Tag Archives: Airbus

JetBlue Airways to drop five routes in order to redeploy aircraft on new routes to Washington’s Reagan National Airport

JetBlue Airways (New York) as we previously reported, was awarded a package of 12 more slot pairs at the slot-controlled Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

As a result, JetBlue is forced to move aircraft from underperforming routes to these new DCA routes. This will be accomplished by ending service in the following markets:

West Palm Beach – San Juan: last flight both directions is June 16

San Francisco – Austin: last flight is June 15, Austin – San Francisco: last flight is June 16

Oakland – Washington (Dulles): last flight is June 15, Washington (Dulles) – Oakland: last flight is June 16

Long Beach – Washington (Dulles): last flight is September 1, Washington (Dulles) – Long Beach: last flight is Sept. 2

Buffalo – Fort Myers: this seasonal market will not resume in November

Customers with reservations for these affected flights after the last operating date will be contacted with the option to be reaccommodated on other JetBlue flights or to cancel their reservation and receive a full refund.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 N537JT (msn 1785) lands at Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA).

JetBlue Airways:

Snowbird Airlines is a new airline in Finland, prepares to launch flights this summer

Snowbird Airlines Ltd (Helsinki) is a new Finnish charter airline. The company will focus on serving the needs of tour operators and travel agencies and intends to operate flights to Egypt, Turkey, Greece and the other parts of the Mediterranean from Finland.

However the new airline is taking a new approach. The company wants to display Finnish products and invites Finnish businesses and designers to showcase their products.

The attractive logo was designed by Sami Wirkkala and will have a Finnish sister brand of “lumilintu” (Snowbird in Finnish).

The new airline plans to launch operations this summer with a single Airbus A320.

Read the full story from lye outset: CLICK HERE

All images by Snowbird Airlines.

Airberlin delays its annual meeting and financial results due to “advance discussions on options” with an unnamed party

Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin-Tegel) has delayed its annual meeting for a week and issued this statement:

Air Berlin PLC is currently in advanced discussions on options, which, if implemented, would have a substantial effect of the company. The company therefore postpones its annual press conference and the analysts and investors conference from March 20, 2014 to March 27, 2014.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 D-ABCJ (msn 5126) prepares to land at the lunar landscape of Tenerife Sur.

Airberlin:

Tomorrow Finnair celebrates 90 years of flying

Finnair (Helsinki) tomorrow marks exactly 90 years since Finnair’s first commercial flight. On March 20, 1924, Finnair’s first flight transported 357 pounds of mail from Katajanokka in Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia aboard a Junkers F13 D-335 seaplane. Finnair, originally called Aero Oy, was founded on November 1 of the previous year.

Nine decades later, Finnair currently operates 43 aircraft traveling to more than 60 destinations around the world and employs nearly six thousand people. Last year, the company transported 9.3 million passengers, which represents 60 percent of all passengers that passed through Helsinki Airport. Air traffic plays a central role in Finnish business and the national economy, directly and indirectly employing over 120,000 people in Finland.

Today, Finnair, the world’s sixth-oldest airline still in operation, has six daily flights on weekdays between Helsinki and Tallinn operated by Flybe.

According to Flightstats, Finnair was the world’s most punctual airline in four different months last year, and in 2013 it operated the world’s second most punctual airline network.

Finnair’s recent milestones include the launch of new routes to Xi’an and Hanoi, design cooperation with Marimekko, renewed inflight dining options in Business Class, new and environmentally friendly offices, and becoming the first airline in the world to take delivery of new A321 Sharklet aircraft (see photo above).

Later this year Finnair is set to enter a joint business on EU-Japan traffic with fellow oneworld partners British Airways and Japan Airlines. Furthermore, Finnair will continue the retrofit of its widebody fleet with seats in Business Class that convert to full-flat beds. In 2015 Finnair will become the first European airline to operate the next-generation Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.

The Finnish Airline Pilots’ Association and the Finnish Aviation Museum will organize a joint celebration to mark the 90th anniversary of Finnair’s maiden flight at 12:00 pm on March 20 at Matruusinpuisto park in Helsinki’s Katajanokka district. The event is open to all aviation enthusiasts. Weather permitting, the event will also feature a visit by a seaplane.

Follow the events celebrating the 90th anniversary of Finnair’s maiden flight on Twitter under the hashtag #Finnair90.

Congratulations Finnair!

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Newly-delivered Airbus A321-231 OH-LZH (msn 5803) with Sharklets prepares to land at Tenerife Sur.

Finnair:

Videos:

Adria Airways transitions to a no frills carrier for the summer season

Adria Airways (Ljubljiana) is in transition. In order to stem losses, the carrier has started to transition from a full service airline to a hybrid “no frills” carrier according to Balkans.com. Effective April 22, all economy passengers will have the option to buy food on board. The airline is also adding additional seats on its aircraft.

The flag carrier is still on target to be sold by the end of year. In the meantime under its new business plan, the airline will implement its summer timetable on March 30, 2014 with new service between Tirana and Frankfurt (four flights a week) and new service between Munich and the Polish city of Lodz (six days a week). Here are the highlights of the summer schedule:

Adria will operate a total of 181 scheduled weekly flights: 161 of them from Ljubljana to 20 destinations, 10 from Pristina to Munich and Frankfurt, six from Munich to Lodz and four from Tirana to Frankfurt.

Adria’s summer timetable for 2014 includes flights from Ljubljana to Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Manchester, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Podgorica, Prague, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, Split, Tirana, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich.

Two new features of the summer timetable are the service between Tirana and Frankfurt (four flights a week) and the service between Munich and the Polish city of Lodz (six days a week).

During the summer season, charter flights operated by Adria in conjunction with travel agents connect Ljubljana with numerous holiday destinations, above all in the Mediterranean. Adria will fly weekly from Ljubljana to the following destinations in Greece: Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Rhodes, Kos, Samos, Santorini, Karpathos, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Skiathos, Lesbos and Lefkada/Preveza. There will also be flights to Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Antalya in Turkey and Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada in Egypt. This summer Adria Airways is again planning charter flights from Trieste to the Greek islands.

In conjunction with the other members of the Star Alliance, Adria Airways offers an excellent range of competitively priced connections throughout the world. The Star Alliance operates 21,900 flights a day to 1,328 airports in 195 countries.

Read the full article: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. For now, Adria Airways is retaining its two Airbus A319s but the seating will be increased from 135 to 144 for the summer season. Airbus A319-132 S5-AAR (msn 4301) touches down at EuroAirport serving Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg.

Adria Airways:

Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah Airways move slowly towards a merger

Libyan Airlines (Tripoli) issued this statement in their website:

Although Libyan Airlines flights to UK remain suspended until further notice, sister company, Afriqiyah Airways (Tripoli) has resumed services between Tripoli and London-Gatwick. Flights presently operate three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

However the Libya Herald reported on March 3 Libyan Airlines was going to restart its European flights operated by Nouvelair.

Read the latest report: CLICK HERE

Both airlines are owned by the Libyan African Aviation Holding Company (LAAHC).

According to Libya Herald, Libyan Airlines flights (operated by Nouvelair) were suspended to Europe by the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) in late February after a flight lost ATC communications in French airspace.

Both Libyan carriers must use wet-leased aircraft in European Union airspace.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Both companies are moving slowly ahead in their merger process and hope to complete the process by the end of this year. Meanwhile Libyan will concentrate on routes to Africa and is exploring new routes to Asia according to ATW.

Copyright Photo: Rob Skinkis/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-212 TS-INN (msn 793) operated by Nouvelair lands in Manchester.

Libyan Airlines:

Afriqiyah Airways:

SAS Group reduces its quarterly loss to $17.6 million

SAS Group (Scandinavian Airlines-SAS) (Stockholm) has reported a net loss of SEK 112 million ($17.6 million) for the quarter ending on January 31, 2014.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-132 OY-KBO (msn 2850) taxies at Zurich in the 1952 retrojet livery.

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS:

Air China to start a new route from Shanghai to Munich on June 6

Air China (Beijing) will inaugurate Shanghai-Munich nonstop service on June 6, 2014, bringing the number of the European cities it serves from Shanghai up to 4, with the other three cities being Frankfurt, Milan and Paris. Currently, Air China operates from Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu to Europe and is the largest operator of China-European routes.

The four-times weekly service CA 827/8 will be operated on Tuesday/Thursday/Friday/Sunday. The outbound flight departs from Shanghai at 01:00 Beijing time and arrives in Munich at 07:10. The return flight departs from Munich at 12:35 local time and arrives in Shanghai at 05:45 Beijing time the following day. Like on other routes to Shanghai, A330-200, a widebody type, is used on the new route. Its Business Class is outfitted with full-flat seats and all classes of services offer personal entertainment system and power outlet, guaranteeing a truly pleasant and easy journey.

Air China:

Air Canada suspends all flights to Caracas

Air Canada (Montreal) has announced it has suspended all service to Caracas, Venezuela until further notice due to the anti-government protests in the capital city.

Read the full report from the Toronto Star: CLICK HERE

Air Canada:

Monarch Airlines to start London Luton-Antalya flights on March 30

Monarch Airlines (London-Luton) will begin offering twice-weekly Airbus A321 service from London (Luton) to Antalya starting on March 30 per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 G-ZBAE (msn 5606) with Sharklets arrives at Tenerife Sur.

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Monarch Airlines: