Tag Archives: Houston

ANA inaugurates the Houston – Tokyo Narita route

ANA – All Nippon Airways (Tokyo) today launched its new Houston (Bush Intercontinental) route to Tokyo (Narita). The airport issued this statement:

Following a ribbon cutting and sake ceremony, the inaugural flight of All Nippon Airway’s (ANA) newest route bound for Tokyo Narita Airport, departed Houston George Bush International Airport this morning (June 12) – underscoring the global importance of the city of Houston.

A member of the Star Alliance and joint venture partner with United Airlines, ANA expanded its nonstop service to Houston, providing passengers with additional daily flights between Houston and Tokyo. Star Alliance members can now choose a morning or afternoon departure in each direction, providing greater flexibility for travelers, especially those taking advantage of ANA’s expanded service to other Asian and American destinations beyond Houston or Tokyo.

The Boeing 777-300 ER used for today’s flight was welcomed to the gate with an official water turret salute. The 250-seat passenger plane includes eight first class and 52 business class seats to accommodate travelers.

Today’s ceremony began with a Taiko Japanese drum performance by local group, Kaminari Taiko. Diaz and Shinobe each addressed the attendees, and they were joined by additional remarks from Jim Compton, United Airlines Vice Chairman and Chief Revenue Officer, and the Honorable Nozomu Takaoka, Consul-General of Japan in Houston and Bob Pertierra, SVP and Chief Economic Development Officer, Greater Houston Partnership. Also in attendance from the office of the Governor of Texas was Oliver Yang, there to present Shinobe with a proclamation. In a gift exchange honoring Texas and Japanese culture, Diaz presented Shinobe with a Stetson cowboy hat and Shinobe reciprocated with an ANA Boeing 777 model plane.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-381 ER JA778A (msn 32651) arrives at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT).

ANA aircraft slide show:

Southwest Airlines to fly to Liberia, Costa Rica, announces new international routes from Houston Hobby

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) extended its bookable flight schedule through January 4, 2016, offering new international service between eight cities and Houston (Hobby) by the end of this year, including the carrier’s 97th destination, Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport at Liberia in the Guanacaste beach and resort region of northwest Costa Rica, subject to foreign government approval.

Beginning October 15, 2015, Southwest will off new, nonstop service from Houston (Hobby) and:

Cancun, Mexico (twice daily)
Mexico City, Mexico (once daily)
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (once daily)
San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos, Mexico (once daily)
Belize City, Belize* (once daily)
San Jose, Costa Rica* (once daily)

*subject to approval of foreign government

Beginning November 1, 2015, additional daily international flights begin from:

Houston (Hobby) and Liberia/Guanacaste, Costa Rica* (once daily)
Houston (Hobby) and Montego Bay, Jamaica* (once daily)

*subject to approval of foreign government

During the upcoming summer travel season, Southwest will offer up to 159 departures a day from Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport serving 45 destinations nonstop while contractors, designers, and workers enter the homestretch of constructing a $156 million, five-gate international terminal complex, along with associated City of Houston projects for new parking and roadway improvements.

Other International Flights

Also pending the approval of the Mexican government, new once-daily service between Denver and Puerto Vallarta begins November 1, 2015.

Daily service between Orange County/Santa Ana and both Mexican resort areas of Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos will be augmented by a second, seasonal trip on Saturdays beginning November 7.

The same day, Southwest also begins Saturday-only service between Baltimore/Washington and Liberia, Costa Rica, subject to foreign governmental approval.

New Domestic Flights

The flight schedule extension beginning November 1, 2015, includes recurrent and new seasonal flying as well as new, twice daily service between Indianapolis and New York LaGuardia, daily service between Denver and Cleveland, and new flights between Austin and both Seattle/Tacoma and Boston (Logan). New service between Akron/Canton and Las Vegas begins daily operation on November 15, 2015, and on November 22, 2015, Southwest will begin daily flights between Orange County/Santa Ana and both St. Louis and Kansas City.

Houston (Hobby) International Terminal Project

In early 2012, Southwest Airlines approached the City of Houston seeking permission to look into the construction of a five-gate international facility at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) to offer near-international service. Mayor Annise Parker later offered her support to bring the proposal before the full Houston City Council, which voted to authorize construction of the $156 million facility. The carrier announced its intention to serve an initial complement of international destinations from Houston (Hobby) in December 2014, and on Mar. 7, 2015, the carrier launched seasonal international service on Saturdays between Aruba and Houston (Hobby).

