Video: UPS air-to-air aircraft video shoot

A new video from UPS:

UPS planes get their moment in front of the camera.

With help from production company 3 Delta Fox and funding from Boeing, UPSers used a 16-hour work day to make some movie magic with our aircraft. First, the video crew went up in a Learjet and UPS pilots took their seats in a Boeing 767. They cruised around downtown Los Angeles and up the California coast line, including the Pacific Ocean. Eventually, they worked their way to San Bernardino, California, where the video crew switched from the Learjet to a helicopter to capture ground shots.

The crew repeated this for the Boeing 757 and the MD-11. Thanks to the clear skies, they were able to capture sunrise, sunset and the afternoon California glow. This kind of shoot takes months of planning, meetings and safety briefings to make sure the entire crew is safe and prepared.

The BrownTales crew went behind the scenes to see what it takes to get these beauty shots. Enjoy!

Qatar Airways Cargo commences freighter services to Macau and introduces transpacific services

Qatar Airways Cargo is pleased to announce that it has commenced freighter services to Macau, the carrier’s fourth freighter destination in Greater China. The arrival flight was greeted with the traditional water cannon salute (below).

Alongside the launch of the new twice-weekly services to Macau, the carrier has also introduced transpacific freighter services, providing direct flights over the Pacific from Macau to North America, resulting in reduced flight times and faster services for customers.

Macau becomes Qatar Airways Cargo’s fourth freighter destination in greater China after Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The cargo carrier also transports belly-hold cargo on passenger flights to seven destinations in Greater China. In North America, the carrier has an extensive network of nine freighter destinations and 11 belly-hold cargo destinations.

The carrier’s Boeing 777 freighter operates twice a week from Doha to Macau. From Macau, it departs across the Pacific to Los Angeles and Mexico City. On the return leg, the freighter flies over the Atlantic to Liege before arriving at the carrier’s hub in Doha. One hundred tons of cargo capacity is offered on each flight leg.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Qatar): Qatar Airways Cargo Boeing 777F A7-BFO (msn 62772) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 943451.

Qatar Airways aircraft slide show:

Delta expands at Ontario International Airport with new nonstop service to Atlanta

Delta Air Lines has made this announcement:

Beginning in April, Delta will add a new route at Ontario International Airport through new service to its hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s largest airline hub airport.

Delta will offer one daily flight beginning April 22 and add a second flight beginning June 9, 2019.

The flights will operate on the following schedule and will be for sale beginning Oct. 20:

Ontario International Airport – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Depart ONT at 10:55 a.m. / Arrive ATL at 6:25 p.m.
Depart ONT at 10:45 p.m. / Arrive ATL at 6:05 a.m. (next day) *

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – Ontario International Airport

Depart ATL at 8:30 a.m. / Arrive ONT 9:57 a.m.
Depart ATL at 7:30 p.m. / Arrive ONT at 8:57 p.m.*

*Begins June 9

The onboard Delta experience will be on Boeing 737-900ER aircraft with 20 seats in First Class, 21 in Delta Comfort+ and 139 in the main cabin. Every seat includes access to Wi-Fi, free personal in-flight seatback entertainment screens, power ports as well as complimentary snacks and beverages.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Delta): Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932 ER WL N811DZ (msn 31916) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 943986.

Delta aircraft slide show:

Gol renewing fleet with 135 Boeing 737 MAXs, will launch flights to Miami and Orlando

Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, Brazil’s largest airline, is renewing its fleet with an order of 135 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which are expected to be fully delivered by 2028.

Gol already operates Brazil’s newest and most modern fleet. The delivery of 105 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 30 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft will maintain this competitive advantage, while enabling the airline to expand its operations with more long-haul flights.

The first three MAX 8 aircraft were delivered to Gol between June and October 2018 and are already operating on commercial flights. The company will add four MAX 8 aircraft to its fleet by the end of 2018, replacing its Next Generation (NG) models.

Gol currently operates 91 Boeing 737-800s and 24 737-700s.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was developed by Boeing with the help of Gol’s pilots, engineers and technicians. The new aircraft are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, offering the best operational performance and a range of over 4,000 miles, enabling Gol to fly to new destinations. Among other improvements and innovations, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 also has reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions.

