Tag Archives: 787-8 Dreamliner

LAN Airlines continues to expand Boeing 787 operations

LAN Airlines (Santiago) continues to expand its 247-seat Boeing 787 operations. As previously reported, daily Santiago-Miami service was inaugurated on August 9 as well as weekly 787 flights to Cancun and Punta Cana also on August 9.

Santiago-Mexico City 787 service will start now on December 11 (delayed from November 15) on alternating days.

Santiago-Sao Paulo (Guarulhos) flights start on October 1 (three days a week) and daily starting in November).

Finally daily Santiago-Los Angeles service starts on October 1.

The company continues to operate the 787 to Buenos Aires, Madrid and Frankfurt as well as New York (JFK).

In financial news, the LATAM Airlines Group reported a net loss of $58.9 million for the second quarter, reduced from a net loss of $329.8 million in the same quarter a year ago. According to the group, “results this quarter were negatively affected by reduced passenger and cargo demand during the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament held in Brazil, as well as by very week seed exports in the cargo business.”

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 CC-BBB (msn 38466) taxies at Paine Field near Everett before the hand over to the carrier.

LAN Airlines (Chile):

Air Canada to operate the Boeing 787 on the Toronto-Copenhagen route

Air Canada (Montreal) on October 26 will introduce the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on the Toronto (Pearson)-Copenhagen route. The new aircraft will operate three days a week replacing a Boeing 767-300 ER until December 31 per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: TMK Photography/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 C-GHPT (msn 35258) is parked between flights at the Toronto (Pearson) hub.

Air Canada:

Air India to introduce the Boeing 787 to Singapore on August 24

Air India (Mumbai) will now introduce the Boeing 787 on the daily Mumbai-Chennai-Singapore route on August 24 (moved up from October 25). The 787-8 will replace an Airbus A330-200 on the route per Airline Route.

Air India took delivery of its 16th Boeing 787-8 (VT-ANQ) on July 17, 2014. The aircraft departed Charleston on July 20, 2014 and arrived in Delhi on the following day.

As an example of what Air India has to deal with in India, Air India cannot sell 51 seats on its daily flight from Mumbai to Newark according to Bloomberg Businessweek. The culprit? Giant billboards at the end of runway (that would not be tolerated in the West) force the carrier to lighten the load and losing revenue in the process.

Read the full article: CLICK HERE

Air India:

Air India joins the Star Alliance today

Air India (Mumbai) is joining the Star Alliance today (July 11).

Air India is assigning the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners (above) to its strategic routes. The company now has 15 787-8s in service. The 15th Boeing 787-8 (VT-ANC) was delivered to Air India on June 20, 2014. The aircraft departed Charleston, South Carolina on June 24, 2014 and arrived in Delhi on the following day.

The Star Alliance issued this statement:

Star Alliance, the way the Earth connects, welcomed Air India as a full member of its global family of airlines, opening the national carrier’s strong domestic network in the fifth largest aviation market to Star Alliance customers worldwide.

Air India now offers all Star Alliance customer benefits across its network and Air India’s customers enjoy the same benefits when they travel on any of the other 26 Star Alliance member airlines.

“This is an important day for us. We have said for many years that we needed a strong home carrier in the Indian market and by welcoming Air India to our Star Alliance family, we have achieved this goal” said Star Alliance Chief Executive Mark Schwab. “We know that the ‘new’ Air India is looking forward to providing the Star Alliance customer benefits to many more travellers.”

Rohit Nandan, Air India Chairman and Managing Director said, “Air India is proud to be a member of this prestigious airline Alliance. From today, we open up a completely different world for our passengers, who can now travel to over 1,300 destinations right across the network and enjoy world-class service, better connectivity and seamless travel wherever they go.”

Air India adds a total of 400 daily flights and over 40 new destinations in India to the Alliance network.

The biggest growth will come from its home market which has up to now been served by 13 Star Alliance members flying to 10 destinations and holding a 13% market share. As a result of the addition of Air India, the Alliance’s market share in India has risen to 30%. Globally, passengers further benefit from a wider choice on routes connecting North America, Europe, Asia and Australia via the Indian Subcontinent. In total the Star Alliance network counts 27 member airlines, offering more than 18,500 daily flights serving 1,316 destinations in 192 countries.

Air India now offers through check-in to the final destination for connecting flights operated by any Star Alliance member airline for both passengers and baggage, hence providing seamless travel. Passengers benefit as they do not need to collect their boarding passes for connecting flights at the transfer airports and, where permitted by local customs regulations, baggage will also be sent through to the final destinations.

