Kuwait Airways (Kuwait City) is returning to Munich. According to Airline Route, the airline will restore the Kuwait City – Munich route (three flights a week) starting again on July 16.
Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-300s will be operated on the restored route. Airbus A340-313 9K-ANA (msn 089) approaches the runway at London (Heathrow).
Kuwait Airways aircraft slide show:ย 
Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) has moved up the planned date for the final revenue flight of the Airbus A340-300 according to Airline Route. The last flight is tentatively scheduled as flight VS 251 from Shanghai (Pudong) to London (Heathrow) on March 29.
Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-313 G-VELD (msn 214) departs from London (Heathrow).
Virgin Atlantic aircraft slide show:ย
Lufthansa (Frankfurt) is further expanding its route network to South America. From November 16, 2015, the airline will offer year-round flights to Panama City for the first time, subject to government approval.
An Airbus A340-300 aircraft will fly five times a week between Frankfurt and the economic metropolis in Central America. Flight LH 484 will take off from Lufthansaโs Frankfurt hub in the morning at 10.15 a.m. and arrive in Panama City in the afternoon at 4.40 p.m. (local time) after a flight time of 12 hours and 25 minutes. The return flight LH 485 will depart from Panama City in the early evening as a night flight and land at Frankfurt Airport the following morning.
Lufthansa is also expanding its partnership with Copa Airlines. Lufthansa passengers will in future be able to easily reach a further 50 destinations in Central and South America and the Caribbean with the partner airline.
Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-313 D-AIFE (msn 434) lands at Miami.
Lufthansa aircraft slide show:
http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Lufthansa
Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) is currently scheduling the last Airbus A340-300 revenue flight on October 24, 2015 subject to change. The last route for the type is currently planned to be from Johannesburg to London (Heathrow) per Airline Route. The A340 is currently also operated to Boston (ending on May 14, 2015) and New York (JFK).
In other news, Virgin Atlantic will now introduce the new Boeing 787-9 on the daily London (Heathrow) – Shanghai (Pudong) route on June 15, 2015 (moved up from October 25 per Airline Route).
Copyright Photo: Airbus A340-313 G-VELD (msn 214) departs from London (Heathrow).
Virgin Atlantic aircraft slide show:ย 
South African Airways (Johannesburg) continues to lose money and up until now has relied on state funding. However the SAA board recentlyย appointed Mr. Nico Bezuidenhout as the new acting Chief Executive Officer of the struggling airline. Mr.ย Bezuidenhout has given the company a 90-day turnaround plan to turnaround the loss-making company by March according to EWN. The new CEO is warning the company is facing insolvency unless the plan is fully implemented. The airline has also reportedly reached out to Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) for a possible minority investment and guidance by the fast-growing Gulf carrier. Etihad has been investing in struggling carriers and helping to turn them around and also feed traffic to its Abu Dhabi hub.
Read the full report: CLICK HERE
In other news,ย South African Airways announced on December 2 that it has commenced adding additional frequencies to its network which will substantially increase air services to some of its key African routes.
According to the airline, “The additional capacity injection answers the commercial mandate of the Long-Term Turnaround Strategy (LTTS), and is in response to positive market growth. As of yesterday, Harare (Zimbabwe) and Maputo (Mozambique), have included additional frequencies, with Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Mauritius to follow.”
โThe strengthening of these routes comes in the wake of positive load factors and increased traffic between the countries,โ says SAA Acting Chief Executive Officer Nico Bezuidenhout. Presently, GDP growth in Mozambique (7% – African Development Bank) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (8.1%- African Development Bank) exceed World Bank growth statistics for the continent (4.7%-2013) while South Africaโs trade and demand for leisure and business travel to Mauritius is growing at a steady pace. โAir lift services traditionally lead GDP in all markets and also track the rate of increased leisure travel, investment and business engagement between South Africa and its continental peers.โ
Effective December 1, SAA increased frequencies between Johannesburg and Maputo by 24% from 17 to 21 weekly frequencies, effective 1 December Johannesburg and Harare from 18 to 19 every week (6%), effective 4 December Johannesburg and Kinshasa from 6 to 7 a week (17%) and effective 4 December Johannesburg and Mauritius from 9 to 10 weekly frequencies (11% increase).
