Air Italy is coming to California

Air Italy (3rd) is launching two new California routes from Milan (Malpensa) in the spring 2019.

The rejuvenated carrier is launching a new route to Los Angeles (four days a week) on April 3, 2019 followed by San Francisco (four days a week) on April 10, 2019.

In other news, the airline launched a new route from Milan (Malpensa) to Delhi yesterday (December 7) (below).

This will be followed by a Milan (Malpensa) – Mumbai route starting on December 14, 2018.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline): Air Italy (3rd) Airbus A330-202 EI-GFX (msn 571) ISS (Marco Finelli). Image: 942229.

Air Italy aircraft slide show:

Viva Air Peru is coming to Miami

Viva Air Peru (vivaair.com) (Lima) is coming to Miami. The airline will start a new route linking Santa Marta with Miami on December 18, 2018.

The new route will be operated with Airbus A320s.

On May 9, 2017 Viva Air Peru commenced operations with two Airbus A320 aircraft.

All photos by the airline.

SalamAir takes delivery of its first Airbus A320neo

SalamAir (Muscat) today (December 7) took delivery of its first Airbus A320neo.

The upstart is Oman’s first budget airline.

The airline previously announced the addition of six brand new Airbus A320neo aircraft to its growing fleet. The first is now delivered, and five additional leased Airbus A320neo aircraft will in the first quarter of 2019. The new A320neos are specifically customized for SalamAir to seat 180 guests.

The airline previously launched operations on January 30, 2017. The airline has grown to operate 173 flights a week operated across 16 destinations in 11 countries.

Today, the SalamAir network consists of 16 destinations including Muscat, Salalah, Suhar, Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, Karachi, Multan, Sialkot, Shiraz, Tbilisi, Baku, as well as newly introduced Dhaka, Kathmandu, Khartoum and Najaf.

Top Copyright Photo: SalamAir Airbus A320-251N A40-OVD (msn 7181) TLS (Eurospot). Image: 944692.

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Avolon firms up order for 100 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft

Dublin, Ireland headquartered aircraft lessor Avolon has firmed up an order for 75 A320neos and 25 A321neos. The agreement is the single largest order for Airbus aircraft ever placed by Avolon.

The agreement takes Avolon’s cumulative orders with Airbus to 284 aircraft (240 single-aisles and 44 wide-body aircraft) including the A321neo, the A330neo and the A350 XWB.

The new order for 100 aircraft together with the 22 single-aisles and four wide-bodies already delivered, increases Avolon’s Airbus backlog to 258, the largest of any lessor.

Featuring the widest single-aisle cabin in the sky, the efficient A320neo Family incorporates the very latest technologies including new generation engines and Sharklets, which together deliver more than 15 percent fuel and CO2 savings from day one and 20 percent by 2020 as well as 50 percent noise reduction. With more than 6,200 orders received from over 100 customers, the A320neo Family has captured some 60 percent of the market.

Image: Avolon.

Air France takes delivery of its seventh Boeing 787

Air France took delivery of its fleet’s latest addition – the company’s seventh Boeing 787 to arrive at its Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub.

This new aircraft, which is also the Air France-KLM group’s 20th Boeing 787, marks an ambition to pursue Air France’s fleet modernization. The aircraft will spend a few days in the hands of professionals from the Air France Industrial Division before operating its first commercial flights.

In spring 2019, the company will take delivery of two additional aircraft, bringing the Boeing 787 fleet to a total of nine aircraft.

10 destinations served by Dreamliner

In the 2018-2019 winter season, Air France’s Boeing 787s are crisscrossing the skies and transporting customers to Boston, Detroit, Bogota, Guangzhou, Osaka, Bamako, Abidjan, Nairobi and Malé. The arrival of this seventh aircraft will allow the company to also serve Panama City, previously served by Boeing 777.

Watch the video illustrating the comfort and assets provided by this new-generation aircraft.

The best of Air France on board the Boeing 787

For Air France customers, the Boeing 787 provides a number of assets –

The latest Air France travel cabins – a real cocoon in the sky in the Business cabin (30 seats) and comfort for all in the new Premium Economy (21 seats) and Economy cabins (225 seats);
On-board WiFi adapted to customers’ needs and expectations;
More comfort and space with the new Premium Economy seats;
Windows that are approximately 30% larger than on similar aircraft;
Improved air pressure and humidity levels for greater travel comfort.

A reduction in fuel consumption and noise levels

This new-generation aircraft provides a great number of operational assets including –

20% less fuel consumption than previous generation aircraft;
A significant reduction in CO2 emissions ( about 20%) as well as noise emissions.

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Thomas Cook Group shows profitable growth in a disrupted environment

Thomas Cook Group issued this report:

• Strong Airline profit growth of £35 million despite higher disruption cost

• Increased capacity with revenues growth of 10.1% to £3.5bn

• New airlines founded in Spain and Germany to support growth

Manchester/Frankfurt/Copenhagen – The Thomas Cook Group Airline has increased its underlying profit by 37% to £129 million for the financial year ending September 30, 2018. With an increase of available seats of 8.8% and a fleet of 100 aircraft overall revenues have grown by 10.1% to £3.5bn in the financial year 2017/18.

