Tag Archives: Chicago

Hainan Airlines completes the inaugural flight to Chicago O’Hare

Group photo of the crew on the maiden voyage of Hainan Airlines’ Chengdu-Chicago service

Hainan Airlines made this announcement:

At 9 pm on September 16 Beijing time, Hainan Airlines Holding Co., Ltd.’s flight HU705 took off from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, marking the start of the airline’s second direct, nonstop service between mainland China and Chicago, following the initiation of nonstop service between Beijing and Chicago. It is also the third nonstop service between Chengdu and North America, following the roll out of the Chengdu–Los Angeles and the Chengdu–New York nonstop services.

The route, with two round trip flights weekly, will be serviced by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Business class will be equipped with 180-degree flatbed seats, BOSE noise cancelling headphones and luxury kits, while every seat on the aircraft is equipped with an exclusive entertainment system. All passengers will be served with both Western and Oriental cuisines. Passengers can also use their portable electronic devices on board.

The airline now operates several routes with destinations in North America, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Tijuana, Toronto and Vancouver, forming a comprehensive network with convenient connections to rapid transit and multimodal transportation at each destination, expanding the number of travel choices for passengers en route to North America.

Hainan Airlines’ Chengdu-Chicago Flight Schedule (All times are local):

Flight No.	Aircraft	Schedule	Departure City	Departure Time	Arrival Time	Arrival City
HU705	Boeing 787	Monday/Friday	Chengdu	9:00 pm	10:10 pm	Chicago
HU706	Boeing 787	Tuesday/Saturday	Chicago	12:10 am	4:10 am +1	Chengdu

Hainan Airlines aircraft photo gallery:

American opens a new hangar at Chicago O’Hare

Exterior of American Airlines Hangar 2 at O’Hare International Airport

Global architecture and engineering firm Ghafari Associates is excited to announce the completion of American Airlines’ Hangar 2 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the longest clear span, dual threshold airline hangar in the world.

The new facility was unveiled at a grand opening celebration on January 25 attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Ghafari team members, and over 200 officials, customers, employees, partners, and vendors.

Ghafari provided architecture and engineering services for the development of the 194,000 SF dual-entry facility, which can accommodate all aircraft variants in American’s fleet, including narrow-body and wide-body types. The facility also houses ancillary support functions, including a general back shop, a component staging area, and storage spaces.

Unique to the hangar is dual access entry, allowing aircraft to enter and exit from either side of the long dimension. Coupled with a larger capacity for aircraft hardstand positions, this feature offers greater flexibility in servicing American’s extensive fleet of aircraft. The facility is also designed with over 20,000 linear feet of underground utilities, providing point-of-use aircraft services for safer, more effective, and timesaving operations. Additional key features of the design include the use of LED lighting and daylight harvesting, which will reduce energy costs while meeting the Sustainable Airport Manual requirements.

American Eagle to fly the Chicago O’Hare – Albany, NY route

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) is adding American Eagle (operated by Envoy Air) Bombardier CRJ700 jet service from the Chicago (O’Hare) hub to Albany, New York starting on March 3, 2016.

In other news, Mesa Airlines will expand American Eagle services from the Phoenix hub to Lubbock, Memphis, Midland/Odessa and Roswell starting on March 3, 2016 per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Envoy Air’s Bombardier CRJ700 (CL-600-2C10) N536EA (msn 10315) arrives in Washington at Reagan National Airport (DCA).

American Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

American Eagle-Envoy Air aircraft slide show:

Volaris to start Durango – Chicago Midway service

Volaris (Mexico City) has announced new international service between the city of Durango and Chicago’s Midway Airport, starting on December 8 with twice a week flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The new Durango-Chicago (Midway) service, flight schedules, including dates and times of operation, are announced as follows:

Durango, Durango – Chicago (Midway), Illinois
(Effective December 8, Tuesdays and Saturdays)

Departs Durango, Durango at 7:04 hrs., arrives Chicago, Illinois at 10:45 hrs.
Departs Chicago, Illinois at 12:05 hrs., arrives Durango, Durango at 16:22 hrs.

Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-133 XA-VOA (msn 2771) named “Alejandra” and in the VISA Platinum special livery arrives in Las Vegas.

Volaris aircraft slide show:

Finnair extends the Miami route to the summer season, adds frequencies to Chicago for summer 2016

Finnair (Helsinki) has announced, starting in April 2016, it will extend its Miami service to be year-round, and will operate to Miami with three weekly frequencies in summer 2016.

“The Miami route has proven to be popular both for our Northern European customers as well as for Miami based customers, for whom we offer excellent connections to Scandinavia via Helsinki. The new schedule will also enable excellent connections from Miami to our Asian destinations. Our oneworld partner, American Airlines, has a large hub in Miami, which enables good connections further to the Caribbean, Central and South America.”

Finnair also adds frequencies to its Chicago service, increasing the weekly flights from three in summer 2015 to five in summer 2016. This will further improve connectivity beyond Chicago to American Airlines’ extensive network in the Americas. This five-weekly service connects well also to Finnair’s Asian network beyond Helsinki.

Both destinations are served with Finnair Airbus A330 aircraft. The flights to Miami International Airport are operated on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays, and the flights to Chicago O’Hare are operated from Helsinki on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Finnair’s Chicago and Miami services are included in the joint business on transatlantic traffic with fellow oneworld alliance partners British Airways, Iberia, American Airlines and American’s merger partner US Airways. Miami and Chicago are hubs for American, which allows Finnair’s customers quick codeshare connections to destinations throughout the United States, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Miami and Chicago timetables connect well with passengers transferring to and from Finnair destinations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the Baltics, including Stockholm, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, St Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw as well as with Finnair’s Asian destinations, including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul, Chongqing, Xi’an, Beijing, Shanghai, Delhi and Bangkok.

In addition to Miami and Chicago, Finnair operates daily to New York JFK and, together with its joint business partners, offers over 120 daily departures over the Atlantic.

Copyright Photo: OSDU/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-302 OH-LTO (msn 1013) in the special Unikko (poppy) color scheme departs from the Helsinki (HEL) hub.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

United to add new routes from Chicago O’Hare this winter

United Airlines (Chicago) is adding three new routes this winter from its Chicago O’Hare hub. According to Airline Route, the carrier will add daily United Express service to Kalamazoo on December 9 and winter seasonal United Express service to Tucson on December 17 followed by weekend mainline Boeing 737 service to Vail/Eagle, Colorado (ski destination) on December 19.

In addition, United is adding weekly Boeing 737-800 (Saturday only) seasonal service to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts from its Newark hub on December 19.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. United Airlines’ Boeing 737-824 N78509 (msn 31638) with Split Scimitar Winglets arrives at Los Angeles International Airport.

United Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

Delta to end the Salt Lake City – Chicago Midway route, PRASM declined 3% in July

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will end the Salt Lake City – Chicago (Midway) route on August 31. The daily Delta Connection route is currently operated with Bombardier CRJ900 jets per Airline Route.

In other news, Delta today reported “consolidated passenger unit revenue (PRASM) for the month of July decreased 3.0 percent year over year, with pressure from foreign exchange, lower surcharges in international markets, and continued yield pressure in select domestic markets.”

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. SkyWest Airlines’ Bombardier CRJ900 (CL-600-2D24) N692CA (msn 15092) departs from Las Vegas.

Delta Air Lines aircraft slide show (current livery):

Delta Connection-SkyWest aircraft slide show: