Tag Archives: JFK

Delta to launch New York JFK – Halifax service

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will launch twice-daily (except Saturdays) Delta Connection service on the New York (JFK) – Halifax, Nova Scotia route starting on September 1. The new route will be operated with Bombardier CRJ700s per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo below: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Ex-Comair Bombardier CRJ700 (CL-600-2C10) N641CA (msn 10122), now operated by SkyWest Airlines, arrives in Las Vegas.

Delta Air Lines aircraft slide show (current livery):

Delta Connection-Comair aircraft slide show:

Thomas Cook Airlines inaugurates new USA services

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) has begun its newest services to North America from its base at Manchester. With twice-weekly flights to Miami began on May 3 and thrice weekly New York JFK services beginning on May 5 respectively. The services are being flown by the carrier’s fleet of Airbus A330-200s, with the inaugural flight to Miami being served by the first aircraft to be fully painted in the airline’s new 2013 “Sunny Heart” livery. Thomas Cook also began seasonal services between Glasgow (International) and Las Vegas on May 4.

Thomas Cook stated on their Facebook page on the day of the first Miami flight:

“Welcome to Miami! Our first flight touched down in the ‘magic city’. Have fun everyone, we are not jealous… Much!!”

The first Miami flight was treated with the signature water canon salute (above).

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

Photo Above: Thomas Cook Airlines.

Thomas Cook Airlines aircraft slide show:

JetBlue Airways to fly New York – Havana charter flights

JetBlue Airways (New York) has announced it will operate weekly New York (JFK) – Havana, Cuba charter flights for tour organizer Cuba Travel Services starting on July 3. JetBlue also operates to Cuba from both Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Tampa. The airline issued this full statement:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo joined with JetBlue Airways, and its charter partner, Cuba Travel Services, yesterday (May 5) to announce a new flight from New York to Havana, Cuba. The milestone makes JetBlue the first major carrier to announce a new flight to Cuba from New York since travel restrictions were recently eased.

The expanded charter service comes on the heels of Governor Cuomo’s trade mission to Cuba, where the Governor, joined by JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes and other New York business leaders, led a dialogue to connect New York businesses to new opportunities in Cuba.

Cuba Travel Services is offering the flight, operated by JetBlue, on Fridays from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Havana’s José Martí International Airport (HAV) beginning July 3, 2015. Travelers should make arrangements directly with Cuba Travel Services.

Cuba Travel Services, a leading authorized carrier service provider, believes expanding its flight network will provide licensed travelers more travel options for a lower cost. The additional service offers customers additional options to travel to Cuba from New York without connection delays or extra domestic travel expenses to connect in Florida.

The New York metropolitan area has the second largest Cuban-American population in the United States after Florida.

JetBlue serves all charter flights to Cuba on its 150-seat Airbus A320.

With the addition to the New York-Havana flight, JetBlue will operate five weekly round trips to Cuba, including flights from Tampa (TPA) and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL) with various charter partners. Cuba will one day play an important role in JetBlue’s overall Caribbean network, a region where JetBlue is the largest airline. The airline began flying to Cuba for charter companies in 2011.

Schedule between New York and Havana on Fridays as of July 3, 2015:

JFK – HAV HAV – JFK 12:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

About Cuba Travel Services

Cuba Travel Services Inc. arranges daily, nonstop public charter flights between the United States and Cuba and is licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as an authorized Carrier Service Provider specializing in travel to Cuba. They offer full service travel arrangements to individuals, groups, families, educators, students, professionals and organizations, under Specific or General Licenses issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Copyright Photo: Fred Freketic/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 N624JB (msn 2520) touches down at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York last winter.

JetBlue Airways aircraft slide show:

JetBlue Airways files to serve Antigua from New York

JetBlue Airways (New York) today announced its continued expansion in the region as it filed an intent to serve Antigua’s V.C. Bird International Airport (ANU) three times weekly from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), with the aim to launch service on November 5, subject to receipt of government operating authority.

Additionally, the airline will add seasonal weekly service from Boston’s Logan International Airport (BOS) to Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI), which will launch November 7, subject to receipt of government operating authority.

The Boston-Barbados flight is the fifth new seasonal service to the Caribbean and Latin America launched from Boston in the last year following Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR); Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (POP), which begins June 17; Saint Lucia (UVF); and Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP). JetBlue also recently announced it would offer its highly successful Mint experience on flights between JFK to Barbados this winter with Saturday service between November 7, 2015 and April 30, 2016, and daily service between December 19, 2015 and January 4, 2016.

The weekly Boston-Barbados flight will complement JetBlue’s existing daily service from New York JFK, which was launched in 2009.

