Monarch Airlines (London-Luton) will add five winter routes starting in December from London (Gatwick) and Manchester. From LGW, the carrier will add seasonal service to Innsbruck (December 5), Geneva (December 12) and Salzburg (December 19). From MAN, the airline will add Geneva (December 19) and Lyon (December 20) with Airbus A320s and A321s per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Terry Wade/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 G-OZBT (msn 3546) completes its final approach to the runway at London (Gatwick).
Gulf Air (Bahrain) will increase the number of flights to and from Frankfurt, Larnaca and Paris (CDG) during the upcoming peak summer travel period until September 2015, due to growing passenger numbers.
This follows the airline’s recent announcement of its enhanced Istanbul summer schedule which now offers seven weekly flights during the summer period.
Gulf Air will operate eight weekly flights from Bahrain to both Frankfurt and Paris (Charles de Gaulle Airport) and six weekly flights to Larnaca.
Gulf Air’s European summer schedule further supplements the airline’s existing four weekly Athens service and double daily London Heathrow service.
Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 A9C-CC (msn 5180) prepares to land at Dubai.
DHL Global Forwarding, Americas, has issued this statement:
DHL Global Forwarding, the specialist for air and ocean freight at Deutsche Post DHL Group, shipped the first aircraft components to the newly built U.S. assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama from the Hamburg Finkenwerder Airbus plant in Germany. DHL Industrial Projects developed a multimodal transport concept for the European aircraft manufacturer. From the beginning of June 2015, large components of A320 family as well as 1,000 sea freight containers and additional air freight shipments, also including hazardous goods, crossed the Atlantic. Arriving into port on June 17, DHL transported the aircraft components within a total transit time of 29 days which was of critical importance since configuration and control of the final assembly processes at Airbus depended upon it.
“Our Industrial Projects team created a plan, developed a concept and helped Airbus transport their aircraft components efficiently, effectively, and with no issues.”
“In order to successfully transport highly sensitive cargo, especially across great distances, it is critical to have a solutions-driven team of experts in place,” said Brian Lindholm, global head of business development, DHL Global Forwarding Industrial Projects. “Our Industrial Projects team created a plan, developed a concept and helped Airbus transport their aircraft components efficiently, effectively, and with no issues.”
The five different aircraft components with a maximum weight of thirty tonnes per section were transported on board a chartered ship using special sea transport frames and secured on roll trailers with twist locks. After arriving at the Port of Mobile and clearing Customs, the aircraft components were then loaded onto heavy-duty trailers with special cranes which will be transported a few miles to the new Airbus U.S. assembly plant in Mobile on Sunday, June 21.
For air freight shipments, both LD3 containers and consolidated shipments were used. Special legally required procedures were used for securing and transporting hazardous goods.
After the aircraft components are delivered, the sea transport frames and the air freight containers will be prepared for their return to Finkenwerder.
This is the first time DHL transports major components for Airbus.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group.
Top Photo: DHL/Business Wire. The fuselage component for new Airbus A321-231 (msn 6512) for JetBlue Airways was delivered to Mobile, Alabama from Hamburg, Germany. Members of DHL Global Forwarding, Airbus, the International Longshoremen’s Association (Local 14010) and AMP Terminal employees pose in front of the fuselage of the first Airbus A320 aircraft to be assembled at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama.
JetBlue Airways (New York) today announced that it will add additional flights of its acclaimed Mint experience from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
Beginning October 25, JetBlue will offer up to six daily Mint flights between New York and San Francisco. JetBlue will also add additional service between New York and Los Angeles beginning October 25, with up to 10 daily flights by February when the airline takes delivery of its newest A321 Mint aircraft.
JetBlue launched Mint service in June 2014.
According to the carrier, “JetBlue’s top-notch inflight service is matched by the Mint aircraft itself, which includes private suites, the widest seat and longest fully-flat bed in the U.S. domestic market (a), tapas-style dining, custom amenity kits, a 15-inch flat screen with 100+ channels of DIRECTV® programming and more than 100 channels of SiriusXM® satellite radio, and free broadband connectivity with their acclaimed Fly-Fi service. Additional frequencies will be available for purchase starting June 21, 2015.”
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 N945JT (msn 6390) arrives at Los Angeles International Airport.
Air Lease Corporation (AL) announced today long term lease agreements for seven new Airbus A320neo Family aircraft with Air Astana (Almaty), the national airline of Kazakhstan.
The seven aircraft include two new A320neos and five new A321neos and LRs, all from ALC’s order book with Airbus. One A320neo is scheduled to deliver in Spring 2016, while the remaining six aircraft will deliver in 2018 and 2019. The A321neo aircraft will replace the remaining Boeing 757-200s (top).
Top Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 757-2G5 P4-FAS (msn 29489) arrives at London (Heathrow).
Air Astana aircraft slide show:
Bottom Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Air Astana has been adding Airbus A320s and new A321s so the final replacement by A321s is not a surprise. Airbus A321-231 P4-NAS (msn 1042) taxies at Amsterdam.
Monarch Airlines (London-Luton) reported a loss of £69.9 million ($106.7 million) for the six months ending on April 30. This is an improvement of a loss of £110.6 million ($168.8 million) for the same half year period in 2014.
The airline issued this financial statement:
Monarch, the European leisure airline group, has reported a half year loss of £69.9 million, down from £110.6 million for the same period last year. Winter losses, for the November to April period, were down by a bigger than forecast £40 million.
Monarch has completed the final phase of the restructuring program begun last year and has created a revitalized, entirely scheduled network of destinations for discerning leisure customers. The Monarch turnaround is firmly on track.
Monarch has undertaken a range of measures to remove £200 million in annual costs from the business, including restructuring of its network and fleet, improved revenue management and modernised working practices. £30 million of the reduction in winter losses is due to the success of this self-help turn around program, with the remaining £10 million due to additional savings in fuel costs.
Overall, this has resulted in a strong first half performance. The group is now focused on building on the heritage of the Monarch brand and creating a truly customer centric organisation.
Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Swaffield said; “We remain positive that the changes we have made to the structure of the group, the network and our cost base have set us in good stead to achieve the turnaround. It is thanks to the hard work of all 2,800 colleagues employed directly by the company, both on the ground and in the air, that we are focused on service and safety whilst maintaining a low cost base. These elements will help Monarch to build a sustainably profitable business.”
Chief Financial Officer, Barry Nightingale said; “Our winter performance was better than forecasted with substantially reduced losses.
“We have seen stable booking trends throughout the last 6 months and have seen good summer sales in key months which will help us to deliver against a challenging plan.
“Improved revenue management has played a key part in the turnaround results but, additionally we have put a lot of work into segmenting our customer groups and have been able to take a customer centric approach to reshape our network around increased frequencies to our most popular destinations. We have also added new scheduled routes taken from our portfolio of destinations previously served as charter routes to provide a better service and increased flexibility to customers.”
Earlier this year, Monarch launched a group wide employee bonus scheme to reward the commitment and hard work of all employees. Key performance indicators are aligned to company performance and the punctuality of the airline.
Andrew Swaffield said; “It’s clear that people who work for Monarch genuinely care about the company and our customers. That is directly reflected in the great service and natural warmth which comes as standard.
“The bonus scheme is designed to ensure that we focus on the right things such as company performance and airline punctuality (OTP). This year we have already improved, and our average OTP figure for the first six months is 83.2%, compared to 80% for the same period last year.”
Having recently celebrated 47 years of flying under the Monarch name, work has now begun to transition the airline to its new fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft (below) which will start coming into service in April 2018.
The airline confirmed this order in autumn 2014 to replace its current Airbus fleet by 2020. Each of the thirty new Boeing 737 MAX8 aircraft will deliver further savings on future fuel costs and contribute to the airline’s sustainable low cost base.
Alongside the scheduled airline operations, Monarch’s in-house engineering division has enjoyed growth in third party business and has opened a new maintenance base in Copenhagen. Monarch Aircraft Engineering was recently shortlisted for Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul company of the Year at this years’ industry Awards. The priority for this valuable group asset is to improve its efficiency and make a bigger contribution in the years to come.
Monarch’s tour operating business has seen strong year-on-year growth in on-line bookings, offsetting some category weakness in high street sales. Key markets in the Canaries and mainland Spain have grown in line with the airline’s scheduled operations to key city destinations. Packages to Egypt are seeing some recovery after an unsteady past two years. Greece continues to perform well, despite economic uncertainty and aggressive competition.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Monarch will replace its current Airbus fleet with new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by 2020. Airbus A321-231 G-OZBE (msn 1707) arrives in Las Palmas.
Volaris (Mexico City) will introduce the new Airbus A321-200 initially on the Mexico City – Cancun route on June 1. This will be followed by the Mexico City – Moneterrey route on August 17 per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo below: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 D-AZAN (msn 6558) became XA-VLH when it was handed over on April 20. A second A321 will follow.
Finnair (Helsinki) is strengthening its ties with fellow oneworld alliance members JAL-Japan Airlines (Tokyo) and QANTAS Airways (Sydney), with new codeshares on the airlines’ respective services to Busan, South Korea and Perth, Australia.
Busan is a new addition to Finnair’s extended network, which Finnair passengers can now reach daily via Tokyo Narita on services operated by Japan Airlines. The new codeshare allows Finnair to serve South Korea’s prosperous second-largest city, with a population of 3.6 million that is growing in economic clout and seeking more connections to Europe.
Japan Airlines and Finnair already codeshare extensively on each other’s services throughout Europe and Japan.
Additionally, from June 26, 2015 Finnair passengers can connect to Perth via Singapore on services operated by oneworld partner QANTAS Airways. This creates additional scheduling and route options for Finnair passengers, who can also connect to Perth via Hong Kong on oneworld partner Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong).
In other news, Finnair, the first European airline to operate the Airbus A350-900 aircraft (above), has awarded Lufthansa Technik a 12-year agreement for component support for the new aircraft type. Lufthansa Technik is one of the leading providers of technical services for the aviation industry, and the agreement with Finnair is the company’s first contract for A350 XWB component support.
The exclusive Total Component Support TCS®contract covers the availability and repair services of A350-900 XWB components. Finnair already has an agreement with Lufthansa Technik on engine-related components service for V2500 engines and APU services for APS3200.
Finnair’s own maintenance organization at the Helsinki Airport is responsible for the line maintenance of Finnair’s current fleet and the new A350-900 XWB fleet.
Finnair has firm orders for 19 A350-900 XWB aircraft, the first four of which are expected to arrive in the fleet in the second half of this year, with another seven in 2016 and 2017. The complete order will be fulfilled by 2023.
Copyright Photo below: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 OH-LZH (msn 5803) with Sharklets approaches the runway for landing at Las Palmas.
Qatar Airways (Doha), as the global launch customer for the Airbus A350-900 XWB, became the first airline to operate the world’s newest aircraft to Singapore and the Asia Pacific region today (May 11), with the inaugural A350-900 XWB service arriving in Singapore’s Changi Airport.
Upon touching down at Singapore Changi Airport, flight QR 944 was greeted by a traditional water cannon salute (above), a long-held tradition to welcome special flights or planes to an airport, and an exclusive welcome ceremony.
Qatar Airways currently operates a double-daily service to Singapore with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (below) and the aircraft will be progressively replaced by the next-generation A350-900 XWB.
Photo Above: Qatar Airways. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner A7-BCB (msn 38320).
In addition, from later this summer, Qatar Airways will add an additional daily flight to Singapore, as part of its global expansion drive and to cater to the increase in passenger demand. All three daily flights will be operated using the A350-900 XWB by mid-August.
In addition, Qatar Airways has announced an expansion to its UAE services with the launch of nonstop flights to Ras Al Khaimah, commencing on October 1, 2015.
Operating daily, flight QR 1120 will depart Doha’s Hamad International Airport at 20:15 hours and arrive at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport at 22.30 hours. The return flight QR 1121 will depart at 23:30 hours and arrive in Doha at 23:45 hours.
Additionally the carrier announced the introduction of Qatar Airways’ newest offering, the Doha-Dubai Shuttle. Having launched this week, the Doha-Dubai Shuttle will offer flights from Doha’s Hamad International Airport to Dubai International Airport, as well as Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai.
The new service which is the first of its kind flying between the two cities brings with it a number of enhanced services that will reduce overall travel time and increase convenience for passengers. The shuttle service, along with its many perks, will be offered on each of the 18 daily flights between the two cities, with 14 flights to and from Dubai International Airport and four to and from Al Maktoum International Airport.
Copyright Photo Above: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 A7-ADX (msn 3397) departs from tropical Doha, Qatar.
According to the airline, “passengers on the Doha-Dubai Shuttle will also be able to enjoy the newly unveiled Qatar Airways inflight entertainment system with its brand new design and identity. The new brand “Oryx One – Explore. Play. Share.” embraces Qatar Airways’ corporate colours and will provide passengers with a comprehensive experience of entertainment, information and connectivity.
Video: Qatar Airways. The new Oryx One on Qatar Airways.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker (below) announced the launch of the Doha-Dubai Shuttle and the unveiled new brand identity of the airline’s inflight entertainment during a press conference on the opening day of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) – the Middle East’s premier travel show – taking place in Dubai this week.
Photo Above: Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker announces the carrier’s 2015 expansion plans and latest undertakings during a press conference at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
Specially branded and dedicated check-in counters located at Row 5 at Hamad International Airport will be available for all passengers travelling from Doha to Dubai on the Doha-Dubai Shuttle. Passengers who plan on checking in baggage must check in no later than one hour before their scheduled departure time. Return flights from Dubai to Doha also require check in of a minimum of one hour before the scheduled departure time for all passengers, including those with only hand baggage.
Passengers flying on the Qatar Airways Doha-Dubai Shuttle will also be able to take advantage of fast-track immigration in Doha, allowing them to clear passport control in a minimum amount of time before proceeding to their boarding gates located in either Concourse A or B, which are no more than a seven to 10 minute walk, on average, from passport control.
Qatar Airways has so far announced an the addition of seven destinations to its international map this year – Amsterdam, Ras Al Khaimah, Zanzibar, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Multan and Durban – and is gearing up for more route expansion in 2016 with three new US cities, Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta.
Finally, Qatar Airways and Royal Air Maroc (Casablanca) have announced the launch of a strategic joint business agreement on their services between the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Morocco.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker and Royal Air Maroc Chairman and CEO, Mr. Driss Benhima signed the joint business agreement today at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, in the presence of international press and travel trade partners.
The joint business will benefit passengers by providing enhanced links between Qatar and Morocco, greater choice of flights to more destinations and improved frequent flyer benefits. With this new agreement, passengers will be able to purchase a single itinerary combining flights on both carriers’ global networks, affording them the ease of one-stop ticketing and baggage check-in.
Royal Air Maroc will be operating three weekly flights with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Doha complimenting Qatar Airways’ existing seven times weekly flights to Casablanca, giving passengers the flexibility of using a combination of flights from both airlines between Qatar and Morocco, significantly increasing their options.
Video Below: Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways First Officer Robby and his wife talk about the wonderful life they have made for themselves in Doha since he joined the airline. Find out how they have rapidly adapted to the Middle Eastern way of life and why they plan to spend the foreseeable future in this fast-growing, dynamic city, which has so much to offer pilots and their families looking for an exciting new chapter in their lives.
Qatar Airways aircraft slide show:
Copyright Photo below: Bernhard Ross/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A350-941 A7-ALA (msn 006) pis pictured at Frankfurt.
American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) today made this announcement about expanding its streaming video service:
American Airlines is putting entertainment options in the hands of more customers by launching its streaming video service on more than 200 additional aircraft in its domestic mainline fleet.
American has already equipped more than 500 aircraft with seat-back video and streaming with its American Spotlight entertainment service. In May, American will add streaming to its fleet of Airbus A319s, A320s and A321s, with plans for some international widebody aircraft, further expanding customers’ access to inflight entertainment options in all cabins.
To celebrate the hundreds of hours of entertainment available on American Spotlight, American is inviting customers to enjoy select movies free of charge through the streaming service. Through June 30, customers can view any of the following six movies.
Big Hero 6
Captain America
Frozen
Guardians of the Galaxy
Into The Woods
Maleficent
In addition, American always offers free, exclusive programming from NBC Universal through streaming, seat-back and overhead entertainment.
The programming is stored on aircraft hardware, ensuring that customers receive high quality streaming; it is offered in addition to air-to-ground Wi-Fi service already offered on all mainline narrow body aircraft.
First-time streaming viewers simply open their browser, look for the Entertainment option and accept Gogo’s invitation to install the Gogo Video Player plug-in, which can be downloaded quickly even during a flight.
They can then start the viewing process by browsing the free and paid content – approximately 200 movies and 200 TV shows.
American already offers complimentary entertainment on all international flights in all cabins and has announced plans for more international Wi-Fi and onboard power ports as part of its $2 billion investment in the customer experience. These investments include more fully lie-flat seats; upgraded aircraft interior, and an improved airport experience with faster, more reliable kiosks and refreshed gate and ticketing areas. This is all in addition to American’s historic fleet renewal, during which it expects to take delivery of 75 new mainline aircraft in 2015.
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 N120EE (msn 6227) climbs away from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
American Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery only):
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