The 737 MAX 10 aircraft will comfortably accommodate 30 additional passengers when compared to the MAX 8 seating configuration, which accommodates up to 186 clients. This increase in passenger numbers will give GOL greater network flexibility and a competitive advantage over long-term costs, as the MAX 10 will have the lowest cost-per-seat of any single-aisle aircraft on the market. It expects to fly the first MAX 10 aircraft in its fleet in 2022.

In other news, the company announced it is launching direct flights from Brazil to U.S. destinations, including Miami and Orlando on November 4, 2018. The routes will be operated by Gol’s new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which can fly further.

The new routes to Florida will have four daily flight departures from Brasília and Fortaleza in Brazil. GOL’s route network ensures that Customers can make fast and efficient connections to and from a further 30 Latin American destinations.

Gol’s existing partnership with Delta Airlines (NYSE: DAL) will also allow the new flights to Florida to be connected to eight cities served by the North American airline: Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, New York LaGuardia, Detroit, Los Angeles, Indianapolis and Minneapolis.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Gol): Gol Transportes Aereos Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 PR-XMA (msn 43986) GRU (Rodrigo Cozzato). Image: 942795.

Gol aircraft slide show:

Delta continues international growth in Boston with new nonstop flights to Scotland

Delta Air Lines is adding another new international route from Boston, with a daily nonstop flight from Boston Logan International Airport to Edinburgh, Scotland, next summer.

The route will be the eighth nonstop trans-Atlantic destination from Boston on Delta and its partners during the summer 2019 season.

The new route complements Delta’s existing service between Boston and the U.K., which includes flights to London-Heathrow, offered both on Delta and joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic, as well as Virgin Atlantic’s service to Manchester.

The flying will operate on the following schedule effective May 23:

Boston Logan International Airport – Edinburgh Airport

Departs BOS at 10:15 p.m.
Arrives EDI at 9:25 a.m. (next day)

Edinburgh Airport – Boston Logan International Airport

Departs EDI at 10:55 a.m.
Arrives BOS at 1:02 p.m.

The onboard Delta experience will be on Boeing 757 aircraft equipped with 16 seats in Delta One, 44 seats Delta Comfort+ and 108 seats in the Main Cabin. Every seat includes access to Wi-Fi, free personal in-flight seatback entertainment screens and power ports as well as complimentary beverages, snacks and meals.

Edinburgh service follows recently announced nonstop service from Boston to Lisbon. Meanwhile, Delta’s Dublin service, which debuted in 2017, will operate on larger 767-300ER aircraft in 2019 due to increased demand.

Along with its partners, Delta operates 118 peak-day departures from Boston, an increase of 12 departures compared with 2017 and up 32 departures over 2016. Earlier this month, Delta marked its 49^th and 50^th nonstop destinations from Boston to Las Vegas and Philadelphia respectively – up from just 32 destinations from Boston in 2016.

Delta will serve a total of 16 international destinations from Boston in 2019. Additional Boston service enhancements made in 2018 include new service to Charleston, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Savanah; additional flights to top business markets Jacksonville, Atlanta, Tampa, Kansas City, Nashville, and Pittsburgh; and continued leisure expansion with new Saturday service to Aruba, marking Delta’s sixth destination in the Caribbean from Boston. Delta’s partner Virgin Atlantic offers service to London-Heathrow; partner KLM will begin nonstop Amsterdam service in March; and partner Korean Air will begin service to Seoul-Incheon in April.

Delta also serves Edinburgh from its New York-JFK hub.

Copyright Photo (all others by Delta): Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-232 WL N699DL (msn 29970) DCA (Brian McDonough). Image: 924146.

Delta aircraft slide show:

American Airlines adds second Memphis-Miami frequency at Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport has made this announcement:

American Airlines has added a second frequency between Memphis and Miami for passengers at Memphis-International Airport (MEM). The second route began on October 4.

For Memphis passengers, the additional flight will also open 25 new one-stop connections through Miami to the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The airline will use 50-seat Embraer ERJ 145 and 76-seat Embraer ERJ 175 aircraft for the route.

American Airlines offers nonstop flights between MEM and eight destinations, including Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C.

Updated schedule:

Memphis-Miami	Miami–Memphis
Departs: 6:24 am (CST) Arrives: 9:45 am (EST)	Departs: 9:50 am (EST) Arrives: 11:15 am (CST)
Departs: 11:59 am (CST) Arrives: 3:20 pm (EST)	Departs: 9:55 p.m. (EST) Arrives: 11:25 p.m. (CST)

Photo: MEM.