JetBlue’s flights to both Antigua and Barbados will be operated on a 150-seat Airbus A320.

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 N586JB (msn 2160) in the special “I Love New York” livery taxies to the gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

JetBlue Airways aircraft slide show:

American Airlines to expand Embraer 175 operations and routes

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) is further expanding its American Eagle Embraer 175 operations, routes and schedules from its Los Angeles, Chicago (O’Hare), Miami and New York (JFK) hubs per Airline Route. The new routes will be operated by its various partner airlines.

From Los Angeles, effective September 9, E175 service will be started to El Paso, Fayetteville (Northwest Arkansas), Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City and San Jose, California. Service to Phoenix starts the following day.

From Chicago (O’Hare), starting on March 29, E175 service will be initiated to Madison and Richmond. This will be expanded on May 7 with new E175 service to Austin and on June 4 to Memphis.

From Miami, starting on May 7, E175 service will be offered from the MIA hub to various domestic and Caribbean routes by Republic Airlines (2nd) (Indianapolis), replacing Embraer ERJ 145 flights operated by Envoy Air (Dallas/Fort Worth). On May 7, the new type will be operated to Charleston, South Carolina, Norfolk and North Eleuthera. Starting on June 4, the E175 will be assigned to the Fort-de-France, Greensboro, La Romana, Marsh Harbour, Memphis and Port-au-Prince routes. Finally on August 19, the E175 will be operated to Providenciales (Provo) in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

From New York (JFK), new Embraer E175 aircraft will be assigned to the Norfolk route starting on May 7 followed by Indianapolis route on June 4.

Copyright Photo: Mark Durbin/AirlinersGallery.com. As planned, Compass Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul) started the Los Angeles – San Francisco E175 Shuttle on April 13. Officially certified as the Embraer ERJ 170-200LR (ERJ 175), N201NN (msn 17000461) taxies at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

American Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery only):

American Eagle-Republic aircraft slide show:

Video: Boeing 787 approach into New York’s JFK International Airport

Video from JustPlanes.

JetBlue Airways hit with an IT system outage, experiencing delays today

JetBlue Airways (New York) this morning issued this short statement:

JetBlue experienced an IT system outage early this morning that has created delays in the system. Due to this IT issue, delays are expected throughout the day. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and will provide updates as available.

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW N346JB (msn 19000504) in the Barcode tail scheme arrive at New York (JFK) hub.

JetBlue Airways aircraft slide show:

Alitalia to start a new route connecting Venice with Abu Dhabi

Alitalia (3rd) (Rome) has issued this announcement on new Venice-Abu Dhabi service in connection with Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) :

Venice – Abu Dhabi is set to be the first new route opened by the new Alitalia since the January 1, 2015 launch of operations, after Etihad Airways acquired a 49% stake in the company.

The daily connection was presented to business leaders, media and other institutions in Venice today by Alitalia’s Chairman Luca di Montezemolo and CEO Silvano Cassano, together with Enrico Marchi, Chairman of the SAVE Group – Venice Airport, and Peter Baumgartner, Chief Commercial Officer of Etihad Airways, the strategic equity and codeshare partner of Alitalia, which has added its ‘EY’ code to the service.

Alitalia will reinforce its presence in Italy’s North Eastern airports with the new route, reaching a total of 89 weekly connections from Venice (64) and Verona (25). From Venice alone, Alitalia will offer approximately 600,000 seats on direct flights during the summer season for air transportation (March-October), including those on partner airlines, to Rome, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Paris, Amsterdam, Moscow and Tirana.

The new connections with Abu Dhabi will strengthen Alitalia’s intercontinental offering, allowing passengers departing from North Eastern Italy to reach not just the United Arab Emirates, but continue, thanks to Etihad Airways’ extensive global connections, to 30 destinations in the Middle East (Bahrain, Muscat, Kuwait, Dubai and Al Ain), Africa (Johannesburg, Nairobi and Khartoum), the Indian Subcontinent (Mumbai, Kochi, Delhi, Bangalore, Karachi, Lahore, Dacca, Malè, Seychelles and Colombo), Asia (Beijing, Seoul, Phuket, Chengdu, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta) and Australia (Melbourne, Sydney and Perth).

The Venice-Abu Dhabi flight will take off on March 29, 2015. Simultaneously, Alitalia will also launch a new flight from Milan Malpensa Airport to the capital of the United Arab Emirates, tripling the number of its flights for Abu Dhabi, which will reach a total of 42 weekly flights.