With the two brands Thomas Cook Airlines (in UK and Scandinavia) and Condor (in Germany), the Group Airline has carried over19 million passengers to over 120 destinations worldwide.

As part of the airline strategy for profitable growth, two new airlines have been set up in 2018. Based in Mallorca and Oberursel the new platforms provide greater operational flexibility at competitive costs, while better ensuring the quality and customer experience compared to third-party lease arrangements.

Peter Fankhauser, Chief Executive of Thomas Cook, said:

“Our Group Airline delivered strong growth in customers and profit, benefitting from increasing capacity in a turbulent European aviation sector.”

The pan-European airline could realize £31 million by implementing cost reduction measures that address synergies across its markets. The integration of the airline is well advanced with a consistent product, customer experience and management approach.

The European Aviation market was marked by disruption in Summer 2018 caused by delays of the registration of new aircraft, shortage on spare parts and an air traffic control system that was not fully prepared for the strong growth. This resulted in a substantial increase of irregularity cost (which include EU261 compensation costs, welfare, sub-charter and denied boarding costs) of £101 million in Summer 2018 vs. £49 million in Summer 2017.

The Group Airline has put several measures in place to optimize its operational performance, such as additional reserve aircraft, a streamlined aircraft basing with an all Airbus fleet in UK and Scandinavia and all Boeing aircraft operated in Germany and a dedicated team for customer communication in the case of a delay.

Turkish Airlines launches Istanbul – Rovaniemi, Finland flights

Turkish Airlines on December 5, 2018 added a new route from Istanbul (IST) to Rovaniemi, Finland (RVN). This is the first route to Lapland from Turkey.

The new route will operate three days a week.

FLT NBR	START	END	DAYS	DEP		ARR
TK 1749	05/12/2019	22/03/2020	.2.4..7	IST	10:20	13:35	RVN
TK 1750	05/12/2019	22/03/2020	.2.4..7	RVN	17:00	22:15	IST

All times are in LMT.

Previously Turkish Airlines launched twice-weekly flights to Banjul, the capital city of Gambia on November 26, 2018.

Banjul flight times as scheduled from November 26th;
Flight No.	Days	Departure		Arrival
TK 599	Monday	IST	01:30	DSS	6:10
TK 599	Monday	DSS	06:55	BJL	7:50
TK 599	Monday	BJL	08:45	IST	18:55
TK 597	Friday	IST	13:30	DSS	18:10
TK 597	Friday	DSS	18:55	BJL	19:50
TK 597	Friday	BJL	20:45	IST	6:55 +1

All times are in LMT.

Turkish Airlines flies to 304 destinations across 122 countries, and has 330 aircraft in its fleet.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Turkish): Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-8F2 WL TC-JZF (msn 60027) TLS (Paul Bannwarth). Image: 944673.

Turkish Airlines aircraft slide show:

Emirates adds additional Airbus A380 service between Johannesburg and Dubai

Emirates introduced an additional Airbus A380 service to Johannesburg (O.R. Tambo International Airport), effective December 1, 2018, replacing the previous Boeing 777 aircraft on the route. EK762 (JNB-DXB) and EK761 (DXB-JNB) are now served by the flagship A380 aircraft.

This change in aircraft supports growing demand in South Africa, a 14% increase in seat capacity will be as a direct result of deployment of the second A380 to Johannesburg. The Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft serving the Dubai-Johannesburg route will offer a total of 519 seats in a three-class configuration, with 429 spacious seats in Economy Class, 76 fully flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites.

Upcoming festive season travel between the two global transit hubs is expected to be especially strong, building on over 700,000 customers who flew with the airline before November. With Emirates, customers from Johannesburg can enjoy a seamless A380 experience to their most popular destinations via Dubai, including London, Moscow, New York and Bangkok. All four daily Emirates flights between Johannesburg and Dubai operate as codeshare flights with partner South African Airways.

Emirates operates the world’s largest fleet of Airbus A380s, with 107 of the aircraft currently in service and 55 pending delivery in this, the tenth year of Emirates’ A380 operations. The deployment of the double-decker aircraft on routes to and from South Africa gives even more regional travellers the chance to experience the aircraft’s industry-leading comforts. These include private suites and Shower Spas in its First Class cabin, while Business Class customers can enjoy the popular onboard lounge and lie-flat beds.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Emirates): Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EUB (msn 213) (Expo 2020 Dubai UAE) (Paris Saint-Germain) ZRH (Andi Hiltl). Image: 944670.

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Wow Air launches its first route to India

Wow Air (Keflavik), despite its financial concerns, today (December 7) launched its new route to Delhi, India.

The new route will operate three a week using its only 345-seat Airbus A330-300 (TF-GAY).

Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline): Wow Air Airbus A330-343 TF-GAY (msn 1098) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 935285.

Wow Air aircraft slide show:

Southwest’s N752SW overruns the runway at Hollywood/Burbank

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.

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