Tag Archives: 777-300

Cathay Pacific launches nonstop Boston – Hong Kong flights

Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong) on May 3 launched a new four-times-weekly service from Boston Logan International Airport to Hong Kong with a first flight celebration that included a traditional lion dance and traditional roast pig cutting ceremony, which is meant to bless and wish the new flight good luck. Special guests included Kenneth Brissette, Director of Sports Tourism and Entertainment for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Todd Smith, Director of Aviation Operations for Massport.

Above Photo: Cathay Pacific. Ribbon cutting ceremony at Cathay Pacific gate with: Kenneth Brissette, Director of Sports Tourism and Entertainment for the City of Boston, John Slosar, Chairman of Cathay Pacific, Todd Smith, Director of Aviation Operations, Massport, Tom Owen, Senior VP, Americas, and Fawwad Toor, Airport Services Manager, Boston Logan Airport, Cathay Pacific.

Above Photo: Cathay Pacific. Cathay Pacific’s first flight arrives at the gate at Boston Logan International Airport.

The new nonstop service links New England and Hong Kong directly for the first time, and marks Cathay Pacific’s sixth gateway in the United States, and eighth in North America. The airline already serves Chicago (daily), Los Angeles (four times daily), New York JFK (four times daily), Newark (daily), San Francisco (moving from twice daily to 17 flights per week in June), Toronto (10 flights per week) and Vancouver (twice daily).

Boston is the largest U.S.-Hong Kong market without nonstop service. More than 53,000 passengers flew between Logan and Hong Kong in 2013.

The Boston service will be operated by Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft.

The flight schedule for Cathay Pacific’s Boston (BOS) service, is as follows (all times local):

Top Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Cathay Pacific). Boeing 777-367 ER B-KPT (msn 37896) climbs away from London (Heathrow).

Cathay Pacific aircraft slide show:

Swiss finalizes its order for three additional Boeing 777-300 ERs

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston], the Lufthansa Group (Frankfurt) and Swiss International Air Lines (Zurich) have finalized an order for three additional 777-300 ER (Extended Range) airplanes, valued at $990 million at current list prices. This order, previously attributed to an unidentified customer, follows Swiss’ 2013 order for six 777-300 ERs, and will form the backbone of the Swiss flag-carrier’s long-haul fleet renewal.

Swiss is part of the Lufthansa Group, serving 106 destinations in 49 countries from the Swiss cities of Zurich, Geneva and Basel, carrying over 16 million passengers a year with a fleet of 95 airplanes.

Image: Boeing.

Swiss aircraft slide show:

Cathay Pacific takes delivery of its 50th Boeing 777-300 ER

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) and Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong) celebrated yesterday (April 30) the delivery of the airline’s 50th 777-300 ER (Extended Range). With this delivery, Cathay Pacific will have 67 Boeing 777s in operation, which also includes 12 777-300s and five 777-200s. Cathay Pacific is slated to receive three more 777-300 ERs this year and is one of the launch customers for the new Boeing 777X with 21 777-9X airplanes on order.

The 777-300 ER will receive further improvements in 2016 designed to reduce fuel use by two percent.

Cathay Pacific group operates flights to nearly 100 destinations worldwide with its own fleet of more than 200 aircraft. In North America, the airline currently operates some 100 passenger flights a week to New York (JFK), Newark Liberty, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto and Vancouver. The airline will begin a four-times-weekly service to and from Boston and Hong Kong on May 2 this year. Cathay Pacific Cargo serves 13 cities across the Americas using the latest 747-8 freighter fleet.

Photo: Boeing. Pictured at Paine Field for the delivery ceremony, Boeing 777-367 ER B-KQX (msn 60725) also carries special “Our 50th 777-300ER” markings by the nose.

Cathay Pacific aircraft slide show:

KLM unveils its newest Boeing 777-300 ER in the new livery and new interior

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam) welcomed its newest Boeing 777-300 featuring an all-new interior in its World Business Class and Economy Class. The exterior has already been decorated in the new company livery.

The new video below shows footage of the arrival and various features on board. KLM President and CEO Pieter Elbers gives a short rundown of the fleet renewal program, including the arrival of KLM’s first Boeing 787-9 in October.

Top Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. The pictured Boeing 777-306 ER PH-BVN (msn 44459) was handed over officially on March 27 and it is named Tijuca National Park – Nationaal Park Tijuca.

KLM aircraft slide show:

Video Below: KLM. KLM welcomed its newest Boeing 777-300 featuring an all-new interior in its World Business Class and Economy Class. The exterior has already been decorated in the new company livery.

Turkish Airlines lands in San Francisco with a new Istanbul-San Francisco Boeing 777-300 logo jet

Turkish Airlines (Istanbul) yesterday (April 13) launched its new route from Istanbul to San Francisco, its seventh U.S. destination.

The pictured Boeing 777-3F2 ER TC-JJU (msn 60401) is painted in this special Istanbul-San Francisco color scheme with scenes on the left side of San Francisco (above) and Istanbul on the right side (below).

See the 15 reasons why Istanbul and San Francisco are secret twins from BuzzFeed: CLICK HERE

This is how you inaugurate a new route. Well done Turkish Airlines.

All aircraft copyright photos by Mark Durbin/AirlinersGallery.com.

Turkish Airlines aircraft slide show:

All others below by Turkish Airlines and San Francisco International Airport. The ribbon is cut in the departure from SFO.

Emirates to operate twice-daily to Boston

Emirates (Dubai) will expand to double-daily Boeing 777-300 ER service to Boston from Dubai starting on October 1 per Airline Route.

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Air China and Air New Zealand announce proposed alliance details, Air China to start Beijing-Melbourne service and will increase Boeing 777-300 ER flights to Los Angeles

Air China (Beijing) and Air New Zealand (Auckland) have released details of a proposed alliance on services between China and New Zealand.

The alliance, subject to regulatory approvals, would see Air China introduce a daily nonstop service between Beijing and Auckland.

The Chinese flag carrier would also continue to codeshare on Air New Zealand’s daily Shanghai – Auckland service which will be operated exclusively by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft from August 24.

The proposed alliance would further open up Beijing as a new market to and from New Zealand and the airlines aim to almost double sustainable capacity between China and New Zealand while delivering a range of other benefits to travellers including greater frequency and network connections.

Subject to regulatory approvals, alliance services could commence as early as December 2015.

In other news, Air China will start Beijing-Melbourne four-times weekly nonstop service from June 1, 2015, becoming the only carrier that offers Beijing-Melbourne nonstop service. At the same time, the carrier will continue its Shanghai-Melbourne nonstop service.

The four-times weekly flights CA 165/6 will be offered on Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday. The service is slated to increase to daily from October 25, 2015. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 02:00 and arrives in Melbourne at 15:30 local time; the return flight departs from Melbourne at 20:40 local time and arrives in Beijing at 06:30. The flights will be operated with Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Finally, Air China will add flights to its Beijing-Los Angeles route from May 2015, further strengthening its presence on the North American market.

The new flight numbers are CA 887/8. From May 2 to June 30, 2015, four flights will be offered per week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. From July 1 to October 24, the flights will be increased to daily. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 12:00 and arrives in Los Angeles at 09:00 local time. The return flight departs from Los Angeles at 11:30 and arrives in Beijing at 15:10 local time. Boeing 777-300 ER, an aircraft type quite popular with the world’s business travelers, features full-flat seats in First Class/Business Class as well as Central Bar, personal AVODs and power outlets in all classes of service, accessible toilet and mood lighting system which can mimic wonderful moments from sunrise to sunset.

From 2013 to 2014, Air China started three nonstop routes: Beijing-Houston, Beijing-Hawaii and Beijing-Washington. Currently, Air China serves 7 destinations in North America, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Washington, Vancouver and Hawaii, spanning the southern, western and eastern parts of the United States. It offers 104 flights per week operated with the Boeing 777-300 ER. On January 7, 2015, Air China’s first Boeing 747-8, a new member of Boeing 747 family, made its maiden flight on its long-range route: Beijing-New York.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-39L ER B-2039 (msn 38675) departs from Los Angeles International Airport.

Air China aircraft slide show:

Air New Zealand aircraft slide show:

Emirates to fly daily to Denpasar, Bali

Emirates (Dubai) has announced that it will launch a new daily service to the island of Bali in Indonesia, from June 3, 2015.

Bali will be Emirates’ 148th global destination, adding to the airline’s route network in the Asia Pacific region which currently spans 23 destinations in 13 countries. The nonstop service between Dubai and Bali will be operated by a Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft in a two-class configuration.

Emirates’ new daily flight to Bali will depart Dubai as flight EK 398 at 0820 and arrive at Bali’s Denpasar International Airport at 2140 the same day. The return flight, EK 399, will depart at 2340 and arrive at Dubai International Airport at 0500 the next day.

Emirates commenced services to Indonesia in 1992 with three flights per week via Singapore and Colombo, and since March 2013, the airline has been operating three nonstop flights daily from Jakarta to Dubai with a Boeing 777 aircraft.

Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-36N ER A6-EBJ (msn 32787) approaches the runway at London (Heathrow).

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Swiss to order three additional Boeing 777-300 ERs

Swiss International Air Lines (Zurich) has announced it is committed to order three additional Boeing 777-300 ERs. When the order is completed, this will bring the total to nine aircraft. The Triple Seven will make Swiss a new Boeing operator. The first delivery is due in 2016.

Boeing issued this short statement:

Boeing is pleased that Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has announced a commitment to purchase three additional 777-300 ER (Extended Range) airplanes.

The order, valued at $990 million at list prices, will be posted on Boeing’s Orders and Deliveries website when finalized. This commitment follows SWISS’ previous order for six 777-300ERs in 2013.

SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group and currently serves 69 destinations across 37 countries worldwide from Zurich, Basel and Geneva international airports with a fleet of more than 90 narrow and wide-body airplanes.

Top Video: Swiss International Air Lines.

Swiss International aircraft slide show:

Air France-KLM outlines the changes and strategies for their Summer Schedule

Air France (Paris) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam) have outlines the changes for its upcoming Summer Schedule effective from March 29 through October 24, 2015. Overall the Air France-KLM Group capacity is increasing (+ 1.7%) compared with the summer 2014 season.

Long-haul operations are increasing by 1.8%. Medium-haul activity is continuing its reorganization and is decreasing by 1.9%. Transavia’s low cost operations (+ 7.8%) are undergoing strong development in France and are being consolidated in the Netherlands.

Here are the highlights:

Long-haul: Air France-KLM is increasing services to Canada and is launching two new routes: Vancouver operated by Air France from March 25, 2015 and Edmonton served by KLM from May 5, 2015. The Group is also improving its position in South America thanks to the launch of a new KLM route to Bogota and Cali (Colombia) from March 31, 2015.

Medium-haul: Air France-KLM is developing its European network on departure from the Amsterdam-Schiphol hub by adding three new destinations operated by KLM Cityhopper as from May 18, 2015: Belfast (Northern Ireland), Krakow (Poland) and Montpellier (France). At Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air France is increasing capacity to Bordeaux (France), Naples (Italy), Billund (Denmark), Bucharest (Romania) and Budapest (Hungary).

On departure from Paris-Orly and the regional airports, the Group continues to reorganize its short-haul activity, currently regrouped within HOP! Air France’s operations.

Low-cost operations: Transavia is continuing its rapid development in France (+30%) and is consolidating its activity in the Netherlands. The company is launching 14 new routes, while strengthening its offer of flights to the most popular summer destinations.

New products and services: Air France-KLM is continuing its move upmarket. At the end of the summer season, 20 Air France Boeing 777 (above) will be equipped with the latest BEST cabins. After renovating its World Business Class cabin on all its Boeing 747-400, KLM is gradually equipping its fleet of Boeing 777 with its new World Business Class and Economy Class. From April 2015, Air France is also introducing a new leather seat on 24 Airbus A319 on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle. It will then equip 25 Airbus A320 in the first half of 2016.

Partnerships: As well as strengthening its joint ventures (Delta, Alitalia, China Southern, China Eastern, Kenya Airways, Air Mauritius) and its strategic agreements (GOL), Air France-KLM is continuing the development of its partnerships all over the world. To offer more and more flight frequencies and destinations, the Group is extending its cooperation with the Canadian airline WestJet. The Group also has strong ambitions In Asia, illustrated by the signing of a cooperation agreement between KLM and Xiamen Airlines and the code-share agreement with Garuda on flights between Amsterdam and Jakarta.

LONG-HAUL: +1.8%

Air France-KLM’s long-haul activity is increasing by +1.8%.

North America

For the 2015 summer season, Air France-KLM is increasing services to Canada. As of March 25, 2015, Air France is launching a new route to Vancouver, with up to 5 weekly flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle. KLM is also introducing a new service between Amsterdam-Schiphol and Edmonton on May 5, 2015, with 3 weekly flights, then 4 weekly flights as of June 22, 2015.

Air France-KLM is developing its partnership with the Canadian airline WestJet, by offering new connecting opportunities in North America in addition to the new Paris-Vancouver and Amsterdam-Edmonton routes. Moreover, the Group is maintaining its close cooperation with Delta Air Lines as part of the trans-Atlantic joint venture.

Between May and September 2015, the seasonal service to Minneapolis-Saint Paul (USA) will be resumed from Paris-Charles de Gaulle. To meet market demand, Air France will be operating a second daily flight to San Francisco (USA) during the peak summer season (from mid-June to the end of August 2015). KLM is also further extending its second flight to Los Angeles to the full summer period, offering 12 weekly frequencies.

Central and South America and the Caribbean

As from March 31, 2015, KLM is launching a new service to Bogota and Cali (Colombia) from Amsterdam-Schiphol with 3 weekly frequencies. As a continuation of the winter season, Air France is increasing capacity to Panama City, with 5 weekly flights. Services to Brasilia (Brazil), launched in summer 2014, are maintained with 3 weekly frequencies.

In addition, Air France-KLM is maintaining its close cooperation with the Brazilian airline GOL, in order to offer numerous connecting opportunities to its customers on the Brazilian domestic network.In the Caribbean, as a continuation of the winter schedule, Air France-KLM is adjusting capacity during the peak summer season. The Company will offer up to 13 weekly flights to Pointe à Pitre and up to 11 weekly flights to Fort de France. Moreover, during the peak summer period, KLM will be operating a second nonstop flight twice a week to Curacao, in addition to the daily flight from Amsterdam-Schiphol.

Asia

Air France is continuing its daily service to Hong Kong (China) by Airbus A380 (5 weekly flights) and by Boeing 777-300 (2 weekly flights). The Company is also increasing capacity to Seoul (South Korea), serving this destination by Boeing 777-300 with 383 seats as well as to Singapore, with three additional flights operated during the peak summer period. Air France is continuing to serve Tokyo-Haneda Airport (Japan) up to 13 times a week in addition to the daily flight to Tokyo-Narita which provides connections to Noumea (New Caledonia).

The Group is also continuing to strengthen its cooperation with its Asian partners to offer an even wider choice of flights and destinations. In particular, KLM and Garuda Indonesia have set up a code-share agreement on both airlines’ flights between Amsterdam and Jakarta (Indonesia). KLM has also signed a cooperation agreement with the Chinese airline Xiamen Airlines, illustrating their commitment to strengthening accessibility between the Netherlands and China.

Africa and the Indian Ocean

As a continuation of the winter season, Air France will serve Abidjan (Ivory Coast) daily, including 3 weekly flights by Airbus A380. The Company is also increasing capacity to Dakar (Senegal), by operating the route from Paris-Charles de Gaulle by Boeing 777-300 with 383 seats.

In East Africa, KLM is continuing to specifically adjust its network to market expectations by increasing capacity to Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Entebbe (Uganda). Both destinations are served non-stop three times a week from Amsterdam-Schiphol, providing new connecting opportunities to Europe and North America in particular. On the other days these destinations are offered respectively as a continuation of the services to Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) and Kigali (Rwanda). KLM is also strengthening its cooperation with its partner Kenya Airways by offering new connections to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Zanzibar and the Indian Ocean, as a continuation of the service to Nairobi airport which boasts new airport facilities.

In the Indian Ocean, Air France serves Reunion Island up to 11 times per week, including 5 night flights.

Middle East

Air France’s new BEST cabins have been flying to Dubai (UAE) since February 23, 2015. In September 2015, these cabins will also be available to Beirut (Lebanon). Furthermore, the Group maintains its code-share agreements with Middle East Airlines, Saudia and Etihad.

New long-haul products and services

Air France-KLM is continuing to roll out new products and services aiming to be among the best in the world.

By the end of the 2015 summer season, the new Air France BEST cabins will equip 20 aircraft and fly to 18 long-haul destinations:

North America: Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Washington;
South America: Sao Paulo;
Africa: Bangui, Douala, Libreville, Malabo, Yaoundé;
Middle East: Beirut, Dubai;
Asia: Beijing, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo-Haneda.

On its BEST fleet (Boeing 777-200 and 777-300), Air France is adapting to customer demand during the peak summer period (from mid-July to the end of August) by adjusting in just ten hours the seating configuration of its aircraft. This ‘quick change’ can replace certain Business class seats with additional Economy seats. These additional seats correspond to the operation of the 3 additional Boeing 777-200 during the entire season.

Above Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. The pictured Boeing 747-406 PH-BFT (msn 28459) now wears the updated 2014 livery.

Furthermore, having renovated its World Business Class cabin on all its Boeing 747-400 (above), KLM is gradually equipping its Boeing 777-200 and then its 777-300 with its new World Business Class and Economy Class. At the end of 2016, 80% of KLM’s fleet will be equipped with fully renovated cabins.

MEDIUM-HAUL: -1.9%

For the 2015 summer season, the Group’s medium-haul capacity is continuing to readjust and is down by -1.9%.

On departure from the hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol

For the 2015 summer season, KLM is expanding its European network on departure from its hub at Amsterdam-Schiphol by adding three new destinations: Belfast (Northern Ireland), Krakow (Poland) and Montpellier (France). These new services will be operated from 18 May 2015 with one daily flight. Furthermore, the number of daily KLM flights to Florence and Basel is increasing from 3 to 4.

On departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air France is adding a daily flight to Bordeaux (France), Naples (Italy), Billund (Denmark), Bucharest (Romania) and Budapest (Hungary). As of April 2015, the company will be introducing an upgraded product (greater flexibility for business trips, new gourmet attentions) as well as a new leather seat which will be progressively installed on board 24 Airbus A319s. This seat will subsequently equip 25 Airbus A320s during the first half of 2016.

On departure from Paris-Orly and the French regions

As from summer 2015, HOP! Air France is regrouping the entire short-haul network under a single commercial offer. This unified network includes all short-haul routes from Paris-Orly and the French regions. These routes are operated by Air France Airbus or HOP! regional aircraft.

Above Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Hop! For Air France ATR 42-500 F-GPYL (msn 542) taxies at Nantes, France.

HOP! Air France is continuing to restructure its network during summer 2015 –

On departure from Paris-Orly, HOP! Air France is rationalizing its offer to Toulouse, Strasbourg and Mulhouse by decreasing the number of frequencies while increasing the capacity of its aircraft.

On departure from the French regions, as a continuation of the adjustments initiated in the winter, HOP! Air France is suspending its international flights. However, to meet customer demand, certain destinations will still be operated during the summer holiday period, notably routes to Beirut and North Africa on departure from Marseille; Spain, Italy and Greece on departure from Toulouse; Tel Aviv and Athens on departure from Nice.

Transavia: +7.8%

As a continuation of the winter season, Transavia is continuing its rapid development in France (+30%) and is consolidating its operations in the Netherlands (-0.8%).

With the ambition to be the leading low-cost airline in terms of destinations from Paris-Orly in 2015, Transavia France is launching 10 new routes this summer:

– On departure from Paris-Orly: Valencia, Dublin, Munich, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Warsaw, Casablanca, Fez and Amsterdam.

– On departure from Nantes: Madrid.

Furthermore, the company is increasing frequencies on many routes including Barcelona, Madrid, Oporto and Lisbon.

Above Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Now painted in the old 2005 livery, Transavia’s (Netherlands) Boeing 737-7K2 PH-XRE (msn 30668) arrives in Las Palmas.

In the same way, Transavia Netherlands is concentrating its activity on the hub at Amsterdam-Schiphol, where it will offer new frequencies to Tel Aviv, Larnaca, Malta and Paris-Orly. The Company is also increasing its offer of flights to Alicante, Barcelona, Malaga, Pisa, Naples and Thessaloniki.

Transavia Netherlands will also operate a new route from Rotterdam-The Hague to Berlin. On departure from Eindhoven, the service launched to Athens in February 2015 will continue this summer.

To accompany this rapid growth, Transavia has ordered 20 Boeing 737-800, with 17 firm orders and another three options. These aircraft will support the rapid growth of Transavia France and the development of Transavia Netherlands. The delivery of these aircraft will begin in January 2016 and will continue until 2018.

Top Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati/AirlinersGallery.com. Air France’s Boeing 777-328 ER F-GZNE (msn 37432) in the SkyTeam alliance livery taxies to the runway at the Paris (CDG) hub.