From Venice’s Marco Polo airport, the first Alitalia flight for Abu Dhabi will take off this Sunday, March 29, at 9:55 pm, landing in Abu Dhabi at 5:55 am (local time) on the following day.

Flights from Abu Dhabi to Venice will depart at 9:05 am (local time) to arrive at the Marco Polo Airport at 1:35 pm. The service will be operated using a 250-seat Airbus A330 aircraft, arranged in three service classes: Magnifica (business class), Classica Plus (premium economy) and Classica (economy).

Copyright Photo: Fred Freketic/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-202 EI-EJM (msn 1308) in the promotional Expo Milano 2015 special livery approaches the runway at JFK International Airport in New York.

Alitalia aircraft slide show:

Teamsters: A number of LAN Airlines flights could be affected today

LAN Airlines (Chile) (Santiago) and its associated carriers in Latin America could be affected today (March 25) by “a series of actions” by its unions.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) has issued this statement:

A number of flights of South American LAN Airlines could be affected. The unions of LAN Airlines will begin a series of actions on Wednesday, March 25 in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Miami. To date the company has not responded to the union’s demands to improve working conditions. LAN Airlines workers are responsible for passenger safety, airplane maintenance, and customer connections in airports.

“National and international passengers could be subject to extensive delays and cancellations. Chile, Colombia and Ecuador are important hubs for the airline”. So reads the leaflets to be distributed to passengers visiting airports “Arturo Merino Benitez” (Santiago, Chile) and “El Dorado” (Bogotá, Colombia). In Ecuador, the leaflets will be distributed at “Mariscal Sucre” in Quito, and “Olmedo” in Guayaquil.

The conflict of the workers of LAN Airlines has gained support from many of the large transport unions in the United States. Teamsters Local 769 of Miami, other transport unions, and the community organization South Florida Voices for Working Families will be joining others in handing out information at the 2015 Sony Open tennis tournament in Miami, Florida. LAN Airlines is an official sponsor of the event. Leaflets will alert the public about the conditions of the LAN Airlines workers and the potential delays that could affect those attending the tennis tournament.

Chile, Colombia and Ecuador are important connecting hubs to flights throughout Latin America according to Luis Chavez, President of the LAN Express union in Chile. “These difficulties are preventable and predictable. The problems are cascading due to LAN Airlines refusal to provide fair conditions for their workers.”

Workers will be asking passengers and cargo users throughout the region to call the company’s toll free numbers to find out the latest information about the possible delays and cancellations. Passengers may also want to suggest that the company be responsible and provide fair conditions for workers at the airline.

The LAN Airline unions involved are members of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) representing more than 4.5 million transport workers from 150 countries around the world. The company, the LATAM Airline Group, includes both Chilean LAN Airlines and Brazilian TAM Airlines and is the largest airline company in Latin America.

Possible Strike in LAN Express Chile

On Wednesday March 25, a general assembly of the Union of LAN Express will take place at the Santiago airport. Leaders of unions throughout Latin America and Chile will attend the meeting. The General Assembly could affect the operations of all of the country’s airports and international connections.

On Monday March 30 and Tuesday March 31 the workers of LAN Express union will vote on whether to strike.

The Chilean workers are seeking both improvements in their own working conditions and also the reinstatement of the leader of the LAN Ecuador union, Jimena Lopez.

Conflict in Ecuador

Since October 2014 demonstrations and protests have erupted throughout the region because LAN Ecuador unjustly dismissed the founder, flight attendant and general secretary of the first aviation union in Ecuador, Jimena Lopez.

LAN Ecuador refuses to reinstate her, even though Carlos Marx Carrasco, Minister of Labour and the President Rafael Correa government have called the company’s actions unconstitutional and counter to Ecuadorian labour law and international labour standards.

Conflict in Colombia

In Colombia the company is laying off experienced mechanics and cargo workers. The union is taking action. Passengers in Colombia will also be warned about potential delays in their flights.

Copyright Photo: Ken Petersen/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 767-31B ER CC-CXL (msn 26265) touches down at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

LAN Airlines (Chile) aircraft slide show:

Volaris to fly to New York (JFK) from Guadalajara

Volaris (Mexico City) announced today a new nonstop route to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport from Guadalajara, starting on July 15, 2015.

Volaris has consolidated as the carrier with the greatest international connectivity from Guadalajara, where it now operates 20 international and 18 domestic flights, and to date has transported 16 million passengers, a number on the rise as a result of significant growth achieved by the carrier out of this city in 2014.

Copyright Photo: James Helbock/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-233 N524VL (msn 6161) names “Itzali” also includes a pink ribbon in fight against Breast Cancer.

Volaris aircraft slide show: