Tag Archives: A330300

Aer Lingus to lease three Boeing 757-200s for thin trans-Atlantic routes, 1Q operating loss widens to $59.1 million

Aer Lingus (Dublin) is planning to wet lease three Boeing 757-200s starting in early 2014. The aircraft will be assigned to thin trans-Atlantic routes. The company believes there is growth potential on these new routes because of its new jetBlue Airways (New York) relationship.

Read the full report from Bloomberg: CLICK HERE

On the financial side, the company will seek to reduce its staff by 100 positions by the end of the year after its first quarter operating loss widened to $59.1 million.

Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. The Boeing 757s will supplement the Airbus A330 fleet. A330-302 EI-EDY (msn 1025) prepares to depart from the Dublin hub.

Aer Lingus:

Iberia to cut wages further as the union talks fail, brings the new Airbus A330-300 to Miami

Iberia (Madrid) is facing more labor strife. According to this report by the Financial Times the company is planning deeper wage cuts after talks with the unions failed.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

In other news, Iberia introduced the new Airbus A330-300 on the Madrid-Miami route on April 15.

With a configuration of 36 seats in the Business cabin and 242 in the Economy class, the Business Plus section in the new A330s features wider seats that unfold into perfectly flat beds almost 80 inches long, housed in individual modules, each of them with direct access to the aisle. The design and positioning of the new seats ensure greater privacy and comfort to passengers. Lighting in the Business class cabin changes at the different phases of the flight and the seats offer more space for customers’ belongings.

Business Plus passengers can also enjoy new, intuitive entertainment options, using 15.5” screens similar to that of tablet computers, plus 4.2” touch screen remotes with virtual keyboard, with which passengers can make telephone calls, send text messages, and easily access entertainment options. Each month some 50 feature films will be available, plus 80 TV series, documentaries, some 200 musical options, and 3D games, among many other choices.

In the Economy cabin, seats are more ergonomic and wider (18.1”). They are equipped with the most advanced inflight entertainment system: individual 9” touch screens, a wide film and TV series offer, documentaries, as well as a children’s programme. Every seat has a connection port for Apple devices and a USB port, while universal power sockets are also available.

Iberia will soon be adding Wi-Fi Internet access and SMS capability for all its long-haul customers. The Airbus A330s is a twin-engine aircraft and is 15% more fuel efficient than the aircraft it replaces.

The A330 already operates to Boston and it will soon serve New York and Chicago. Flights to Los Angeles, the fifth Iberia destination in the U.S., will be operated by the Airbus A340 aircraft – Iberia will refit its 17 A340-600 aircraft with the new product from next month.

Iberia will be operating two daily flights from Miami to Madrid during the next six months, three more than a year ago. Iberia started flying from Madrid to Miami on August, 1972.

Video:

Iberia:

Aeroflot to combine Vladivostok Air and SAT Airlines under a new company called Far Eastern Airline (DVA)

Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) has transferred its controlling 52.156 percent of the shares of Vladivostok Air (Vladivostok Avia) (Vladivostok) (a member of the Aeroflot Group of companies) to SAT Airlines (Sakhalin Airlines) (Sakhalin) (a 100 percent subsidiary of Aeroflot). This move was made following the decision of Aeroflot’s Board of Directors concerning the creation of Far Eastern Airline (DVA) within the Aeroflot Group.

According to Aeroflot, “the new member in Aeroflot Group of companies will satisfy the growing demand for regional flights offering the highest service standards in one of the most impressively developing regions of the country — Russia’s Far East.”

Aeroflot continues, “the creation of Far Eastern Airline (DVA) will contribute significantly to the social-economic development of this vast region with a powerful economic potential and will let Aeroflot Group become one of the leading air carriers in Asia-Pacific.

The establishment of Far Eastern Airline (DVA) is one of the key elements of Aeroflot Group strategy aimed at the creation of a large aviation holding which will successfully compete with the leaders of the global civil aviation.”

Vladivostok Air is the largest air carrier in Russia’s Far East, carrying about 1,100,000 passengers annually on its own fleet of planes. The airline flies to 24 domestic and 13 international destinations.

