Tag Archives: Boeing

WestJet adds more flights for 100th Grey Cup in Toronto

WestJet Airlines (Calgary) has announced it will add additional flights between Calgary and Toronto (Pearson) to accommodate demand from football fans to huddle up for centennial Grey Cup celebrations in Toronto this weekend. The Calgary Stampeders will play the Toronto Argonauts for CFL supremacy at Rogers Centre on Sunday, November 25 .

WestJet will add one flight on Friday from Calgary to Toronto and one flight on Monday from Toronto to Calgary , plus return flights in the opposite direction each day.

“The Grey Cup is Canada’s oldest professional sports trophy and a truly Canadian celebration,” said Bob Cummings , WestJet’s Executive Vice-President of Sales, Marketing and Guest Experience. “This year, as we celebrate the 100^th Grey Cup Championship in Toronto , we’re calling the signals. Flights between Calgary and Toronto are almost completely sold out, so we’re changing the play. In support of this iconic Canadian tradition, we are adding two more flights to help get more fans over their goal line.”

WestJet:

Ryanair to open a new operation at Nuremberg

Ryanair (Dublin) has announced it will launch a new operation at Nuremberg (Bavaria’s second largest city) on April 1 with six routes to Alicante, Cagliari, London (Stansted), Malaga, Pisa and Porto.

Ryanair:

Southwest to convert Wichita to a Southwest city on June 2

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) on June 2, 2013 will convert service at Wichita, Kansas from AirTran Airways to a Southwest city. At Wichita’s Mid-Continent airport, WN will substitute three AirTran nonstop flights between Wichita and Atlanta with two Southwest nonstops between Wichita and both Dallas/Love and Chicago/Midway, and daily Southwest nonstop service between Wichita and Las Vegas. This will give Southwest five daily departures, with direct and connecting service to another 70 Southwest cities across America.

Integration between Southwest and AirTran also continues in the Caribbean. On the same day WN will convert existing AirTran nonstop service between Baltimore/Washington and San Juan, Puerto Rico to Southwest Airlines service, and will add a fourth daily roundtrip between San Juan and Orlando. All of Southwest’s service to San Juan utilizes Boeing 737-800 aircraft complete with Boeing’s Sky Interior.

According to the airline, Southwest will also add two daily nonstop roundtrips between Houston/Hobby and New York’s LaGuardia Airport. WN will also add new nonstop service between Chicago/Midway and Tulsa. Other nonstop markets that will seasonally return will be daily nonstops between Seattle/Tacoma and Atlanta, Nashville, Houston/Hobby, and Kansas City, between Austin and Portland OR, and between Las Vegas and Manchester. Southwest will end nonstop service in five markets—Albuquerque-Tucson, Oakland-Reno, Little Rock-St. Louis, and between Birmingham and both Jacksonville and New Orleans. In addition, WN will eliminate seasonal nonstops between Hartford and Ft. Myers, weekend-only nonstops in the Norfolk-Tampa and Providence-Ft. Myers markets, and will seasonally shift Southwest nonstop service between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and both Raleigh/Durham and Milwaukee to AirTran. WN will also reduce frequency in 40 roundtrip markets and increase service in 49 others, winding up with an average of 3,382 departures each weekday—which represents an overall increase in roughly 18 midweek departures per day.

Southwest Airlines:

Cargolux and Qatar Airways to go their separate ways

Cargolux Airlines International‘s (Luxembourg) and Qatar Airways‘ (Doha) officials met yesterday to discuss a new strategy and direction for the cargo airline. The two parties could not agree on the future direction of the company according to this report by Reuters. As a result, Qatar will sell its 35 percent share in Cargolux.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck. Cargolux’s Boeing 747-8R7F LX-VCD (msn 35809) climbs powerfully away from the runway at Miami International Airport.

Cargolux:

Qatar Airways:

Alaska to start new nonstop service from San Diego to Boston and Lihue, Kauai

Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma) has announced it will begin new service between San Diego and Boston starting March 29 and between San Diego and Lihue, Kauai (Hawaii), on June 7, 2013.

Summary of new service


San Diego-Boston:
Start date	City pair	Departs	Arrives	Frequency
March 29	San Diego-Boston	9:30 a.m.	5:55 p.m.	Daily
March 29	Boston-San Diego	6:55 p.m.	10:13 p.m.	Daily


San Diego- Kauai:
Start date	City pair	Departs	Arrives	Frequency
June 7	San Diego-Kauai	9:55 a.m.	1:05 p.m.	Daily until Aug. 24 then Mon, Tue, Thu, Sat
June 7	Kauai -San Diego	11:05 a.m.	7:50 p.m.	Daily until Aug. 23 then Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun

All times based on local time zones

Alaska has added four flights from San Diego this year, including nonstop service to Orlando, Fla., and daily service to Fresno, Monterey and Santa Rosa, Calif. In addition to Alaska’s new San Diego-Kauai service, the carrier also flies daily from San Diego to the Hawaiian Islands of Oahu and Maui.

Copyright Photo: Eddie Maloney. Boeing 737-890 N512AS (msn 39043) dressed in the promotional Boeing Dreamliner scheme lands at the desert oasis of Las Vegas.

Alaska Airlines:

Ryanair is still optimistic about its proposed takeover of Aer Lingus after the EC ruling

Ryanair (Dublin) is still optimistic about final European Commission approval of its proposed takeover of rival Aer Lingus (Dublin). The European Commission has raised concerns about competition in Ireland despite Ryanair’s offer to surrender European routes from Ireland to allow for other carriers to add Irish service.

Ryanair issued the following statement:

Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low cost airline, confirmed on November 14 that its discussions continue with the European Commission about its radical package of remedies designed to address the Commission’s competition concerns in relation to Ryanair’s June 19 offer for Aer Lingus. This comprehensive remedies package includes a number of new airline bases in Dublin, new entrant competitors on over 40 routes to/from Dublin, Cork and Shannon, as well as specific competition solutions that guarantee increased price competition on routes to and from Ireland.

Following receipt of the Commission’s statement of objections last evening (November 13), a standard procedural step in Phase II EU merger reviews, Ryanair expects that the Commission will shortly market test this transformational remedies package, and remains confident that its offer for Aer Lingus will receive competition clearance following any fair assessment by the Commission. A detailed process of engagement with the EU Commission is now underway.

Ryanair’s offer for Aer Lingus is being reviewed while dramatic changes take place across the EU airline industry, including: (1) a large restructuring of Iberia with 4,500 job losses; (2) the takeover of Vueling by IAG, combining the Number 2 and Number 3 airlines in Spain; (3) a major restructuring of SAS including 6,000 job losses and state backed loan guarantees; and (4) the planned merger of Aegean and Olympic, the Number 1 and Number 2 airlines in Greece.

It is against this backdrop that Ryanair is proposing a merger that provides secure jobs, growth opportunities and financial benefits for all shareholders in a larger Ireland based EU carrier.

Read the local media analysis of this proposed merger from The Irish Times: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best. Boeing 737-8AS EI-DCL (msn 33806) in the Dreamliner livery lands at London (Luton).

Ryanair:

Aer Lingus:

Bottom Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. Airbus A320-214 EI-DEJ (msn 2364) taxies at the Dublin base.

Avianca orders three more Boeing 787 Dreamliners

Avianca (Colombia) (Bogota) has ordered three additional Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Boeing has issued the following statement:

Boeing and Avianca Airlines have announced an order for three 787 Dreamliners. The order was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing’s Orders & Deliveries website and is valued at approximately $620 million at published list prices.

This order brings Avianca’s total 787 order count to 15 Dreamliners, which includes the 12 787s ordered in 2007. The total order value stands at more than $3.1 billion.

In other news, Avianca is adding new frequencies and routes:

From December 2012, Avianca will expand its travel offering as follows:

DESTINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

Bogota-Miami-Bogota: With the addition of a new daily flight, Avianca will operate a total of three flights per day on this route from December 16, 2012.
Bogota-New York-Bogota: Starting on December 17, 2012, Avianca will offer two daily nonstop flights between these two cities.
Bogota-Orlando-Bogota: From December 17, 2012, Avianca will operate a daily nonstop flight to Orlando.

DESTINATIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN

Bogota-Punta Cana-Bogota: From December 18, 2012, Avianca will offer four nonstop flights per week, with operations on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from Bogota to this Caribbean island and vice versa.Bogota-Santo Domingo-Bogota: From December 19, 2012, Avianca will operate a daily flight between the Colombian capital and the capital of the Dominican Republic.
Bogota-Havana-Bogota: Avianca will fly to the capital of Cuba with four flights per week, to and from Colombia, starting December 22, 2012. Flights to the island will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

DESTINATIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA

Bogota-Rio-Bogota: Starting on December 17, Avianca will operate a daily nonstop flight to this Brazilian city.
Bogota- La Paz-Bogota: Starting on December 18, 2012, Avianca will operate a new daily flight on the Bogota-La Paz-Bogota route.

Avianca is part of AviancaTaca Holding. With a modern fleet of more than 140 short, medium and long-haul aircraft and a team of more than 17,000 employees, Avianca and Taca directly service more than 100 destinations in the Americas and Europe, which connect to more than 750 destinations in the world through interline and codeshare agreements with partner airlines around the world.

Avianca:

Hawaiian Airlines and Virgin America move closer together with a new interline and code-sharing agreement

Hawaiian Airlines (Honolulu) and Virgin America (San Francisco) today announced new cooperative marketing agreements that expand the reach of their respective networks and provide a range of new travel benefits for their customers.

The two airlines also announced that Hawaiian Airlines has placed its two-letter HA code on Virgin America flights to Boston, Dallas/Worth, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Washington D.C. (IAD); New York (JFK); Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; Portland, Oregon; Seattle/Tacoma and San Francisco.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems. Boeing 767-33A ER WL N582HA (msn 28139) taxies to the runway at Los Angeles International Airport.

Hawaiian Airlines:

Virgin America:

Delta Air Lines completes the flat-bed installations on its Boeing 747-400s

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) has completed the installation of full flat-bed seats in the BusinessElite® cabin of all Boeing 747-400 type aircraft.

The last of 16 Boeing 747 aircraft, each with 48 BusinessElite seats, has been retrofitted with full flat-bed seats. It entered scheduled service this week on a flight between Singapore and Tokyo’s Narita airport, before making its way to Atlanta.

Delta previously completed installation of the full flat-bed modification on its Boeing 777 and 767-400 ER aircraft types. To date, 13 767-300 ER aircraft have received the modification and three more will be complete by month’s end. In total, approximately 50 percent of Delta’s widebody international fleet has received the upgrade. In addition to flat-bed seats in BusinessElite, the cabin overhaul includes upgraded seats in the Economy cabin with personal entertainment at every seat. The airline’s entire widebody international fleet of more than 140 aircraft will receive the full aircraft modification in both cabins by the middle of 2014.

Delta recently announced plans to install full flat-bed seats on its transcontinental flights between New York – JFK and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

This autumn, Delta announced plans to add Wi-Fi to its entire international fleet. The airline is already the largest operator of Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft on more than 3,000 flights serving more than 400,000 customers every day. When complete, Delta will offer Wi-Fi on more than 950 aircraft, from 747s to two-class regional jets.

Delta Air Lines:

Boeing finalizes the 737 MAX design

Boeing (Chicago) has finished defining in broad terms its newest single-aisle airplane, the 737 MAX, recently completing a major milestone in development known as ‘Firm Concept’.

“The program has achieved this development milestone by defining the significant changes needed to deliver the performance we’ve committed to our customers,” said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager 737 program. “The team has a firm plan in place to incorporate all the changes necessary to realize a 13 percent fuel-use reduction within the scope and schedule of the program.”

Fuel-use reduction changes include new LEAP-1B engines from CFM International, a redesigned tail cone and Advanced Technology winglets. Other changes allow these fuel-saving features to be integrated into the overall airplane design.

Boeing also decided to incorporate limited systems changes to the 737 MAX. These include an electronic bleed air system that will be supplied by Honeywell and large-format displays, supplied by Rockwell Collins, for the flight deck of the 737 MAX.

“In keeping with our commitment to customers to continuously improve the 737, we also are making an investment in the future capability of the 737 MAX flight deck with the new, more advanced displays,” said Wyse.

The 737 MAX flight deck will have four new large displays with significant growth capability while maintaining a common look-and-feel with the Next-Generation 737 display formats that preserves commonality with training across the 737 family.

“With large-format displays we can offer our customers future capability in the flight deck as pilot and training needs evolve, giving the 737 MAX a competitive advantage and 737 MAX operators even greater value,” said Wyse.

The team also has defined the high-speed aerodynamic lines for the 737 MAX. Through analysis and testing conducted in high- and low-speed wind tunnels, the 737 MAX design team has further refined the geometric shape of the airplane, eliminating the need for the small bump on the nose-gear door that appeared in earlier design iterations.

“Removal of the bump demonstrates how far our design work has progressed,” said Michael Teal, chief project engineer, 737 MAX.

With Firm Concept, the factory plan for the 737 MAX also has been defined. The factory plan includes a 737 MAX transition line where the initial 737 MAX airplanes will be assembled before integrating the new airplane into the existing 737 production lines in Renton, Wash.

“The 737 MAX remains on track for first delivery in 2017,” said Teal. “Now we are focused on the finer details of the configuration and we are confident we’ll be ready to begin detailed design in mid-2013.”

Image: Boeing.