Tag Archives: A321-211

TAP Portugal braces for a cabin crew strike, delays Guinea-Bissau inaugural for 45 days

TAP Portugal (Lisbon) has issued this statement regarding a strike planned by its cabin staff on October 30 and November 1:

TAP Cabin Crew Union announced two separate strikes to take place on October 30 and November 1 between 00.00 and 23.59.

Therefore, and in order to mitigate as much as possible the effects of the strike, TAP is authorizing date changes free of charge within the same cabin and tickets validity, or its refund. In order to do so, passengers should contact TAP through the Contact Center or their Travel Agencies.

Despite the situation, we inform that TAP flights operated by PGA Portugália Airlines will not be affected, as well as the flights established to operate as minimum services, available below.

All passengers with flights affected by the strike will be contacted, in order to find the best alternative.

Whenever the contact cannot be established TAP will reissue the ticket for the next available flights, keeping the schedule and dates as closer as possible to the original ones.

We suggest passengers to check their bookings here and do the online check-in if the flights are confirmed. This option is available up to 72 hours prior to departure, despite some exceptions depending on the destination.

Beforehand, and due to the high number of calls received, we apologize for any delays that may occur on the Contact Center response.

TAP regrets the situation and assures all efforts are being made to minimize the impact of this strike.

In other news, TAP Portugal has announced the delay of its new services to Guinea-Bissau in west Africa for 45 days due to the Ebola virus concerns. The carrier had planned to start three weekly flight from Lisbon to Guinea-Bissau on October 28.

TAP Portugal Aircraft Slide Show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-3/Airlines-Europe3-QZ/TAP-Portugal

Finnair to add new seasonal service to Athens, Dublin and Malta next summer

Finnair (Helsinki) will add seasonal services from Helsinki to Athens, Dublin and Malta next summer season, with schedules designed for optimal connections with Finnair’s network of Asian destinations. Service to Dublin begins on March 30, Malta on April 2 and Athens on April 5. Service to all three destinations lasts until late October.

Dublin (DUB) will be served six times a week, except Tuesdays, with 100-seat Embraer 190 aircraft operated on behalf of Finnair by Flybe Finland.

Flights to Malta International Airport (MLA) near the Maltese capital Valletta are operated two times a week — Mondays and Thursdays — with Airbus A321 Sharklet aircraft. Athens (ATH) is also served twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, with Airbus A319s or A320s.

In other news, Finnair is extending its network throughout the United Kingdom with new codeshare services from Manchester operated by partner airline Flybe. Effective September 15, the Finnair code will be added to Flybe services from Manchester (MAN) to 10 regional airports: Aberdeen (ABZ), Belfast City (BHD), Edinburgh (EDI), Exeter (EXT), Glasgow (GLA), Inverness (INV), Isle of Man (IOM), Jersey (JER), Newquay (NQY) and Southampton (SOU).

Separately, Finnair also cooperates with Flybe affiliate Flybe Finland, a joint venture between Finnair and Flybe established in 2011. Flybe Finland operates a mixture of contract-flights on behalf of Finnair as well as its own flights around Finland and the Nordic region from its base at Helsinki Airport.

Finnair:

Aigle Azur takes delivery of its first Airbus A320 with Sharklets, will retire its Airbus A321

Aigle Azur Transport Aeriens (2nd) (Paris-Orly has taken delivery of a new Airbus A320 fitted with Sharklets.

The new A320 is configured with a two class layout with 36 seats in Business Class and 138 in the main cabin. The new aircraft replaces another A320 from the all-Airbus fleet of twelve aircraft – seven A320s, four A319s and one A321.

Airbus A320-214 F-HBIX (msn 6012) (above) was handed over on March 13 and arrived at Paris-Orly Sud base on the evening of March 13, 2014. The new airliner entered revenue service the following day from Paris (Orly) to Bamako. The aircraft is mainly being used for flights between Paris-Orly and Moscow and Paris-Orly and Bamako.

By adding this new Airbus to its fleet, Aigle Azur has now become the second French airline to operate this type of aircraft, which is the latest generation of the Airbus A320 family.

Aigle Azur is planning to operate its last scheduled Airbus A321 service with A321-211 F-HBAF (msn 1006) from Paris (Orly) to Algiers and return on April 3 according to Airline Route.

Top Copyright Photos: Aigle Azur.

Aigle Azur:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Pepscl/Airlinersgallery.com. The pictured A321-211 F-HBAB (msn 823) in the old 2001 colors was previously returned to GATX on September 30, 2013 and is now with Atlasjet as TC-ATZ.

Besides Moscow, Aigle Azur specializes in connecting Paris (Orly) with destinations in Portugal and Africa:

Airberlin delays its annual meeting and financial results due to “advance discussions on options” with an unnamed party

Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin-Tegel) has delayed its annual meeting for a week and issued this statement:

Air Berlin PLC is currently in advanced discussions on options, which, if implemented, would have a substantial effect of the company. The company therefore postpones its annual press conference and the analysts and investors conference from March 20, 2014 to March 27, 2014.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 D-ABCJ (msn 5126) prepares to land at the lunar landscape of Tenerife Sur.

Airberlin:

Aeroflot Group’s full year 2013 net profit increases 41.9% to $203.3 million

Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) today announced the consolidated IFRS financial results of the Aeroflot Group (Moscow) for the twelve months ending December 31, 2013. Key financial highlights:

• Full year 2013 net income increased 41.9% to RUB 7,334.7 mlm ($203.3 million);

• Full year 2013 revenue increased 15.0% to RUB 290,955.8 mlm ($9.135 billion);

• Full year 2013 traffic revenue increased 16.4% to RUB 257,545.7 mlm ($8.086 billion);

• Fuel costs for 2013 rose 11.2% to RUB 79,127.8 mlm ($2.484 billion);

• Operating costs excluding aircraft fuel, staff costs and depreciation and amortization for full year 2013 increased 9.9% to RUB 133,354.0 mlm ($4.187 billion);

• Full year 2013 basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) were both RUB 7.6 (US cents 23.9), which is 15.2% higher than basic EPS in 2012 and 16.9% higher than diluted EPS in 2012.

Other 2013 highlights

Aeroflot became the official carrier of the football club Manchester United in 3Q 2013. The long-term sponsorship agreement helps position Aeroflot as a premium global brand.

In October 2013 Aeroflot announced plans to launch Russia’s first national low-cost carrier under the brand Dobrolet. The airline will operate as a 100%-owned subsidiary of Aeroflot. Since the October announcement Aeroflot has worked closely with relevant government authorities to ensure that necessary legislation and regulations are in place to allow for the LCC model to succeed in Russia. Aeroflot views the LCC market as a significant source of future growth and an opportunity to expand its business with negligible cannibalisation. The Group plans to launch Dobrolet this year.

In November 2013 Aeroflot introduced Aurora Airlines, a unified Russian Far East subsidiary based on the legacy assets of Vladivostok Avia and Sakhalin Aviatrassy (SAT). The roll-out of Aurora Airlines presents a strong opportunity to capture market share in the Far East, a region with few transport alternatives. The Group expects that Aurora will fly 2.4 million passengers a year by 2018. The creation of Aurora contributes to the consolidation and restructuring of Aeroflot’s legacy subsidiaries.

In December 2013 JSC Aeroflot was granted permission by the Central Bank of Russia to introduce a depositary receipt program. The following month Aeroflot launched a Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program.

Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 VP-BTL (msn 5881) in Manchester United special promotional livery arrives at London (Heathrow).

Aeroflot:

Japan Airlines and S7 Airlines to expand their code share agreement

Japan Airlines (JAL) (Tokyo) and S7 Airlines (Novosibirsk), both members of oneworld®, have agreed to further expand the code share flights with adding 12 domestic destinations in Russia from March 19, 2014.

The new codeshare routes between Moscow (Domodedovo) and domestic cities in Russia includes Saint Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, and also Sochi, which is the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as other attractive cities.

Routes between Moscow (Domodedovo) and domestic cities in Russia

・Moscow = St. Petersburg	・Moscow = Perm
・Moscow = Samara	・Moscow = Ufa
・Moscow = Kazan	・Moscow = Chelyabinsk
・Moscow = Yekaterinburg	・Moscow = Volgograd
・Moscow = Nizhny Novgorod	・Moscow = Krasnodar
・Moscow = Rostov	・Moscow = Sochi

* Code share flights are subject to government approval.

* All of the above flights are operated by S7.

* Flight schedule and dates are subject to changes. Please visit JAL website for the latest information.

Top Copyright Photo: TMK Photography/AirlinersGallery.com. JAL-Japan Airlines’ Boeing 777-246 JA8985 (msn 27652) in the special Tokyo Disney Resort – 30th Anniversary livery taxies at Fukuoka.

JAL-Japan Airlines:

S7 Airlines:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf/AirlinersGallery.com. S7 Airlines added its first Airbus A321, the pictured A321-211 VQ-BQH (msn 3070) in September 2013.

Aer Lingus threatens to go to court if the SIPTU union strikes

Aer Lingus (Dublin) is threatening legal action if the SIPTU union goes ahead with its strike plans against the carrier according to the Irish Times. The union is unhappy with the shortage in the pension fund.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 EI-CPE (msn 926) climbs gracefully away from Geneva, Switzerland.

Aer Lingus:

Germania to paint its first Airbus A321 in the colors of German tour operator Alltours

Germania Fluggesellschaft (Berlin) has announced it will paint its first Airbus A321-211 (D-ASTD, man 5843) in the colors of German tour operator Alltours.

The new specially-painted A321 will fly from Dusseldorf to the Canary Islands, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

Germania:

Aer Lingus narrows first half loss to $23.4 million

Aer Lingus Airbus A321-211 EI-CPF (msn 991) LHR (Roy Lock), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Aer Lingus (Dublin) narrowed its first half net loss to $23.4 million.

Read the full report in the WSJ:

CLICK HERE

US Airways’ pilots ask the DOJ to investigate Delta-US Airways transaction

US Airways Airbus A321-211 N195UW (msn 3633) CLT, originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

US Airways’ (Phoenix) pilots, represented by The US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA), announced yesterday (November 30) that it is seeking a full investigation on the impact of a proposed slot, gate and facility transaction between US Airways and Delta Air Lines at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington’s Reagan National airports. In a letter to Christine Varney, assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, USAPA stated that this transaction may have serious antitrust concerns.

Here is the full press release:

finance.yahoo.com/news/US-Airways-Pilots-Ask-bw-219662354.html?x=0&.v=1

Please click on photo or link below for a full view, information, prints for sale and other photos:

http://airlinersgallery.com/2/25c5e9c/#/gallery/us-airways/us-airways-a321-200-n195uw-05-apr-clt-js-lr-402015/