Tag Archives: Arlanda

Thomas Cook announces new U.S. routes from Manchester, cancels London Gatwick-Reno plans

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) has announced that it is expanding its services to the United States from its Manchester hub. From May 2016, the carrier will fly to Los Angeles and Boston. Thomas Cook’s fleet of Airbus A330-200s will most likely serve the routes, which, as previously reported, already serve routes to New York (JFK) and Miami as well as seasonal services to Las Vegas and Orlando.

Unfortunately, if you are one of the people eagerly waiting for Thomas Cook to open its seasonal service from London Gatwick to Reno, Nevada beginning on December 19, your luck may be out. The Reno Gazette is reporting that the carrier has abandoned its plans for the route, citing U.S. Customs’ inability to process London arrivals at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in a timely manner.

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 G-OMYT (msn 301) in the old 2002 livery with the Sunny Heart tail logo prepares to land at Stockholm (Arlanda).

Thomas Cook Airlines aircraft slide show:

Air China to open a Beijing – Minsk – Budapest route

Air China (Beijing) plans to start Beijing – Minsk – Budapest services from May 1, 2015. The will be the only direct route from China to Belarus and Hungary.

The four-time weekly Beijing – Minsk – Budapest services CA721/722 will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sunday. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 13:00 Beijing time and arrives in Minsk at 16:50 local time and in Budapest at 18:20 local time. The return flight departs from Budapest at 19:00 and arrives in Beijing at 11:50 Beijing time on the second day. The route is to be operated with Airbus A330-200

By December 2014, Air China had a fleet of 523 passenger aircraft and freighters of mainly Boeing and Airbus families (including those of the carriers which Air China has a majority stake in). It operates 322 routes, including 82 international routes, 15 regional routes and 225 domestic routes. It serves 159 cities in 32 countries and regions, including 53 international cities, 3 regional cities and 103 domestic cities. Every week, Air China offers over 1.3 million seats on over 7000 flights per week.

Utilizing its extensive route network and its hub in Beijing, especially after its admission to the Star Alliance, Air China can fly passengers to 1,328 airports in 195 countries.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 B-06073 (msn 780) prepares to land in Stockholm (Arlanda).

Air China aircraft slide show:

Bmi Regional announces summer expansion from Bristol

Bmi Regional (East Midlands) announced in a press release on Wednesday February 18, an expansion of services from Bristol Airport for the Summer 2015 season, which sees the launch of Dusseldorf and Paris (CDG) service from April 27. Seasonal services to Nantes will also be offered from July to September 2015. These additional services bring the number of routes flown by the airline from Bristol to eight, alongside Aberdeen, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Milan.

The new routes will be run as follows:

Bristol – Dusseldorf: 6 times weekly

Bristol – Paris CDG: 11 times weekly

Bristol – Nantes: Twice weekly from July 4 to September 12

The new destinations will be operated by a 49-seat Embraer ERJ 145s, with a Tuesday flight to Nantes operated by a 37-seat Embraer ERJ 135.

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Is a new livery coming for this regional or will it cling to the now retired bmi 2001 livery? All white Embraer ERJ 145EU (EMB-145EU) G-EMBI (msn 145126) arrives in Stockholm (Arlanda).

Bmi Regional aircraft slide show:

Emirates to other airlines: “improve your offering and they’ll come back”

Bloomberg: “Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum has a simple message for airlines accusing his Dubai-based carrier of taking away their passengers: improve your offering and they’ll come back.”

Watch the interview video and read the full article: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-31H ER A6-EGC (msn 35596) prepares to touch down in Stockholm (Arlanda).

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Norwegian announces three new routes

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) has announced new weekly nonstop flights between Stockholm (Arlanda) and Bastia in Corsica starting on April 25. Additionally the airline will launch new twice-weekly nonstop flights between Madrid and Nice starting on March 29 as well as weekly flights between London (Gatwick) and Kefalonia in Greece on April 18.

Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8Q8 LN-NOD (msn 35280) with Sonja Henie on the tail approaches the runway at Gatwick Airport near London.

Norwegian aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Norwegian-Air-Shuttle

Aegean Airlines announces a major expansion in Cyprus

Aegean Airlines (Athens), in the wake of the demise of Cyprus Airways (Larnaca), has announced it is filling the void with a major Cyprus expansion. The airline issued this statement:

Aegean Airlines presented its plan for the dynamic growth of its presence in Cyprus and a more effective support of passengers’ needs.

After its 10 years operation in Cyprus and four years after creating its aircraft base in Larnaca, Aegean is taking a new step forward. As of March 30, 2015 – the beginning of the summer schedule – Aegean will base four Airbus A320 aircraft in Cyprus, while the number of destinations connected directly with Cyprus will increase to 14. The total yearly capacity will exceed 1.5 million seats. The company aims to support this venture with additional human resources from Cyprus at the earliest opportunity.

More specifically, with the company’s summer schedule as of April 2015, the connection between Greece and Cyprus is boosted with more frequent flights to Athens and Thessaloniki, and the introduction of a direct flight between Athens and Paphos. The new summer schedule also includes direct connections with Heraklion and Rhodes, while direct connections with Myconos and Santorini will be added in July and August. Eight to nine direct flights with destinations in Greece will depart daily.

The company’s planning focuses on the direct connection of Cyprus with Western Europe and therefore five important destinations are added: London – Heathrow, Paris, Munich, Rome and Milan.

Additionally, when the traffic rights procedures are completed, Aegean will offer flights to Israel, Kiev and Beirut.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 SX-DVL (msn 3423) approaches the runway at Stockholm (Arlanda).

Aegean Airlines aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-1/Airlines-Europe-1/Aegean-Airlines

Bosnian Wand Airlines starts operations today to Stockholm

Bosnian World Airlines-BWA (Sarajevo) launched its first flight and route from Sarajevo to Stockholm (Arlanda) today (January 9). Athens will be added on January 11, followed by Amsterdam and Gothenburg on January 16.

Photo: Bosnian Wand Airlines. The pictured Air Mediterranee Airbus A321-111 F-GYAN (msn 535) in full BWA colors arrived in Sarajevo yesterday. Air Mediterranee will operate the aircraft.

Delta announces the return of seasonal service to Dublin, Malaga and Stockholm

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will offer nonstop daily flights between between Dublin Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for the 2015 summer season.

Flights will begin five times a week from March 29, 2015, increasing to a daily service from June 1, 2015. The U.S. airline has scheduled a Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 225 seats on the route, which is operated in conjunction with Delta’s joint venture partners Air France and KLM.

Next summer, the airline is also offering daily flights from Shannon to New York-JFK, bringing the total number of seats between Ireland and the U.S. to 8,700 per week.

Delta Air Lines also announced it will once again be offering nonstop daily flights between between Malaga’s Costa del Sol Airport and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport for the 2015 summer season.

Flights will begin five times a week from June 4, 2015, increasing to daily from June 29, 2015. The U.S. airline has scheduled a Boeing 757-200 aircraft with 164 seats on the route, which is operated in conjunction with Delta’s joint venture partners Air France and KLM.

In addition to these flights, the airline also offers year-round service from Madrid to Atlanta and New York-JFK, plus summer services between Barcelona and Atlanta.

Finally Delta will once again be offering nonstop flights between between Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport for the 2015 summer season.

Flights will begin four times a week from June 5, 2015, increasing to five times a week from June 15, 2015. The U.S. airline has scheduled a Boeing 757-200 aircraft with 164 seats on the route, which is operated in conjunction with Delta’s joint venture partners Air France and KLM.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Formerly with Northwest Airlines, Boeing 757-251 N538US (msn 26485) prepares to land at Stockholm (Arlanda).