Aeroflot recently celebrated its 90th anniversary of its creation as a state airline. Aeroflot is one of the world’s oldest airlines, founded on March 17, 1923 as Dobrolet. Operations commenced on July 15, 1923 from Moscow to Nizhniy Novgorod. The company adopted its current name Aeroflot on March 25, 1932.

Read the full report from Pravda: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl. Vladivostok Air’ Airbus A330-301 VQ-BEU (msn 055) arrives at Antalya.

Aeroflot:

Vladivostok Air:

SAT Airlines:

SAT Airlines Route Map:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. SAT Airlines’ (Sakhalin Airlines) Boeing 737-232 RA-73005 (msn 23100) completes its final approach at Beijing.

US Airways launches Charlotte-London Heathrow service today

US Airways (Phoenix) today (March 30) will begin daily, nonstop service between its largest hub in Charlotte, North Carolina and London’s preferred business airport, Heathrow. The daily flight will supplement the airline’s existing daily service between its international gateway in Philadelphia and Heathrow, and replaces its current service between Charlotte and London’s Gatwick airport, which ended yesterday.

US Airways will operate the service between Charlotte and London Heathrow with Airbus A330 aircraft that features Envoy, the airline’s international business class. Customers traveling in Envoy will experience the remarkably comfortable and private Envoy Suite equipped with an adjustable seat that reclines into a fully flat bed. The Envoy Suite also features personal in-flight entertainment and a 110-volt universal power outlet.

The flight schedule is as follows:

Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) – London Heathrow Airport (LHR)			London Heathrow Airport (LHR) – Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
Flight	Departure	Arrival	Flight	Departure	Arrival
730*	7:05 p.m.	8:05 a.m.	731**	10:05 a.m.	2:10 p.m.
* Flight arrives next day. ** First day of Charlotte-bound flight is March 31, 2013.

The flight will originate in Miami offering customers in South Florida convenient one-stop service to London via the airline’s Charlotte hub.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum. Airbus A330-323X N275AY (msn 370) arrives at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport hub.

US Airways:

Iberia puts its first Airbus A330-300 on trans-Atlantic service to Boston

Iberia (Madrid) on March 17 introduced its new Airbus A330-300 on its first trans-Atlantic route from Madrid to Boston. It is unclear if the type will be operated to Miami as planned.

AESA, the Spanish Aeronautical Safety Agency, granted Iberia ETOPS-90 minutes authority. Iberia hasn’t flown ETOPS flights since it retired its two Boeing 767-300s (EC-GTI and EC-GSU).

ETOPS stands for “Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards”. Under ETOPS-90 the aircraft must follow a route that will allow it to reach a diversion airport within 90 minutes if one engine fails.

Iberia:

SAS and Thai expand their code-share relationship

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS (Stockholm) and its Star Alliance partner Thai Airways International (Bangkok) on April 8 will expand their present code-share agreement to also cover Stockholm – Bangkok, Oslo – Bangkok and Copenhagen – Bangkok. This will be in addition to the present code-share destinations on Thai’s regional destinations in Asia and SAS’ Scandinavian and European destinations.
Top Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren. SAS’ Airbus A330-343X LN-RKH (msn 497) departs from the Stockholm (Arlanda) hub.

Scandinavian Airlines:

Thai:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Thai’s Boeing 777-3D7 ER HS-TKA (msn 29150) climbs away from the Bangkok hub.

European Commission intends to deny the Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus

Ryanair (Dublin) is planning to appeal if it is denied its goal of acquiring rival Aer Lingus (Dublin). The airline issued the following statement today:

Ryanair was notified this morning (February 12) at a State of Play meeting with the EU Commission, that the EU Commission intends to prohibit Ryanair’s offer for Aer Lingus, despite the fact that Ryanair has met every competition concern raised in the EU’s Statement of Objections and during the review process, including providing the EU – at its request – with irrevocable commitments from not one, but two, upfront buyers to eliminate all competitive overlaps between Ryanair and Aer Lingus. IAG has committed that they would take over divestments of Ryanair’s and Aer Lingus’ entire London-Gatwick operations, and Flybe has committed to take over 43 Aer Lingus UK and European routes.