Finally,ย Air China and South African Airways (SAA) have announced the further strengthening of their bilateral cooperation within the Star Alliance as part of the strengthened cooperation between the two countries.
The key element in this strengthened relationship will be some network reconfiguration for both airlines to provide better passenger and cargo services between South Africa and China and countries adjacent to both.
Copyright Photo: Fred Freketic/AirlinersGallery.com. The company has already retired the Airbus A340-200s. The fuel-inefficient Airbus A340-300s are likely to be the next type to retired and replaced in any reorganization. Airbus A340-313 ZS-SXC (msn 590) taxies at New York’s JFK International Airport.
South African aircraft slide show:ย
Lufthansa (Frankfurt) is facing another strike by its pilots starting tomorrow, Monday, December 1. The airline issued this statement:
Strike by pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit from 12.00 on December 1 to 23.59 on December 2
The pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit has announced a strike for all Lufthansa short-haul and continental flights departing between 12.00 CEST on December 1 to 23.59 CEST on December 2, and for all intercontinental flights departing between 03:00 CEST to 23:59 CEST on December 2. During the strike period disruptions of Lufthansa flights are expected. Lufthansa is currently working intensely on a special timetable for the strike period. All flights operated by the Lufthansa Group airlines Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Germanwings, Swiss and Air Dolomiti (operated by OS, SN, 4U, LX, EN) will not be affected.
Passengers, whose flights have been cancelled, can rebook free of charge to alternative flights.
Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-313 D-AIFF (msn 447) arrives in Washington.
Lufthansa aircraft slide show:ย 
Lufthansa (Frankfurt) has turned over an Airbus A340-300 for Ebola patient humanitarian evacuation flights byย the German government. Airbus A340-313 D-AIGZ (msn 347) has been converted from a passenger aircraft to this special transport aircraft. The airline issued this statement:
Federal Foreign Minister Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Minister of Health Hermann Grรถhe accepted receipt of the worldโs first evacuation aircraft for transporting and treating Ebola patients on behalf of the German government.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr handed over an Airbus A340-300 for its new role in Berlin on Thursday (November 27). At the request of the Federal Foreign Office, Lufthansa Technik spent the last few weeks converting what was previously a passenger aircraft called the โVillingen-Schwennigenโ so that it could be used for this special humanitarian mission. Under its new name, the โRobert Kochโ, it now serves as the worldโs only evacuation facility for highly contagious patients. Unlike the smaller aircraft that have been sporadically available to date, the facility can provide comprehensive intensive care on board. The Lufthansa Group was able to complete such a complex and technically demanding undertaking so quickly because the airline was in a position to provide a long-haul aircraft at short notice that was suitable for the specific requirements of the project. As a global leader in aviation technology, Lufthansa Technik also has a wealth of experience in installing a diverse range of non-standard cabin interiors on aircraft for governments, VIPs and the business travel sector. It was able to draw on this expertise for the construction and installation of the special isolation unit in the aircraft cabin. The aircraft conversion, which started on November 17 in Hamburg, was carried out in partnership with the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
In the middle and rear of the long-haul aircraft, passenger seats, kitchen and washing areas, and baggage lockers were removed to make way for a patient transport isolation unit surrounded by an airtight tent with negative pressure. Inside, medics can provide patients with intensive care and treatment during the flight while remaining fully protected. Two exterior tents, which are also airtight, serve as buffers so that the treatment tent can be entered and exited safely. At the front of the cabin, there are still seats for up to 19 passengers such as doctors, attendants from the RKI, isolation tent technicians and a Lufthansa engineer. Within a short space of time, a total of more than 700 pilots and flight attendants volunteered as cockpit and cabin crew for the โRobert Kochโ humanitarian project, which will initially run for six months.
Lufthansa aircraft slide show:ย
Lufthansa (Frankfurt) is expected to announce later today it will bring its new Jump low-fare Airbus A340-300 subsidiary to Tampa, Florida from Frankfurt starting on September 25, 2015. The new service will use its aging Airbus A340-300s configured with approximately 300 seats. LH will initially launch Jump with three A340-300s.
Lufthansa issued this statement:
Lufthansa continues to expand its network in the United States. For the very first time in its history, Lufthansa will offer service to the Tampa Bay area, the gateway to the West Coast of Florida. The new nonstop service from Frankfurt will begin on September 25, 2015.
The airline will be operating five weekly flights in summer and four weekly in winter on the Airbus A340-300 on the route between Frankfurt and Tampa. Tampa joins Miami and Orlando as Lufthansaโs third destination in Florida.
Flight LH 482 will leave Lufthansaโs Frankfurt hub and arrive in Tampa in the afternoon (local time) after a flight of nearly eleven hours. The return from Florida is a night flight, which will depart in the early evening and touch down at Frankfurt Airport in the morning of the following day.
The A340-300 seats a total of 298 passengers in Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class offering the comforts and quality that Lufthansa is known for, with the newest cabin layout in all traveling classes: Seats in the new Business Class extend horizontally at the touch of a button into a flat and comfortable bed 1.98 meters (6.5 feet) in length, and the recently introduced Premium Economy Class offers more personal space and more legroom. In all classes, passengers will enjoy an individual inflight entertainment system with a plethora of offerings, along with fast broadband Internet connectivity via the FlyNet Wi-Fi hotspot onboard.
Tampa is known as the birthplace of commercial aviation. 100 years ago, the first commercial flight in history occurred between St Petersburg and Tampa on January 1, 1914.
In other news, Lufthansa announced its new Premium Economy Class will take off nine days earlier with this announcement:
The Lufthansa Premium Economy Class is taking off nine days earlier than planned. Already on November 22, the new travel class will be available for the first time on all routes flown by a Boeing 747-8 (including Bangalore, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Peking, Sao Paolo, Seoul, Tokyo-Haneda and Washington D.C.).
Its take-off on the newest and most modern Lufthansa long-haul fleet was earmarked for December 1, but the new cabin was completed ahead of schedule. From the end of November, all the benefits and comfort of Premium Economy Class can be enjoyed by passengers on the Boeing 747-8. The free baggage allowance, for one, is double that allowed a passenger in Economy Class. For a fee of 25 euros, passengers in the new class can access and relax in comfort in Lufthansa Business lounges prior to take-off. On board, each passenger in Premium Economy will be greeted with a welcome drink. At their seat in the cabin is an upmarket amenity kit with useful accessories, a water bottle and a power socket. Meals will be presented in menus and served on china tableware. Available, too, is an extensive Inflight Entertainment program for passengers to view on a large monitor fitted on the backrest of the seat in front.
Passengers can even upgrade last-minute to available Premium Economy seats at check-in at the airport. The entire Lufthansa long-haul fleet is to be equipped with Premium Economy by late summer 2015 when the retrofit is successively completed on all the long-haul aircraft. Following its installation on the Boeing 747-8 fleet, the new class will be fitted on the airlineโs Airbus A380โs.
Copyright Photo: Rob Rindt/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A340-313 D-AIFC (msn 379) of Lufthansa touches down in Vancouver.
Lufthansa aircraft slide show:ย
Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) is close to making a decision on its five Boeing 787 options according to this report by Bloomberg. The British carrier is updating its fleet plans as it retires its older aircraft types with the new generation aircraft.
According to the report, Virgin Atlantic will retire the last Airbus A340-300 (above) at the end of February 2015. The last five Boeing 747-400s will leave the fleet between September 2015 and July 2016.
Two Airbus A340-600s will be retired at the beginning of 2015.
Read the full report: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. The older Airbus A340-300s will be the first to be retired in February.ย Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Airbus A340-313 G-VFAR (msn 225) climbs away from London’s Heathrow Airport.
Virgin Atlantic Airways:ย 
Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa) (Frankfurt) today (September 19) outlined its plans for Eurowings (Lufthansa Regional) and its new long-haul division, possibly flown by SunExpress Airlines (Antalya), a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines (Istanbul).
The Lufthansa Groupโs quality and growth initiative presented on July 9, 2014 is gathering pace.
At the Supervisory Board meeting on September 17, the Supervisory Board Members were informed by the Executive Board of the implementation progress made so far. The Lufthansa Groupโs Supervisory Board has paved the way for the planned transition to a more economical type of aircraft at Eurowings by approving an order for ten Airbus A320ceo planes for the company. With its fleet of 23 aircraft, Eurowings services domestic German and European routes from airports other than the Frankfurt and Munich hubs on behalf of Germanwings. A further 13 A320s will be transferred from the Groupโs total aircraft order volume to Eurowings starting in 2015, in order to make its entire fleet consist of Airbus aircraft. Replacing the current Eurowings fleet of Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets with modern A320ceo aircraft will further increase the Dรผsseldorf-based airlineโs unit cost advantage and will thereby improve its ability to compete with low-cost airlines in Europe. The Lufthansa Group intends to use its Wings concept to cement its good market position in passenger traffic in its home markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium in the long term, including with point-to-point connections. Business on these routes away from the major hubs is characterised by above-average growth in the leisure travel segment and by stiff competition from the rapidly expanding low-cost airlines.
The Executive Board also presented its plans for the new cost-efficient offer for long-haul connections as part of the Wings concept to the Supervisory Board. One option for realizing this concept could be a new platform based on the airline SunExpress Airlines (Antalya), which is a fifty-fifty joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. In this respect, talks with the Star Alliance partner are to continue. The idea is for the new platform to complement the Lufthansa Groupโs product range with up to seven Airbus A330-300s and to commence operations in autumn 2015 with three aircraft in Munich, Dรผsseldorf or Cologne. The focus here will be on destinations that promise above-average growth in the leisure travel segment and that round out the Lufthansa Group airlinesโ current route networks. In addition to the founding of this new long-haul airline, other intercontinental traffic approaches will be developed in order to once again profitably fly leisure travel-dominated routes using the Lufthansa brand in the future.
To offer this, up to 14 Airbus A340-300s from the long-haul fleet will be fitted with a cabin that is optimized for leisure travel. Commencing with the start of the 2015/2016 winter flight timetable, this A340-300 sub-fleet will fly at a much lower cost while nevertheless offering the high-quality travel experience of a Lufthansa flight, with high service standards and comfort levels. The as many as 14 aircraft will operate without a First Class and with 18 Business Class seats, 19 Premium Economy seats and 261 Economy seats, and will in particular serve new leisure travel destinations or markets from which Lufthansa would otherwise have to withdraw without the introduction of this less expensive offer.
โThe combination of our core brandsโ focus on quality and the premium sector, and the development of new platforms for the leisure travel sector, which is experiencing dynamic growth but is also price-sensitive, is our way of working towards a successful future for the Lufthansa Group airlines,โ said Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. This would strengthen the successful multi-hub system comprising the key hubs of Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels, he added. This strategy additionally gave the Company the scope to also grow in sectors of this kind, where the Lufthansa Groupโs traditional quality brands were not able to participate in market developments, he said.
In addition to the growth concept for the Lufthansa Group airlines, the Supervisory Board is approving capital expenditure of โฌ60 million by Lufthansa Technik AG in Frankfurt. The Groupโs technical division intends to build a new wheel and brake workshop in Frankfurtโs eastern dock area (Osthafen). The building is expected to commence operations as early as at the start of 2017. These new operations will allow Lufthansa Technik, which is the worldโs leading provider of aircraft-related technical services, to also achieve further growth in the important segment of wheel and brake maintenance. In so doing, Lufthansa Technik will safeguard the existing 130 jobs for qualified employees based in Frankfurt and will create the parameters for further growth. The building is to be fitted with cutting-edge building services so as to exceed the requirements of Germanyโs Energy Conservation Regulations (EnEV) by 30 per cent.
In related news,ย Lufthansa Group also approved the purchase of 15 Airbus A320neo (New Engine Option) family and ten Airbus A320ceo (Current Engine Option) aircraft at its meeting today. The new A320neo orders will be delivered to Lufthansa Group airline Swiss International Air Lines (Zurich) from 2019 onwards, where they are intended to replace older aircraft from the same family. The ten new A320ceo aircraft will be delivered to Eurowings in 2016 and 2017 and will replace older Bombardier CRJ900s.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. The aging and expensive 14 Lufthansa Airbus A340-300s will be assigned to the new leisure group starting with the 2015-2016 winter schedule. Theย 14 aircraft will operate without a First Class and with 18 Business Class seats, 19 Premium Economy seats and 261 Economy seats.ย Lufthansa’s Airbus A340-313 D-AIGT (msn 304) arrives at the Frankfurt hub.
Lufthansa:ย
Eurowings:ย
SunExpress:ย
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