Tag Archives: Boeing

Boeing announces the launch of the Boeing Business Jet MAX 8 with the first order

Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) has announced the launch of the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) MAX family of airplanes after receiving the first order from an undisclosed customer. The order is for a BBJ MAX 8, which is based on the 737 MAX 8 and the newest business jet to join the BBJ family.

BBJ is the market leader in the large cabin, ultra-long-range business jet market and the new BBJ MAX will extend that advantage.

With new CFM International LEAP-1B engines and other aerodynamic improvements including Advanced Technology winglets, the 737 MAX will provide a 14 percent fuel-use improvement compared to today’s most efficient single-aisle airplanes. The fuel-use improvement is even greater at longer ranges typically flown by BBJ customers.

The BBJ MAX 8 will have a range of 6,325 nautical miles (11,713 km), an increase of more than 800 nautical miles (1,482 km) over the BBJ2. It will share the same cabin size with today’s BBJ2, offering customers a 19-foot (5.8 meter) longer cabin and three times the cargo space of today’s BBJ, while improving on its market-leading range capability and maintaining the BBJ advantages of lower cabin altitude, unmatched reliability and outstanding product support around the globe. The BBJ continues to be the leading choice for businesses, corporations and private owners.

The new BBJ family also will include the BBJ MAX 9, based on the 737 MAX 9, and is expected to offer a 6,255 nautical mile (11,584 km) range with an even larger cabin than the BBJ MAX 8. Plans for a BBJ MAX 7 are still being studied.

Development of the 737 MAX is on schedule with firm configuration of the airplane achieved in July 2013. First flight is scheduled in 2016 with deliveries to commercial airline customers beginning in 2017. The 737 MAX has accumulated more than 1,900 orders to date from 37 customers worldwide

The first BBJ MAX will be delivered in 2018 without an interior, and a completion center of the customer’s choosing will install the jet’s VIP interior.

Image: Boeing.

Ryanair opens new bases at Lisbon and Athens

Ryanair (Dublin) yesterday (April 1) opened its third Portuguese base at Lisbon (64th in total) with one based Boeing 737-800 and 7 new routes (11 in total) with 124 weekly flights.

The ultra low-fare airline also opened yesterday its third Greek base at Athens (65th in total) with two based Boeing 737-800s and 6 new routes with up to 150 weekly flights.

Copyright Photo: Robbie Shaw/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8AS EI-EBS (msn 35001) with “Comunitat Valenciana” sub-titles departs from Marrakesh.

Ryanair:

Delta relocates key flights to Terminal 3 at London’s Heathrow Airport next to Virgin Atlantic

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) today mark another major step forward in their partnership as Delta relocates some of its key services to join Virgin Atlantic at Heathrow Terminal 3. The move comes as both airlines start flying their new and aligned summer schedules that offer customers more choice and flexibility while reducing onward transit times.

From today, Delta moves its arrival and departure terminal for several important business markets including its London to New York-JFK, London to Boston, and new London to Seattle services to Heathrow’s Terminal 3. The move enhances convenience and a seamless customer experience. For example, on the world’s most important business travel market between London Heathrow (Terminal 3) and New York JFK (Terminal 4) Delta and Virgin Atlantic will now operate from the same terminal and make it easier for customers to manage their travel plans including any last minute flight changes. The two airlines have also introduced a dedicated New York to London schedule with the customer in mind.

The new routes announced by Delta and Virgin Atlantic include Delta’s new West Coast service between Seattle and London Heathrow which commenced flying on March 30, 2014. And in co-operation with Virgin Atlantic, Delta will also operate a second daily service between London Heathrow and Detroit Metropolitan Airport effective June 2, 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.

The two airlines’ summer schedule includes a total of 32 peak daily nonstop flights between North America and the U.K.. Of these, 25 flights will operate between London Heathrow and popular U.S. destinations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Washington.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic also provide a competitive offering for the New York to London travel market. It is designed with business travelers in mind and offers a total of nine daily nonstop flights. The schedule includes departures every 30 minutes during the early evening peak and then hourly until 22:30 from New York-JFK to London Heathrow. From London Heathrow to New York-JFK there is a spread of seven daily flights including two late afternoon and early evening departures. These services will be complemented by two daily nonstop flights between New York’s Newark airport and London Heathrow.

Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-232 LR N703DN (msn 32222) of Delta holds in position for runway clearance at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Delta Air Lines (current):

Virgin Atlantic Airways:

Aeroflot introduces its expanded summer schedule

Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) on March 30 introduced its summer schedule until October 25, 2014. The airline issued this statement on the highlights of the enhanced schedule:

This summer Aeroflot plans to launch flights to 52 countries, including seven CIS countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine). The route network of Aeroflot comprises 125 destinations (73 outside Russia), including 49 destinations in Europe, 12 in Asia, 7 in America and 5 in the Middle East and Africa.

Aeroflot’s CIS network includes 11 destinations: Baku, Bishkek, Yerevan, Minsk, Tashkent, Kiev, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odessa, and Karaganda.

Aeroflot continues to play a significant role in shaping the structure of Russian civil aviation and further development of the domestic air travel. Thus daily flights will be operated on two new destinations in Russia: Novy Urengoy and Rostov-on-Don. Aeroflot will continue services on routes introduced under the winter season 2013/2014: Moscow – Ulan-Ude and Moscow-Chita.

Including the cities above, Aeroflot’s domestic service embraces 41 the most popular destinations in Russia: Abakan, Anapa, Astrakhan, Barnaul, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Gelendzik, Ekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Magnitogorsk, Mineralnye Vody, Nizhnevartovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhnekamsk, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Omsk, Perm, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Samara, Saint Petersburg, Simferopol, Sochi, Surgut, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and Yakutsk.
Flight frequency will also be increased at the most popular domestic destinations: Saint Petersburg (from 105 to 112 weekly flights), Sochi (from 35 to 42), Krasnodar (from 28 to 41), Samara (from 28 to 35), Nizhny Novgorod (from 28 to 35), Chelyabinsk (from 21 to 28), Nizhnekamsk (from 14 to 21), Anapa (from 14 to 21), Gelendzik (from 7 to 14), Mineralnye Vody (from 7 to 14), Orenburg (from 7 to 14), Tomsk (from 7 to 14), Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (from 7 to 10).

Aeroflot’s fleet is growing with deliveries of new long-haul Boeing 777-300 ERs (above), which will provide services to Vladivostok, Krasnoyarsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Khabarovsk, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, New York (JFK), Beijing, Seoul and Shanghai.

Traditional winter destinations – Innsbruck and Phuket – will be replaced by summer ones like Gelendzik, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Dubrovnik, Split and Tivat.

Aeroflot network will be strengthened by 109 destinations on which aircraft of Aeroflot Group subsidiary companies will be used. Aeroflot marketing flights will be operated on 116 routes.

During Summer Season 2013 Aeroflot together with its subsidiary companies and code sharing partners will fly to 351 unique destinations in 66 countries, including Russia.

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-3M0 VP-BGB (msn 41679) completes its final approach to the runway at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

Aeroflot:

Lufthansa’s pilots start their three-day strike virtually grounding most of the airline

Lufthansa‘ (Frankfurt) pilots started their three-day strike today (April 2). The strike has virtually grounded the German airline except for a few short-haul and long-haul international flights.

Lufthansa has cancelled 3,800 flights until late Friday.

According to Reuters, the pilots want Lufthansa to reinstate a retirement plan that allowed them to receive 60 percent of their pay and benefits when they leave the airline before the retirement date.

Lufthansa’s pilots were forced to retire at 60, leaving a gap of five years before the legal retirement age of 65. The retirement age for pilots was raised to 65 in Europe in 2011 according to Reuters. Lufthansa says it is no longer necessary.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

The airline issued this statement:

As a result of strike actions of the German pilots’ union “Vereinigung Cockpit” (VC) at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings from Wednesday, April 2, 2014, to Friday, April 4, 2014, Lufthansa has reduced its schedule significantly.
Flights of the Lufthansa Group Airlines Eurowings, Lufthansa CityLine, Air Dolomiti, Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines are excepted from the strikes and schedule adjustments.

Previously on March 31 the airline issued this statement:

Due to the strike announced by the pilot’s union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings have canceled about 3,800 flights on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. During the three day walkout of the cockpit crew only about 500 Lufthansa short and long haul flights will be operated.

Flight cancellations on such a massive scale will affect a total of 425,000 passengers. Lufthansa will inform all passengers who have registered their contact details in their booking or in their Miles & More profile about flight changes via text message and email. Most of the remaining domestic and European flights will be flown by the daughter companies Eurowings and Lufthansa Cityline, whose pilots are not participating in the walkout.

In addition to Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo will also be affected. For the three strike days 23 of 31 planned cargo flights from Frankfurt have been already canceled.

The pilots of Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa CityLine and Air Dolomiti as well as the pilots of Brussels Airlines will not participate in the strike. Where possible, these companies will use larger planes on routes from and to Germany in order to bring as many rebooked Lufthansa passengers as possible to their destinations.

Additionally, Lufthansa will re-book affected passengers on other airlines and in cooperation with German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) will provide train tickets on domestic routes.

Copyright Photo: Pascal Simon/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 747-430 D-ABVH (msn 25045) with the special “50 Years of Innovation – Boeing and Lufthansa” emblem, arrives at the Frankfurt base.

Lufthansa:

Air Canada finalizes its order for 61 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) and Air Canada (Montreal) have finalized an order for 61 737 MAX airplanes to lead the airline’s single-aisle fleet renewal plan. The order, valued at $6.5 billion at list prices, consists of 33 737 MAX 8s and 28 737 MAX 9s, as well as 18 options and 30 rights to purchase additional 737 MAXs.

The 737 MAX improves fuel efficiency and reduces carbon emissions by 14 percent, while reducing the operational noise footprint by 40 percent, compared to today’s aircraft.

The 737 MAX incorporates the latest technology LEAP-1B engines from CFM International with other advancements including Advanced Technology winglets, large flight deck displays and the Boeing Sky Interior to deliver the highest efficiency, reliability and passenger comfort in the single-aisle market.

The 737 MAX has accumulated more than 1,900 orders to date from 37 customers worldwide.

Development of the 737 MAX is on schedule with firm configuration of the airplane completed in July 2013. First flight is scheduled in 2016 with deliveries to customers beginning in third quarter of 2017.

Image: Boeing.

Air Canada:

El Al launches UP on March 30, reports a full-year net profit for 2013

El Al Israel Airlines (Tel Aviv) launched its UP division on March 30. 180,000 tickets were sold before the first flight departed. Up launched operations with low-fare service to five Destinations: Berlin, Budapest, Kiev, Prague and Larnaca.

Berlin: Up to 12 weekly flights
Prague: Up to 11 weekly flights
Kiev: Up to 11 weekly flights
Budapest: Up to 12 weekly flights
Larnaca: Up to 6 weekly flights
A total of up to 52 weekly flights to UP destinations

The inaugural flight to Berlin was piloted by Captain Hovev Ben David, Manager of the 737 fleet, together with First Officer Izhar Katzir (below).

The business model combines a low base fare and passengers can add for additional services – such as seating, check-in at the airport, baggage and other services.

Economy Class passengers may order meals, for a fee, from an UP menu that will be offered to them during the flight.

The menu includes a selection of fresh products: sandwiches, salads, baked goods, muesli, as well as snacks, soft drinks, hot drinks and alcoholic beverages. The fresh food offered for sale, including sandwiches, are Mehadrin kosher with certification provided by the Chief Rabbinate under supervision of Rabbi Moshe Nachshoni. All ingredients have Badatz kashrut certification.

In other news, financially El Al reported a full-year net profit of $25.4 million for 2013, reversing the $18 million loss the airline posted ithe previous year.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Marvin Goldman’s El Al Memorabilia Collection: CLICK HERE

El Al:

UP:

Ethiopian starts nonstop Boeing 787 flights to Shanghai, China

Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa) on March 29 started daily nonstop service to Shanghai, China. Ethiopian operates the Shanghai flight using its Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 24 Cloud Nine Business Class and 246 Economy Class seats.

Shanghai is Ethiopian’s 80th international destination.

Copyright Photo: Wingnut/AirlinersGallery.com. Up close on the ramp at London’s Heathrow Airport. Boeing 787-8 ET-AOO (msn 34743) taxies past the camera.

Ethiopian Airlines:

Norwegian opens its new base at Barcelona, Spain

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) and Spanish authorities are celebrating today the opening of the new base in Barcelona. It is the sixth Spanish base along with Madrid, Alicante, Malaga, Las Palmas and Tenerife.

The mood among the travelers were on top when Norwegian, Spanish authorities and partners celebrated the opening of the new base in Barcelona with a ribbon cutting, refreshments and speeches.

Between March and October this year Norwegian expects to fly around 700,000 passengers to and from Barcelona. During the same period last year traveled 490,000 passengers to and from the Catalan capital.

Three Boeing 737-800 are now based at the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. Over 120 pilots and cabin crew have been hired locally with competitive wages and working conditions. Norwegian opens four new routes and increase frequencies on existing routes from April 2014. Norwegian now has 11 nonstop routes from BCN and 69 flights a week from Barcelona.

Top Copyright Photo: Norwegian.

Norwegian:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Michael Kelly/AirlinersGallery.com. The latest Norwegian Boeing 787-8 EI-LND (msn 35310) arrived at Dublin on delivery from Boeing on March 26. The Dreamliner was rolled out yesterday (March 31) with a decal of Norwegian marathon runner Grete Waitz on the tail.

Delta and Virgin Atlantic launch Seattle/Tacoma-London Heathrow flights

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) continued its rapid expansion in Seattle/Tacoma with the launch of new daily nonstop service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to London Heathrow Airport on Saturday, March 29. The route, established as part of Delta’s joint venture with Virgin Atlantic Airways (London).

Through its trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia, Delta offers Seattle-area travelers nonstop service to Paris and Amsterdam while also providing connecting service to more than 150 additional destinations beyond those European hubs.

This spring Delta will also begin expanded Seattle/Tacoma service from Anchorage; Fairbanks, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; San Diego; San Francisco; San Jose, California; and Vancouver to support its growing international gateway that currently serves London Heathrow, Amsterdam and Paris-Charles de Gaulle as well as Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo-Narita, and Tokyo-Haneda.

In June, Delta will begin new international service from Seattle/Tacoma to Seoul and Hong Kong, bringing Delta’s total nonstop transoceanic destinations to nine, as many as all other SeaTac international carriers combined.

By this summer, Delta will offer more than 2,500 daily international seats as part of its 79 peak-day departures to 25 destinations.

Delta currently operates 35 peak-day departures to 15 destinations from Seattle/Tacoma.

Delta Air Lines (current):