Copyright Photo below: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8H4 N8656B (msn 42530) with APB Split Scimitar Winglets approaches the runway at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport.

Southwest Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

United Airlines and Houston Airport System break ground on new Terminal C North, announces new Boeing 787-9 routes

United Airlines (Chicago), in partnership with Houston Mayor Annise Parker and the Houston Airport System, will break ground today (May 11) on the airline’s new Terminal C North concourse at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) (see below).

United Airlines is building an all-new Terminal C North concourse at its Houston hub that will feature floor-to-ceiling windows offering soaring tarmac views, expansive gate-lounge areas and 20 new dining and retail options near boarding gates.

Floor-to-ceiling windows in the new concourse will offer soaring tarmac views, expansive gate-lounge areas will provide higher levels of comfort and 20 new dining and retail options near boarding gates will give Houstonians and travelers connecting through the airport more of the varied options they enjoy.

The $244 million project will create a 265,000-square-foot facility, more than 100,000 square feet larger than the existing Terminal C North, with 11 passenger boarding gates to accommodate a mix of United’s narrow-, mid- and wide-body aircraft.

When construction on the new concourse is completed, the Houston Airport System will demolish the existing Terminal C North facility at Bush Intercontinental to enable the reconstruction of the Mickey Leland International Terminal D. The international terminal is critical to Bush Intercontinental’s extensive connecting air traffic, particularly for those customers connecting between United flights and flights operated by United’s international airline partners.

United expects to complete the new Terminal C North concourse in early 2017.

From Houston, United and United Express offer nearly 560 daily flights to more than 180 destinations around the world, including to Latin America, serving 51 nonstop destinations across Latin America and the Caribbean.

In related news, United Airlines has outlined its planned Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner introductions at Houston. According to Airline Route, United will introduce the new type from IAH to Rio de Janeiro on August 18 followed by Frankfurt on September 24. Buenos Aires will follow on October 25 and Amsterdam on December 17.

Copyright Photo above: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner N19951 (msn 36402) arrives at Los Angeles International Airport.

Image below: United Airlines.

United Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

United to drop service to Stockholm and Oslo this winter from Newark

United Airlines (Chicago) plans to suspend winter service to Stockholm (Arlanda) and Oslo from its Newark hub between September 5, 2015 and May 4, 2016 according to a report by Reuters quoting a statement by the carrier.

United also expects to suspend one of its two daily flights between Newark and Paris from October 25 through March 26, 2016.

The carrier is reacting to weaker demand this coming winter season due to the strong U.S. dollar.

In other news, with additional Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (below) deliveries, United will start to assign the new type to the Houston (Bush Intercontinental) hub on its routes to Latin America and Europe, replacing older Boeing 767-300 ERs.

Copyright Photo below: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner N38950 (msn 36401) climbs away from Los Angeles International Airport.

United Airlines aircraft slide show:

Spirit Airlines launches Houston – Cancun flights, the first international service from Houston

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) yesterday (May 7) launched its first of several new flights to Latin America from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) with new service to Cancun, Mexico.

Spirit will add six additional Latin American destinations in the coming days, with nonstop service to Los Cabos, Mexico; Toluca, Mexico; Managua, Nicaragua; San Jose, Costa Rica; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and San Salvador, El Salvador available.

The debut is part of the steady growth by Spirit, which announced last year the addition of 10 new non-stop destinations out of IAH, bringing its total of routes served to 22. This includes expanded domestic service to Tampa and Baltimore/Washington, which began in March, and nonstop service to Oakland/San Francisco, which began in April.

The expansion nearly doubled the nonstop service offered by Spirit from Bush Intercontinental, adding to a roster that already includes flights to Chicago-O’Hare, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New Orleans, Orlando, and San Diego. The new routes will make Spirit one of the busiest carriers operating out of IAH.

Spirit Airlines aircraft slide show:

Air New Zealand is coming to Houston

Air New Zealand (Auckland) has announced it will expand its North American presence by opening a fifth gateway this December. The airline will soon provide nonstop service between Houston, Texas and Auckland, New Zealand up to five times per week.

The Auckland – Houston (Bush Intercontinental) route will start on December 15 and will operate five days a week.

Air New Zealand’s completely refitted Boeing 777-200 aircraft will operate the route. Air New Zealand’s Star Alliance partner United Airlines (Chicago), which has a large Houston-based hub, will code share into Houston from numerous North American cities. A global gateway city, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) provides nonstop service to almost 200 airports around the globe (113 domestic U.S. destinations).

Air New Zealand, celebrating its 75th anniversary on April 30, is also set to commemorate 50 years of flying from North America later this year. The airline began service from Los Angeles to Auckland (via Nadi & Honolulu) on December 14, 1965. With the addition of Houston, Air New Zealand will offer nonstop service to New Zealand from five North American gateways, also including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Honolulu.

Copyright Photo: Steve Bailey/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-219 ER ZK-OKC (msn 34377) appraches the runway at Vancouver International Airport.

Air New Zealand aircraft slide show:

Interjet to start Mexico City-Houston flights

Interjet (Mexico City) is expanding its presence at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The airline will start daily nonstop service from Mexico City to IAH on May 14.

Copyright Photo: Eddie Maloney/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 “EcoJet” XA-JCV (msn 3514) touches down at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport (LAS).

Interjet aircraft photo gallery:

Interjet aircraft slide show:

Route Map from Mexico City:

Southwest Airlines launches historic routes from Baltimore/Washington and Houston Hobby to Costa Rica and Aruba

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) yesterday (March 7) inaugurated two international routes from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. Each of the new routes is longer than 2,000 miles each-way and marks historic milestones for the carrier both by connecting Central America to the Southwest network of destinations and by offering its longest-ever nonstop scheduled service from any of Southwest’s Texas Triangle of original cities of Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston.

Southwest Airlines now operates nonstop service between:

San Jose, Costa Rica, and Baltimore/Washington on a once daily basis, and
Aruba and Houston (Hobby) seasonally, once every Saturday through Aug. 8, 2015

At Houston’s Hobby Airport, Southwest Employees celebrated the first Aruba-bound morning departure. Later, Customers on the first inbound international flight deplaned directly into a celebration in the main domestic concourse, following their U.S. Customs and Border Protection Preclearance processed prior to departing the Caribbean island. This is the first-ever international flying offered from Houston Hobby. This October, Southwest is scheduled to complete the construction of a $156 million international terminal project which will give Houstonians and Southwest Customers from across the network access to more international destinations.

Southwest Airlines flight 602 from Baltimore/Washington to San Jose, Costa Rica, brought 143 Customers and the Company’s legendary personality and value to Central America for the first time in the 44-year history of the largest domestic carrier* in the United States. Dozens of people came to Juan Santamaria International Airport outside San Jose at the invitation of the Costa Rica Tourism Board to welcome the historic arrival in the lush country known for its natural beauty and adventure tourism.

For an in-depth review of the first arrival at Houston Hobby from Aruba, read the Airways News feature article: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Derin Allard/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-7AD N798SW (msn 28436) taxies into position at Santa Ana (Orange County).

Southwest Airlines aircraft slide show:

US Airways flight 1825 with N953UW makes a nose wheel up landing at Houston

US Airways (Phoenix) flight US 1825 from Philadelphia (PHL) to Houston (IAH) (Bush Intercontinental) last night (February 9) operated with the pictured Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW N953UW (msn 19000133) and carrying 53 passengers and four crew members on board made an emergency nose-wheel up landing at IAH. According to this report by KHOU, the crew made a successful landing with an inoperative nose wheel after several attempts in flight to correct the situation.

There were no reported injuries.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Twitter photo by Carter Ozanus.

United to add two Caribbean routes this summer from Houston

United Airlines (Chicago) will offer two summer seasonal routes from the Houston (Bush Intercontinental) from June 4 through August 17 per Airline Route. This includes Saturday weekly service to Providenciales (Provo) in the Turks and Caicos Islands and twice-weekly weekend service to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-724 N16709 (msn 28779) taxies to the runway at Los Angeles International Airport.

United Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery only):

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-UnitedStates-3/Airlines-United-States3-QZ/United-Airlines