UPS Airlines’ pilots have ratified a two-year extension of their contract according to the company.
UPS aircraft photo gallery:
Air Arabia reports a solid first half of 2022, net profit of AED 451 million
Air Arabia (PJSC), the Middle East and North Africaโs first and largest low-cost carrier operator, today reported a strong first half (January to June) 2022 as recovery in demand for air travel continued.
Air Arabia reported a net profit of AED 451 million for the first six months ending June 30, 2022, compared to AED 44 million registered in the corresponding first half 2021. In the same period, the airline posted a turnover of AED 2.24 billion, a 110 per cent increase compared to the corresponding first half of last year.
More than 5.2 million passengers flew with Air Arabia between January and June 2022 across the carrierโs five hubs, an increase of 131 per cent compared to the same period last year. The airlineโs average seat load factor โ or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats โ increased by 11 per cent during the first six months of 2022 and stood an average at 79 per cent.
During the second quarter ending June 30, 2022, Air Arabia registered a net profit of AED 160 million, compared to AED 10 million net profit reported for the same period last year. The companyโs turnover for the second quarter of 2022 increased by 125 per cent as demand for air travel increased registering an AED 1.11 billion, compared to AED 496 million in the corresponding period last year.
More than 2.7 million passengers flew with Air Arabia between March and June 2022 across the carrierโs five hubs, an increase of 195 percent compared the same quarter last year. The airlineโs average seat load factor increased by 13 per cent during the second quarter of 2022 and stood at an impressive average of 79 per cent.
During the first half of the year, Air Arabia added 6 new aircraft to its fleet and expanded its network by launching 16 new routes across its hubs in the UAE, Morocco, and Egypt. Air Arabia also unveiled the brand identity of its latest two ventures โFly Arnaโ and โFly Jinnahโ in Armenia and Pakistan respectively.
In June, Fly Arna received it Air Operating Certificate and in July, the carrier celebrated the launch of its operations with direct flights connecting Yerevan to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
In the first half of the year, Air Arabia fully resumed its city check-in across the UAE and was named โAirline of the yearโ at the Air Transport Awards 2022. In March, the carrier won the โFour-Star Low-Cost Carrier 2022โ rating by APEX – The Airline Passenger Experience Association.
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Air Arabia (Morocco) aircraft photo gallery:
IPS Airways hopes to fly from Leeds/Bradford to Pakistan
IPS Airways is a new UK-based airline that is looking to start up direct flights between Leeds/Bradford (East Midlands) to Lahore/Islamabad, Pakistan.
The prospective airline is planning to utilize Airbus A330-200 aircraft starting this fall.
The upsatrt describes its goals:
IPS Airways have a highly professional management team that combines vision; realism; financial ability; solid knowledge of the aviation business; familiarity with, and belief in, the utilization and benefits of the latest aviation, electronic, and informational technologies; on-the-ground knowledge of the region and markets to be served; realization of the crucial importance of an organization’s personnel to its success; and total familiarity with, and commitment to, the overall mission and goals of ย IPS Airways.
We aim to ensure the highest level of service, operations, and safety, all based around the needs, wants, comfort, and convenience of the passenger and the cargo client. This combination of technology, service orientation, and quality oversight will help build the strong customer satisfaction and excellent reputation that will enable IPS Airways to build a solid operation. IPS Airways will operate an Airbus A330 fleet that offers a high level of comfort and safety.
Norse Atlantic Airways celebrates its inaugural flight from London Gatwick to New York JFK
Norse Atlantic Airways on August 12 celebrated the inaugural flight between London Gatwick and New York JFK marking a new era for UK customers seeking affordable transatlantic travel between the UK and the US.
Additionally, on the same day, Norse Atlantic launched flights between London Gatwick and Osloย allowing customers the ability to purchase tickets as part of a continuous service between Oslo and New York via London. The daily late morning flights between London and Oslo, operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliners offering both our Premium and Economy cabins, are available to book now with fares from only ยฃ74 return including taxes. Our London to Oslo flights will not only provide the most comfortable option to travel to Norway they will also allow UK customers to take advantage of our flights from Oslo to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Los Angeles.
Norse Atlantic Airways recently announced that customers looking to explore the world for less now have access to even greater choice and convenience following the launch of the airlineโs connectivity partnership with easyJet, Norwegian and Spirit Airlines. The virtual interline agreement, powered by Dohop, will provide over 600 weekly connections to Norseโs transatlantic services at our key international hubs Oslo, London, Berlin, New York, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Los Angeles.
The large and spacious Boeing 787 Dreamliner cabin offers passengers a relaxed and comfortable travel experience with each seat including a personal state of the art entertainment experience. Our Premium cabin offers an industry leading 43โ seat pitch and 12โ recline allowing passengers to arrive at their destination feeling refreshed and ready to explore their destination.
Norse Atlantic offers two cabin choices, Economy and Premium. Passengers can choose from a simple range of fares, Light, Classic and Plus, that reflect the way that they want to travel, and which options are important to them. Light fares represent Norseโs value option while Plus fares include the maximum baggage allowance, two meal services an enhanced airport and onboard experience and increased ticket flexibility.
Fares to New York start from ยฃ357 return for the remainder of the summer schedule, including all applicable taxes. Norse Atlantic will offer a daily service between the UK and the US. Other US destinations will be announced soon.
Norse Atlantic aircarft photo gallery:
Emirates enhances its inflight customer experience
Emirates has made this announcement:
Priding itself on a brand promise of โFly Betterโ, Emirates is investing over US$ 2 billion to enhance its inflight customer experience, including a massive programme to retrofit over 120 aircraft with the latest interiors, plus an array of other service improvements across all cabins starting in 2022.
Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: โWhile others respond to industry pressures with cost cuts, Emirates is flying against the grain and investing to deliver ever better experiences to our customers. Through the pandemic weโve continued to launch new services and initiatives to ensure our customers travel with the assurance and ease, including digital initiatives to improve customer experiences on the ground. Now weโre rolling out a series of intensive programmes to take Emiratesโ signature inflight experiences to the next level.โ
Some of Emiratesโ latest initiatives include: elevated meal choices, a brand new vegan menu, a โcinema in the skyโ experience, cabin interior upgrades, sustainable choices and a generous approach to the little touches that make travel memorable.
Starting from August, Emiratesโ passengers can look forward to:
New Inspirations, New Menus: ย An award-winning team of chefs, a world-class catering team and a wide variety of suppliers have been assembled to design and deliver the best fine dining experience in the sky. New menus will be served on select Emirates routes in First Class, featuring dishes such as pan-fried salmon trout with moqueca sauce and creole rice, roasted duck breast with orange thyme jus, steamed broccolini and fondant potatoes. New menus will also be introduced to Business and Economy on the 1st of September.
Purposefully Vegan Choices: Emiratesโ new vegan menu is carefully curated to cater to the growing numbers of customers pursuing this thoughtful lifestyle. Vegans, or anyone interested in a delicious and healthy plant-based meal, will enjoy handcrafted gourmet dishes such as pan-roasted king oyster mushrooms, flavoursome jackfruit biryani and sliced kohlrabi garnished with burnt orange. Desserts are a decadent affair with choices of chocolate truffle cake with hazelnut, pistachio and gold leaf, or green grape tart adorned with candied rose petals, vanilla custard, and berry compote glistening with yuzu pearls.
The Champagne and Caviar Experience: Emiratesโ First Class experience, always a benchmark for service excellence, has been upped a notch in 2022. Customers can now savour unlimited portions of Persian caviar as part of the โdine on demandโ service, with an exquisite pairing of the world-renowned Dom Perignon vintage champagne. Emirates is the only airline with an exclusive agreement to offer the luxury brand on-board.
Cinema in the Sky: First Class customers can create a memorable movie moment on-board by ordering cinema snacks as they enjoy the 5,000 channels on Emiratesโ ice inflight entertainment system. The cinema snack menu includes moreish classics such as lobster rolls, juicy sliders, edamame, and salted popcorn, and can be ordered on demand. All passengers can also curate their own ice experience before their flight, simply by browsing and pre-selecting movies or TV shows on the Emirates app, which can then be synced to ice the moment they board, maximising the seamless travel experience.
Farm to Fork – Sustainable Supply Chain: Emiratesโ customers departing on flights from Dubai can begin crunching on fresh greens harvested from Bustanica, the worldโs largest vertical farm and newly-opened US$40 million joint venture investment through Emirates Flight Catering. Emirates is continuing to invest in sustainable operations and supply chains, seeking local food suppliers and farms wherever possible to serve the freshest produce on board.
Specialised Hospitality Training for Cabin Crew: Emirates has partnered with Ecole hรดteliรจre de Lausanne, one of the worldโs top hospitality management schools, to craft the Emirates Hospitality strategy and encourage inspiring customer experiences. Emirates Cabin Crew have already begun engaging in intensive training programmes focused on delivering the four service pillars: Excellence, Attentiveness, Innovation and Passion.
Upgraded Cabin Interiors in all Classes: The most significant investment is an extensive and record-breaking refurbishment of the aircraft fleet interiors, where cabins will be retrofitted with new or reupholstered seats, new panelling, flooring and other cabin features. Benefitting all Emirates passengers, every cabin class will be refreshed and new Premium Economy cabins installed. After the retrofit, Emirates will have a total of 120 aircraft offering Premium Economy seats โ the only airline in the region to offer this cabin class, and enhanced interiors and features across all other cabins. With its first aircraft scheduled to roll into the Emirates Engineering Centre for retrofitting in November, planning work and trials have begun in earnest.
Additionally, Emirates confirms there will be more announcements about new products and services in the near future.
Emirates aircraft photo gallery:
LATAM projects to reach 81% operation in August with a challenging regional reactivation environment
LATAM Group projects a passenger operation of 81% for August (measured in available seat kilometers – ASK) compared to the same period in 2019 (pre-pandemic scenario). In the domestic markets, while Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, and Colombia exceeded pre-pandemic levels, Chile is the one with the least recovery, reaching only 76%.
This month, the group plans the resumption of the emblematic route between Santiago de Chile and Easter Island/Rapa Nui, and the start of operations between Saฬo Paulo/Guarulhos and Presidente Prudente. LATAM groupโs cargo operations are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels of capacity (measured in ATKs) during August, with the progressive fleet expansion to continue during the next few months.
LATAM expects to operate approximately 1249 daily domestic and international flights during August, connecting 135 destinations in 22 countries.
The groupโs cargo business has scheduled more than 1,280 flights on cargo freighters. These projections are subject to the evolution of the pandemic in the countries where the group operates.
In July 2022, passenger traffic (measured in revenue passenger-kilometers – RPK) was 77.8% in relation to the same period in 2019, based on an operation of 79.7% compared to July 2019 (measured in ASK – available seat kilometers.) As a result, the load factor decreased 2.1 percentage points, reaching 82.4%.
The load factor of cargo operations was 54.9%, which corresponds to an increase of 2.0 percentage points compared to July 2019.
LATAM Group Operational Estimate โ August 2022
(Passenger operations measured in ASK / Cargo operations measured in ATK)
|
Brazil |
โ 89% projected operation (versus August 2019). July 2022 projection reference: 88% โ 107% domestic and 69% international average) and 20 international โ Updates: flights/week) |
|
Chile |
โ Domestic: Restart Santiago de Chile – Easter Island/Rapa Nui route (2 flights/week) |
|
Colombia |
โ 109% projected operation (versus August 2019). July 2022 projection reference: 107% โ 132% domestic and 83% international average) and 5 international |
|
Ecuador |
โ 51% projected operation (versus August 2019). July 2022 projection reference: 50% โ 134% domestic and 29% international average) and 3 international |
|
Peru |
โ 78% projected operation (versus August 2019). July 2022 projection reference: 76% โ 90% domestic and 73% international average) and 26 international |
|
Cargo |
โ 100% projected operation (versus August 2019). July 2022 projection reference: 96%
|
*Belly: merchandise transported in the cargo hold (lower deck) of the aircraft.
Operational Estimate by Segment vs. 2019 โ August 2022
(Measured in ASK)
Note: While Argentina’s domestic operations are considered in the 2019 operational statistics above, LATAM announced the indefinite cessation of its domestic passenger and cargo operations in Argentina on June 17, 2020.
LATAM Airlines (Chile) aircraft photo gallery:
aha! inaugurates new nonstop service between Idaho Falls and Reno-Tahoe
aha!,ย powered by veteran ExpressJet Airlines and one of the fastest growing airlines in the Western U.S., on August 11 inaugurated new nonstop service between Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA) and Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) โ connecting Eastern Idaho with the tourism-rich areas of beautiful Lake Tahoeand the “Biggest Little City in the World.”
The RNO-IDA flight departs Reno-Tahoe airport on Thursdays and Sundays at 7:40am PT and arrives in Idaho Falls at 10:15am MT. The return IDA-RNO flight departs Idaho Falls at 10:55am MT and arrives in Reno at 11:30am PT. All flights are operated with the 50-seat Embraer ERJ145 regional jet.
aha!, short for air-hotel-adventure, flies from 10 exciting cities throughout California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Among the other destinations connected nonstop to Reno-Tahoe are: Fresno/Yosemite, Ontario/Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Santa Rosa/Napa Valley, Spokane and Bend/Redmond.
United to launch new platforms for corporate customers to fully customize and manage business travel programs
United Airlines on August 11 announced a new platform that will allow corporate customers to fully customize their business travel program contracts with the airline. This could include higher status in United’s loyalty programs including United Corporate Preferred, the airline’s loyalty program for corporate customers; options to make working while traveling easier, including reserving more spacious seats in Economy Plusยฎ and wi-fi access; and incentives like discounts on leisure travel for employees.
In an innovative shift from discounted airfare being the only option available during the contracting process, customers will now be able to work with a United sales representative to choose from the airline’s extensive product catalog to design a program that best fits their business travel needs. With the additional ability to customize these options down to individual flights, travelers and destinations, United is set to be the first airline to offer this level of customization in the contracting process through its new platform, United for Business Blueprint, which is scheduled to launch in late 2022.
In addition to launching United for Business Blueprint, Unitedย willย begin rolling out a new website in late 2022 that will make it easier for companies who book business travel on united.com or the United app toย enroll in and manage their travel program. The site will have one of the most intuitive sign-up processes in the industry. With just a few clicks, customers can register with United for Business, browse programs and enroll in an option that best meets their business travel needs. Customers will gain access to a variety of new capabilities, including the ability to easily rebook and exchange travel and view and use future flight credits. Customers will also be able to view reports on travel activity based on money spent or trips taken, with the option to filter based by date of travel, origin, destination and more. New customizable booking and payment settings will also give travel administrators more choice in the payment options and spending guidelines they set for their travelers. The site was designed with small businesses in mind but will also bring great value to larger organizations that book their business travel through united.com or the United app.
United Airlines aircraft photo gallery:
Alaska Airlines corporate sustainable aviation fuels program adds Deloitte as participant with business travel emissions-reduction agreement
Alaska Airlines and Deloitte on August 11 announced an agreement to advance purchase and use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) through Alaska’s new corporate SAF program, part of the company’s Ever Green program to advance environmental sustainability. As a participant in the program, Deloitte will reduce the emissions of their business travel with Alaska by approximately 1,050 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Alaska and Deloitte will collaborate on the purchase of SAF certificates which provide an accounting framework to expand the market for SAF and capture the emissions reduction value for corporate purchasers.
By Chad Slattery.
SAF is currently available in volumes amounting to less than one percent of total fuel use but is a safe, certified fuel that meets all jet fuel standards and can reduce carbon emissions by as much as 80% on a lifecycle basis. Through their corporate SAF program, Alaska intends to address some of the key barriers to scaling SAF production such as feedstock accessibility, facilities, transportation and storage, pricing, engine infrastructure and demand from operations and customers.
Alaska Airlines aircraft photo gallery (Airbus):
Alaska Airlines launches new program to advance sustainable aviation fuels through corporate partnerships, shared learning
Alaska Airlines is taking the next step in advancing sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) as part of Alaska’s Ever Green program for improvements in environmental sustainability. On August 11 Alaska launched a program to engage its corporate customers in the decarbonization journey through purchase of SAF credits and continued efforts to expand education and awareness about opportunities to improve the sustainability of business travel including through use of SAF. The program builds on a first-in-the-US program launched with Microsoft in 2020 to reduce corporate business travel emissions through corporate partnerships.
The program launches with participation from Microsoft, Boeing and Washington State University (WSU). Microsoft has also committed to reducing the scope 3 emissions of their business travel with Alaska. Program participants will further deepen the experience with pilot book and claim systems and build upon those efforts to advance awareness and education on sustainable travel topics among all corporate customers.
Alaska’s program includes Boeing and WSU as aviation and academic value chain partners to share knowledge and advancements in sustainable business travel with corporate participants. Together, participants will collaborate to advance sustainability in business travel, increase education and awareness, and identify and act on opportunities for collective action.
“WSU has long been a national leader in climate and sustainability research, including in the development and adoption of SAF,” said Kirk Schulz, president of WSU. “We look forward to supporting this coalition of forward-looking companies committed to decarbonizing air travel.”
SAF is currently available in volumes amounting to less than one percent of total fuel use but is a safe, certified fuel that meets all jet fuel standards and can reduce carbon emissions by as much as 80% on a lifecycle basis. Through the program, Alaska intends to expand understanding of and action to address some of the key barriers to scaling SAF production such as feedstock accessibility, facilities, transportation and storage, pricing, engine infrastructure and demand from operations and customers. Additionally, participants may tackle other topics related to sustainability in travel.
Last year, Alaska announced its commitment and five-part roadmap to reduce the company’s carbon emissions to net-zero by 2040, including SAF as the most significant opportunity to reduce carbon emissions over the next few decades. Additionally, Alaska set 2025 goals to improve its impact relative to carbon, waste, and water.
Alaska Airlines aircraft photo gallery:
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