Tag Archives: Boeing

Virgin Australia welcomes its first Adelaide-based cabin crews and also talks about the “Flying Maiden”

Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) today welcomed its first locally recruited and trained cabin crew members. The new crews will graduated today at Virgin Australia’s newly established Adelaide base.

The 24 participants have spent the past seven weeks being trained and tested in safety and emergency procedures, aviation regulations and medicine and the very best in customer service.

Adelaide plays an important role in Virgin Australia’s expanding domestic network, with more than 40 flights arriving and departing from the airport daily.

By opening a cabin crew base in Adelaide the airline was able to bring approximately 80 new jobs to South Australia.

The new Adelaide based cabin crew can look forward to flying on board Virgin Australia’s Boeing 737 and Embraer 190 aircraft travelling to all mainland state capitals as well as popular tourist destinations including the Gold Coast and Denpasar, Indonesia.

Additionally Virgin Australia in its blog talks about the “Flying Maiden”:

The Flying Maiden was originally developed in the style of Alberto Vargas, a pinup artist of the 1940s whose work was famously emulated on the nose of many WWII aircraft.

She was then contemporised by brand design firm Hulsbosch for Virgin Australia.

She is the stylish guardian of your Virgin Australia experience whether flying between capital cities or between countries.

The Flying Maiden is seen on the side of Virgin Australia aircraft, at our airport terminals and lounges around the country. Our partner airline, Virgin Atlantic also features its own version of the Flying Maiden, the Scarlet Lady, on its aircraft.

Top Copyright Photo: John Adlard/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Virgin Australia). Boeing 737-8FE VH-YVA (msn 40995) arrives at Sydney.

Virgin Australia:

Royal Jordanian to assign the new Boeing 787s to the North American routes

Royal Jordanian Airlines (Amman) according to Airline Route, intends to operate its new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners on the Amman-Chicago (O’Hare) (six weekly flights starting on October 1), Amman-Montreal (Trudeau)-Detroit (twice-weekly starting October 2) and Amman-New York (JFK) (four weekly flights starting on October 2) routes. The new type will replace the Airbus A330s and A340s on the North American routes.

Royal Jordanian has 11 787-8s on order including four on lease.

Royal Jordanian:

WestJet to expand operations with new summer routes and frequencies, will bring Encore to Toronto and fly to Europe

WestJet (Calgary) today announced its most comprehensive schedule release since the airline took to the skies in 1996. As part of the 2014 summer schedule, the airline is adding five new routes, increasing frequency on 20 existing routes across the network, while five seasonal routes move to year-round service.

Following its successful launch in Western Canada, WestJet Encore moves east to start service in Toronto with flights between Toronto (Pearson) and Thunder Bay. WestJet Encore will also offer service between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

WestJet Encore will also launch new routes between Fort McMurray and Kelowna, British Columbia and Fort McMurray and Vancouver as part of the largest single increase of flights to Fort McMurray since WestJet first began service to the area. The Fort McMurray expansion also includes new WestJet nonstop flights to Las Vegas, conversion of daily Toronto nonstop flights to year-round service, and frequency increases to both Calgary and Edmonton.

The summer of 2014 will see WestJet’s first foray into the European, trans-Atlantic market with direct flights between Toronto and Dublin beginning on June 15, 2014. Other summer highlights include new daily nonstop flights between Calgary and Prince George, British Columbia and from Calgary to New York’s JFK International Airport, as well as service increases to 15 popular southern destinations including Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Phoenix in addition to well-travelled Caribbean and Mexican spots.

Details of WestJet and WestJet Encore’s new routes for the summer 2014 schedule:

Route	Flights/Week	Departing	Arriving	Effective
Calgary-New York JFK	7	10:35 a.m.	5:00 p.m.	April 27, 2014
New York JFK-Calgary	7	5:55 p.m.	9:10 p.m.	April 27, 2014
Calgary-Prince George	7	10:00 p.m.	10:27 p.m.	April 27, 2014
Prince George-Calgary	7	6:00 a.m.	8:27 a.m.	April 27, 2014
Fort McMurray-Vancouver	7	11:00 a.m.	12:30 p.m.	May 12, 2014
Vancouver-Fort McMurray	7	1:30 p.m.	4:53 p.m.	May 12, 2014
Fort McMurray-Kelowna	7	10:25 p.m.	11:27 p.m.	May 12, 2014
Kelowna-Fort McMurray	7	7:30 a.m.	10:23 a.m.	May 12, 2014
Fort McMurray-Las Vegas	2	8:50 p.m.	11:21 p.m.	June 24, 2014
Las Vegas-Fort McMurray	2	3:23 p.m.	7:55 p.m.	June 24, 2014

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8CT C-GWSZ (msn 37092) in the Walt Disney World “Magic Plane” climbs away from Los Angeles International Airport.