Reciprocal frequent flyer benefits between Air India’s Flying Returns programme and those of the existing member carriers are now activated. These provide customers with more options in earning and redeeming, upgrading and obtaining Star Alliance Gold status.

Flying Returns members who hold Maharajah Club or Golden Edge Club status now automatically also have Star Alliance Gold status, giving them access to more than 1,000 lounges across the global network. Gold status customers can also check in at specially designated counters, are offered an increased baggage allowance and receive priority boarding and baggage delivery. All these benefits are also provided by Air India to customers holding Star Alliance Gold status in other frequent flyer programs.

Air India’s network comprises 50 destinations in India and 33 internationally, serving 23 countries. The addition of over 40 unique destinations domestically offers passengers excellent connectivity between major business centres. New destinations include the industrial hubs of Aurangabad and Vadadora; Indore, which is home to many pharmaceutical producers; textiles and engineering centre Coimbatore and Jamnagar, India’s “Oil City”. Air India also serves popular tourist destinations such as Goa, Kochi, Madurai and Jaipur.

As part of its Star Alliance membership, Air India now participates in several of the Alliance’s fare products and business solutions.

For the business travel sector, Air India flights can be included in Star Alliance Corporate Plus agreements, which are aimed at large multinational companies. For the Conventions and Meetings market, Air India will now offer Star Alliance Conventions Plus and Meetings Plus, the dedicated products for the meetings and conventions industry*.

Air India also boosts the attractiveness of the Alliance’s most popular fare product, the Star Alliance Round the World Fare (RTW). Available in First, Business and Economy Class, this fare allows customers to travel around the globe making use of the 27 member airline network. Customers can now make use of all Air India flights when booking their RTW fare, either through the Book & Fly online booking tool*, via an airline or through a travel agency.

Some of Air India’s flights will also be included in the Star Alliance Circle Pacific Fare which allows circular round-trips covering the Asian countries bordering the Pacific, the main international hub airports on the Pacific Coast of Canada and the USA, as well as the South Pacific (mainly Australia and New Zealand).

And finally, Air India is now included in the Asia Airpass alongside all other Asia based Star Alliance member airlines. This special coupon and mileage based fare is available to all overseas visitors to the region travelling on a Star Alliance member airline and allows customers to travel around Asia, selecting from a total of 277 destinations.

Previously the airline issued this statement:

Air India has scripted a new chapter in India’s aviation history by becoming the first airline from India to be inducted into the world’s leading global airline consortium, Star Alliance. On June 23, 2014, the Star Alliance Central Executive Board voted in favor of Air India to become its 27th member airline. Air India will start offering the alliance benefits and privileges to customers from July 11, 2014.

The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines-SAS, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Swiss International Air Lines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, Thai Airways International and United Airlines.

Overall, the Star Alliance network presently offers more than 18,000 daily flights to 1,269 airports in 193 countries.

Air India:

AeroMexico to bring the Boeing 787 to London Heathrow starting on March 15

AeroMexico (Mexico City) is now planning to introduce the new Boeing 787-8 on the Mexico City-London (Heathrow) route starting on March 15 instead of April 16 per Airline Route. The new type will initially be operated two days a week.

AeroMexico:

United Airlines launches its first international Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service today

United Airlines (Chicago) today (January 3) will introduce daily nonstop Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service between its hub at Los Angeles International Airport and its hub at Tokyo Narita International Airport. The service – previously operated with a Boeing 777 aircraft – is the first regularly-scheduled international route operated using United’s new 787 Dreamliner.

The flight, UA 32, will depart Los Angeles at 11:15 a.m. (1115), arriving in Tokyo Narita at 4:10 p.m. (1610) the next day. The return flight, UA 33, will depart Tokyo Narita daily at 5:55 p.m. (1755), arriving in Los Angeles at 10:35 a.m. (1035) the same day.

United’s 787 Dreamliner is configured with 36 seats in United BusinessFirst, 70 seats in United Economy Plus and 113 seats in United Economy. The aircraft will revolutionize the flying experience for United customers and crews while delivering unprecedented operating efficiency, comfort and lower emissions. Customers on the flights will experience greater comfort with improved lighting, bigger windows, larger overhead bins, lower cabin altitude and enhanced ventilation systems, among other passenger-friendly features.

Yesterday (January 2) LAN Airlines (Santiago) introduced the Boeing 787-8 on the Santiago-Los Angeles route.

United Airlines: