Tag Archives: Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400)

QANTAS Link turboprops to receive a cabin upgrade

QANTAS Link’s fleet of 45 turboprop aircraft will undergo a major cabin upgrade to improve the overall experience for customers travelling on the airline’s regional network.

The interiors of the airline’s Bombardier Q200, Q300 and Q400 aircraft will be refreshed with new ergonomic seat cushioning, leather upholstery, a refreshed colour palette and new floor coverings at QANTAS Link’s maintenance facilities, including at Tamworth Airport, the airline’s hub for regional aircraft maintenance.

The upgrade program will commence by June 2018 and is expected to be completed within 18 months, with each aircraft taking approximately three days to refresh. The work will be timed to coincide with scheduled maintenance and will closely align the turboprop interiors with the QANTAS Link jet fleet.

QANTAS Group CEO Alan Joyce said the multi-million dollar investment would give regional travellers a better travel experience.

Copyright Photo: QANTAS Link-Sunstate Airlines Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) VH-LQM (msn 4450) SYD (Keith Burton). Image: 922311.

QANTAS Airlink-Sunstate Airlines aircraft slide show:

Porter Airlines adds 7th daily Thunder Bay flight, officially opens local crew base

Porter Airlines is significantly investing in Thunder Bay, Ontario, by adding flights and officially opening its new crew base for pilots and flight attendants.

The base grand opening received an added dose of excitement when the airline announced that it is increasing its schedule, with up to seven daily roundtrip flights to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. There will be as many as 45 weekly flights, beginning April 12.

Twenty crew members are already established at the base and will begin operating flights this week. They represent a variety of backgrounds, including: Porter team members transferring from other bases; crew with previous aviation experience already living in the city; and those moving from other locations in Canada. A total of 40 crew members will eventually be located in Thunder Bay as hiring and training progresses during the year. This is the first crew base in Northern Ontario for any large commercially-scheduled airline.

Porter began operating in Thunder Bay in 2008. In its tenth year, Porter has more flight options to Toronto than any other airline with up to seven daily flights. Each flight also has continuing service to and from Montreal or Ottawa, meaning passengers can stay on the aircraft during the brief stopover in Toronto.

Porter flies a 29-aircraft fleet of Bombardier Q400 aircraft configured with 74 seats. Each flight operates with two pilots and two flight attendants.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Porter): Porter Airlines Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) C-GLQP (msn 4271) YYZ (TMK Photography). Image: 907212.

Porter Airlines aircraft slide show:

Air Canada to launch new domestic western regional routes, Vancouver – Delhi route to become year-round

Air Canada has announced it will begin new domestic regional nonstop flights on July 2, 2018.

“We are pleased to offer new nonstop flights onboard our Bombardier Q400s between popular BC and Alberta cities as we continue to strategically expand our already extensive domestic network,” said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines at Air Canada. “With the continued growth at several communities on Vancouver Island and in the BC Okanagan, we see the opportunity to add new nonstop services and provide additional convenient travel options.”

“With Alberta being such a key market, the new direct flights into Kelowna, Victoria and Comox are great news for British Columbia’s visitor economy,” said Walt Judas, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia. “Air Canada’scommitment to servicing these routes is not only a huge boost for the individual communities, it is also a major benefit for the Thompson Okanagan and Vancouver Island regions as a whole.”

Top Copyright Photo: Air Canada Express-Jazz Aviation Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) C-GGNW (msn 4388) YYC (Chris Sands). Image: 925782.

Air Canada Express-Jazz Aviation aircraft slide show:

Route and frequency	Flight	Departs	Arrives
Edmonton-Kelowna – year-round	AC8395 YEG-YLW	Edmonton at 08:40	Kelowna at 08:59
	AC8403 YEG-YLW	Edmonton at 16:05	Kelowna at 16:24
Kelowna-Edmonton – year-round	AC8394 YLW-YEG	Kelowna at 09:30	Edmonton at 11:51
	AC8404 YLW-YEG	Kelowna at 16:55	Edmonton at 19:16
Edmonton-Victoria – seasonal	AC8095 YEG-YYJ	Edmonton at 08:40	Victoria at 09:40
	AC8053 YEG-YYJ	Edmonton at 16:00	Victoria at 17:00
Victoria-Edmonton – seasonal	AC8086 YYJ-YEG	Victoria at 10:10	Edmonton at 12:55
	AC8088 YYJ-YEG	Victoria at 17:30	Edmonton at 20:15
Calgary-Comox – seasonal	AC8362 YYC-YQQ	Calgary at 10:05	Comox at 10:58
	AC8361 YQQ-YYC	Comox at 11:30	Calgary at 14:14

These new routes complement Air Canada’s previously announced new nonstop North America routes beginning 2018:

Toronto to: Omaha, Providence, Nanaimo, Kamloops
Montreal to: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Victoria
Edmonton to: San Francisco
Vancouver to: Sacramento

Air Canada will launch new international services in 2018 including:

Toronto to: Shannon (Ireland), Porto (Portugal), Zagreb (Croatia), Bucharest (Romania), Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Montreal to: Tokyo–Narita (Japan), Dublin (Ireland), Bucharest (Romania), Lisbon (Portugal)
Vancouver to: Paris (France), Zurich (Switzerland)

In other news, Air Canada also announced that its current seasonal nonstop Vancouver–Delhi flights will become year-round starting June 8, 2018.

Above Copyright Photo: The first Boeing 777-300 has now been repainted in the new livery. Air Canada Boeing 777-333 ER C-FITL (msn 35256) YYZ (TMK Photography). Image: 940829.

Air Canada aircraft slide show:

airBaltic continues its expansion in Tallinn

airBaltic will launch new nonstop services from Tallinn to Stockholm and Oslo and base a second aircraft at Tallinn Airport starting on October 28, 2018.

The airline will base a Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft in Tallinn.

airBaltic will fly from Tallinn to Stockholm 12 times weekly.

The flights to Oslo will be operated twice-weekly and the scheduled flight time is 1 hour and 45 minutes.

In addition, airBaltic will continue to offer nonstop flights from Tallinn to Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and Vilnius as well as convenient connections via Riga.

airBaltic will also launch a new nonstop service from Tallinn to London Gatwick Airport starting on March 27, 2018.

In 2017, airBaltic has transported over 360 000 passengers to and from Estonia. The airline has carried 20% more passengers in Estonia to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East than in 2016.

For the summer season of 2018 airBaltic will also offer new services from Riga to Malaga (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), Split (Croatia), Bordeaux (France), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Gdansk (Poland) as well as Sochi and Kaliningrad (both in Russia).

airBaltic aircraft slide show:

Ethiopian to help to re-launch Zambia Airways

Ethiopian Airlines (above), the largest Aviation Group in Africa and SKYTRAX certified Four Star Global Airline, has announced that it has finalized shareholders agreement with the Government of Zambia for the re-launch of Zambia Airways.

Above: The logo of the first Zambia Airways.

The Government of Zambia will be the majority shareholder with 55% and Ethiopian will have 45% stakes in the airline.

Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines remarked: “In line with our Vision 2025 multiple hubs strategy in Africa, we are very happy that the discussions with the Zambian government have been crowned with success.

The launching of Zambia Airways will enable the travelling public in Zambia and the Southern African region to enjoy greater connectivity options, thereby facilitating the flow of investment, trade and tourism, and contributing to the socioeconomic growth of the country and the region. As an indigenous and truly Pan-African airline, we firmly believe that it is only through partnerships among African carriers that the aviation industry of the continent will be able to get its fair share of the African market, currently heavily skewed in favor of non-African airlines, and play its rightful role in availing efficient air connectivity within Africa as well as with the rest of the world. ” The airline is meant to initially serve national and regional destinations before embarking on international flights.

The Government of Zambia will be the majority shareholder with 55% and Ethiopian will hold 45% in the airline. The establishment of multiple hubs in Africa being an overarching strategy of Ethiopian under its Vision 2025, the national flag carrier currently operates hubs in Lomé (Togo) with ASKY Airlines and Malawian in Lilongwe (Malawi).

The first version of Zambia Airways operated from 1964 to 1967.

Above Copyright Photo: Zambia Airways McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 N3016Z (msn 48266) ORY (Christian Volpati). Image: 920872.

Zambia Airways aircraftv slide show:

The company was reorganized and restarted as the second version in 1968 and operated through 1995 (above).

There was also a Zambian Airways which operated from 1999 to 2009 (below).

LOT’s Q400 SP-EQG nose gear collapses on landing, closing Warsaw Chopin Airport (now open)

LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw) flight LO 3924 from Kraków to Warsaw (Chopin) (WAW) on January 10, 2018 with the pictured Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) SP-EQG landed safely on runway 11 at WAW. However the nose geared collapsed on landing, closing the runway and the airport. WAW was later reopened.

LOT Polish Airlines issued this statement on social media:

An emergency landing of the LOT’s aircraft Bombardier Q400 SP-EQG (LO 3924) occurred today at 19:19 p.m. local time at Warsaw Chopin Airport. All of 59 Passengers and 4 cabin crew members onboard are safe and have been taken care of immediately. The cause of the incident will be put through the detailed investigation. All Passengers of the canceled flights will be provided with a special care and re-accommodated accordingly.

At 11.15 p.m. Warsaw Chopin Airport has been opened and the traffic has been returning to normal. LOT’s flights previously redirected to other cities are gradually flying back to Warsaw.

Social media photo:

Top Copyright Photo: EuroLOT (eurolot.com) Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) SP-EQG (msn 4423) BRU (Karl Cornil). Image: 922297.

LOT Polish Airlines aircraft slide show:

WestJet Encore reaches an unique agreement with its cabin crew members

WestJet Encore announced on January 9, 2018 its cabin crew members have reached an evergreen agreement between WestJet Encore and WestJet Encore Cabin Crew Members (CCMs).

The agreement was designed to address key concerns and feedback collected and brought forward by the WestJet Cabin Crew Association (WCCA) representing WestJet Encore CCMs. The agreement covers work rules, compensation, including guaranteed minimum hours, and career progression and guarantees an ongoing annual review of the contract.

“We are pleased to reach an agreement that is simple, fair and provides opportunity for ongoing feedback and adjustments,” said Charles Duncan, President, WestJet Encore. “We wanted to create something with flexibility built in, so we could address concerns brought forward by our team in a timely matter. This agreement highlights the benefits of leaders and WestJetters working directly together. I thank the WCCA, our WestJet Encore CCMs and the Encore leadership team for their work on this agreement and genuine commitment to our business and our people.”

The agreement began January 1, 2018.

WestJet Encoe aircraft slide show:

Flybe starts a new advertising slogan

https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-1/Airlines-United-Kingdom/Flybe/i-vp6TrRw/A

Flybe (Exeter) has unveiled a new advertising slogan this month – “Close to you”.

The airline introduced the new slogan to emphasize its local routes.

Flybe is Europe’s largest regional airlines and operates more UK domestic routes than any other carrier.

Copyright Photo: Flybe (British European 2nd) Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) G-PRPC (msn 4338) GCI (Nick Dean). Image: 940456.

Flybe aircraft slide show:

European Commission approves the Lufthansa Group’s acquisition of LGW – Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter

Lufthansa Group made this announcement:

The European Commission gave its formal approval on December 21, 2017 to the acquisition of Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter mbH (LGW) by the Lufthansa Group. The approval follows an extensive assessment of the planned transaction by the European Union’s competition authorities in their merger control capacity, after the Lufthansa Group concluded an agreement on October 13, 2017 to take over parts of the insolvent Air Berlin Group. The Lufthansa Group had made extensive concessions in advance of this approval.

All LGW personnel to be taken over

The acquisition of LGW will see 33 aircraft firmly added to the Eurowings Group fleet: 20 Bombardier DHC-8-400s (Q400s) (above) and 13 aircraft of the Airbus A320 family. All the employees of LGW will transfer to Eurowings with their current contracts of employment. With additional recruitments, the number of personnel in LGW’s flight operations should rise to up to 870 in 2018.

The formal transaction for the acquisition of LGW has been scheduled for January 2018.

Over the past few weeks, Eurowings has already hired over 500 employees, including a large number of pilots and flight attendants. By now, we have collective expansion agreements with all the unions ensuring that all flight operations of Eurowings, without exception, will be able to grow in the near term.

Copyright Photo: All LGW aircraft with now operate in the Eurowings livery, shedding the Airberlin color scheme. Airberlin (airberlin.com) (LGW) Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) D-ABQB (msn 4226) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 928479.

NAC delivers two Bombardier Q400s to Jambojet on lease

Nordic Aviation Capital has confirmed it has delivered two Bombardier Q400s to Jambojet.

Jambojet, a low – cost airline, operates on domestic routes from Nairobi to Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu, Lamu, Malindi and Ukunda (Diani).

Jambojet, a brand of Kenya Airways, is Kenya’s first low-cost airline. Operating from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Jambojet has set to revolutionize the way you travel by opening up the skies for all to fly for less. We aim to provide affordable air travel because flying really is for everyone.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Jambojet): Jambojet (Jambojet.com) Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) C-FTXE (msn 4555) YYZ (TMK Photography). Image: 937813.

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