Tag Archives: A330223

Royal Jordanian celebrates 50 years of flying, will introduce the Boeing 787 on July 1, 2014

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) this month celebrated its 50th Anniversary. The flag carrier launched scheduled passenger flights on December 15, 1963 as Alia-The Royal Jordanian Airline (Air Jordan) between Amman and Beirut. The airline adopted the current name on December 15, 1986.

Majesty King Abdullah II joined the airline on December 22 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee according to the airline. RJ has introduced a new 50th emblem which is likely to appear on its aircraft The airline is also issuing 50 days of daily free tickets.

The airline issued this statement and photo:

His Majesty King Abdullah II joined Royal Jordanian on Sunday, December 22, 2013, in a celebration to mark the national carrier’s 50^thanniversary.

During a visit to RJ’s new premises, the King toured a photo exhibition depicting the flag carrier’s development since its launch in 1963 and also viewed a model of a modern aircraft and its functions from take-off to landing.

The King and the attendees also watched a film about the development of RJ, which launched its maiden flight to Beirut on December 15, which was later followed by other destinations across various continents.

His Majesty congratulated the RJ staff on the airline’s golden jubilee, expressing his pride in and appreciation for their relentless efforts to upgrade “this national edifice” over five decades.

“Through its glitter, RJ has become a real ambassador of the country and an embodiment of its bright image as it circled the world in its name,” the King wrote in the visitors’ book, urging the airline to pursue its efforts to boost its competitiveness in the region and the world.

During the ceremony, attended by His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Ibn Al Hussein, Prime Minister Abdullah Nsour and senior officials, King Abdullah honoured a number of staff members and ex-employees for their contributions to RJ. He also received a memento, a Boeing 787 yoke, from the Chairman of the Board of Directors Nasser Lozi.

Lozi said in remarks during the ceremony that RJ’s golden jubilee marks the carrier’s history and the ability of its staff from multiple generations to build an airline whose roots run deep at home and which has spread its branches across the world.

He said the company had made remarkable growth and expanded through various stages of the Kingdom’s development and sought to promote the national values of a sense of belonging, maintaining traditions and hospitality.

Lozi said human resources are the backbone of RJ’s development and modernisation as it relied on the expertise, loyalty and keenness of its staff to put the airline among the world’s prestigious airlines

Royal Jordanian President/CEO Amer Hadidi said: “The 50 past years of RJ lifetime is a source of pride for all of us. RJ is dream that came true with the persistent efforts of loyal Jordanians that could manage to build this edifice with very limited potentials.”

He added that the airline has promising future plans including growing its fleet and increasing the destinations on its route network, adding that RJ will be receiving the first 5 Boeing 787 aircraft in the second half of 2014, helping RJ to reach new heights and to fly to more cities around the world.

Hadidi said the airline intends to invest in the aviation industry in the field of maintenance and ground handling, and to expand in this area by providing these services in the regional markets. He pointed that RJ has the required expertise and capabilities qualifying it to contribute to the development of aviation in the Arab world, particularly the countries that witnessed the transformation of the Arab Spring and are in need of such services.”

In other news, Royal Jordanian is planning to introduce its first new 267-seat Boeing 787-8 initially on the Amman-Jeddah route on July 1, 2014 followed by the twice-weekly Amman-Lagos-Accra route the next day according to Airline Route. Twice-weekly Amman-Montreal (Trudeau) will be introduced on July 3 followed by weekly Amman-Abu Dhabi service on July 5.

Top Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner/AirlinersGallery.com. Royal Jordanian Airlines’ Airbus A330-223 JY-AIF (msn 979) approaches the runway at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Royal Jordanian:

Alia:

Video:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati/AirlinersGallery.com. Alia’s Lockheed L-1011-385-3 TriStar 500 JY-AGB (msn 1219) taxies at Paris (Orly) in the ornate 1981 livery.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic outline their schedule plans for the summer of 2014

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) today outlined details of a new joint venture flight schedule beginning summer 2014, aligning their services and offering more flight choices for travelers on both sides of the Atlantic.