WestJet:

Boeing to work with Etihad Airways and others to develop a sustainable aviation biofuel in the United Arab Emirates

Boeing (Chicago), Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi), Takreer, Total and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology today announced they will collaborate on a new initiative to support a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in the United Arab Emirates.

BIOjet Abu Dhabi: Flight Path to Sustainability will engage a broad range of stakeholders to develop a comprehensive framework for a U.A.E. biofuel supply chain. This initiative will focus on research and development and investments in feedstock production and refining capability in the U.A.E. and globally.

Etihad Airways showed the promise of this homegrown effort yesterday with a 45-minute demonstration flight in a Boeing 777 powered in part by U.A.E.-produced sustainable aviation biofuel. The biofuel was partially converted from plants by Total and refined into jet fuel by Takreer, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC). U.A.E. is now among a handful of countries that have produced and flown on their own aviation biofuel, which emits at least 50 percent less carbon dioxide than fossil fuel over its lifecycle.

Boeing and Etihad Airways are also among the founding partners of the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium, hosted by the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi. The consortium has been researching and developing salt-tolerant plants that would be raw material for the same refining processes used to produce renewable fuel for the Etihad Airways flight.

The flight and BIOjet Abu Dhabi announcement lead into Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and the World Future Energy Summit. These activities and Masdar Institute’s aviation biofuel research are aligned with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, which seeks to develop sustainable energy sources to diversify the U.A.E. economy and increase workforce opportunities for Emiratis.

Etihad Airways is an airline industry leader in supporting the development of lower-carbon renewable fuels. A member of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG), the airline operated the Gulf region’s first biofuel flight in January 2011 with a Boeing 777 delivery from Seattle to Abu Dhabi powered by a blend of petroleum-based and certified plant oil-based jet fuel.

Boeing collaborates with airlines, research institutions, governments and other stakeholders to develop sustainable biofuel supply chains around the world, including the United States, Middle East, China,Brazil, Europe and Australia.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Etihad Airways’ Boeing 777-3FX ER A6-ETG (msn 39681) with special “Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2014 Formula 1” emblems arrives in Bangkok.

Etihad Airways:

Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand agree to form an alliance, Singapore to operate its Airbus A380s to New Zealand

Singapore Airlines (Singapore) and Air New Zealand (Auckland) have agreed to form an alliance enabling Air New Zealand to fly the Auckland-Singapore route again and Singapore Airlines to operate the Airbus A380 to New Zealand for the first time.

The A380 would be operated daily by Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Auckland, progressively replacing an existing daily service with the smaller Boeing 777-300 ER. Air New Zealand would launch daily services between Auckland and Singapore using newly refitted Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft, taking over five flights currently operated by Singapore Airlines and adding two more weekly flights, increasing the frequency to daily.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the carriers would aim to boost their existing capacity between Singapore and New Zealand by up to 30% year round over time.

Singapore Airlines’ daily Singapore-Christchurch service would continue as part of the alliance.

The proposed alliance would enable Air New Zealand passengers to access codeshare travel on the Singapore Airlines network to the United Kingdom, Europe, South East Asia and Africa, as well as on the network of its regional subsidiary airline, SilkAir. Singapore Airlines’ customers would be able to access codeshare travel across the Air New Zealand domestic network and to selected international destinations.

The alliance would see Air New Zealand’s ‘NZ’ code return to Singapore Airlines’ network for the first time since 2007. Air New Zealand last operated to Singapore in 2006.

The parties are seeking approval for the alliance from the Competition Commission of Singapore and the New Zealand Minister of Transport. Pending approval, flights could commence as early as December 2014.

Top Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl/AirlinersGallery.com. Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380-841 9V-SKR (msn 082) gracefully climbs away from the runway at Zurich.

Singapore Airlines:

Air New Zealand:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-219 ER ZK-OKA (msn 29404) arrives at London (Heathrow).

British Airways to return three GSS Boeing 747-8 freighters to Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings in April

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (Atlas Air) (New York) has announced it intends to pursue new ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) placement opportunities for three 747-8 Freighter aircraft currently operated for British Airways plc by Atlas Air Worldwide’s 49%-owned UK subsidiary, Global Supply Systems Limited (GSS).

The action follows notice from British Airways, a unit of International Consolidated Airlines Group, S.A., regarding British Airways’ strategic decision to exit dedicated cargo-freighter service and to return the aircraft to GSS in April 2014 pursuant to the terms of the existing ACMI agreement between the parties.

Effective with the termination of the agreement, the three 747-8Fs will be redelivered to the company by GSS. Through GSS, the company also will receive contractual early termination fees from British Airways.