Kunming Airlines takes delivery of its first Boeing 737-8 MAX 8

Kunming Airlines has joined the Boeing 737 MAX Club with the delivery of its first Boeing 737-8 MAX 8.

The first MAX 8 will join Kunming’s Boeing 737 fleet of 25 airplanes and will use the MAX’s longer range capabilities to extend their network.

The airline commenced operations on February 15, 2009 from Kunming to Changsha and Harbin.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Boeing): Kunming Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 B-206Y (msn 43952) BFI (Joe G. Walker). Image: 943946.

Kunming aircraft slide show:

The Boeing 737 MAX Club:

British Airways is coming to Charleston, SC

British Airways has made this announcement:

Customers can swing their way to charming Charleston next summer as British Airways launches a new route to the soulful South Carolina city.

From April 4, 2019, British Airways will launch a two-per-week summer service from Heathrow, Terminal 5 and will be the only airline flying direct between Europe and the southern city.

The service will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Boeing has a factory in Charleston where they are currently building the 787-10 Dreamliner. British Airways will take delivery of 12 new Boeing 787-10s between 2020 and 2023.

The new route will take the number of US destinations the airline flies to from London next summer up to 29, and the number of daily flights offered by British Airways and American Airlines as part of their transatlantic joint business up to around 73 per day. The airline is also launching a four per week service to Pittsburgh from April 2019.

The flights will run on Thursdays and Sundays with the BA221 departing from Heathrow at 5.20pm, arriving into Charleston at 9.20pm that evening. The return flight BA220 will depart Charleston at 10.50pm, arriving into London at 11.50am, the following day.

· Flights will run from April 4 until October 24 2019.

· *As voted by readers of Conde Nast Traveller and Travel + Leisure magazine

Timetable

Sector	Day of the week	Departure time	Arrival time
LHR to CHS	Thursday and Sunday	17.20	21.20
CHS to LHR	Thursday and Sunday	22.50	11.50 (the next day)

Top Copyright Photo (all others by BA): British Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner G-ZBJJ (msn 60629) LHR (SPA). Image: 943936.

British aircraft slide show:

Air France-KLM Group presents its 2018 – 2019 winter schedule: 2.5% increase in capacity

Air France-KLM today made the following announcement:

For the 2018-2019 winter season (October 28, 2018 to March 30, 2019), Air France-KLM is increasing capacity by 2.5%* compared to the previous winter season and is pursuing its growth objectives in continuation of the summer season. This growth, mainly generated by a better use of the fleet, is broken down as follows:

– +2.8% for long-haul passenger operations,

– +1.1% for medium and short-haul passenger operations,

– +11.5% for Transavia’s low-cost operations.

Long-haul: +2.8%

On its long-haul network, Air France-KLM will offer 6 new routes this winter –

– 5 destinations on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle in continuation of the summer season: Seattle/Tacoma (USA), Taipei (Taiwan), Nairobi (Kenya) with Air France and Fortaleza (Brazil) and Mahé (Seychelles) with Joon, which will also continue to serve Cape Town (South Africa), Mumbai (India) and Cairo (Egypt), previously operated by Air France.

– 1 destination on departure from Amsterdam-Schiphol in continuation of the summer season: Fortaleza (Brazil) with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

North America

In the United States, Air France will continue to serve Seattle/Tacoma, inaugurated on March 25, throughout the winter season with 3 weekly flights. The company will increase its weekly frequencies to Detroit and New York, offering 7 and 28 weekly flights respectively. KLM will offer an additional weekly flight to Minneapolis (4 weekly flights).

In Canada, the Air France-KLM group will increase seat capacity by 10% from Europe. Customers will benefit from an additional flight to Montreal (13 weekly flights) with Air France. On departure from Amsterdam-Schiphol, they will benefit from 2 additional flights to Toronto (9 weekly flights) and an additional flight to Calgary (7 weekly flights) with KLM.

Central and South America and the Caribbean

In Costa Rica, Air France and KLM will operate an additional flight to San José, representing a 30%** capacity increase from Europe, with 4 weekly flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle and 3 weekly flights from Amsterdam-Schiphol throughout the winter season. A fourth frequency will be added during the peak season, from mid-December to January.