The two airlines are putting the customer at the forefront of their partnership with the new schedule that starts March 30, 2014, combining their slots at London Heathrow to offer maximum customer convenience, particularly for business travelers.

Beginning, April 2, 2014, Delta will move its arrival and departure terminal for several important business markets to join Virgin Atlantic in Heathrow Terminal 3. This includes its London to New York-JFK, London to Boston, and new London to Seattle/Tacoma services and means the two airlines will co-locate on all its New York and Boston flights to London Heathrow. The move will allow for convenient connections and a seamless customer experience for customers flying with Virgin and Delta, including access to Virgin Atlantic’s award winning Clubhouse for all business class passengers.

Delta, in cooperation with Virgin Atlantic, will also operate a second daily service between London Heathrow and Detroit Metropolitan Airport effective June 1, 2014. The service will be particularly appealing to corporate customers needing an early morning arrival into London while offering more schedule choice for customers between London and the U.S. Midwest.

This additional flight will complement Delta’s previously announced new West Coast route between Seattle/Tacoma and London Heathrow, which will launch on March 29, 2014.

Virgin Atlantic is also making significant schedule changes. It is moving its VS1 Heathrow to Newark service from a late afternoon departure to a morning departure. This flight will be particularly attractive to business travelers: it will allow ‘same-day meetings’ to be held in the New Jersey area, while an earlier departure on the return flight means passengers can be in central London for the start of the working day.

This service is part of nine daily flights between London Heathrow and the New York area by the joint venture partners. The new schedule will include departures every 30 minutes during the early evening peak and then hourly until 10.30 p.m. from New York-JFK to London Heathrow and a spread of seven daily flights from London Heathrow to New York-JFK, including two late afternoon and early evening departures. It also includes two conveniently timed departures to and from Newark.

Virgin Atlantic has also retimed its Heathrow to Boston service to depart two hours later in the afternoon. This offers more flexibility for the two airlines’ customers with Delta’s Heathrow to Boston service departing in the morning. Virgin Atlantic’s evening departure from Boston will also move two hours later, giving greater schedule choice to travelers.

In September, Delta and Virgin Atlantic welcomed the decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to approve the carriers’ joint venture by granting antitrust immunity on routes between North America and the UK. This ruling confirmed the clear consumer benefits of the partnership, enabling the airlines to deepen their cooperation, offering more flight choices for travelers on both sides of the Atlantic and improving the travel options for business customers in the New York to London market.

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Delta’s Airbus A330-223 N855NW (msn 621) arrives in Los Angeles.

Delta Air Lines:

Virgin Atlantic Airways:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Eddie Maloney/AirlinersGallery.com. Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Boeing 747-443 G-VROS (msn 30885) lands in Las Vegas.

TAP Portugal to fly to Manaus and Belem

TAP Portugal (Lisbon) has announced the start of operations to Manaus and Belem, both cities in Northern Brazil, as of the beginning of June 2014. With the addition of these new destinations to its network, the company increases to 12 the number of gateways operated in Brazil and further strengthens its positioning as the world’s leading airline in operation to that key market in South America.

The operation is to be launched with three weekly frequencies – on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays – and flights will operate the route Lisbon – Manaus – Belem – Lisbon, thereby allowing TAP to enter for the first time into Northern Brazil, a region with great potential for tourism and where the offer of international flights is still very scarce.

Out of Portugal, flights will depart TAP Lisbon hub at 0930 and arrive in Manaus at 1340. After one hour turn-round time flights go on to Belem arriving there at 1740. At 1910 return flights depart Belem with arrival in Lisbon at 0645 (following day).

Manaus currently has a population of 2.3 million people and is the capital city of the State of Amazonas, which in the whole has a population of 3.6 million people. As the main gateway into Amazonia, Manaus is also a fast growing region in Brazil.

Belem is the capital city of the State of Para, with a population of 7.8 million people, of which 2.25 million in Belem only. The city is an important eco-tourism destination and a gateway into Amazonia as well.

Currently, neither Manaus nor Belem have direct flights to Europe in operation. Thus, the launch of TAP direct flights to those cities, that are the gateway into North Brazil, represent quite a significant step forward. From June 2014 onwards, customers will be provided with the most convenient and fastest connections to Lisbon and many other destinations beyond across the company’s European network.

Currently, TAP operates direct flights to 10 gateways in Brazil: Fortaleza; Natal; Recife; Salvador; Brasilia; Belo Horizonte; Rio de Janeiro; Sao Paulo; Campinas and Porto Alegre, adding in the whole to 74 weekly frequencies operated in average. With the introduction of Manaus and Belem as new destinations, TAP will from now on cover all regions in the country, considerably reinforcing the reach of its network in Brazil.

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-223 CS-TOK (msn 317) prepares to land at Sao Paulo (Guarulhos).

TAP Portugal:

Edelweiss Air to add a second weekly flight to Tampa

Edelweiss Air (Zurich) has announced it will add a second weekly flight on the Zurich-Tampa route starting on March 14, 2013.

Edelweiss Air:

Virgin Australia starts its new code share agreement with Airberlin

Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has announced a reciprocal code share and frequent flyer agreement with Airberlin (Berlin), Germany’s second largest airline.

The code share flights commence on August 1, 2013, subject to government approval, Virgin Australia will code share on Airberlin’s daily direct services from Abu Dhabi to Dusseldorf and Berlin. Airberlin will also code share on Virgin Australia’s Abu Dhabi to Sydney service, its Phuket to Perth service and on nine of its domestic services within Australia.

As part of the new agreement, members of Virgin Australia’s loyalty program Velocity Frequent Flyer and Airberlin’s top bonus program will receive reciprocal benefits, with the ability to earn and redeem Points or miles, regardless of which airline is operating the flight.

Airberlin operates daily direct services between Abu Dhabi and Berlin and between Abu Dhabi and Dusseldorf. The Airbus A330-200 operated services offer Full Flat seats with a massage function and 15 inch LED monitors in Business Class ensuring a superior level of comfort. In Economy Class, Airberlin offer new seats with anti-thrombosis cushions, a complimentary drinks service and a new in-seat entertainment system.

Top Copyright Photo: John Adlard/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 VH-XFC (msn 1293) arrives at the Sydney hub.

Virgin Australia:

Airberlin:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-223 D-ABXA (msn 288) in the Oneworld scheme taxies to the runway at Palma de Mallorca.

Delta to upgrade its 32 Airbus A330s

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) is upgrading its Airbus A330 fleet – the final fleet type to receive the modification – to include full flat-bed seats in the BusinessElite cabin and new “slim line” seats, which offer more personal space throughout the Economy cabin. The first modified A330 operated its first flight yesterday from Atlanta to Detroit and will operate from Detroit to Amsterdam today. There are 32 A330s in the Delta fleet.

To date, more than 60 percent of Delta’s widebody international fleet has been upgraded with direct-aisle access full flat-bed seats. Already, Delta’s fleet of 16 Boeing 747-400 aircraft, 18 Boeing 777 aircraft and 21 Boeing 767-400ER have been retrofitted with full flat-bed seats. Thirty-five Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with new full flat-bed BusinessElite seats are currently flying, with the entire fleet of 58 aircraft scheduled for completion by the end of 2013. The full international widebody fleet of more than 140 aircraft will be complete by mid-2014.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Airbus A330-223 N858NW (msn 718) completes its final approach into Los Angeles International Airport.

Delta Air Lines:

Airberlin returns to profitability with a net profit of $8.97 million in 2012

Airberlin (Berlin) has returned to the black with a reported $8.97 million net profit in 2012.

Read the full report from the airline: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Mark Durbin. Airbus A330-223 D-ALPI (msn 828) in the delayed Berlin Brandenburg Airport scheme taxies at San Francisco.

