Wizz Air (Budapest) has announced further growth of its low fare route network and launched three new services from Budapest to Liverpool and Keflavik (near Reykjavik), commencing in March as well as a Budapest-Ibiza service commencing in June.
With this announcement, Iceland becomes the 23rd country for Wizz Air.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 HA-LYS (msn 6662) taxies at EuroAirport serving the Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg area.
Wizz Air aircraft slide show:ย 
JetBlue Airways (New York) today announced the start of service to its newest destination with the launch of flights between New Yorkโs John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB). JetBlue now serves eight Florida destinations and offers more flights between the Empire State and the Sunshine State than any other airline with up to 83 daily nonstops.
Flights operate daily and provide the only nonstop service between Daytona Beach and New York City.
The new service to Daytona Beach will create a direct link between JetBlue’s main base of operations in New York and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace. In 2007, JetBlue partnered with Embry-Riddle to launch the University Gateway Program, a unique opportunity that creates a path to a career with the airline for aspiring aviators.
JetBlue Schedule Between New York (JFK) and Daytona Beach (DAB)
JFK โ DAB Flight #393 DAB โ JFK Flight #500
10:29 a.m. โ 1:13 p.m. 2:00 p.m. โ 4:21 p.m.
Flights will operate daily on JetBlue’s spacious, award-winning, 150-seat A320 aircraft.
Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 N561JB (msn 1927) departs from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
JetBlue Airways aircraft slide show:ย
Virgin America (San Francisco) and China Southern Airlines (Guangzhou) have announced a codeshare agreement to offer seamless booking and travel between China, Southeast Asia and multiple Virgin America destinations across the United States.
Under the new agreement, China Southern will place its two-digit airline code (CZ) and flight numbers on a range of Virgin America routes operating from Los Angeles and San Francisco โ including West Coast flights to and from Boston, Chicago, Dallas Love Field, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Newark, New York (JFK), Seattle, San Diego and Washington DC.
This partnership will bring expanded choice and convenience for travelers flying between China Southern’s numerous Chinese and Southeast Asia destinations and the United States. This agreement is unique in that China Southern is the only airline offering non-stop service between Guangzhou and Wuhan and the United States.
China Southern offers daily flights from Guangzhou to San Francisco (three flights per week with one stop in Wuhan), ten flights per week from Guangzhou to Los Angeles, and daily flights from Guangzhou to New York.
This new agreement builds and expands on China Southern’s existing interline arrangement with Virgin America. China Southern is Virgin America’s sixth codeshare agreement and joins the airline’s growing partner portfolio.
Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. China Southern’s Boeing 777-31B ER B-2029 (msn 43224) departs from Los Angeles.
Below Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Virgin America’s Airbus A320-214 N855VA (msn 5179) prepares to land at Washington (Reagan National).
Virgin America aircraft slide show:ย
China Southern aircraft slide show:ย
https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Finnair/i-7WnbsXC
Finnair (Helsinki) has announced this plan to add extra seats to its Airbus narrow body fleet:
Due to a growing need for feeder traffic capacity, Finnair has decided to improve the space efficiency of its current Airbus narrow-body fleet, operating mainly on its European routes. According to the plan, seats will be added to the aircraft primarily without changing the leg space available to the passenger, so as to preserve travel comfort. Space efficiency will be improved by modifying storage and technical space at the front and rear of the aircraft.
The value of the investment is approximately EUR 40 million, and it includes 22 narrow-body Airbus aircraft in Finnairโs fleet. The cabin layout change excludes five A321ER aircraft, which are already configured according to the plan, having 209 seats. The cabin reconfiguration is estimated to take two weeks per aircraft during 2017. The reconfiguration adds 6 to 13 seats depending on the aircraft type, increasing the passenger capacity of Finnairโs Airbus narrow-body fleet as measured by available seat kilometers by close to 4 percent.
Finnair has previously stated it needs more European feeder traffic capacity with a view to the growth of its long-haul capacity. The additional capacity will be acquired mainly by increasing the average size of its narrow-body aircraft over the next few years.
Copyright Photo: AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 OH-LXB (msn 1470) taxies at London (Heathrow).
Finnair aircraft slide show:ย
https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Asia-2/Airlines-Asia2-FP/HK-Express/i-9MZZ7J9
Arctic Aviation Assets Ltd. (AAA), Norwegian’s wholly owned subsidiary, has signed an agreement to lease 12 Airbus A320neo to HK Express (Hong Kong). The 12 aircraft will be delivered between 2016 and 2018.
AAA (Norwegian) has 100 Airbus A320neo airliners on order.
Arctic Aviation Assets Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle and was established on August 9, 2013. The company is based in Ireland and currently manages a portfolio of 100 aircraft in addition to Norwegian’s orders for over 267 aircraft delivered during the period 2015 to 2022. The Company also has purchase options on another 160 aircraft.
Copyright Photo: Robbie Shaw/AirlinersGallery.com. HK Express currently operates a fleet of Airbus A320s with the current engines.ย A320-232 B-LCE (msn 2299) approaches the runway at the Hong Kong base and hub.
HK Express aircraft slide show:ย
JetBlue Airways (New York) yesterday (December 10) launched two new routes from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Orlando International Airport (MCO) to Albany International Airport (ALB).
JetBlue’s Schedule from/to Albany as of December 10, 2015:
ALB – FLL
12:50 p.m. – 4:06 p.m.
FLL – ALB
9:14 a.m. – 12:07 p.m.
ALB – MCO
4:45 p.m. – 7:54 p.m.
MCO – ALB
1:20 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Daily service from Albany to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Orlando operates on JetBlue’s 150-seat A320 aircraft.
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 N655JB (msn 3072) is seen at Long Beach.
JetBlue Airways aircraft slide show:ย
Virgin America (San Francisco) yesterday (December 3) launched the San Francisco – Kahului, Maui route. The new route will be operated three days a week.
In November, Virgin America launched daily nonstop flights from San Francisco to Honolulu.
The Hawaii flightsย will be operated with new Airbus A320 aircraft that are equipped with fuel-saving, ‘sharklet’ wingtip devices, allowing the airline to operate flights more efficiently, especially over longer haul routes.
Copyright Photo: Andres Meneses/AirlinersGallery.com. Featuring an image of a Hula Girl and named “Pineapple Express”, Airbus A320-214 N281VA (msn 6669) is one of the aircraft assigned to the flights to Hawaii.
Virgin America aircraft slide show:ย
Video:ย On November 2, Virgin America celebrated the launch of new daily nonstop flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Honolulu International Airport (HNL) with a series of festive events in San Francisco and Honolulu โ including the opportunity for workaholics to score the ultimate #Hawaiiscape with Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson. Virgin America teamed up with Airbnb to encourage travelers to โWork Hard, Hawaiโi Hardโ by experiencing all that the Aloha state has to offer. On December 3, the airlineโs Hawaiโi schedule grew again with daily nonstop flights from SFO to Mauiโs Kahului Airport (OGG).
VivaColombia (Medellin) launched its first service in the United States yesterday (December 2) when it began flights between Miami International Airport and Medellรญn, Colombia. The budget carrier, which already serves 11 cities in Colombia and three other destinations in Latin America, will also begin Miami-Bogotรก service on December 16. The new flights will utilize 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.
VivaColombiaโs Miami-Medellรญn flights, which operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arrive in Miami at 10:10 a.m. and depart to Medellรญn at 11:50 a.m. The Miami-Bogotรก schedule, which will also operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, will arrive in Miami at 7:05 p.m. and depart to Bogotรก at 8:35 p.m.
VivaColombia is Colombiaโs second-largest airline, the nationโs leading budget carrier, and MIAโs sixth international low-cost carrier.
Photo: Miami International Airport.
JetBlue Airways (New York) and Cuba Travel Services (CTS) today announced the start of their second weekly roundtrip charter flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Josรฉ Martรญ International Airport (HAV) in Havana. The added flights will operate on Tuesdays and become JetBlue’s sixth weekly roundtrip charter route between the U.S. and Cuba. In July, JetBlue became the first major airline to fly to Cuba from New York when it launched weekly flights on Fridays.
Since government restrictions were eased earlier this year, JetBlue has doubled its number of charter flights to Cuba and has positioned itself as a leading airline to the island nation with its award-winning service. Once scheduled service is allowed, Cuba will play an important role in JetBlue’s growing network in Latin America and the Caribbean.
JetBlue first began operating charters to Cuba in 2011 and now flies to Havana and Santa Clara from New York (JFK), Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, and Tampa. All flights are operated on 150-seat Airbus A320 aircraft with JetBlue crew members.
In other news, JetBlue alsoย announced that it has joined the White House’s American Business Act on Climate Pledge, which includes more than 154 companies from across the American economy demonstrating an ongoing commitment to climate action and voicing support for a strong outcome to the Conference of Parties 21 (COP21) Paris climate negotiations.
Finally, JetBlue is considering a new approach to its pilot training program. Read the full story from the WSJ: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Fred Freketic/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A320-232 WL N834JB (msn 5782) prepares to depart from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
JetBlue aircraft slide show:ย
Airbus (Toulouse and Hamburg) has announcedย the A320neo has received joint Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on November 24, 2015. The certified aircraft is powered by Pratt & Whitney Pure Power PW1100G-JM engines.
The EASA A320neo type Certificate was signed by EASAโs Certification Director Trevor Woods and the FAA A320neo Type Certificate by Jeffrey Duven, FAA Manager of Transport Airplane Directorate – Aircraft Certification Service. The Type Certificates were handed over to Airbusโ Executive Vice President Engineering, Charles Champion and Airbus A320neo Chief Engineer Pierre-Henri Brousse.
The A320neo successfully completed a rigorous program of certification which tested its airframe and systems well beyond their design limits to ensure the aircraft successfully met all airworthiness criteria.
The three flight test aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney engines successfully accumulated over 1,070 flight hours in some 350 flights. Of these 1,070 flight test hours, 300 were completed with the same aircraft in an airline like environment to ensure operational maturity at entry into service.
The A320neo with Pratt & Whitney engines is the first variant in the NEO Family to receive Type Certification. The A320neo with CFM engines will be certified in the coming months, the A321neo and A319neo in both engines variants will follow.
The A320neo Family incorporates latest technologies including new generation engines and Sharklet wing tip devices, which together deliver more than 15 percent in fuel savings from day one and 20 percent by 2020 with further cabin innovations. Launched on 1st December 2010, the A320neo offers airlines an engine choice between the Pratt & Whitney Pure Power PW1100G-JM and the CFM International LEAP 1A engines. With more than 4,300 orders received from over 75 customers since its launch in 2010, the A320neo Family has captured some 60 percent share of the market.
Copyright Photo: Olivier Gregoire/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Airbus A320-251N F-WNEW (msn 6419) arrives back at Toulouse after a test flight.
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