Delta aircraft slide show (current livery):

Seven local airlines in Sweden to be united under a single brand in 2015

Sverigeflyg (Stockholm-Bromma) is the primary umbrella brand for seven local airlines (some virtual) which includes Blekingeflyg, Flysmaland, Golden Air, Gotlandsflyg, Kalmarflyg, Kullaflyg, and Sundsvallsflyg.

Braathens Regional (formerly Golden Air) holds the actual AOC and operates ATR 72-500s and SAAB 2000s under the Sverigeflyg brand. The group flies to Sundsvall in the north and Ängelholm/Helsingborg in the south of Sweden (see below).

Sverigeflyg Route Map:

Some of these marketing names do not operate any aircraft.

Braathens Regional, Malmö Aviation and Sverigeflyg are all part of the Braathens Aviation group of companies.

This group of airlines will unite in 2015 under a single new brand which has not yet been determined or announced.

The company issued this statement (translated from Swedish):

Now it’s time to take the next step, and together with its sister company, Malmö Aviation, we will challenge throughout Sweden as a domestic airline with a Bromma Airport hub.

Malmö Aviation (below) provides scheduled passenger services between Malmö, Gothenburg and Umeå to Bromma, the Stockholm City Airport.

Braathens Aviation is a corporate group owned by Braganza AS. Braganza is a privately held investment company based in Oslo and is owned by Per G. Braathen and his immediate family.

The group consists of Malmö Aviation, Sverigeflyg, Braathens Technical, Braathens IT Solutions, Braathens Training, Braathens Leasing and Braathens Regional.

Top Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com (all others images by the group). Operated in the past, Fokker F.27 Mk. 050 (Fokker 50) SE-LEC (msn 20112) of Skyways Express arrives in Stockholm (Arlanda) in Sverigeflyg colors.

Malmo Aviation aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Malmö-Aviation

Bottom Copyright Photo: Robbie Shaw/AirlinersGallery.com. Malmo Aviation’s BAe RJ100 SE-DST (msn E3247) taxies at Glasgow.

Estonian Air’s loss for the first nine months widens to $7.9 million

Estonian Air (Talinn) reported a deepening loss of $7.9 million for first nine months of 2014 due to increased competition.

The company issued this full report:

The total revenue of Estonian Air was 52.2 million and loss 6.4 million euros ($7.9 million) in nine months. Last year the revenue was 55.4 million, and the loss 6 million euros ($7.4 million) in the same period.

“The results of the third quarter were below our earlier forecasts. Although we have increased the number of passengers, added flights to several existing routes and opened new destinations, at the same time the pressure on ticket prices has increased remarkably. Intensified competition on the aviation market and continuous unstable situation on our Eastern market has significant impact on our financial results,” commented Jan Palmér, the CEO of Estonian Air.

In the third quarter 2014, the revenue was 19.3 million and the net loss 1.4 million euros.

Within the third quarter Estonian Air carried altogether 161 000 passengers, out of which 152 000 on regular flights. In nine months Estonian Air carried 403 000 passengers which is 5 per cent less than the same period last year.

Estonian Air has increased its share on Tallinn based charter market. In addition, Estonian Air has signed charter agreements with several Estonian travel agencies to operate during the winter and summer flight period which will help the company to utilise the free capacity of the aircraft more efficiently.

The Council of Estonian Air approved the modified restructuring plan to be submitted to the European Commission by the end of October this year. Upon approval of the restructuring plan Infortar Group will invest into the company, which is anticipated in Spring 2015. The changes in the ownership structure must be approved beforehand by the Government of Estonia.

Estonian Air, Estonia’s national carrier, is the biggest operator at Tallinn Airport. The airline flies regular routes to Stockholm (Arlanda and Bromma), Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Oslo, Moscow, Munich, St Petersburg, Kiev, Vilnius and Trondheim. In addition, from December 2014 to March 2015, Estonian Air will add seasonal flights to Munich and from April to November 2015 to Milan.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 170-100LR ES-AEA (msn 17000093) arrives in Stockholm (Arlanda).

Estonian Air aircraft slide show: