Tag Archives: Hamburg

Eurowings to fly the Cologne/Bonn – Miami route

Eurowings (Dusseldorf) has announced it will begin service from Miami International Airport to Cologne/Bonn — Germany’s fourth-largest destination — beginning on May 1, 2016. The airline’s first-ever Miami service will operate three weekly flights using 310-seat Airbus A330 aircraft, which feature 21 premium seats and 289 in economy. The route will mark MIA’s third German carrier, after Lufthansa and Airberlin; its fifth German destination, along with Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich; and its 20th European destination.

Miami-Cologne flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with inbound flights scheduled to arrive in Miami at 4:10 p.m. and scheduled departures to Cologne at 5:55 p.m.

Eurowings is part of the Lufthansa Group.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-203 B-16301 (later D-AXGA) (msn 530) arrives at Hamburg.

Eurowings aircraft slide show:

Frontier Airlines takes delivery of its first Airbus A321

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) yesterday (October 9) took delivery of its first Airbus A321. The pictured A321-211 D-AZAA (msn 6793), named “Otto, the Owl” became N701FR on the handover.

As a result Airbus issued this statement:

Frontier Airlines, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, USA has taken delivery of the first Airbus A321 to join its fleet. In the last year, the airline has placed firm orders for 19 A321s, reflecting its market strength and the need for the largest Airbus A320 Family member. All 19 A321s are the current engine option (ceo) and will be equipped with Sharklets. Each will seat 230 people in a single class, and be powered by CFM56-5B engines from CFM International. Frontier’s current in-service fleet consists of 57 A320 Family aircraft (35 A319s and 22 A320s). In addition to the remaining 18 A321s on backlog, the airline has 18 A319neo (new engine option), 62 A320neo, and two A320 ceo aircraft on order, for a total backlog of 100 Airbus single-aisles.

All of Frontiers A321s will feature lightweight composite Sharklets, 2.4-meter/94-inch tall wing-tip devices that provide a fuel consumption reduction of up to 4 percent, plus either a range extension of 100 nautical miles or increased payload of up to 450 kilograms/992 pounds.

Frontier’s new A321s will initially be used on their routes from Orlando to Philadelphia, Denver, Cleveland and Detroit. The airline just this fall opened up a new crew base in Orlando to support the A321.

Top Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Airbus). A321-211 D-AZAA (msn 6793) is pictured at the Airbus facility at Hamburg (Finkenwerder).

Frontier Airlines aircraft slide show:

Will the Transaero Airlines brand be retired and merged into Aeroflot?

Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) has agreed to acquire 75 percent of the shares of failing Transaero Airlines (Moscow). Aeroflot is buying out its main competitor (and its $1.6 billion debt) for the symbolic price of one ruble. Transaero Airlines is the second largest airline in Russia and has lately been failing and building up a large debt.

According to Reuters, “Transaero will be completely overhauled and integrated into the Aeroflot group,” an Aeroflot spokesman was quoted as saying by RIA news agency.

For now, the Transaero Airlines name will be kept alive as a significant but shrinking part of the Aeroflot Group. However for the long term, will Transaero be merged into Aeroflot and the brand retired?

Above Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. Transaero has been introducing this new brand with its new deliveries. Will this new look be retained?

51 percent of the Aeroflot stock is owned by the government of Russia. The government is backing its major industries.

Transaero Airlines (and many other Russian airlines) have been struggling since the ruble collapsed in 2014. In short, Russian citizens are traveling less overseas with their devalued currency.

As we previously reported, even Aeroflot reported a loss in the first half of this year.

On September 1, Transaero Airlines issued this short statement:

The Government of the Russian Federation held the meeting of the Intergovernmental commission chaired by Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister, on the issues of air transport industry.

In the interests of the development of the commercial aviation and creating one of the largest in the world group of airlines, the commission has approved the acquisition of JSC Transaero Airlines by Aeroflot group.

The shareholders of Transaero Airlines believe this measure will serve the interests of passengers, personnel and partners of the airline.

The Chairman of the meeting has highly appreciated the role of the founders, managers and all the personnel of Transaero Airlines in the modern history of the commercial aviation of the country.

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Ex-United Airlines and Air India Boeing 777-222 ER EI-UNV (msn 28714, ex N205UA/VT-AIK) arrives at Los Angeles International Airport.

Aeroflot aircraft slide show:

Transaero Airlines aircraft photo gallery:

Transaero Airlines aircraft slide show:

Spirit Airlines announces Las Vegas – New Orleans flights

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) has announced daily, nonstop service to and from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY) and McCarran International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas.

This new daily service begins on November 13, 2015 and brings the total number of Spirit nonstop flights to six destinations from New Orleans including Chicago (O’Hare), Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, Houston (Bush Intercontinental), Dallas/Fort Worth, and Detroit.

Spirit operates 28 daily departures to 19 destinations from Las Vegas.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. This new Airbus A321 is pictured in the new bright yellow 2014 livery. The airliner is seen on a test flight at Hamburg (Finkenwerder). Airbus A321-231 D-AYAH (msn 6736) will become N658NK on delivery.

Spirit Airlines aircraft slide show:

Lufthansa Group establishes Eurowings Europe GmbH, is pleased with the early long-haul bookings

Lufthansa Group (Frankfurt) is happy with the early bookings for its upcoming new Eurowings long-haul services. The group also established Eurowings Europe (Vienna) on August 10. The group issued this report:

The new Eurowings looks all set for a successful launch of its attractively-priced long-haul services. Three months ahead of its first such flights – to the Caribbean, Thailand and Dubai – Lufthansa’s new budget-fare subsidiary reports promising booking levels.

“As the customer demand confirms, what we’re offering here is a highly attractive long-haul air travel product,” says Karl Ulrich Garnadt, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and CEO of Lufthansa German Airlines. “Our strategy of offering our further Eurowings brand, which is aimed particularly at price-sensitive leisure travellers, clearly meets a market need. And our decision to commence these operations in Cologne and the North Rhine Westphalia region has proved a prudent one, too.”

The new intercontinental services will be operated with Airbus A330-200 equipment (above). The first two aircraft are already being prepared to enter revenue service at the beginning of November. The Eurowings long-haul fleet will then gradually be expanded to seven Airbus A330s.

The new Eurowings is adopting the business and marketing concept that has already proved successful with its sister carrier Germanwings, which has firmly positioned itself as an innovative quality low-cost airline.

While Germanwings is focused on the German air travel market, Eurowings will now expand the concept throughout Europe, and will further extend it to intercontinental city and vacation destinations.

Eurowings will be opening its first operating base outside Germany in Austria. In collaboration with fellow Lufthansa Group carrier Austrian Airlines, Eurowings will offer European services from and to Vienna using Airbus A320 equipment – one aircraft from the 2015/16 winter schedules, and a second from March 2016. Both aircraft will be operated by Austrian Airlines.

The new Eurowings Europe GmbH was founded in Austria on Monday, August 10.

The company will serve as the starting point for further growth, which will see the establishment of several more operating bases throughout the European continent. Eurowings Europe is currently setting up its flight operations, which includes creating its own cockpit and cabin crew corps.

The new Eurowings cockpit crew positions are initially being advertised internally within Lufthansa, to give priority to existing pilots from the Lufthansa Group and those who have completed their flight training in Bremen and are awaiting suitable vacancies. The pilot recruitment process should then be extended to outside applicants in the second half of August. The cabin crew recruitment process will begin in the second half of September.

The remuneration systems at Eurowings Europe will be aligned to those already in place at other airlines within the Lufthansa Group. But they will also pay due regard to the particular conditions and challenges of the low-cost airline sector, particularly in terms of productivity levels and seasonal demand fluctuations.

The new remuneration packages will also feature attractive occupational pension benefits. As well as offering an employer’s retirement savings contribution amounting to 2% of the employee’s basic salary, Eurowings will increase this contribution to 2.5% for any employee who undertakes to make their own employee’s savings contribution of 1.0%.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. Former EVA Air Airbus A330-203 B-16301 (msn 530) became D-AXGA with the new Eurowings.

Eurowings aircraft slide show:

DHL delivers the first A321 aircraft components for Airbus to Mobile, Alabama

DHL Global Forwarding, Americas, has issued this statement:

DHL Global Forwarding, the specialist for air and ocean freight at Deutsche Post DHL Group, shipped the first aircraft components to the newly built U.S. assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama from the Hamburg Finkenwerder Airbus plant in Germany. DHL Industrial Projects developed a multimodal transport concept for the European aircraft manufacturer. From the beginning of June 2015, large components of A320 family as well as 1,000 sea freight containers and additional air freight shipments, also including hazardous goods, crossed the Atlantic. Arriving into port on June 17, DHL transported the aircraft components within a total transit time of 29 days which was of critical importance since configuration and control of the final assembly processes at Airbus depended upon it.

“Our Industrial Projects team created a plan, developed a concept and helped Airbus transport their aircraft components efficiently, effectively, and with no issues.”

“In order to successfully transport highly sensitive cargo, especially across great distances, it is critical to have a solutions-driven team of experts in place,” said Brian Lindholm, global head of business development, DHL Global Forwarding Industrial Projects. “Our Industrial Projects team created a plan, developed a concept and helped Airbus transport their aircraft components efficiently, effectively, and with no issues.”

The five different aircraft components with a maximum weight of thirty tonnes per section were transported on board a chartered ship using special sea transport frames and secured on roll trailers with twist locks. After arriving at the Port of Mobile and clearing Customs, the aircraft components were then loaded onto heavy-duty trailers with special cranes which will be transported a few miles to the new Airbus U.S. assembly plant in Mobile on Sunday, June 21.

For air freight shipments, both LD3 containers and consolidated shipments were used. Special legally required procedures were used for securing and transporting hazardous goods.

After the aircraft components are delivered, the sea transport frames and the air freight containers will be prepared for their return to Finkenwerder.

This is the first time DHL transports major components for Airbus.

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group.

Top Photo: DHL/Business Wire. The fuselage component for new Airbus A321-231 (msn 6512) for JetBlue Airways was delivered to Mobile, Alabama from Hamburg, Germany. Members of DHL Global Forwarding, Airbus, the International Longshoremen’s Association (Local 14010) and AMP Terminal employees pose in front of the fuselage of the first Airbus A320 aircraft to be assembled at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama.

Aeroflot adds a second daily flight to Hamburg

Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) has increased the flight frequency on the Moscow-Hamburg route. The airline has added a second daily flight. This addition bucks the trend of other airlines which have been dropping some routes between Europe and Russia.

On June 1, 2015, in a festive atmosphere, Aeroflot performed its first additional flight on the Moscow — Hamburg route. According to the airline, “The flight was warmly welcomed by Aeroflot German office in Hamburg and airport staff with the water salute and a celebratory cake.”

An additional flight to Hamburg will be operated on a daily basis from Sheremetyevo Airport (Terminal D) in Moscow on Airbus А320 family aircraft.

Top Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 VP-BDK (msn 2106) taxies at Zurich in the SkyTeam livery.

Aeroflot aircraft slide show:

Bottom Photo: Aeroflot. On May 15 Aeroflot celebrated 85 Years of flight attendants. This photo shows some of the various uniforms over the years.

Airbus launches a ship from Hamburg carrying the first A320 Family components for the new Mobile, Alabama facility

Airbus (Toulouse) issued this statement and photo:

Airbus A320 family aircraft production in the U.S. is on schedule to begin this summer as the large aircraft components for the first U.S.-produced aircraft today depart from the port in Hamburg, Germany, bound for Mobile, Alabama. The major component assemblies (MCAs) consist of the wings produced in the UK, the rear fuselage section produced in Germany including the tail cone (produced in Spain), and the forward fuselage section, including the cockpit produced in France, all of which contain parts from all over the world. The horizontal (from Spain) and vertical (from Germany) stabilisers are also on board. The first aircraft is an A321ceo destined for delivery to JetBlue in 2016.

Airbus established the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile to assemble and deliver A319, A320 and A321 aircraft to meet the growing needs of its customers in the United States and elsewhere. It is the company’s first U.S.-based production facility, and the fourth in the network which includes Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany; and Tianjin, China.

Approximately 200 employees, including some from Mobile who are training in Hamburg, celebrated this first shipment in a ceremony held today to launch the cargo ship, in the presence of the U.S. Consul General in Hamburg, Nancy Corbett. Traditional songs from all four European Airbus nations and the U.S. were played as the ship, bearing German and U.S. flags, and flags of the city state of Hamburg and the state of Alabama, sailed off.

Volaris takes delivery of its first Airbus A321, reports a 1Q net profit of $19.8 million

Volaris (Mexico City) on April 22 took delivery of its first Airbus A321-200. The pictured A321-231 D-AZAN (msn 6558) at Hamburg (Finkenwerder) was leased as XA-VLH from ALC. The low-fare airline has another copy on order. Volaris is now an operator of the A319, A320 and the A321.

On the financial side, the company reported its first quarter results with this report:

First Quarter 2015 Highlights

Total operating revenues were Ps.3,768 million for the first quarter, an increase of 35.8% year over year.

Non-ticket revenues increased 64.6% for the first quarter year over year. Non-ticket revenue per passenger increased 41.6%, reaching Ps.337 (US$22) for the first quarter.

Total operating revenue per available seat mile (TRASM) increased to Ps.123.8 cents for the first quarter, an increase of 22.4% year over year.

Operating expenses per available seat mile (CASM) decreased 5.5% for the first quarter year over year to Ps.112.5 cents (US$7.4 cents). CASM expressed in US cents decreased 18.4% for the first quarter year over year.

Adjusted EBITDAR for the first quarter was Ps.1,204 million, a Ps.1 billion increase year over year with an Adjusted EBITDAR margin of 32.0%, a margin increase of 26.1 percentage points.
EBIT reached Ps.346 million with an operating margin of 9.2% for the first quarter, a margin improvement of 26.8 percentage points.

Net income was Ps.306 million ($19.8 million) (Ps.0.30 per share / US$0.20 per ADS) with a net margin of 8.1% for the first quarter, a net margin improvement of 21.4 percentage points.

During the first quarter the net increase of cash and cash equivalents was Ps.862 million mainly driven by the resources provided by operating activities of Ps.949 million. Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents was Ps.3,156 million (US$208 million), representing 21% of the last twelve month total revenues.

Volaris´ CEO Enrique Beltranena commented: “Volaris’ strong performance for the first three months of 2015 are evidence of the hard work and excellent execution to improve financial performance following a very challenging year. We continue to diversify our network and strengthen our unbundled product strategy, increasing our international presence and growing non-ticket revenues while maintaining cost discipline. We are committed to continue building solid foundations towards a strong and profitable 2015”.

Improving Macroeconomic Environment

The Mexican macroeconomic environment:
GDP growth for the full year 2014 was 2.1%.
Consumer confidence increased 7.8%, 6.8% and 4.8% year over year in January, February and March of 2015, respectively.
The Mexican General Economic Activity Indicator (IGAE) increased 2.0% year over year in January of 2015.

Exchange rate volatility: The Mexican peso depreciated 12.8% year over year against the US dollar, as the exchange rate devalued from an average of Ps.13.23 pesos per US dollar in the first quarter of 2014 to Ps.14.93 pesos per US dollar during the first quarter of 2015.

Lower fuel prices: The average economic fuel cost per gallon decreased 27.1% year over year in the first quarter of 2015, reaching Ps.29.7 (US$1.96) per gallon.

Focus on Network Diversification and Revenue Management Results in Unit Revenue Improvement

Unit revenue improvement and capacity management: TRASM and yield increased 22.4% and 17.5% for the first quarter year over year, respectively, as a result of a recuperating domestic fare environment and solid international fare environment. Domestic capacity increased 4.0%, reflecting capacity discipline and supporting yield recovery, while international capacity increased 31.4%.

Non-ticket revenues growth: Non-ticket revenues per passenger increased 41.6% year over year for the first quarter as Volaris continues to observe a customer acceptance of its ancillary revenue strategy. This growth is mainly driven by improved ancillary bundles and revenue management of bag and seat fees, as well as new product offerings.

Air traffic volume increase: The Mexican DGAC reported an overall passenger increase for Mexican carriers of 9.2% for January and February 2015. Volaris’ market share among Mexican carriers increased to 23.9% in both domestic and international markets, the second largest share among them.

New routes launch: In the first quarter, Volaris opened five routes (four domestic and one international), focusing on its VFR customer base, both in the domestic and the Mexico-US cross-border market.

First Quarter Operating Revenues: Managing Capacity for Profitability Results in Solid Traffic and Revenue Indicators

Volaris booked 2.5 million passengers in the first quarter 2015, a 16.2% year over year growth rate. Volaris traffic (measured in terms of revenue passenger miles, or RPMs) increased 10.0%.

Volaris’ total operating revenues were Ps.3,768 million in the first quarter, an increase of 35.8% year over year. Non-ticket revenues and non-ticket revenue per passenger reached Ps.846 million and Ps.337 (US$22), respectively. Non-ticket revenues per passenger increased 41.6%.

Maintaining Cost Discipline: Fuel Savings Combined With Other Efficiencies

CASM for the first quarter 2015 was Ps.112.5 cents (US$7.4 cents), a 5.5% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2014, mainly driven by a lower fuel price per gallon and efficiencies achieved in landing, take-off and navigation expenses, salaries and benefits. On a US dollar basis, CASM in the first quarter decreased 18.4% compared to the same period in 2014.

In the first quarter, Volaris experienced pressures in US-dollar denominated costs such as aircraft rents, international airport costs, and maintenance expenses due to the exchange rate depreciation of the Mexican peso.

Young and Fuel Efficient Fleet

As of March 31, 2015, the Company´s fleet was comprised of 51 aircraft (33 A320s and 18 A319s), with an average age of 4.5 years. Volaris expects to end 2015 with 55 aircraft, including our first two A321s which will be entering the fleet during the second quarter of the year.

Positive Cash Flow Generation, Strong Balance Sheet and Good Liquidity

During the first quarter the net increase of cash and cash equivalents was Ps.862 million mainly driven by the resources provided by operating activities of Ps.949 million.

As of March 31, 2015, Volaris had a record balance of Ps.3,156 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, representing 21% of the last twelve month operating revenues. Volaris recorded negative net debt (or a positive net cash position) of Ps.1,900 million and total equity reached Ps.4,806 million.

During the first quarter of 2015, Volaris incurred capital expenditures of Ps.50 million, which included acquisitions of rotable spare parts, furniture and equipment of Ps.61 million, partially offset by reimbursements of net pre-delivery payments of Ps.11 million.

Active in Fuel Risk Management

Volaris has continued to remain active in its fuel risk management program with a combination of financial instruments including Jet Fuel swaps and purchase of call options. In the first quarter Volaris hedged 29% of fuel consumption at an average price of US$2.53 per gallon, which combined with the 71% unhedged consumption, resulted in a blended average economic fuel cost of US$1.96 per gallon for the quarter.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. As of March 31, 2015, the Company´s fleet was comprised of 51 aircraft (33 A320s and 18 A319s), with an average age of 4.5 years. Volaris expects to end 2015 with 55 aircraft, including the first two A321s.

Volaris aircraft slide show:

easyJet celebrates the delivery of its 250th Airbus aircraft

EasyJet (UK) (stylized as easyJet) (London-Luton) and Airbus celebrated their successful partnership yesterday (April 22) at a ceremony in Hamburg (Finkenwerder) to mark the delivery the airline’s 250th Airbus A320 family aircraft. Carolyn McCall, easyJet CEO, Jean-Paul Ebanga, CFM International President and CEO, Didier Evrard, Airbus EVP and Head of Programs, and Christopher Buckley, Airbus EVP Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific were present at the event.

To celebrate the 250th delivery, easyJet unveiled its newest A320 with a unique livery featuring 250 miniature aircraft (below). As with other recent deliveries to easyJet, the A320 is equipped with the latest technology and fuel-saving Sharklets.

The airline flies 234 aircraft on more than 750 routes to over 130 airports across 33 countries.
easyJet operates Europe’s largest and the world’s fourth largest Airbus single aisle fleet. Since easyJet took delivery of its first Airbus aircraft (an A319) in September 2003, Airbus has delivered an aircraft on average every 16 days since the first delivery

EasyJet has 158 aircraft currently on order, and in terms of total aircraft orders is Airbus’ third biggest airline customer. Currently easyJet fly a fleet of 85 A320s (180 seats) and 149 A319s (156 seats).

Photos: Airbus. The pictured Airbus A320-214 D-AVVL (msn 6572) with the special emblems became G-EZOL on the handover on April 22.

EasyJet aircraft slide show:

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