In Brazil, the Group will continue to serve Fortaleza with KLM and Joon, a destination that was inaugurated on May 3^rd by both airlines. Joon will increase its frequencies to the Brazilian destination with a total of 3 weekly flights. Air France will increase its seat capacity by 30% to Rio de Janeiro with 3 additional weekly flights (10 per week).

In Argentina, KLM will add a weekly frequency to offer customers a daily flight between Amsterdam-Schiphol and Buenos Aires.

In Colombia, the Bogota – Cartagena route will be operated 4 times weekly by KLM throughout the season. During the peak winter season, from December to February, customers will benefit from a fifth weekly frequency.

In the Caribbean, the Group will offer 3 times more seats between Europe and St. Martin – 4 additional flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and St. Martin with Air France (5 weekly flights) and an additional flight on the St. Martin – Curaçao route with KLM (3 weekly flights).

Asia and the Middle East

In Taiwan, Air France will continue its service from Paris-Charles de Gaulle in continuation of the summer season with 3 weekly flights.

In India, KLM will increase its flight frequencies to Mumbai and offer 4 weekly flights throughout the winter season. Joon will continue to serve Mumbai with a daily flight. In total, the Group will offer 32 weekly flights between Europe and India with Air France, KLM and Joon.

In Japan, Air France and KLM will offer customers an additional weekly flight to Osaka (5 and 7 flights per week respectively) on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol. Air France will also increase its frequencies to Tokyo-Haneda with 2 additional flights (12 weekly flights). The Group will thus increase its seat capacity to Japan by 8% for the winter season.

In Vietnam, Air France will offer an additional weekly flight to Ho Chi Minh City, i.e. 4 weekly flights, during the Christmas holiday period.

In Sri Lanka, KLM will adapt its flight schedule to the capital Colombo with 2 weekly flights.

In the United Arab Emirates, with 3 additional weekly flights on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and 2 additional flights from Amsterdam-Schiphol from next February, the Group will offer up to 19 flights per week between Dubai and its main hubs.

Africa and the Indian Ocean

In Egypt, Joon will continue to serve Cairo with a daily flight, a destination that was previously operated by Air France.

In Kenya, Air France will offer 3 weekly flights to Nairobi in continuation of the summer season. In total, Air France-KLM will offer 10 weekly services to Nairobi, with 3 on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle and 7 on departure from Amsterdam-Schiphol, in addition to the daily services operated by its partner Kenya Airways from both hubs.

In West Africa, Air France-KLM will increase capacity by 10%. To Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Accra (Ghana), customers will benefit from 2 and 4 additional flights respectively, for a total of one daily flight for each of these routes from Paris-Charles de Gaulle. To Lomé (Togo), Air France will offer a daily flight with 3 additional weekly flights in addition to the 4 weekly flights Paris – Niamey – Lomé.

In Sierra Leone and Liberia, KLM will cease its Freetown – Monrovia service on January 21, 2019.

In South Africa, Joon will continue to serve Cape Town with 5 weekly flights.

In the Seychelles, customers will benefit from 3 weekly flights to Mahé with Joon throughout the winter season.

In the Maldives, Air France will offer an additional flight to Malé, with a total of 3 weekly flights. KLM will continue to serve Mauritius with 3 non-stop weekly flights from Amsterdam-Schiphol, in addition to the non-stop Air France flights fromParis-Charles de Gaulle.

Medium- and short-haul: +1.1%.

On its medium- and short-haul network, the Air France-KLM Group will offer 20 new routes** from its main hubs and regions:

16 routes operated 1 to 14 times a week throughout the season:

– From Paris-Charles de Gaulle: Bari (Italy), Catania (Italy), Cork (Ireland), Lorient (France), Toulon (France) and Wroclaw (Poland) with AF as well as Bergen (Norway) with Joon.

– From Paris-Orly: La Rochelle (France) with HOP!

– From Amsterdam-Schiphol: Växjö (Sweden) with KLM

– From the French regions with HOP! Air France:

o From Caen: Geneva (Switzerland) and Marseille (France)

o From Lorient: Lyon (France)

o From Lille: Brest (France)

o From Metz-Nancy: Marseille (France)

o From Rennes: Brussels (Belgium) and Strasbourg (France)

4 routes operated once a week (mainly on weekends) during the French school holidays with HOP! Air France:

– Pau from Brest, Caen and Strasbourg (France)

– Geneva (Switzerland) from Brest (France)

For the first time, Joon will operate flights to Budapest (Hungary) and Bergen (Norway), previously operated by Air France, as well as Rome (Italy), Naples (Italy), Oslo (Norway) and Istanbul (Turkey) in continuation of the summer season. Joon, the new generation of travel by Air France, will offer a total of 10 destinations for the winter season on its medium-haul network.

Transavia: + 11.5%

Transavia will expand its network from all its bases in France and the Netherlands with 18 new routes**:

– From Eindhoven: Krakow (Poland)

– From Rotterdam: Nador (Morocco) and Lanzarote (Spain)

– From Amsterdam: Beirut (Lebanon) and Ovda (Israel)

– From Groningen: Tenerife (Spain)

– From Paris-Orly: Athens (Greece), Palermo (Italy), Rabat (Morocco) and Tenerife (Spain)

– From Nantes: Djerba (Tunisia), Monastir (Tunisia), Casablanca (Morocco), Rome (Italy), Seville (Spain), Tenerife (Spain) and Tel Aviv (Israel)

– From Lyon: Djerba (Tunisia)

On departure from the Netherlands, the Group’s low-cost airline will increase capacity by 3.8% and by 25% on departure from France.

A modernized fleet and new cabins

Air France-KLM is continuing its investments in order to offer its customers the latest generation aircraft and the best travel cabins.

For the 2018-2019 winter season, the Group will fly to 29 destinations by Boeing 787 with Air France and KLM:

From Paris-Charles de Gaulle: Boston and Detroit (United States), Bogota (Colombia), Panama (Panama), Guangzhou (China), Osaka (Japan), Bamako (Senegal), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Nairobi (Kenya), Malé (Maldives).
From Amsterdam-Schiphol: Toronto, Calgary (Canada), Minneapolis, New York, Washington, Atlanta, Houston and San Francisco (United States), San Jose (Costa Rica), Bogota – Cartagena (Colombia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Mauritius (Republic of Mauritius), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Mumbai (India), Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xiamen (China) and Osaka (Japan).

The Air France Airbus A380 will also take off to 7 destinations: New York, Los Angeles and Miami (United States), Mexico City (Mexico), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Johannesburg (South Africa), and Shanghai (China).

Air France will offer its customers the opportunity to enjoy the latest new travel cabins on board 51% of its long-haul flights by the end of the winter season: 1 Airbus A330, 7 Boeing 787, 25 Boeing 777-200 and 19 Boeing 777-300 aircraft. In addition, next January, Air France’s first renovated Airbus A330 will unveil its brand new Business, Premium Economy and Economy long-haul travel cabins on flights to Houston (United States), Accra (Ghana) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). A total of 15 Airbus A330s will be refurbished by the beginning of 2020.

KLM is also continuing to deploy its new World Business Class and Economy cabins. As from January 2019:

all KLM long-haul flights will offer the new World Business Class, equipped with full flat seats.
all Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Airbus A330 aircraft will be equipped with the new Economy cabins.

Joon also offers its customers its latest travel cabins on board its 4 Airbus A340s, which will fly to Cairo (Egypt), Cape Town (South Africa), Fortaleza (Brazil), Mumbai (India) and Mahé (Seychelles) throughout the winter season.

Finally, Transavia France is continuing to expand and will take delivery of a 34th new Boeing 737 in its fleet in December 2018.

*Capacity measured in available seat-kilometres compared to the 2017-2018 winter schedule.

**Compared to the 2017-2018 winter season.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by the group): Transavia Airlines (Netherlands) Boeing 737-800 WL PH-HXK (msn 62157) ZRH (Andi Hiltl). Image: 943966.

Transavia (Netherlands) aircraft slide show:

Southern Airways Express expands in Florida

Southern Airways Express in November is establishing a new base in West Palm Beach. On November 8 the commuter carrier will launch flights from PBI to both Tampa and Key West.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Southern Airways Express): Southern Airways Express Cessna 208B Grand Caravan N807JA (msn 20800075) BWI (Tony Storck). Image: 939174.

Aircraft slide show:

Route Maps: