Qatar Airways (Doha) has revealed its first new destination in 2015, to the capital city of the Netherlands, Amsterdam, starting from June 16.
The Doha โ Amsterdam route will operate with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, offering 254 seats configured in two classes, with 22 fully-flat-bed seats in Business Class and 232 in Economy Class.
Flying nonstop, the total journey time between Doha and Amsterdam is six hours and 35 minutes.
The daily flights will be departing from Doha in the morning, arriving into Amsterdam in early afternoon, with return flights to Doha departing in the late afternoon.
Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner A7-BCA (msn 38319) arrives in London (Heathrow).
Azerbaijan Airlines (Baku) and Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) have announced the delivery of the airline’s first 787 Dreamliner. With this delivery, Azerbaijan Airlines becomes the first airline in the Commonwealth of Independent States to operate the 787.
Based at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, state-owned Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) is the national carrier of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan Airlines currently flies a network of over 20 global destinations across the United States, China, Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and Europe.
To date, 58 customers from around the world have ordered 1,055 787 Dreamliners.
Photo: Boeing. The pictured Boeing 787-8 N1789B (msn 37920) named “Fizuli” became VP-BBR on the handover.
Arke (formerly Arkefly) (Amsterdam) will introduce the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on the Amsterdam – Toronto (Pearson) route starting on June 27, 2015. The new type will replace a Boeing 767-300 and will operate twice-weekly until September 2, 2015 per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Arke’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner PH-TFK (msn 36427) lands at Luton Airport near London.
United Airlines (Chicago) today announced it will operate additional flights to Shanghai and Chengdu, China, from the airline’s trans-Pacific gateway hub in San Francisco during the peak summer travel season. The current daily service between San Francisco and Shanghai will increase to two flights daily from May 6 to October 24, 2015, and the three-times-weekly service between San Francisco and Chengdu will increase to daily service from June 4 to September 1, 2015, both routes subject to government approval.
Second-daily Flight to Shanghai
Flight UA 891 will depart from San Francisco International Airport at 2:40 p.m. (1440) and arrive at Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 7:00 p.m. (1900) the following day (all times local). On the return, flight UA 890 will depart from Shanghai at 9:00 p.m. (2100) and arrive in San Francisco at 5:40 p.m. (1740) on the same day. Flight times will be approximately 13 hours, 20 minutes westbound and 11 hours, 40 minutes eastbound.
United will operate the flights with Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft featuring a total of 269 seats โ eight flat-bed seats in United Global First, 40 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst and 221 seats in United Economy, including 104 Economy Plus extra-legroom seats.
The new summer-season service will operate in addition to United’s current daily year-round flights between San Francisco and Shanghai.
Daily Flights to Chengdu
Flight UA 9 will depart San Francisco daily at 1:20 p.m.(1320) and will arrive at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 6:40 p.m. (1840) the following day (all times local). On the return, flight UA 8 will depart Chengdu daily at 9:50 a.m. (0950) and arrive in San Francisco at 8:30 a.m. (0830) the same day. Flying times are approximately 14 hours, 20 minutes westbound and 13 hours, 40 minutes eastbound.
United will operate the San Francisco – Chengdu flights with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, featuring a total of 219 seats โ 36 in United BusinessFirst and 183 in United Economy, including 70 Economy Plus extra-legroom seats.
Earlier this year, United launched the Chengdu service with three-times-weekly Boeing 787 flights from San Francisco, the first-ever nonstop trans-Pacific service to mainland China beyond Beijing and Shanghai. The Chengdu flights will return to three-times-weekly operations on September 2, 2015.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner N28912 (msn 34828) climbs away from London’s Heathrow Airport.
United Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):ย
AeroMexico (Mexico City) is planning to introduce the Boeing 787-8 on the Mexico City-Los Angeles route on April 5, 2015. The upgraded route will be operated four days a week.
Update: On March 10, 2015 AeroMexico issued this statement confirming this report:
AeroMexico announced that it will begin to operate four weekly flights between Mexico City and Los Angeles with its Boeing 787 Dreamliner as of April 5, 2015.
Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Set against stormy skies, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner N965AM (msn 35307) arrives in London (Heathrow).
Arke (formerly Arkefly) (Amsterdam) is expanding its Boeing 787 destinations next summer. The TUI Travel company will add 787 service to Cancun (March 30), Holguin (March 30), Montego Bay (April 2), Puerto Plata (March 29), Punta Cana (March 29) and Varadero (April 1) from Amsterdam per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner PH-TFK (msn 36427) named #dreamcatcher arrives in Antalya.
Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) has completed the world’s first flight using “green diesel,” a sustainable biofuel that is widely available and used in ground transportation. The company powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane yesterday (December 2) with a blend of 15 percent green diesel and 85 percent petroleum jet fuel in the left engine.
“Green diesel offers a tremendous opportunity to make sustainable aviation biofuel more available and more affordable for our customers,” said Julie Felgar, managing director of Environmental Strategy and Integration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “We will provide data from several ecoDemonstrator flights to support efforts to approve this fuel for commercial aviation and help meet our industry’s environmental goals.”
Sustainable green diesel is made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and waste animal fats. Boeing previously found that this fuel is chemically similar to HEFA (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids) aviation biofuel approved in 2011. Green diesel is chemically distinct and a different fuel product than “biodiesel,” which also is used in ground transportation.
With production capacity of 800 million gallons (3 billion liters) in the U.S., Europe and Asia, green diesel could rapidly supply as much as 1 percent of global jet fuel demand. With a wholesale cost of about $3 per gallon, inclusive of U.S. government incentives, green diesel approaches price parity with petroleum jet fuel.
“The airplane performed as designed with the green diesel blend, just as it does with conventional jet fuel,” said Capt. Mike Carriker, Chief Pilot, Product Development and 777X, Boeing Test and Evaluation. “This is exactly what we want to see in flight tests with a new type of fuel.”
Green diesel is among more than 25 new technologies being tested by Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator Program aboard 787 Dreamliner ZA004 (N7874). The program accelerates the testing, refinement, and use of new technologies and methods that can improve aviation’s environmental performance.
On a lifecycle basis, sustainably produced green diesel reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 90 percent compared to fossil fuel, according to Finland-based Neste Oil, which supplied green diesel for the ecoDemonstrator 787. The flight test was coordinated with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, and EPIC Aviation blended the fuel.
Copyright Photo: Rick Schlamp/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 N7874 (msn 40693) taxies past the camera at Boeing Field in Seattle.
Japan Airlines (JAL) (Tokyo) will launch the first โJAL Sky Suite 787โ service between Tokyo (Narita) and Frankfurt on December 1, 2014.
JAL will introduce fully-flat seat (above), โJAL Sky Suiteโ, in Business Class of โJAL Sky Suite 787โ. Premium Economy service will be provided onto the latest Boeing 787-8s with โJAL Sky Premiumโ seats, and in Economy Class, new โJAL Sky Wider IIโ seats in a 2-4-2 configuration will be offered.
Following its launch on Narita – Frankfurt route, โJAL Sky Suite 787โ will be sequentially operated on Tokyo (Narita) – New York route (JL004/JL003) from January 2015.
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner JA826J (msn 34836) arrives at the Narita International Airport (NRT) hub.
Air Canada (Montreal) has announced it will expand the introduction of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft featuring the airline’s new International Business Class and Premium Economy seating to more of its routes to Asia from Vancouver including Beijing in February and Seoul in March 2015. Air Canada recently converted its Vancouver-Shanghai route to 787 Dreamliner service, with Vancouver-Tokyo (Narita) to be converted mid-December.
More information on Air Canada Boeing 787: CLICK HERE
Air Canada’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft feature three cabins of service offering comfortable ergonomic seating and enhanced definition intuitive touch personal entertainment screens. AirCanada’s International Business Class cabin features 20 Executive Pods with 180-degree lie-flat seats in a 1-2-1 configuration guaranteeing direct aisle access. The Premium Economy cabin has 21 seats in a 2-3-2 configuration and, unique for a North American airline, Air Canada’s Premium Economy seating offers more generous personal space, wider seats and greater legroom and recline as well as premium meals, complimentary bar service and priority check-in and baggage delivery at the airport. The Economy cabin has 210 slimline seats in a 3-3-3 configuration providing personal space consistent with the comfort of Air Canada’s current Economy cabin.
The fuel efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliners opens up opportunities for Air Canada to serve new international destinations and convert existing routes to Dreamliner service as the airline replaces existing Boeing 767 aircraft with the new Boeing 787 fleet. AirCanada’s first new route to be operated with the 787 Dreamliner was Toronto-Tokyo (Haneda) in July, followed by the conversion of the airline’s Toronto-Tel Aviv route to 787 Dreamliner service in August.
Air Canada will take delivery of six Boeing 787 aircraft by the end of 2014, with all 37 aircraft scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2019. The carrier’s Dreamliner fleet will consist of a total of 15 787-8 aircraft and 22 of the larger capacity 787-9 aircraft. As Air Canada takes delivery of new widebody aircraft for its mainline fleet, current Boeing 767 aircraft will be transferred to its leisure carrier subsidiary, Air Canada rouge.
Copyright Photo: Wingnut/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 C-GHPT (msn 35258) taxies at London (Heathrow).
Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo) has again called on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to approve its pending Irish application to operate its Boeing 787s as Norwegian Air International (NAI) (Dublin). The 787s are currently operated by Norwegian subsidiary Norwegian Long Haul although the aircraft are registered in Ireland. The airline issued this statement claiming the DOT has “received strong opposition from those interests seeking to undermine competition, limit consumer choice and maintain the status quo”. Here is the full statement:
Norwegian Air Shuttle CEO Bjรธrn Kjos, who will address a standing-room only audience on November 20 at the International Aviation Club, will reinforce the benefits Norwegian Air International (NAI) service will bring to competition in the transatlantic market, the traveling public, and the global aviation industry. Kjos will again call on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to once and for all approve Norwegian’s application for a foreign air carrier permit that will provide American consumers lower fares and greater choice in air travel.
“Norwegian’s vision is ‘Everyone Should Afford to Fly,’ and it is a principle we intend to bring to individuals and families seeking to travel between the United States and Europe,” said Mr. Kjos. “NAI will provide the traveling public with an innovative, low-cost option that offers award-winning service to new and underserved destinations on brand-new Boeing Dreamliner aircraft. DOT approval of NAI’s application is the final barrier preventing American consumers from the choice they so desperately want and deserve.”
Norwegian Air International, which completed its DOT foreign air carrier permit application in February 2014, has received strong opposition from those interests seeking to undermine competition, limit consumer choice and maintain the status quo. Close to 90 percent of transatlantic air traffic is controlled by the three airline mega-alliances that are permitted to operate with immunity from U.S. antitrust laws. As a consequence, airfares have risen significantly without commensurate improvements in service, and “capacity discipline” by the alliances has severely limited growth in the number of available passenger seats while pushing U.S. airline profits to record levels.
“I believe the values of innovation, competition and the rule of law โ so highly prized here in the United States โ will serve to overcome the opposition NAI has received from entrenched interests,” said Kjos. “I am confident that adherence to international agreements and the law will be the factors upon which DOT ultimately relies to decide this matter. I am equally confident NAI’s application will be approved by DOT, albeit far overdue.”
Norwegian Air International will open a market of new travelers previously unable to afford the high fares currently offered by the legacy carriers, while serving more destinations worldwide. NAI will directly contribute to President Obama’s goal of generating 100 million foreign visitors to the United States by 2021. Norwegian already employs 300 American cabin crewmembers in Fort Lauderdale and New York, and currently is recruiting American pilots at its New York pilot base. Of the 300 cabin crew, for which Norwegian received more than 7,00 applications, the vast majority worked previously for U.S. airlines and chose to join Norwegian for the pay, benefits and team-spirited environment.
NAI meets all statutory and regulatory requirements to serve the United States and is entitled to DOT approval “with minimum procedural delay” under the U.S.โE.U. Air Transport Agreement. Nevertheless, a full nine months after applying to DOT, NAI continues to await a decision that will allow it to begin low-fare transatlantic service to and from the United States.
“The time is well-past due for the Department of Transportation to fulfill its legal responsibility and approve NAI’s application,” said Kjos.
Copyright Photo: Steve Bailey/AirlinersGallery.com. Norwegian Long Haul’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner EI-LNG (msn 35314) with Edvard Munch, Norwegian artist, on the tail, arrives in Los Angeles.
Norwegian aircraft slide show:ย
Video: By sjcbenw. Description:ย Cockpit view of Norwegian Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner landing Runway 01R at Stockholm Arlanda (ARN).
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