Given that the EU Commission recently approved IAG’s acquisition of BMI at London-Heathrow on the basis of three year commitments, the EU’s claim that it could not be satisfied of IAG’s and Flybe’s commitments to these Irish routes after three years is another example of the EU holding Ryanair to a much higher standard than any other EU airline. Ryanair’s remedies package is unprecedented. For the first time in EU airline history, Ryanair delivered not one, but two, substantial upfront EU airline buyers who have agreed to come to Ireland to compete against a combined Ryanair/Aer Lingus.

Ryanair has today instructed its lawyers to appeal any prohibition decision to the European Courts.

Top Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. Ryanair accurately predicted the demis of bmibaby but it is not getting its way with Ryanair. Boeing 737-8AS EI-DLN (msn 33595) with the “Bye Bye Baby” banner on the fuselage arrives at the Dublin base.

Ryanair:

Aer Lingus:

Bottom Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. Aer Lingus’ Airbus A330-301 EI-JFK (msn 086) prepares to depart from the DUB hub bound for its registration namesake, New York (JFK).

Turkish Airlines orders two more Airbus A330-300s

Turkish Airlines (Istanbul) has signed a firm order for two additional A330-300 passenger aircraft and three options as part of the carrier’s continued growth plans. The additional order for the A330 Family is taking their total firm order for the type to 38. Turkish Airlines placed their first order with Airbus in 1984, and today operate 104 Airbus aircraft in total.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. The carrier currently has 10 A330-300s in service. A330-343X TC-JNR (msn 1311) completes its final approach into London (Heathrow).

Turkish Airlines:

QANTAS Airways announces new improvements to its international route network as a result of the Emirates relation

QANTAS Airways (Sydney) today announced a series of improvements to its international network, as part of a phased approach aimed at delivering the best offering of any airline flying between Australia and Asia.

The improvements – the first of which take effect from March 31, 2013 – will be rolled out in four phases and go towards the QANTAS Group strategy of ‘growing with Asia’. The planned phases are:

– Stronger links to the key hubs of Singapore and Hong Kong (better frequency and timings as well as increased dedicated capacity)
– Enhanced customer experience (improvements to cabin, in-flight entertainment, lounges)
– Expanded network within Asia through local partners (such as Japan Airlines, China Eastern, Jet Airways, Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines)
– Investigating an increase in destinations to Asia using the QANTAS Group’s Boeing 787-9 options from 2016, coinciding with the turnaround of QANTAS International (direct destinations under consideration include Beijing, Seoul, Mumbai, Delhi and Tokyo-Haneda).

The new QANTAS lounge in Singapore will open on March 31 and the new Hong Kong First lounge is scheduled to open this September. A total of $9 million has been invested in the upgrades.

QANTAS is also examining a refresh of its international A330 fleet to include a lie-flat bed in Business Class.

Chief Executive Officer of QANTAS International, Simon Hickey, said Asia remained a key pillar of the goal to be the best for global travellers.

“Through a combination of QANTAS, Jetstar and our partners we aim to provide the best travel options between Australia and Asia, all linked to one of the world’s leading frequent flyer programs,” said Mr Hickey.

“Our first step has been to restructure existing services to Asia now that they are no longer tied to onward links to Europe. The number of dedicated seats on QANTAS services to Hong Kong and Singapore is increasing significantly, because capacity previously set aside for customers going to Europe via these hubs can be freed up.

“The joint QANTAS-Emirates network into Asia gives our customers a fresh set of options, including double daily services to Singapore from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The maturing Jetstar network gives travellers another set of alternatives once they land in Asia,” Mr Hickey added.

Key among the changes in the first phase of improving the Asia network, which will apply from today for travel after March 31, are:

– Better access to the key Asian hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore, with a dedicated capacity increase of around 10 per cent and 40 per cent respectively on the Qantas network plus extended capacity on the QANTAS-Emirates network
– Earlier arrival times into Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, with flights brought forward by up to three hours to increase the number of onward connections
– A new destination – Kuala Lumpur – available to QANTAS customers via the combined QANTAS-Emirates network.

The QANTAS-Emirates partnership remains subject to government and regulatory approval.

As part of schedule changes made today, QANTAS is reducing its Perth-Singapore services to one per day and ceasing its Adelaide-Singapore and Perth-Hong Kong services. However, QANTAS will increase its Brisbane-Hong Kong service from four per week to seven and add four additional Sydney-Singapore services per week (increasing to daily from June).

Qantas has also brought forward the end date for its loss-making Frankfurt services by six months to April 15, 2013.

Passengers impacted by schedule changes will be contacted by the airline and offered alternative services.

ROUTE	CHANGE	STARTS	Old dept/ arrival times (24hrs)	New dept/ arrival times (24hrs)
QANTAS SERVICES
Melbourne–Hong Kong	QF29 Melbourne-Hong Kong retimed to better connect to onward flights within Asia.	31 March 2013	1330 / 2100	0935 / 1710
Sydney–Hong Kong	QF127 Sydney-Hong Kong retimed. Services reduce from 11 per week to 7 per week (removal of QF87/88 Sydney-Hong Kong).	31 March 2013	1040 / 1745	0955 / 1725
Brisbane–Hong Kong	QF97/98 Brisbane-Hong Kong increased from four flights per week to five in May and to daily in June. All services retimed from 31 March 2013 to better connect to onward flights within Asia.	6 May 2013; 24 June 2013	1100 / 1755	1020 / 1725
Perth–Hong Kong	QF67/68 Perth-Hong Kong ceases to operate.	31 March 2013
Perth–Singapore	QF77/78 Perth-Singapore services move from double daily to daily. QF77 retimed to better connect to onward flights in Asia, and the return of QF78 arriving back in Perth on the same day at 2320.	15 April 2013	1155 / 1725	0950 / 1520
Brisbane–Singapore	QF51 Brisbane-Singapore retimed to better connect with onward flights.	15 April 2013	1340 / 1925	1020 / 1605
Sydney–Bangkok	QF23 Sydney-Bangkok retimed to better connect to onward flights within Asia.	31 March 2013	1215 / 1850	0940 / 1635
Sydney–Singapore*	Four new services per week, timed to better connect to onward flights within Asia, increasing to daily from June.	31 March 2013; 24 June 2013		0940 / 1600
Melbourne–Singapore*	Dedicated Singapore service QF35, seven times a week. Timed to connect better to onward flights within Asia.	15 April 2013	1340 / 1920	1000 / 1555
Adelaide-Singapore	QF81/82 Adelaide-Singapore ceases to operate.	14 April 2013	–	–
JOINT QANTAS-EMIRATES SERVICES**				Dept/ Arrival time
Melbourne–Singapore	Qantas codeshare on EK405 daily service from Melbourne to Singapore			1800 / 2350
Brisbane–Singapore	Qantas codeshare on EK433 daily service from Brisbane to Singapore			0230 / 0815
Sydney–Bangkok	Qantas codeshare on EK419 daily service from Sydney to Bangkok			1845 / 0110
Melbourne–Kuala Lumpur	Qantas codeshare on EK409 daily service from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur			0240 / 0845

*As announced on 4 October 2012
** Subject to regulatory approval

QANTAS Airways:

Aeroflot to offer Wi-Fi service on 26 long-haul aircraft this year

Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) is introducing Wi-Fi Internet access on board of its long-haul aircraft for 2013, this service will be available on 26 long-haul airplanes by the end of the year.

22 Airbus 330 and 4 Boeing 777 airliners will be connected to Internet through satellite-based onboard Wi-Fi. 12 Airbus A330 and three Boeing 777 will be available in the first quarter.

Aeroflot is developing its inflight connectivity program in partnership with OnAir — the global inflight connectivity services provider, using Inmarsat’s satellite networks. OnAir Company was incorporated in 2005 and is owned by SITA, the global IT solutions provider to the air transport world and Airbus aircraft manufacturer.

This Wi-Fi Internet access system has been successfully tested in the sky and is already available on five Airbus A330 aircraft:

1. VQ-BPI “L.Yashin”

2. VQ-BPK “I.Kulibin”

3. VP-BDD “A.Mojaiskiy”

4. VP-BDE “L.Kantorovich”

5. VQ-BPJ “V.Brumel”

Aeroflot names its aircraft after famous Russians.

Aeroflot was the first Russian company to provide its passengers with on board mobile connection and Internet access.

The “On Board Internet” program has being implemented by Aeroflot since 2010.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems. Airbus A330-343X VQ-BEK (msn 1077) taxies at the popular Russian holiday destination of Antalya, Turkey.