EasyJet (easyJet.com) (UK) (London-Luton) has announced that it is to commence four-times weekly flights between Lisbon and Ponta Delgada in the Azores as of March 2015. The marketing director for the companyโs Portugal operations made the announcement.
Josรฉ Lopes told journalists in the Azores capital: “Finally we have all the guarantees that we needed for us to be able to announce the opening of the Lisbon-Ponta Delgada route, which will be a reality from the end of March of next year,”
Lopes added that EasyJet will start with a 180-seater Airbus A320 making four flights. He said details of prices would be announced next week.
Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 G-EZWA (msn 5201) arrives back at London (Gatwick)
Emirates (Dubai) has announced a third daily service to Birmingham Airport, becoming the first airline to offer a direct First Class service to the region.
Commencing on Saturday August 1, 2015, Emirates flight EK 41, operated by a Boeing 777-300 ER, will depart Dubai International Airport at 0235 and arrive in Birmingham at 0705. The outbound flight, EK 42, will depart Birmingham Airport at 0910 and arrive in Dubai at 1910. The additional service adds seven more inbound flights a week to Birmingham, increasing passenger and cargo capacity on the route by 42 percent.
Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-31H ER A6-EBK (msn 34481) holds short of the runway at London Gatwick Airport.
EasyJet (easyJet.com) (UK) (London-Luton) flight attendants, angry over scheduling and pay, announced a strike on Friday. The planned action is expected to force the low-cost carrier to cancel about half its flights in France the day after Christmas day.
Though workers from SNPNC-FO and UNAC unions said their strike is to start on Christmas, there are no flights scheduled that day, so the walkout will only impact travellers flying on December 26.
EasyJet said in a statement it โdoesn’t know exactly how many workers are to down toolsโ, but anticipates fewer than half of all flights will be impacted.
The British airline will know the extent of the strike Tuesday because aviation workers are legally obligated to announce strikes 48 hours in advance.
But general director, of EasyJetโs France operations, Franรงois Bacchetta told AFP agency the company expected “less than half of flights” to be cancelled.
“On Monday, we will pre-emptively cancel a certain number of flights in order to transfer passengers, so they can adjust their plans,” he said.
Workers are upset over schedules that “can change twenty times per month”, making “family life totally impossible”, said Laurent Nicolas of the SNPNC-FO flight attendants’ union.
Bacchetta acknowledged the demands of the industry were “complicated” and that he understood the “frustration” of workers.
But he was less lenient with protests over salaries, which he said were currently entering annual negotiations.
EasyJet employs about 1,000 people in France, including 600 flight attendants.
Read the full report from The Connexion: CLICK HERE
Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZEW (msn 2300) arrives in London (Gatwick).
EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) is expanding itโs route map with the airline confirming via their Twitter account that they are launching a new route connecting Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion) to Paris (Charles de Gaulle Airport), starting on March 30, 2015.
The low-cost airline also confirmed at the same time that it is expanding its London (Gatwick) operations, with the addition of flights to Figari, in Corsica, launching on June 14, 2015.
Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZDV (msn 3742) arrives at London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW).
London Gatwick Airport is the first to implement Amadeus’ cloud-based Airport-Collaborative Decision Making Portal (A-CDM) to improve collaborative decision-making processes, Amadeus has announced.
Gatwick is now one of a forward-thinking group of airports to join the European-wide A-CDM standard, with airports such as Munich, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Madrid and Zurich.
However, Gatwick followed an innovative approach opting for Amadeus’ cost effective cloud technology to speed up the implementation time of A-CDM, rolling out the Amadeus portal to 300 users in just 8 weeks. Assisted by the Amadeus portal, LGW will handle 55 flights per hour from the world’s busiest runway and estimates up to 2 million additional passengers.
The A-CDM standardโs aim is to bring the entire airport ecosystem, of airport operators, airlines, ground handlers and air traffic management, together to operate more efficiently and transparently, sharing accurate information in a timely manner. This results in better air traffic management with fewer delays and increased capacity, as well as an improved passenger experience thanks to an integrated approach to operations.
Michael Ibbitson, Chief Information Officer of London Gatwick commented: “We have received extremely positive feedback from our Amadeus A-CDM Portal stakeholders. It is easy to use and enables them to make better decisions that contribute to smoother and more efficient operations. The portal supports all partners at the airport involved in activities from refuelling and de-icing and to ground handling and cargo. Those employees have access to real-time data about what’s happening across London Gatwick – it’s a game changer.”
He continued: “We constantly strive to embrace new technologies at London Gatwick that will improve the travel experience and operating environment. We estimate that thanks to Amadeus’ A-CDM Portal, we will be able to increase capacity to more than 40 million passengers on a single runway following wider adoption of the portal in the next year or so.”
John Jarrell, Head of Airport IT at Amadeus added: “Communication gaps still prevail in the airport ecosystem – a collaborative approach is key to align on aspects such as disruptions, flight information, number of bags on board and passengers in transit. We hope to see other airports follow Gatwick’s innovative use of the Amadeus A-CDM Portal to facilitate improved communications and operational efficiency.”
The Amadeus Portal and its customisation for London Gatwick is part of Amadeus’ broader commitment to work with airports to improve the passenger experience. Earlier this year, Amadeus published a whitepaper focused on attitudes to cloud computing in the airport industry. This included the viewpoints of over 20 senior IT leaders from the airport industry to investigate the business case for adopting cloud-based Common Use systems at airports.
Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Mahan Air Tehran) today (December 15) today launches a new route to London (Gatwick) operating three days a week reportedly with Airbus A310-300s per Airline Route.
