Lufthansa (Frankfurt) is adding three new long-haul destinations from its Frankfurt hub to Cancรบn, Mexico, Malรฉ, in the Maldives, and Mauritius.
The expansion kicked off on December 8, when flight LH 514 departed Frankfurt for Cancรบn. This was followed on Wednesday, December 9 with flight LH 704 to Malรฉ. The week was rounded off on December 10 with flight LH 708 to Mauritius.
Lufthansa has added to its network in the last few months, with Tampa, Florida and Nairobi, Kenya being added in late September and late October respectively. In March 2016, flights to Panama City, Panama will begin.
The aircraft used for these flights โ equipped with a FlyNet broadband connection โ is the Airbus A340-300, with seats spread over three different travel classes. Out of a total of 298 seats, 18 are in Business Class, 19 in Premium Economy and 261 in Economy.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com.ย 8 Airbus A340-300s are being transferred to and leased-back from Lufthansa CityLine and will be operated in a high-density configuration on leisure routes. Airbus A340-313 D-AIGY (msn 335) prepares to depart from the Frankfurt hub.
Boeing delivered two 747-8 Freighters to AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), part of Volga-Dnepr Group, and one of the leading international scheduled air cargo carriers.
The airplanes are the first to be delivered as part a memorandum of understanding, signed between Boeing and Volga-Dnepr Group at the Paris Air Show in June 2015. The deal calls for more 747-8 Freighters to continue to help ABC provide some of the best cargo carrying service in the world. The agreement also adds the Antonov An-124-100 aircraft to the long-term logistics support for Boeing and its partners.
The planes will be deployed on the expanding network under winter schedule 2015/2016, between Asia and the United States. With these two deliveries, ABC’s fleet now consists of eight 747-8 Freighters, five 747-400 Extended Range Freighters, and two 747-400 Freighters.
The 747-8 Freighter provides cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any large freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance. It offers 16 percent more revenue cargo volume than the 747-400, while keeping its iconic nose door.
Copyright Photo: Felix Gottwald/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 747-8HVF VQ-BLQ (msn 37581) arrives in Frankfurt.
Lufthansa Group (Frankfurt) has issued this summary of new services for its upcoming winter schedule effective October 25:
The Lufthansa Group Airlines โ Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Germanwings, Eurowings, Lufthansa and Swiss โ will become even more attractive for leisure travellers this winter, as the airlines are adding more destinations that appeal to tourists and leisure travelers to their schedules. As always, passengers can trust in the first-rate service, the quality and the reliability of the Lufthansa Group.
With the introduction of the new winter schedule on October 25, 2015, the Lufthansa Group Airlines will offer their customers one of the densest route networks worldwide, featuring more than 20,380 flights per week. This winter, via their hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels, as well as via many point-to-point routes, the Lufthansa Group Airlines will serve 261 destinations in 101 countries (previous year: 260 destinations in 100 countries). Furthermore, in cooperation with 30 partner airlines, more than 18,000 codeshare flights will round off the respective flight offering, giving passengers access to an almost global network. The winter schedules of the individual Group airlines will apply from Sunday October 25, 2015 until Saturday March 27, 2016.
From October 2, the new price concept on domestic German and European routes will also apply to Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa. In Economy Class, travellers can individually choose between the three graded fare options โLightโ, โClassicโ and โFlexโ. These options vary mainly with regard to the possibility of making advance seat reservations, re-booking or cancelling flights, and permitted free luggage allowances. Since tickets went on sale last July, the new low-priced โLightโ fare option has proved popular with customers. For all options, the Lufthansa Group Airlines as a premier airline still permits one free item of hand baggage. Passengers are also offered free snacks and drinks on board, fixed seat allocation at the check-in counter as well as bonuses for โaward milesโ, โstatus milesโ and โselect milesโ.
The most important news from the Lufthansa Group Airlines:
This winter, Lufthansa will serve 197 destinations and operate a total of 9,900 flights per week. With the introduction of the winter schedule, Lufthansa is expanding its newย intercontinental flight offering, which is tailored to the needs of leisure travelers. Tampa (Florida), a new destination since September 25, is the first of several new holiday destinations due to be added to the Lufthansa route network from Frankfurt in the coming months.