Meanwhile Qatar Airways (Doha) will operate five Boeing 777F freighter flights between Hong Kong and London for IAG Cargo (British Airways) starting on May 1. IAG Cargo issued this statement:

IAG Cargo has announced it has signed a long-term commercial agreement with Qatar Airways to purchase capacity on Qatar Airways-operated air cargo freighters, effective from May 1, 2014.

Qatar Airways will operate five Boeing 777F flights a week between Hong Kong and London on behalf of IAG Cargo, providing continuity of service for IAG Cargo customers.

The agreement marks a transition for IAG Cargo and follows the company’s decision to transfer freighter operations from its current provider, Global Supply Systems.

IAG Cargo connects 350 destinations worldwide, serving the world’s economic hubs with cargo-friendly wide-bodied planes. Through its Constant Climate network, it has one of the largest networks globally for handling temperature-sensitive air cargo.

Qatar Airways is already a partner with IAG through the oneworld global alliance which it joined in October 2013. The airline is taking delivery of a further three Boeing 777F aircraft during 2014.

Top Copyright Photo: Rainer Bexten/AirlinersGallery.com. This decision will end British Airways World Cargo and Global Supply Systems. GSS operated Boeing 747-87UF G-GSSD (msn 37562) in British Airways World Cargo colors departs graceful from Cologne/Bonn.

British Airways World Cargo (GSS):

Qatar Airways:

Video: Flying the Boeing 747-800F freighter:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-FDZ A7-BFA (msn 36098) of Qatar Airways Cargo taxies at Amsterdam.

Etihad Airways to add a second daily flight to New York, Etihad Regional is unveiled and expands operations

Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) will double its flights between Abu Dhabi and New York City, introducing a second daily service from Saturday, March 1, 2014.

Flight EY 103 will depart Abu Dhabi International Airport at 1.45 am, arriving at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport at 7.45 am the same day, while the return flight, EY102, will leave New York at 11.35 am, arriving in Abu Dhabi at 9.20 am the next day.

The new flights will complement the airline’s current 10.30 am departure to New York, providing a choice of services for Abu Dhabi’s business, Government, expatriate and leisure travellers, while passengers travelling from New York to Abu Dhabi and beyond will now have the option of a late morning flight as well as the current 9.40 pm departure.

Initially, the new flights will be operated by Etihad Airways using two tri-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft leased from its strategic partner, India’s Jet Airways. From May 1, 2014, Jet Airways will operate these flights.

The second New York service will increase substantially the connections available via the Abu Dhabi Airport hub, with the schedule designed to link in both directions with Etihad Airways and partner airline flights between Abu Dhabi and more than 30 destinations in India, the Middle East, Central and South East Asia, Africa and island nations in the Indian Ocean region.

In other news, Etihad Regional, operated by Darwin Airline (Lugano and Geneva), unveiled yesterday (January 16) its first painted 50-seat SAAB 2000. All aircraft are expected to be repainted by the end of June. Etihad Airways is acquiring a 33 percent stake in the regional carrier.

Etihad Regional will expand to 34 destinations. Stuttgart will be added next month, followed by Berlin, Dusseldorf, London (City), Poznan, Tirana, Toulouse, Wroclaw, Zagreb and Zurich in April. Next will be Belgrade and Turin in May and finally Bordeaux, Graz, Linz, Marseille, Nantes and Verona in June.

With these additions Etihad Regional will feed the seven Etihad Airways gateways in Europe.

Top Copyright Photo: Greenwing/AirlinersGallery.com. Etihad Airways’ Boeing 777-3FX ER A6-ETC (msn 34599) in the special Abu Dhabi Grand Prix markings taxies at Dublin.

Etihad Airways:

Darwin Airline:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Darwin Airline.

United Airlines’ flight 89 to Beijing hits turbulence, returns to Newark, five FAs hurt

United Airlines‘ (Chicago) flight UA 89 from Newark to Beijing, China returned to Newark Liberty International Airport yesterday according to CNN after encountering severe turbulence 45 minutes into the flight. The severe turbulence injured five flight attendants who were serving the passengers. The Boeing 777-200 with 189 passengers and 16 crew members landed safely at EWR.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

In other news, United intends to furlough 688 flight attendants after it was unable to get enough of them to take a voluntary buyout. United wants to cut costs by $2 billion in annual expenses. United has already eliminated 1,250 flight attendant positions. United still does not have a single contract for its FAs according to Bloomberg.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

United Airlines (current):

United Airlines (historic):

Airberlin outlines its summer schedule with new tourist routes

Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) has issued this statement outlining its plans for its upcoming summer schedule:

Airberlin will be expanding its tourist travel services this summer and including more destinations in its schedule. “Tourist flights are an important pillar in our business model and we are constantly improving our services. With Larnaca and Malta, we have included new destinations in our portfolio and we are increasing the frequency of flights, especially to Greece and the Canary Islands,” says Detlef Altmann, Senior Vice President Sales Touristic Services. The frequency of flights to Greece has increased by 11% compared with summer 2013, to 172 flights a week. Flights to the Canary Islands have increased by 12%, with 73 connections a week in summer 2014.