Previously on November 4,ย Mahan Air celebrated the launch of scheduled flights from Tehran to Beijing nonstop service linking the capitals of Iran and Peopleโs Republic of China and marking the carrierโs 14th international destination. It is also the airlineโs first regular flight to China.
The thrice weekly flights are operating via 299-seat Airbus A340-300 in two class configuration.ย Beijing is Mahan Airโs third new international route after Yerevan and Shiraz to Dubai which were inaugurated in summer 2014.
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Mahan Air’s Airbus A310-304 EP-MNF (msn 547) arrives in Bangkok.
Dozens of flights to and from Heathrow airport were delayed or cancelled due to a power outage at air traffic control, European air traffic control authority Eurocontrol said on Friday. London airspace was briefly closed.
Heathrow, which is the UKโs busiest airport, reported earlier: โThere is a power outage at the NATS control center in Swanwick which is affecting UK airspace.โ
โFlights are currently experiencing delays. We will update passengers as soon as we have more information.โ
London Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airports are accepting arrivals but have suspended departures.
A number of flights were held over the English Channel.
Manchester Airport meanwhile says it is unaffected by the airspace closure and claims it is ready to accept any London bound diverted flights..
London airspace has been effectively closed until 7pm due to a power outage at a control centre.
People travelling have been warned to expect severe delays.
NATs have said: “We can confirm that a technical problem has been reported at Swanwick air traffic control centre. We apologise for any delays and our incident response team has been mobilised. Every possible action is being taken to assist in resolving the situation and to confirm the details. Further information will be released as it becomes available.”
The state-of-the art centre at Swanwick has been subject to a number of computer glitches since Nats moved there from its old headquarters in West Drayton in west London in the early part of the last decade.
One of the worst problems was a year ago – on Saturday December 7 2013 – when thousands of passengers were left stranded when hundreds of flights were grounded following a technical fault at the Hampshire centre.
Read the analysis by Bloomberg Businessweek: CLICK HERE
Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Top Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. An aerial photo of London Heathrow Airport.
Bottom Image: SPA. A rare radar image – no flights airborne over the London area during the ground stop.
Vietnam Airlines (Hanoi) is planning to launch the new Boeing 787 from both Ho Chi Minh City (twice-weekly starting on July 1, 2015) and Hanoi (three days a week starting on July 3, 2015) to London Gatwick per Airline Route.
The airline has eight Boeing 787-9s on order from Boeing with the first due for delivery next year but is expected to lease additional 787s.
The company also has 10 Airbus A350-900s on order.
Monarch Airlines (London-Luton) as planned retired its last three Boeing 757-200s (G-DAJB, G-MONJ and G-MONK) this past week with the end of the summer season schedule.
The last flight was operated with G-MONK on a return charter flight from London (Gatwick) to
Krakow on November 12 as flights MON 9064 and MON 9065 returning late in the evening. G-MONK wasย then ferried from Gatwick Airport to Birmingham (BHX) for the end of lease checks.
All three of the Boeing 757s are currently at BHX awaiting their fate.
The airline is now all-Airbus ironically until those aircraft are replaced with new Boeing 737 MAX 8s.
Monarch has published this nice salute the venerable type on its Monarch blog:
Monarch has bid a sad but fond farewell to its Boeing 757s this month after years of tremendous service within the fleet. The Boeing 757 had a very interesting life within the fleet, due to itโs phenomenal flexibility and wide range and payload capabilities. It has served with Monarch all over the world and has probably seen more corners of the globe than our Airbus A300 or A330 wide body aircraft.
As word got out in the press and via social media that Monarchโs Boeing 757s were retiring, we received lots of interesting questions about the aircraft from you. In response, weโd like to share some of the beloved aircraftโs wonderful history and key stats with you. Weโve turned to passionate Boeing 757 enthusiast Toby Hiller, Monarchโs Senior Economic Planning Analyst, for his expertise.
Can you tell us a bit more about the history of the Boeing 757 fleet?
Between November 1993 and November 2014, Monarchโs Boeing 757 fleet operated planned flights to 439 airports in 128 countries and territories worldwide, including glamorous destinations such as New York, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Bangkok, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney! The furthest airport from Luton that the aircraft served was Auckland, New Zealand.
How many passenger seats/capacity does a Boeing 757 have?
With extra legroom seats the aircraft has 229 seats; without the extra legroom seats it has 235 seats. Interestingly, if the capacity is set up in a VIP โCaptainโs Choiceโ configuration (which we operated on special charter flights – see below) then there is 92 business class seats and 12 economy seats.
Is there a fixed amount of staff needed for a Boeing 757?
The amount of crew needed for a Boeing 757 flight is subject to the length of the flight. A standard Monarch ZB short haul flight has 2 pilots (a captain and first officer) and 6 cabin crew serving our customers but this could change to 3 pilots and 8 cabin crew on long-range flights. It is interesting to know that VIP flights are subject to charterer requirements and on VIP flights an engineer would also travel.
How many toilets does a Monarch Boeing 757 have?
There are 2 toilets located at the front of the aircraft, 2 more at โdoor 3โ which is further down the plane, so there are 4 in total.
How many galleys are there?
There are 2. There is a galley at the front of the aircraft and 1 at the rear. On VIP flights, a chefโs station could also be added to prepare fresh meals for customers.
What is the maximum take-off weight of the Boeing 757 aircraft?
Maximum take-off weight (MTOW): 113,398 kg
Top Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Monarch). One of the most colorful liveries worn by a Monarch 757 is the pictured Boeing 757-2T7 G-MONJ (msn 24104) that wore the the second version of the special “Hedkandi” color scheme.
You must be logged in to post a comment.