From the end of October, Nairobi (Kenya) will be included in the Lufthansa flight schedule, and at the beginning of December, Cancun (Mexico), served mainly by charter flights, Malรฉ (Maldives) and Mauritius will follow, with Panama City rounding off the new timetable in March 2016.
Good news for all Airbus A380 fans: this winter, for the first time, Lufthansa will operate its flagship on the Frankfurt-Hong Kong route. Services from Luxembourg will also be expanded, and with 28 weekly flights from Frankfurt and 24 flights from Munich, the Benelux countries will be served much more frequently than before.
The new winter timetable will offer passengers an hourly connection from Munich to Dusseldorf and Berlin-Tegel. The easy-to-remember flight times, which already apply to connections from Munich to Frankfurt and Hamburg, will now be extended to Dusseldorf and Berlin. Lufthansa flights from Munich to Berlin will take off on the hour, and to Dusseldorf at half past the hour.
This winter, Cape Town will once again be connected with the Munich hub. From October 25, the Airbus A340-600 in a four-class configuration will take off daily for South Africa. Lufthansa customers can also escape the cold winter weather and fly to new destinations in the Canary Islands. On October 25, the new connection between Munich and Fuerteventura will be launched; on October 31 Tenerife will follow. Travelers in search of a new, cooler winter destination will also be able to fly nonstop from Munich to Finlandโs largest and most famous winter sports center. From December 19, 2015, Lufthansa will take off every Saturday to Kittilรค, 170 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. The nearby skiing resort of Levi is the largest winter sports center in Lapland.
Germanwings and Eurowings
In the 2015/2016 winter timetable, Germanwings and Eurowings will offer a wide range of flights to 100 destinations in 36 countries, including intercontinental destinations. Germanwings flights to Berlin-Schรถnefeld will complement the carrierโs existing services to Berlin. A total of 35 flights per week will take off from Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart to Berlin-Schรถnefeld Airport. Germanwings will thus be the only airline flying from Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart to Berlinโs Tegel and Schรถnefeld airports.
This winter, for the first time, the new Eurowings will take off from its new Austrian base in Vienna, from where it will operate nonstop services to Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and London. In November 2015, the airline will launch long-haul flights from Cologne/Bonn Airport with the Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The first of six intercontinental destinations will be Varadero in Cuba. Further destinations will be Phuket and Bangkok in Thailand, Dubai as well as Puerto Plata and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
Swiss
This winter, the new Swiss flagship, the Boeing 777-300 ER, will enter scheduled service on routes from Zurich. From January 2016, the new long-haul aircraft will be deployed on the Zurich-New York route.
With the introduction of the winter timetable, Swiss will boost frequencies on its routes to Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Miami (Florida), and will also expand its services from Geneva to destinations in Russia and Portugal in order to meet seasonal demand. In total, Swiss will thus fly to 105 destinations in 49 countries this winter.
Austrian Airlines
In the 2015/2016 winter season, Austrian Airlines will offer its passengers a wide range of flights to as many as 130 destinations in 59 countries. The airline will focus on tourist destinations such as Miami (Florida), which will be served five times a week. From October, it will also offer flights to Mauritius and Colombo (Sri Lanka), and from November, to Marrakesh (Morocco). In response to seasonal demand, Austrian Airlines will thus offer its passengers an attractive range of sunny destinations in the winter as well as in summer.
Brussels Airlines
Once again, Belgiumโs leading airline is underlining its position as the Africa specialist with the launch on October 26 of a new connection between Brussels Airport and Ghana. From that date, the Ghanaian capital Accra will be served four times a week. The flight schedule offers ideal connections to Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and the USA.
This winter, Brussels Airlines is also expanding its European flight schedule. The airline will fly to Bremen five times a week, while Zagreb (6 flights/week) and Billund (12 flights/week) will be served for the first time. Last but not least, Brussels Airlines has good news for sun-lovers. The Canary Islands Tenerife and Gran Canaria will be connected twice a week with Brussels Airport. As well as introducing new destinations, Brussels Airlines will increase frequencies on existing routes. During the winter months, more flights will therefore be available to Monrovia (Liberia), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Lomรฉ (Togo), Cotonou (Benin) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).
Top Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. Lufthansa’s Airbus A380-841 D-AIML (msn 149) arrives back at the FRA hub.
Lufthansa has published a special timetable for its services for Tuesday, September 8.
The action has been taken following a call by the Vereinigung Cockpit pilotsโ union (VC) for its members at Lufthansa German Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo to take strike action.
A total of 1,500 passenger flights (including some 170 long-haul services) and seven cargo flights were scheduled to be operated during the planned strike period today.
With a relatively large number of cockpit personnel indicating their willingness to fly, the airline will be able to operate more than half of its intercontinental passenger services despite the VCโs strike call.
All in all, 84 long-haul services from or to Frankfurt, Munich or Dรผsseldorf will have to be cancelled, while 90 such flights can be operated.
The willingness of many pilots to work despite the strike call will also permit all seven scheduled cargo flights for Tuesday to be performed. Lufthansa Cargo will thus be able to maintain its full flight program.
All Lufthansa customers holding tickets for long-haul travel from or to Frankfurt, Munich or Dรผsseldorf are urged to check the latest status of their flight on LH.com well in advance of their scheduled departure.
Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A380-841 D-AIMK (msn 146) arrives at the Frankfurt hub.
United Airlines (Chicago) today reported its largest quarterly profit ever,ย reporting a second quarter 2015 net profit of $1.3 billion, or $3.31 per diluted share, excluding $67 million of special items.
The company issued this report:
United Airlines (UAL) today reported second-quarter 2015 net income of $1.3 billion, or $3.31 per diluted share, excluding $67 million of special items. Including special items, UAL reported second-quarter net income of $1.2 billion, or $3.14 per diluted share. These results are a record quarterly profit for the company.
The company’s Board of Directors authorized an additional $3 billion share repurchase program, which the company expects to complete by the end of 2017.
In the quarter, UAL prepaid approximately $800 million of debt, contributed approximately $620 million to its pension plans and returned approximately $250 million to shareholders as part of its existing $1 billion share buyback program.
UAL earned an 18.2 percent return on invested capital for the 12 months ended June 30, 2015.
“This quarter’s record results reflect the progress we’re making on our long-term plan, and I’d like to thank the United team for their great work,” said Jeff Smisek, UAL’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The $3 billion share repurchase program we announced today demonstrates the confidence we have in our future. We will continue to invest in our customers, assets and our people, and remain committed to improving our balance sheet, expanding our margins and improving our return on invested capital, and expect our third quarter pre-tax margin to be between 13.5 and 15.5 percent, excluding special items.”
Second-Quarter Revenue and Capacity
For the second quarter of 2015, total revenue was $9.9 billion, a decrease of 4 percent year-over-year. Second-quarter consolidated passenger revenue decreased 3.4 percent to $8.7 billion, compared to the same period in 2014. Ancillary revenue per passenger in the second quarter increased 6.7 percent year-over-year. Second-quarter cargo revenue decreased 1.3 percent year-over-year to $229 million. Other revenue in the second quarter decreased 9.6 percent year-over-year, mostly due to the reduction in sales of fuel to a third party. The corresponding expense decline from this reduction appears in third-party business expense.
Consolidated revenue passenger miles increased 0.7 percent and consolidated available seat miles increased 2.3 percent year-over-year for the second quarter, resulting in a second-quarter consolidated load factor of 83.9 percent.
Second-quarter 2015 consolidated PRASM decreased 5.6 percent and consolidated yield decreased 4.1 percent compared to the second quarter of 2014.
“This quarter, we continued to build and refine our route network, including announcing the move of p.s. transcontinental service to our global gateway hub at Newark Liberty Airport and forming a long-term partnership with Azul Brazilian Airlines. These decisions will enhance our network and provide our customers with more choice and convenience,” said Jim Compton, UAL’s vice chairman and chief revenue officer. “We will continue to improve our leading network by focusing on our strengths, while investing in our people, fleet and products to increase revenue and deliver a flyer-friendly customer experience.”
Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. United has 23 aging Boeing 747-400s that will be eventually replaced with newer Airbus A350-1000s and Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners. Boeing 747-422 N199UA (msn 29717) arrives in Frankfurt.
United Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery only):ย
Condor Flugdienst (Frankfurt) has announced in the summer of 2016 it will be flyingย between Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and Frankfurt International Airport (FRA). The seasonal flights are scheduled to operate on Mondays and Thursdays from June 27, 2016 through September 1, 2016. Austin is the third addition to Condor’s network in the United States within one year after launching nonstop service between Providence (PVD) and Portland (PDX) to Frankfurt, Germany this summer.
Flights are scheduled to depart Austin at 7:55 p.m. (1955) and arrive in Frankfurt at 1:10 p.m. (1310) the following day. Flights are scheduled to depart Frankfurt at 1:25 p.m. (1325) and arrive in Austin at 5:55 p.m. (1755), all times local. Flights will operate on Condor’s Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft with 259 seats (18 Business/35 Premium Class/206 Economy).
On an annual basis, 7 million passengers fly with Condor to around 75 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.
Since 2013, the German airline Condor is part of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines to which the Thomas Cook Airlines UK, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia also belong.
40 aircraft are in the Condor fleet: 12 Airbus A320s, 3 Airbus A321s, 13 Boeing 757-300s and 12 Boeing 767-300s.
Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 767-38E ER D-ABUS (msn 30840) in the new 2013 livery arrives back at the FRA base.
Saudia-Saudi Arabian Airlines (Jeddah), the national carrier of Saudi Arabia will become the first airline in the world to operate the new Airbus A330-300 Regional.
The new aircraft will join Saudi Arabian Airlinesโ existing Airbus fleet of twelve A330-300s and 50 A320 Family.
Passenger demand in Saudi Arabia is experiencing high growth both on domestic and regional routes. The new A330-300 Regional variant, specially designed for regional and domestic operations, is Airbusโ solution for markets with large populations and fast growing, concentrated air traffic flows. The A330-300 Regional is set to boost capacity on several of Saudi Arabian Airlines most in-demand routes, enabling the airline to better serve the Saudi Arabian and regional travelling public.
The A330-300 Regional is optimized to seat up to 400 passengers in Airbusโ best in class 18 inch wide economy seat comfort on missions up to 3,000 nm and offers significant cost savings through a reduced operational weight of around 200 tons. The reduction in fuel burn per seat and maintenance costs will result in an overall cost reduction by up to 26% compared with the todayโs long-range A330-300. In addition, the A330 Regional benefits from the latest A350 XWB and A380 technologies.
Saudi Arabian Airlines has signed an operating lease agreement with IAFC for the 20 Airbus A330-300 Regional and 30 A320ceo aircraft, which Saudia isย planning to also add with this order.
Top Image: Airbus. The Airbus A330-300 Regional.
Saudia-Saudi Arabian Airlines aircraft slide show:ย
Bottom Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Saudia is also ordering 30 of the current version of the Airbus A320. Airbus A320-214 HZ-ASF (msn 4955) in the SkyTeam livery taxies at Frankfurt.
Yes, itโs that time of year again. The International Paris Air Show returns. 106 years old and 50 shows on, number 51 is here and it promises to be another great show.
For those who donโt know, the Paris Air Show is a bi-annual event, with the Farnborough Air Show filling in the gap year, in which aircraft manufacturers from around the world, both civil and military, showcase their latest and greatest models to potential buyers and the viewing public; that is the ones that can afford to go. But donโt worry, if you can’t attend, World Airline News will be giving you day to day coverage of the new aircraft orders that are due to come in next week.
Here is a preview of what is to come.
Weโll start with the “home team”. Airbus comes to the show with a line up of commercial aircraft. With its A319, A320, A380 and A350-900 XWB all being on the static display, the Toulouse-based manufacturer will also fly its long-haul aircraft, surprisingly all in the grey and burgundy livery of Qatar Airways (below).
Above Copyright Photo: Bernhard Ross/AirlinersGallery.com. Qatar Airways Airbus A350-941 A7-ALA (msn 006) is seen at Frankfurt, its first destination from Doha.
The A319 and A320 aircraft are not part of Airbusโ official roster, with both showcasing Qatarโs all business class cabin and the A320 displaying the Doha-based airlineโs newly upgraded cabins including its 180-degree lie flat-beds, new 15.4 inch smart monitors and touch-screen remote control handsets as well as power, USB ports and connectivity for smart devices in Business Class.
Last time around, Airbus secured $68.7 billion worth of business for a total of 466 aircraft, which shows the resilience of the commercial aviation industry. The deals comprise Memorandum of Understanding agreements (MOUs) for 225 aircraft worth $29.4 billion and firm purchase orders for 241 aircraft worth $39.3 billion. The previous time around, the A350 was a brand new airliner and only made a cameo visit, flying briefly over Le Bourget Airport as a treat to the public. This time itโs goes into next week with three of new type in service with Qatar Airways and others soon to be delivered to Vietnam Airlines, Finnair and TAM respectively.
Video above: Airbus. Before the show, Airbus is featuring the first Airbus A330 delivery to Tunisair. More videos are expected next week.
For the A380, it may be “make or break” time. With orders for the Super Jumbo slowing down (none in the past year) and also with the delaying and deferring of delivery dates by some customers, Airbus will be hoping to attract new orders for their double-decker giant or more from their established customers. Airbus is reported to be looking at a revamp of the aircraft towards the end of this year. Could an A380neo or sharklet equipped variant be in the cards for next week? Seems a bit desperate in my opinion. The aircraft isnโt 10 years old yet. It took the rest of Airbusโ in service aircraft 27 years (A320) and 24 years (A330 – expected neo introduction) to introduce a major upgrade to its DNA. Either the A380 takes off again or it doesnโt (pun intended).
Airbus will also be looking to get some firm orders for itโs newest project, the A330neo. Since being launched at the Farnborough Air Show last year the new wide-body only has seven customers in Avolon, AirAsia X, Delta Air Lines, CIT Group, ALC, Hawaiian Airlines and TransAsia Airways. Other guaranteed orders will be for the Airbusโ A320 and A320neo types, with the latter due to have its first delivery by October of this year with Qatar Airways.
Above Copyright Photo: Royal S. King/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner VN-A861 (msn 35151) arrives back at Paine Field near Everett, Washington in Vietnam Airlines colors after a test flight.
The other side of the aviation coin, U.S. manufacturer Boeing comes to the show with three of itโs aircraft: The Boeing 777-300 ER (in China Airlines livery) and both variants of the 787 Dreamliner. The 787-9 makes itโs Paris debut in the colors of Vietnam Airlines (above), with the aircraft set to join the carrier soon after it leaves the show.
Photo Above: Boeing. Boeing 777-36N ER N5017Q (msn 43980) lands at Le Bourget Airport today. It will eventually become B-18002 for China Airlines.
As previously reported, the aircraft manufacturer released this stunning practice video (above).
The other two aircraft will be in the livery of China Airlines and guess whose colors the other is wearing? If you didnโt guess Qatar Airways, you need to keep up with the latest trends. Qatar Airways is really stealing the show this time around.
Boeing recently released figures predicting a demand for 38,050 new airplanes over the next 20 years, an increase of 3.5 percent from last year’s forecast. As we previously reported, Boeing released its annual Current Market Outlook (CMO) on June 11, estimating the total value of those new airplanes at $5.6 trillion.
Do the manufacturers stack up potential orders and MOUs prior to the show to release them during the show? The “numbers game” is important to the manufacturers.
Last time around in Paris, Boeing fell to second place with firm and provisional orders for 442 aircraft valued at more than $66 billion, narrowly behind Airbus. That was the year Boeing launched the 787-10 and 777X projects and will be hoping to rack up huge orders for their new long-haulers; with the stretched Dreamliner only having seven customers in ALC, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, International Airlines Group/British Airways, Etihad Airways, ANA-All Nippon Airways and GECAS.
Image above: Boeing. Qatar Airways also has placed an order for the new 777X.
The 777X is doing just as well with only six customers in Lufthansa, Etihad, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and ANA.
Boeingโs narrow-bodies are another miss for the show but you can guarantee an order for the 737NG and 737 MAX will be flying in (again, pun intended) and most likely carrying Boeingโs orders.
Another big miss for the show is the Boeing 747-8. The type is in the same situation as the A380, with orders slowing down and production most likely set to slow down once more from the current 1.5 aircraft per month. Itโs quite surprising the manufacturer isnโt trying to advertise their โSky Queenโ to the best of their ability.
The eye catchers of the show are, without a doubt, Bombardier. Trying to steal Qatar Airwaysโ thunder by bringing along their CRJ1000 variant for the third show running, the Q400 NextGen and both of itโs CSeries family: the CS100 and the CS300, are both making their Farnborough debuts and are being included in the flying display.
Video above: Bombardier. The first CS100 in Swiss livery heads to Paris.
The first delivery of the CSeries Family will be to Swiss International Air Lines. The first copy is due to happen next year, and the CS100 will pay a visit to Zurich shortly after the show as a sample of whatโs to come for the Lufthansa subsidiary. The CS300 will also visit Bombardierโs Belfast facility on June 19 where Bombardierโs employees and partners eagerly await the arrival of the first CS300 aircraft. It will mark the first time the CSeries aircraft and its Belfast-produced wing will fly on site. Last time around, Le Bourget Airport wasnโt a happy hunting ground for the Canadians, with the CSeries failing to capture a single aircraft order, the CRJ only capturing one order from Arik Air, and the Q400 only securing orders from Alaska Airlines (Horizon Air) and Arik Air. Bombardier will hope for a major improvement ย and for this year to be more like Farnborough of last year, where a total of 74 orders were captured.
Video above: The Bombardier CS300 ferries to Le Bourget Airport.
Video above: The Q400 in Falcon Aviation livery heads to Paris.
Video above: The CRJ manufacturing at the Montreal Mirabel plant.
The rest of the major players: ATR, Embraer and Sukhoi, will display one aircraft each. With the Brazilians displaying their ERJ 135, the French-Italians showing off their ATR 72-600 in the colors of Air New Zealand Link, and the Russians exhibiting the Superjet 100 in the colors of Interjet, marking the second anniversary of the first aircraft being delivered to the airline.
For ATR itโs more of the same, marketing their ATR 42 and 72 products. Le Bourget 2013 went down as the best show in ATRโs history, with the turboprop manufacturer announcing orders for 173 planes, including 83 firm orders, with the total value of the contracts exceeding $4.1billion; creating a new record for them. Unless theyโre planning a shock reveal of the ATR 42/72-700/800/900, it will be business as usual.
Video above: The building of Lion Group’s 50th ATR 72-600.
For Embraer they will hope 2015 is just as good for them as Paris 2013 was. Two years ago, the E-Jets E2 was officially launched and they were the standout performers of the show, taking Day 1 by storm with the E2 dominating the orders when they announced the sale of over 300 customers, with the majority belonging to SkyWest Airlines and ILFC, and the rest going to unnamed customers around the world. For them, it is a case of gaining more orders for the E2 and maybe current generation of E-Jets.
Video above: Embraer. Embraer E2 – The Power of 2.
Sukhoi displayed this Superjet 100 at the previous Paris Air Show. Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss.
For Sukhoi, itโs the same situation. 2013 only got the SuperJet one order from Ilyushin Finance, with two of those aircraft going to VLM at some point next year. They will hope to go one better than the big zero they got last year at Farnborough.
The non-flying aircraft of the show: the Irkut MC-21 and the COMAC C919, may bring in a few orders at the show but only time will tell.
The Financial Times told us not to expect much from this year’s aviation event; but donโt let that deter you from keeping up to date on proceedings at Le Bourget Airport. Weโll be watching in anticipation and ready to update you on anything and everything. Nous vous verrons la semaine prochaine.
Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.
Video below: Boeing. Boeing is celebrating its historic relationship with the United Kingdom prior to the show:
Lufthansa Group (Frankfurt) tomorrow (June 9) will operate a special Lufthansa Cargo (Frankfurt) McDonnell Douglas MD-11F flight from Marseille to Dusseldorf which will bring home the remains of the victims of Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn) ill-fate flight 4U9525 which crashed in the French Alps. Transfer of the remains to the victim’s families will occur on June 10. Lufthansa Cargo will operate more flights in the coming weeks until the end of June. The group issued this statement:
Lufthansa is working with all its available resources to ensure the repatriation and transfer of victims of the Germanwings flight 4U9525 to the relatives in the originally planned schedule. To start off the repatriation flights, Lufthansa will arrange at short notice a special flight with a MD-11 of Lufthansa Cargo from Marseille to Dusseldorf. The plane will take off from Marseille on June 9 at 20:50 and is expected at Dusseldorf at 22:30. There will be 30 coffins of the victims of flight 4U9525 on board.
The repatriation of the victims was initially scheduled for next week. At short notice, however, a delay had resulted due to regulatory requirements. The Federal Government Commissioner for the victims’ relatives had then turned immediately to the authorities and received assurances that preparations for repatriation could be made immediately.
After this first special flight to Dusseldorf, the other victims will be gradually transferred to their home countries in the coming weeks. The French authorities are working hard in order to create the formal conditions for the transfer of the victims as soon as possible. Lufthansa is in close contact with the relatives to ensure that the transfer of the victims is carried out according to the relativesโ wishes.
Copyright Photo: Pascal Simon/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas MD-11F D-ALCM (msn 48805) departs from the Frankfurt cargo hub.
Qatar Airways (Doha) has announced that Philadelphia will be the first destination it will fly to in the USA using the new Airbus A350-900.
Qatar Airways plans to begin operating an A350-900 on its daily service from Dohaโs Hamad International Airport to Philadelphia International Airport from January 1, 2016. The date will coincide with the launch of services to Los Angeles, one of three new Qatar Airways destinations in the US for 2016.
Starting on March 1, 2016 and March 16, 2016, the A350-900 will also fly on one daily flight to New York (JFK) and also to Boston; meaning three of Qatar Airwaysโ US destinations will all be served by the A350-900.
The introduction of the state-of-the-art A350 on the daily flights between Doha and Philadelphia brings an additional capacity of more than 9% compared to the Boeing 777-200 LR which is being operated on the route. Qatar Airwaysโ daily capacity to Philadelphia will grow from 259 seats on the Boeing 777-200 LR to 283 seats on the A350-900 aircraft.
Qatar Airwaysโ A350-900s feature 36 seats in Business Class in a 1-2-1 configuration, featuring 80โ inch fully flat horizontal beds, and a 247 seating capacity in Economy Class in a 3-3-3 layout.
All seats in Business Class have direct aisle access with 17โ HD in-flight entertainment screens. Economy Class features 10.6โ in-flight entertainment screens and more space for passengers in window seats, thanks to a vertical side wall panel design.
Qatar Airways now operates 47 passenger flights a week between the United States and Doha โ daily from New York, Washington (Dulles) DC, Chicago (O’Hare), Houston (Bush Intercontinental), Philadelphia, Dallas/ Fort Worth, and five flights a week from Miami. In addition to this, over the next few months, Qatar Airwaysโ US network will grow further with new routes Los Angeles ย January 1, 2016), Boston (March 16, 2016), Atlanta (July 1, 2016) and a second daily flight to New York from March 1, 2016.
Copyright Photo: Bernhard Ross/AirlinersGallery.com. Pictured in action at the first destination of Frankfurt is the first copy, Airbus A350-941 A7-ALA (msn 006).
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