airline alliance to our customers and across our own network as soon as possible. We will be flying alongside the finest collection of air carriers in the skies, while at the same time making it easier for people all over the world to reach our historic and beautiful part of the world. This undoubtedly represents one of the most significant landmarks in our airlineโs 60-year history and on our journey to establish Royal Air Maroc as the leading airline of Africa.โ
Top Copyright Photo (all other images by the airline):ย Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737-8B6 WL CN-RGN (msn 33075) (50th Boeing 737) BRU (Karl Cornil). Image: 944645.
Royal Air Maroc aircraft slide show:
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Azul has announced a new nonstop service to Porto, Portugal starting on June 3, 2019.
The new destination will receive three weekly flights from Sao Paulo (Campinas), Azul’s main hub, which will have a total of 17 weekly frequencies to Portugal.
The Portuguese city is the second destination in Europe to receive flights from Azul after Lisbon.
The nonstop flight will be operated on an Airbus A330, with 272 seats. With the addition of this new flight, Campinas, the largest hub in Latin America, will offer nonstop service to 57 destinations, including Orlando, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Lisbon.
In partnership with Aigle Azur, Azul also offers flights to Paris, France.
Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline):ย Azul Brasil (Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras) Airbus A330-243 PR-AIU (msn 494) (Azul Viagens) FLL (Brian McDonough). Image: 931964.
Azul aircraft slide show:
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Air Lease Corporation (ALC) today has announced a long-term lease agreement for two new Airbus A321neo aircraft with Air Macau.
Featuring Pratt & Whitney PW1133G engines, the aircraft will deliver from ALCโs order book with Airbus in November 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.
Air Macau Route Map:
Silver Airways is expanding its already extensive Florida network making it even easier to visit the Sunshine Stateโs Atlantic Coast with new daily nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB) starting January 16, 2019.
To affirm its commitment to the new service, Silver Airways has โinkedโ a deal โ with official commemorative livery featuring joint branding to be released soon โ as the official airline of the MiLBโs Daytona Tortugas baseball team. There couldnโt be a more perfect match than the airline who offers the most routes within Florida and Floridaโs State Leagueโs Daytona Tortugas.
The Daytona Tortugas are the Advanced-A, Minor League Baseball Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The team plays on historic Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, which seats 4,200 fans and is annually among the leaders in attendance in the Florida State League.
Silver Airwaysโ Fort Lauderdale (FLL) โ Daytona Beach (DAB) service effective January 16, 2019; DAB-FLL service effective January 17, 2019:
| Route | ย Departs | Arrives | Flight # | Stops | Frequency |
| Ft. Lauderdale to Daytona Beach | 6:30 pm | 8:00 pm | 60 | 0 | Daily |
| Daytona Beach to Ft. Lauderdale | 8:20 am | 9:45 am | 59 | 0 | Monday to Saturday |
| Daytona Beach to Ft. Lauderdale | 9:15 am | 10:40 am | 59 | 0 | Sunday |
Route Map:
For complete details,
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