Next summer, Airberlin will be offering seven additional flights a week to the airport of Heraklion on Crete. For tourists wishing to travel to Kos and Santorini, there will be three more flights a week to each destination, meaning that airberlin will be flying seven times a week to Santorini and 21 times a week to Kos. There will be one extra flight a week to each of Chania, Kalamata, Lesbos, Mykonos, Rhodes, Samos and Zakynthos.

The number of flights a week to Lanzarote will increase by three compared with last year, to 13. airberlin will fly 16 times a week to Gran Canaria and 25 times a week to Tenerife South. Two flights a week have been added to each destination. The number of weekly flights to Fuerteventura is up from 17 to 18. There will be more Airberlin flights from Munich, with new services to the Canary Island destinations of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife South.

For the first time, Airberlin’s summer schedule offers flight guests from Dusseldorf a weekly service to Corsica and several flights a week to Madrid.

The tourist services for people travelling from Vienna have been extended, with new services to Madrid, Malta and Larnaca on Cyprus. There are excellent connections from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hanover, Hamburg, Munich and Nuremberg for the newly introduced flights from Vienna to Malta and Larnaca.

Airberlin also offers a regular schedule of long-haul tourist flights, including to Curaçao, Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Fort Myers, Miami, New York (JFK) and the Thai holiday island of Phuket, with feeder flights from many airports in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. airberlin flies daily from Berlin and Dusseldorf to Abu Dhabi and, with its strategic partner, offers connecting services, for example to Bangkok, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Seychelles. Even Australia can be reached with Airberlin and Etihad Airways via Abu Dhabi, making this the shortest one-stop service from Germany to down under.

Airberlin:

American and US Airways announce the routes it will drop from Washington Reagan National and New York LaGuardia

American Airlines Group Inc. (American Airlines and US Airways) (Dallas/Fort Worth) has announced the planned network adjustments resulting from the required divestiture of slots and related assets at Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) and New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA). The divestitures, which enabled American Airlines and US Airways to complete their merger, were mandated by the previously announced settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the States ofArizona, Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA)

As a result of the 52 slot pair divestitures at DCA required by the DOJ, American will no longer operate year-round, daily nonstop service to 17 destinations from DCA. Customers in these communities will still have access to DCA, which remains a key hub for American, through connecting flights from one or more of the airline’s other eight hubs.

Communities no longer receiving year-round, daily service include:

Augusta, Ga.Detroit, Mich.Fayetteville, N.C.Fort Walton Beach, Fla.Islip, N.Y.

Jacksonville, N.C.

Little Rock, Ark.Minneapolis, Minn.MontrealMyrtle Beach, S.C.Nassau, Bahamas

Omaha, Neb.

Pensacola, Fla.San Diego, Calif.Savannah, Ga.Tallahassee, Fla.Wilmington, N.C.

Effective dates for the changes at DCA will be announced after the sale of slots and related assets is finalized in the coming weeks. American is currently working through the DOJ-approved divestiture process which includes transition agreements with acquiring airlines to minimize the disruption to customers.

Customers in Washington, D.C., and on the West Coast will benefit from other schedule changes, as American will soon add a second daily nonstop frequency between DCA and Los Angeles by shifting US Airways’ current San Diego flight to Los Angeles.

In addition, American will adjust its service to Fort Myers, Florida, moving from year-round service to a seasonal schedule.

New York LaGuardia (LGA)

As a result of the DOJ-required 17 slot pair divestitures at LGA, American will no longer operate nonstop service to Atlanta, Cleveland and Minneapolis/St. Paul. However, changes to the schedule made possible by the combined network of American and US Airways will provide opportunities for new service to 10 communities. New service from LGA includes:

Charlottesville, Va.	Little Rock, Ark.	Roanoke, Va.
Dayton, Ohio	Louisville, Ky.	Wilmington, N.C.
Greensboro, N.C.	Norfolk, Va.
Knoxville, Tenn.	Richmond, Va.

Customers can begin booking tickets for these new routes Sunday, January 26 for travel beginning April 1.

In December 2013, American and US Airways finalized the DOJ-approved sale of slots and related assets at LGA with agreements that allow the appropriate time for American and the acquiring airlines to transition their operations and minimize the disruption to customers.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-823 N936NN (msn 31176) approaches the runway at Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA).

American Airlines (current):

American Airlines (historic):

US Airways: