Juneyao Airlines takes delivery of first Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Juneyao Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The first Boeing 787-9 (B-1115) was handed over at a ceremony at Paine Field on October 15, 2018.

Finally on October 19, 2018 made its formal announcement of the handover:

Boeing delivered the first 787-9 Dreamliner for Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines. The new, super-efficient Dreamliner will also be the first widebody commercial jet operated by a privately-held Chinese airline.

Juneyao Airlines, previously an all-Airbus operator, mainly offers flights from Shanghai to more than 50 cities across China. In introducing the long-range 787 Dreamliner, the carrier is looking to expand its international network and increase flights to Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea.

The 787-9 is part of a family of three airplanes that offer long ranges and unmatched fuel efficiency in the 200 to 350 seat market. The 787-9 can carry 290 passengers and fly up to 7,635 nautical miles (14,140 km), while reducing fuel use and emissions by 20 to 25 percent compared to older airplanes. Passengers will appreciate a more comfortable flight thanks to the Dreamliner’s large windows, lower cabin altitude, smooth-ride technology, and other amenities.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Juneyao): Juneyao Air Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner B-1115 (msn 64312) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 943660.

Juneyao aircraft slide show:

Ethiopian to resume flights to Mogadishu after 41 years

Ethiopian Airlines has announced the resumption of its flight to Mogadishu, Somalia, effective November 2, 2018.

Flight Number

Effective Date

Frequency

Departure Arrival

Departure Time

Arrival Airport

Arrival Time

Fleet

ET 0376

page1image2916960

2-Nov-18

page1image3744064

Mon, Wed, Fri

ADD

10:00

MGQ

page1image3747600

11:30

page1image3748640

ET DH8

page1image3750096

ET 0377

page1image3751760

2-Nov-18

page1image3752384

Mon, Wed, Fri

MGQ

12:10

ADD

page1image3754256

13:40

page1image3754880

ET DH8

page1image3755712

The resumption of the service to Somalia came 41 years after Ethiopian Airlines Group stopped its route to Mogadishu in the 1970s.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Ethiopian Airlines): Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-860 WL ET-APL (msn 40965) ARN (Stefan Sjogren). Image: 937583.

Ethiopian aircraft slide show:

United Airlines bolsters domestic network: Adds 22 new routes for 2019

https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-USA6/United-Airlines-NC-Boeing/i-f8PhhxV/A

United Airlines today announced it is continuing to strengthen its domestic route network by offering more ways for customers to connect to 22 destinations from six of its U.S. hubs.

The airline also announced it will begin nonstop service to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, from Chicago, Newark and Washington, D.C. (Dulles).

Maximizing the Unique Strengths of its East Coast hubs

Beginning this month, United’s enhanced East Coast schedule, announced in May, takes effect. The adjustments maximize the airline’s unique strengths of its East Coast hubs in Newark and Washington Dulles. The additional routes announced today will continue optimizing access to key business and leisure destinations from Newark while shifting short-haul connecting flights to Washington Dulles.

United is shifting shorter-haul flights to Elmira, New York; Lexington, Kentucky; and Manchester, New Hampshire from Newark to its Washington Dulles hub. Additionally, United will introduce new nonstop service between Washington Dulles and Asheville, North Carolina.

Growing California’s global airline in Los Angeles and San Francisco

United Airlines, California’s global airline, offers customers more destinations within California than any other airline and serves more U.S. destinations from San Francisco than any other U.S. airline.

Beginning June 6, 2019, United will begin nonstop service between San Francisco and Columbus, Ohio.

From its hub at Los Angeles International Airport, United will begin nonstop service to Eugene, Oregon; Madison, Wisconsin; and Pasco/Tri-Cities, Washington, beginning March 31, 2019.

Enhancing United’s mid-continent hub operations in Chicago and Denver

Beginning April 6, 2019, United will begin nonstop weekend service between Chicago O’Hare and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. United is the only airline offering nonstop service between Chicago and Hilton Head Island.

From O’Hare, United operates more flights than any other airline. Earlier this year, United made schedule improvements at its Chicago hub to enable more departures and more connections while reducing the amount of time customers spend waiting at the airport.

United announced last week its enhanced schedule offering at Denver International Airport, the airline’s fastest growing hub, offering more flights, better flight times and more connections. United also announced it will begin new service between Denver and Charleston, South Carolina; Eureka, California; and Fairbanks, Alaska.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by United): United Airlines Boeing 737-924 ER SSWL N66837 (msn 60122) (50 Years-Special Olympics) BWI (Tony Storck). Image: 943455.

United aircraft slide show:

SAS introduces premium dining for SAS Go travelers

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS has made this announcement:

SAS now gives SAS Go travelers the chance to upgrade their dining experience by pre-ordering premium menus on long haul flights. Aiming to further enhance the personalisation of the airlines’ on-board experience, the initiative is also in line with the development of the next generation of traveling and a part of SAS’s environmental and sustainability work.

We believe true travelers wish to add that little extra element to their flying experience. Therefore, SAS now introduces the possibility to enhance the dining experience on board, also when traveling in SAS Go.

Starting from November 2018, SAS Go travelers on long haul flights can pre-order a premium menu to upgrade and enhance their dining experience.

Karl Sandlund, Executive Vice President Commercial comments, “Our new tailored pre-order concept is part of our strategy to strengthen our on board service, delivering innovative and personalised services that we know our customer value. SAS always strive to be at the forefront of innovation and to pioneer the next generation of travelling, and we are glad to introduce carefully selected and brand new premium dining experiences for our passengers on our long haul flights”.

Travelers will be able to choose from four freshly prepared menus. Each is a ‘Premium set menu’, featuring original, fresh dishes, including a seasonal starter, main course and dessert, as well as a choice of two drinks from a listed selection. In addition, the cutlery and glasses offered alongside our menus are exclusively designed for SAS, in partnership with top Scandinavian designers.

New travel trend

Trend analysis and forecasts currently show that the demand for tailor made travel experiences and pre-ordering has grown and is predicted to increase still further going forward. In response to this trend, SAS’s pre-order concept is being introduced onto long haul flights, following its successful introduction onto short haul flights.

As well as delivering a personalised service, pre-ordering is also a part of SAS’ environmental and sustainability work, helping the loading of fresh food to be more accurate, minimizing food waste and weight on board.

Karl Sandlund comments, “Our new premium pre-order concept has been introduced in response to trend data and customer feedback. A pioneering concept in the travel industry, our vision is to continuously develop and explore new ways to make life easier for our travelers, by offering innovative and desired services”.

SAS introduced pre-order on short haul flights in 2016 and the concept’s popularity has grown since launch. In 2017, day and evening options for pre-order in SAS Go was extended to include a choice of 11 meals, leading to demand growing by 25%, totalling 120,000 meals served per year.

In 2018 SAS extended the option to pre-order from day and evening menus on flights in Scandinavia and Europe, extending the service to all flights with a minimum of 80 minutes, reduced from previously flights of 120 minutes or longer, doubling the number or European flights with pre-order options. Pre-order is now offered on a total of approximately 80,000 SAS flights per year, with SAS expecting demand to grow as it works to further improve and expand the offer.

General facts

Prices for the new “Premium set menus” start from SEK 190 / NOK 190 /DKK 150 / EUR 19 / USD 23

Pre-ordering your meals when traveling with SAS is easy. Travelers can easily arrange it when booking a flight, or choose to do so at a later stage by logging in to the “My bookings” page at the SAS website.

If travelers choose to pre-order, the ordinary included meal on SAS Go will be replaced by the selected premium meal. The second meal served before landing is not affected by the order.

All photos by SAS.

Boeing and Flightdocs enter exclusive partnership

Boeing and Flightdocs have entered into a multi-year agreement to exclusively market and sell the Flightdocs Enterprise platform, a full-service maintenance, compliance and inventory management solution for the business and general aviation market.

The companies have also entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to integrate the Flightdocs Enterprise platform with Boeing Global Services’ portfolio of companies, products and services including Aviall, Inventory Locator Services, and Jeppesen.

“We are excited to partner with Boeing, the recognized leader in aviation worldwide,” stated Rick Heine, CEO of Flightdocs. “Together, we are working towards delivering incredible, integrated tools that will transform business and general aviation operations by offering efficiency and cost savings to operators of all brands and aircraft types across the globe.”

This partnership strengthens Boeing Global Services’ broad portfolio of products of services with Flightdocs’ industry-leading, cloud-based aviation maintenance, compliance and inventory management Software as a Service (SaaS) solution.

“Our exclusive agreement with Flightdocs will deliver end-to-end, industry-first solutions to business and general aviation operators,” said William Ampofo, Vice President, Business & General Aviation, Boeing Global Services. “We look forward to exploring future expansion of our partnership as we collaborate on innovative solutions for this market.”

Boeing and Flightdocs will exhibit at the 2018 National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) being held at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center October 16-18.

Operating as one of Boeing’s three business units, Global Services is headquartered in the Dallas area.

Flightdocs provides mission-critical cloud-based maintenance, compliance and inventory management Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to the aviation industry. The company’s solutions assist aircraft owners and operators in tracking and managing the maintenance and airworthiness of their aircraft, comply with rigorous safety rules and regulatory guidelines, reduce costs, mitigate risks and minimize asset downtime. Flightdocs’ customers include Fortune 1000 corporate flight departments, air charters, air medical providers, fractional aircraft operators, government agencies, and regional carriers. Headquartered in Bonita Springs, Florida, Flightdocs has been serving the aviation industry for over 15 years.

Delta to drop the following routes

Delta Air Lines has or is planning to drop nine routes according to Airline Route:

Cincinnati – Milwaukee – November 25, 2018
Cincinnati – Nashville – already dropped on September 28, 2018
Detroit – Akron/Canton – November 26, 2018
Detroit – Peoria -November 26, 2018
Los Angeles – Oakland – already dropped September 30, 2018
Minneapolis/St. Paul – Bloomington – November 26, 2018
Minneapolis/St. Paul – Flint – November 25, 2018
Minneapolis/St. Paul – West Palm Beach – January 2, 2019
New York JFK – Bangor – November 25, 2018

Copyright Photo (all others by Delta): Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-932 ER WL N812DN (msn 31923) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 943933.

Delta aircraft slide show:

American Airlines new Flagship Burger

This weekend, chefs, culinary experts and foodies gathered at the New York City Wine & Food Festival (NYCWFF) to celebrate the best of the culinary world and try some tasty burgers, including American’s very own Flagship Burger.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/294887279

As the official airline sponsor of NYCWFF, American was onsite all weekend celebrating with attendees in its Flagship-themed lounge and participated in the annual burger competition Friday. The popular rooftop party, where chefs and restaurants show off their burger skills, included more than 30 of NYC’s best burgers and featured American’s Flagship Burger.

“We knew we had something special with the Flagship Burger and were excited and proud to be the first airline to have its burger entered into the New York City Wine & Food Festival contest,” said Janelle Anderson, vice president of Marketing for American. “The Flagship Burger was created with local professional chefs and first launched when we opened our restaurant style lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) last year. We had fun being a part of the competition and know we put up a good fight.”

The NYCWFF burger competition has two awards — a people’s choice award and a winner picked by a panel of judges who participate in a blind tasting. This year’s judges included Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka, Geoffrey Zakarian, Rachael Ray and Andrew Zimmern. The people’s choice award is decided by the festival attendees who have the chance to taste all of the burgers participating and vote for their favorite.

Professional chefs designed the Flagship Burger using locally sourced ingredients, and the burger made its debut in May 2017 at Flagship First Dining at JFK. American celebrated the opening of its premium lounge and showed off the Flagship Burger to customers and media, including Travel + Leisure who called it the “best airport burger.”

The Flagship Burger is available in Flagship First Dining locations at JFK, Miami International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. Flagship First Dining is open to customers traveling in first class on a transcontinental or long-haul international route.

