Tag Archives: A330-300

Hong Kong Airlines celebrates its 8th Anniversary

Hong Kong Airlines (Hong Kong) is celebrating its 8th anniversary. The airline issued this statement and logo:

Since its establishment in 2006, Hong Kong Airlines has grown to become an internationally-acclaimed SKYTRAX 4-star airline and was awarded “World’s Most Improved Airline” by SKYTRAX in 2014, recognizing the warmth of its service and the quality of its onboard offering. The Airline operates an all-Airbus fleet with an average age of approximately 2.4 years as of May 2014, which is one of the youngest fleets among major international airlines in the world. To mark the 8th anniversary, Hong Kong Airlines launches a series of exciting activities and promotions, as an appreciation gesture for customers’ continuous support and sharing joy with the whole city.

To spread the birthday joy across Hong Kong, the airlines is delighted to organize “8th Anniversary Roadshow”. A party truck decorated into airplane cabin (below) will travel across different places in Hong Kong, giving out more than 18,000 gifts and up to 888,888 Fortune Wings Miles reward. The first five days of roadshow have attracted numerous visitors, who had fun with games and won attractive prizes. With the wish to earn miles and redeem free air tickets, many of them registered as Fortune Wings Club members.

Many visitors queued up to join “8th Anniversary Roadshow”. They had fun with games on the party truck and won attractive prizes. During the promotion period, visitors can get a birthday stamp card on truck and collect stamps on different roadshow locations. Having at least 5 stamps and writing birthday messages on card, the top ten creative participants will be awarded a total of 888,888 miles. Let’s grasp this opportunity and join the party in coming five days!

Top Copyright Photo: Olivier Gregoire/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Hong Kong Airlines). Airbus A330-343 F-WWYP became B-LNO (msn 1384) on delivery.

Hong Kong Airlines aircraft slide show:

Video: The new business class on Hong Kong Airlines:

Route Map:

This won’t go over well in Seattle, Delta turns to rival Airbus for new widebody aircraft

Delta Air Lines (Seattle/Tacoma) as previously reported, is building up its new and growing Seattle/Tacoma hub, the home of Boeing. The build-up at SEA is at the apparent expense of its “partner” Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma) which prides itself on being “all Boeing”. Delta believes the local Seattle market is much larger than one airline and continues its build-up.

According to the local newspaper, The Seattle Times, Delta is apparently now turning to Airbus for a new round of widebody aircraft over Seattle-favorite and the hometown manufacturer Boeing. According to the report, Delta has rejected Boeing’s offer of a mix of 777-300 ERs and 787-9 Dreamliners. Instead Delta will turn to rival Toulouse-based Airbus for a new order of 25 Airbus A350-900s and 25 A330-900neos. The prospective order has not yet been officially announced or confirmed by Airbus.

According to Delta, the earlier delivery slots offered by Airbus were critical in the decision. How will this play in the growing Seattle market where everyone knows someone who works for Boeing. Will this affect their booking decisions?

Delta has also delayed Northwest’s previous order for 18 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. Clearly Airbus is the winner for its widebody needs.

Delta, to their defense, is a large Boeing 737 and 777 customer and continues to take delivery of new 737s which helps the Seattle economy.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

As the competition heats up more in the “battle for Seattle”, will Alaska play up that it is very loyal to Boeing?

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. The large Airbus fleet came mainly from the merger with Northwest Airlines along with a lot of its management who now manage the current Delta. Former Northwest Airbus A330-323 N801NW (msn 524) taxies to the international gate at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Delta Air Lines aircraft slide show:

Finnair is coming to Chicago O’Hare for next summer

Finnair (Helsinki) will start flying to Chicago (O’Hare) next summer, from June 13 to October 17, 2015. Flights will be operated three times a week with Airbus A330 aircraft. Departures from Helsinki and Chicago are on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 17:25 and arrive in Chicago (ORD) at 18:40 local time. Return flights to Helsinki depart at 22:00 and arrive the following day at 14:50.

Finnair’s Chicago service is included in the joint business on trans-Atlantic traffic with fellow oneworld alliance partners British Airways, Iberia, American Airlines and American’s merger partner US Airways. Chicago is a hub for American, which allows Finnair’s customers quick codeshare connections to destinations throughout the United States, including San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The joint business between the cooperating airlines also gives customers the possibility to mix and match flights on different carriers for the best pricing and scheduling. For example, an itinerary could include a nonstop flight to Chicago in one direction, but a return flight connecting through another transatlantic hub if the timing is more convenient.

Due to opening the Chicago route, Finnair’s seasonal summer service to Hanoi will be discontinued. Finnair’s previously announced new summer destinations in 2015 include Athens, Dublin, Malta and Split.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Delta to increase the New York-Athens frequencies for the next summer season

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) is increasing its flights from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport to Athens International Airport for the 2015 summer season.

Delta will resume operations with a five-times weekly service from March 30, 2015, growing to daily on May 2, 2015. From June 2, 2015, additional flights will be added bringing the weekly total to 11. During the peak summer months, Delta will offer up to 5,900 weekly seats between Greece and the United States. All services from Athens are operated in conjunction with Delta’s joint venture partners Air France-KLM and Alitalia.

Delta’s Athens services are operated using Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 767-300 aircraft.

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-323 N815NW (msn 817) arrives back at the John F. Kennedy International Airport hub in New York.

Delta Air Lines:

Thai Airbus A330-321 HS-TEG operating as flight TG 47 overruns the runway at Khon Kaen, Thailand

Thai Airways International (Bangkok) flight TG 47 scheduled to operate from Khon Kaen to Bangkok with Airbus A330-321 HS-TEG (msn 112) aborted the takeoff and skidded off the runway as it attempted to takeoff last night (November 3) There were no injuries according to the National. The incident closed the airport and a Nok Air flight was forced to divert to another airport.

Read the full report with photos: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-321 HS-TEG departs from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) before the incident.

Thai Aircraft Slide Show:

SriLankan Airlines takes delivery of its first Airbus A330-300

SriLankan Airlines (Colombo), the national carrier of Sri Lanka, yesterday (October 30) took delivery of its first (of six) Airbus A330-300 becoming a new operator for the type. The wide-body aircraft arrived at Colombo International Airport, having flown from Toulouse, France, and joins the airlines’ existing fleet of A320, A321, A330-200 and A340-300 aircraft. SriLankan will take delivery of a further five A330-300s.

SriLankan Airlines and Airbus embarked upon a long-term, strategic partnership in 1993 when the airline began operating the A320 and A340. It has since grown to be an all Airbus operator, and is now an award winning carrier, expanding and diversifying its wide range of products and services to drive the country’s ongoing boom in tourism and economic development.

The carrier will introduce the new type on November 9 on a one-time Colombo-London (Heathrow) roundtrip followed by the Colombo-Bangkok-Guangzhou route on November 11 and finally the Colombo and Tokyo (Narita) route on November 15. The airline will also use the new type to Beijing and Shanghai (Pudong).

Top Copyright Photo: Oliver Gregoire/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-343 F-WWYX (msn 1564) became 4R-ALL on the handover.

SriLankan Airlines:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Airbus. The airline celebrates the signifiant milestone at the delivery ceremony.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic this weekend add to their trans-Atlantic joint venture with two swapped flights

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) this weekend are marking the launch of their new services between London (Heathrow) and Los Angeles and London-Heathrow and Atlanta respectively.

The new routes are the first transfer of operations between the two airlines since the launch of their joint venture earlier this year and will offer more choice and flexibility for both airlines’ customers on these key routes across the Atlantic.

From Sunday, Delta will be flying nonstop from London to California for the first time with one of two daily Heathrow-Los Angeles flights previously operated by Virgin Atlantic. The route is Delta’s seventh nonstop destination between London and the United States. Virgin Atlantic, meanwhile, is operating its first ever flights into the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, having taken over one of Delta’s three daily services, and is now able to offer more than 100 additional international and domestic connections to its customers at Delta’s hub airport.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic will operate their Los Angeles and Atlanta services at Heathrow Terminal 3. This co-location adds to the New York-JFK, Boston and Seattle/Tacoma joint venture flights, which already operate from Terminal 3. This provides convenient connections and a seamless customer experience for passengers of both airlines, including access to Virgin Atlantic’s award winning Clubhouse for all business class passengers. Both carriers also offer full flat-bed seats with direct aisle access on all business class flights between the U.K and U.S..

Virgin Atlantic expects to fly around 160,000 passengers annually to Atlanta and beyond on its new service providing convenient connections to Delta flights across the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. Virgin Atlantic has recently announced plans to add a second daily seasonal flight to Atlanta in summer 2015 as part of a package of investment into North American routes that will see the total number of peak day flights operated by the joint venture at 37 from March.