Airberlin:

Brussels Airlines is coming to Washington Dulles on June 18

Brussels Airlines (Brussels) on June 18 will open a new route from its Brussels hub to Washington (Dulles). The new route will operate five days a week with Airbus A330 aircraft. The route will connect with Star Alliance partner United Airlines (Chicago).

Flight schedule (in local times):

Flight Number	Route	Departure	Arrival	Days of week
SN515	Brussels – Washington DC	17h30	20h15	2/4/5/6/7
SN516	Washington DC – Brussels	22h35	12h10	2/4/5/6/7

(flight time: 8 hours and 45 minutes)

Brussels Airlines:

American Airlines expands its partnership with the LATAM Airlines Group with new codeshare agreements with TAM and LAN Colombia

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth), which offers more flights to more destinations in Latin America than any other U.S. airline, has signed agreements to codeshare with both TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aereas) (Sao Paulo) and LAN Colombia (Bogota), representing a solid stepping stone in building a stronger bilateral relationship between American and LATAM Airlines Group. Once approved, these new codeshare relationships will provide expanded opportunities for American to serve new markets in Brazil and Colombia and for TAM Airlines and LAN Colombia in the United States.

In addition, American plans to operate a new Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Bogota (BOG) route beginning in late 2013. American will also add service to Curitiba (CWB) and Porto Alegre (POA), Brazil from Miami beginning in late 2013, demonstrating its mission to provide customers with expanded options through a growing network footprint in Latin America. With the addition of Curitiba and Porto Alegre, American will serve nine destinations in Brazil.

Once the codeshare agreements are approved, these new relationships will provide American’s customers seamless connecting service within Colombia and Brazil. At the same time, this partnership will allow TAM and LAN Colombia’s customers access to new destinations in the U.S. such as Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas and Seattle.

TAM operates nearly 5,600 weekly flights to 42 destinations throughout Brazil as well as 18 international destinations in the United States, Latin America and Europe. LAN Colombia operates more than 930 weekly flights to cities throughout Colombia as well as destinations in Brazil and the United States. From its Bogota hub, LAN Colombia offers 134 daily flights, including service to 20 Colombian cities.

American offers codeshare service, with fellow oneworld^® alliance member LAN Airlines, to cities throughout South America from LAN’s hubs in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Peru.

The new route between DFW and Bogota complements American’s existing service to Colombia through Miami (MIA), where it offers up to 35 nonstop flights per week to Bogota, Cali and Medellin. American’s MIA and DFW hubs allow it to serve 90 percent of U.S. – Latin America traffic more efficiently than any other airline’s combination of hubs. American offers more service to South America than any other U.S. airline.

American also offers the most service between North America and Brazil, American currently serves Brazil from Miami to Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo; from New York JFK to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo; and from Dallas/Fort Worth to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. In addition, early next year the Dallas/Fort Worth – Sao Paulo flight will be the first to feature the newest addition to American’s fleet, the Boeing 777-300 ER.

Top Copyright Photo: Bernardo Andrade. Boeing 767-323 ER N354AA (msn 24035) arrives at Rio de Janeiro ‘s Galeao Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport.

American Airlines:

TAM Linhas Aereas:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Airbus A330-223 PT-MVC (msn 247) of TAM Linhas Aereas arrives at London (Heathrow).

Delta and Virgin Atlantic are planning a trans-Atlantic joint venture

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) are planning a trans-Atlantic joint venture if Delta is successful in obtaining Singapore Airlines’ 49 percent share in Virgin Atlantic according to this report by Reuters. Sir Richard Branson is not interested in selling his controlling 51 percent but is interested in working with Delta.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Airbus A330-223 N861NW (msn 796) climbs away from Los Angeles International Airport.

Delta Air Lines:

Virgin Atlantic Airways:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Stephen Tornblom. Appropriately registered Airbus A330-343X G-VNYC (msn 1315) pushes back from gate at New York’s JFK International Airport.