American continues to invest in the premium experience and plans to open the next Flagship Lounge and Flagship First Dining at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in 2019.

American Airlines Chef John Ogden presented NYCWFF attendees with the signature Flagship Burger.

The Flagship Burger presented at NYCWFF’s annual burger competition.

Boeing, Air Lease Corporation, deliver S7 Airlines’ first 737 MAX

Boeing, Air Lease Corporation (ALC), and S7 Airlines celebrated the delivery of the airline’s first 737 MAX, via lease from ALC.

S7, operated by Globus Airlines, becomes the first Russian airline to fly the new and improved 737 airplane. S7 plans to take 10 more 737 MAX jets over the next few years as part of its strategic plan to strengthen its airplane fleet.

The 737 MAX 8 is part of a family of airplanes that offer from about 130 to 230 seats and the ability to fly up to 3,850 nautical miles (7,130 kilometers). The MAX 8, in particular, can seat up to 178 passengers in a standard configuration and features the popular Boeing Sky Interior. The airplane helps reduce fuel use and emissions by 14 percent compared to previous airplanes, outperforming the competition by 8 percent when it comes to operating costs per seat.

The 737 MAX is the fastest-selling airplane in Boeing history with more than 4,700 orders from 104 customers worldwide.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by S7 Airlines): S7 Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 VQ-BGW (msn 43302) BFI (Joe G. Walker). Image: 943925.

S7 Airlines aircraft slide show:

Azores Airlines to retire the last Airbus A310

Azores Airlines tomorrow (October 15) will operate the last Airbus A310 revenue flight with CS-TGV.

The airline made this short announcement on social media:

On October 15, the last aircraft of Azores Airlines’ A310 fleet makes its last flight.

It is a 19-year cycle, almost two decades to transport thousands of passengers to the most diverse destinations.

Thank you to all who caressed this distinguished fleet!

Note: The Airbus A310 fleet did not receive the name and livery change to Azores Airlines due to the pending retirement of the last A310.

Video:

Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline): SATA Internacional Airbus A310-304 CS-TGV (msn 651) YYZ (TMK Photography). Image: 900159.

Above Copyright Photo: SATA Internacional Airbus A310-325 CS-TKN (msn 624) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 913257.

SATA aircraft slide show:

Bottom Copyright Photo: SATA Internacional Airbus A310-304 CS-TGV (msn 651) YYZ (TMK Photography). Image: 904604.

Lufthansa CityLine to fly the Airbus A319

Lufthansa Group has made this announcement:

Lufthansa CityLine and pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit have agreed on new employment conditions for their approx. 650 pilots. The collective bargaining agreement sets the stage for the introduction of a new, future-proof aircraft type at Lufthansa CityLine.

Come 2019, Lufthansa CityLine will start operating A320 family planes taken over from Lufthansa.

The first Airbus A319-100 aircraft will depart from the Munich hub next spring. Another 5 aircraft will follow by the end of 2020.

“Lufthansa CityLine has been handling an important part of our feeder traffic at the hubs in Munich and Frankfurt for many years,” says Wilken Bormann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Lufthansa CityLine and CEO of Lufthansa Hub Munich. “Entering the A320 segment is a logical next step. With the new collective agreement, both negotiating partners have illustrated their will to jointly develop Lufthansa CityLine as a key component of the Lufthansa Group.”

The parties have agreed on an extensive package. It includes, among other things, a moderate salary increase for the next three years and a growth-related increase for 2021. Essential points of the structure of the company pension plan will be adapted to the regulations for Lufthansa’s mainline staff. Another key aspect is the optimization of the training roadmap for its pilots. The package thus opens up important new growth prospects.

Lufthansa CityLine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and a specialist in hub traffic at the two hubs of Frankfurt and Munich. Every year, the airline welcomes around eight million passengers aboard its roughly 50 aircraft. The fleet takes off to around 80 airports in over 24 countries more than 300 times a day. Lufthansa CityLine employs about 2,200 people.

All photos by Lufthansa.