Since the start of the Delta and Virgin Atlantic trans-Atlantic joint venture, 3.5 million passengers have experienced the benefits of the partnership. The two airlines also have a codeshare agreement in place, maximizing the customer appeal of the joint schedule. The partnership enables the airlines to offer more flight choices for travellers on both sides of the Atlantic by improving their travel options.

Top Copyright Photo: Delta will operate the Boeing 767-300 ER on the LHR-LAX route. Delta’s Boeing 767-332 ER N16065 (msn 30199) now carries special “Andrew Young – Atlanta ‘s Ambassador to the World” markings by the nose saluting the diplomatic career of Atlanta native Andrew Young.

Delta Air Lines Aircraft Slide Show:

Virgin Atlantic Aircraft Slide Show:

Bottom Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Virgin Atlantic will operate the Airbus A330-300 on the LHR-ATL route. Airbus A330-343 G-VUFO (msn 1352) climbs away from the runway at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Virgin America and China Airlines start their codeshare relationship

Virgin America (San Francisco) today announced the implementation of a codeshare arrangement with China Airlines (Taipei) that will offer customers seamless bookings and travel between Taipei, Taiwan, elsewhere in Asia and multiple destinations across the United States. The new codeshare agreement, the fourth for the California-based airline, involves China Airlines placing its two-letter airline code (CI) on a range of Virgin America markets including flights between Los Angeles and/or San Francisco to Boston, Chicago, Dallas Love Field, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Las Vegas, Newark, New York (JFK), Seattle/Tacoma and Washington Dulles (IAD). Starting today, China Airlines guests can book their journey across the United States with Virgin America via China Airlines’ website and look forward to a convenient airport experience with one-stop check-in for boarding passes and checked bags.

China Airlines offers daily direct flights from Taipei to San Francisco and Los Angeles, and three flights per week to New York.

The codeshare partnership expands on the two airline’s existing interline agreement, which commenced in May 2012. China Airlines is Virgin America’s fourth codeshare agreement and enhances the airline’s growing partner portfolio.

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 N855VA (msn 5179) prepares to land at Los Angeles International Airport, a common connection point.

Virgin America:

China Airlines:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Karl Cornil/AirlinersGallery.com. China Airlines’ Airbus A330-302 B-18367 (msn 1278) arrives in Rome (Fiumicino).

Lufthansa to drop service to Abu Dhabi next summer

Lufthansa (Frankfurt) has announced it will drop its daily route from Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi, the home of Etihad Airways. The route will be dropped on March 29, 2015. The German airline has been getting increased price competition from Etihad and its partner Airberlin (Berlin) on the route.

The route is operated with Airbus A330-300s.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-343 D-AIKJ (msn 701) arrives at Washington’s Dulles International Airport.

Lufthansa Aircraft Slide Show:

Edelweiss Air increases the frequencies on its routes to Havana, Las Vegas, Tampa and Vancouver for next summer

Edelweiss Air (Zurich) is expanding operations for the summer of 2015. The airline is increasing the number of long-range flights to Havana, Las Vegas, Tampa and Vancouver. The airline is also expanding its schedule to other European destinations next summer.

The airline issued this statement:

Edelweiss is continuing to grow and invest in its core markets. With its 2015 Summer Timetable, the airline is introducing new destinations in Europe and expanding its flight offering in North America and the Caribbean.

More flights to North America and the Caribbean

With its 2015 Summer Timetable, Edelweiss is increasing the number of flights to Las Vegas, Tampa and Vancouver. These holiday destinations will be served with three weekly flights.

As well as the additional flights to North America, Edelweiss will be operating more flights to the Caribbean. Starting in summer 2015, there will be two weekly flights to Havana.

New destinations and more flights to existing holiday destinations in Europe

With the 2015 Summer Timetable, Edelweiss is also expanding its offer to include the up-and-coming cities in Southeast Europe. To that end, new destinations such as Banja Luka and Podgorica are being included in the route network and the number of flights to Pristina, Skopje and Split is being increased.

The choice of flights to the region of Greece/Turkey is also being expanded. Edelweiss will be serving the new destination Corfu and upping the number of flights to Heraklion und Dalaman. Furthermore, the airline will be strengthening its existing offer in Spain and Italy with additional flights to Alicante, Palma de Mallorca and Catania.

The 2015 Summer Timetable is valid from March 29 until October 24, 2015.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Edelweiss Air’s Airbus A330-343 HB-JHQ (msn 1193) arrives back at the Zurich base.

Edelweiss Air: