Tag Archives: london gatwick

London ATC goes down temporarily

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 UK’s busiest airport, reported earlier: “There is a power outage at the NATS control center in Swanwick which is affecting UK airspace.”

“Flights are currently experiencing delays. We will update passengers as soon as we have more information.”

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.

EasyJet’s full year pre-tax profit rises 12.8% to $909 million

EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) reported a pre-tax profit of £581 million ($909 million), up 13% from last year.

During the year the low-fare airline opened new bases at Hamburg and Naples during the year and new bases were announced for Amsterdam and Porto.

EasyJet started flying the former Flybe slots at London Gatwick on March 30, 2014.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZAY (msn 2827) is pictured in action at Nantes, France.

EasyJet (UK) aircraft slide show:

Video: EasyJet TV commercial:

Vietnam Airlines to bring the Boeing 787 to London Gatwick in July

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.

Image: Boeing.

Vietnam Airlines aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Asia-3/Airlines-Asia3-QZ/Vietnam-Airlines

Monarch Airlines finalizes its deal with Boeing for 30 737 MAX 8s + 15 options

Monarch Airlines (London-Luton) and Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) today finalized an order for 30 737 MAX 8s worth more than $3.2 billion at current list prices. The order, originally announced at the Farnborough International Airshow in July when Monarch selected Boeing as its preferred bidder for fleet replacement, includes options for 15 additional 737 MAX 8s and marks the beginning of the British carrier’s transition to an all-Boeing single-aisle fleet.

The 737 MAX has accumulated 2,325 orders to date from 48 customers and is the fastest selling airplane in Boeing history.

Headquartered at London Luton Airport, but also operating from five other U.K. bases – London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands and Leeds-Bradford – Monarch predominantly serves holiday destinations around the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands as well as European ski resorts. Founded in 1968, the British carrier will move to a cost effective and uniform fleet of 737 MAX 8s within the next decade.

As previously reported, on October 24, Monarch Airlines and other parts of Monarch Holdings Limited, the UK’s leading independent leisure travel group, completed a restructuring program and sale of 90 percent of the group to Greybull Capital LLP under which it secured £125 million of permanent capital and liquidity facilities.

Image: Boeing.

Monarch Airlines:

Norwegian’s third quarter net profit drops by 14%, will phase out the last Boeing 737-300 next year

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com and Norwegian Long Haul) (Oslo) reported a net profit of NOK 373.8 million ($57.0 million) for the third quarter, down 14% from a net profit of NOK 435.9 million ($65.8 million) for the same quarter in 2013.

The airline issued this full report:

Norwegian reports strong growth in all European markets with a capacity increase of 36 percent and a load factor of 85 percent in its third quarter results. The pre-tax result (EBT) was 505 MNOK, compared to 604 MNOK the same quarter previous year. The costs associated with wet-leasing replacement aircraft and a weak Norwegian Krone (NOK) significantly affected the figures.

Even with strong passenger growth, the load factor was high and increased by three percentage points to 85 percent in the third quarter. Norwegian carried 7.1 million passengers this quarter and the company’s operations at London Gatwick had the strongest passenger growth.

The pre-tax result (EBT) was 505 MNOK, compared to 604 MNOK the same quarter previous year. The combination of a weak Norwegian Krone (NOK), the delayed approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation and costs associated with flight delays, affected the results this quarter. Wet-leasing replacement aircraft and extra fuel, as well as accommodation, food and drink for delayed passengers also created extra costs. The costs associated with the long overdue application before the U.S. Department of Transportation for a foreign air carrier permit for Norwegian’s Irish subsidiary, Norwegian Air International were also considerable. The application is in full accordance with the Open Skies Agreement between the EU and the U.S.

“We’re very satisfied that throughout our world-wide route network, an increasing number of new passengers choose Norwegian. Norwegian has recently received several international awards and was even named ‘Europe’s best low-cost airline’ the second year running. However, we have also experienced some turbulence this quarter. Our results are affected by additional costs related to the pending U.S. permit for our subsidiary in Dublin, consequently reducing our ability to optimize our fleet of aircraft. Even though technical difficulties with our Boeing 787 Dreamliners have also caused additional costs, our long-haul operation now consists of more aircraft and improved reliability. Looking into 2015, we will see a year of consolidation and lower growth. Next year, our fleet of short-haul aircraft will consist exclusively of Boeing 737-800s as older Boeing 737-300s will be phased out,” said CEO Bjørn Kjos.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Norwegian will retire its last Boeing 737-300 in 2015. Devoid of a tail photo, Boeing 737-31S LN-KHC (m,sn 29295) arrives in Stockholm (Arlanda).

Norwegian Aircraft Slide Show:

Snowbird Airlines is coming to London Gatwick starting on December 6

Snowbird Airlines (Helsinki) starting on December 6 is planning to operate twice-weekly Airbus A320 service from Enontekiö to London (Gatwick) and return per Airline Route.

Enontekiö is located in northern Finland in Lapland and is an ideal viewing location for the winter northern lights.

According to Helsinki Times, the launch of the carrier has been delayed due to slumping Russian economy and a dispute with the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV).

The virtual charter airline was planning to start operations on October 2 with a wet leased SmartLynx Airlines Airbus A320 (YL-LCM).

Read the full story: CLICK HERE

Images: Snowbird Airlines.

Video:

Norwegian Long haul to launch two new Boeing 787 routes to Orlando

Norwegian Long haul (Norwegian Air Shuttle) (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) continues to develop long-range operations and launching new routes from Copenhagen to Orlando, and between London Gatwick and Orlando. In addition, the company is also increasing frequencies on several existing destinations between Europe and the USA.

The new nonstop route to Orlando, Florida will be the fifth long distance flight from Copenhagen and the fourth from London Gatwick. Norwegian flies previously between Oslo and Orlando.

As previously reported, Norwegian started operations to Orlando International Airport (MCO) on May 29, 2014.

Norwegian will fly once a week (Mondays) from Copenhagen to Orlando, starting on March 30, 2015.

Norwegian will fly once a week (Saturdays) between London Gatwick and Orlando starting on April 4, 2015.

Norwegian is also increasing the number of flights between the following destinations: Stockholm – Oakland, increased from two to three flights a week, Oslo – Los Angeles extended from one to two times a week, London Gatwick – New York (JFK) expanded from three to six flights a week and London Gatwick – Los Angeles expanded from two to four times a week.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner EI-LND (msn 35310) with Norwegian marathon runner Grete Waitz departs from Stockholm (Arlanda).

Video: Flying on the Norwegian 787 from Stockholm to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood:

Norwegian:

AG:

Norwegian continues to build up its presence at London’s Gatwick Airport, reports a 2Q net profit of $20.5 million

Norwegian Air Shuttle’s (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) route network from London Gatwick continues to expand. Norwegian is adding four new destinations this winter; Madeira and La Palma for the sun-seekers and Grenoble and Salzburg for the ski enthusiasts.

Norwegian is also increasing the number of weekly departures on its routes from London Gatwick to Lanzarote, Rome and Larnaca.

From October 28 and November 1, respectively, Norwegian offers sun-seekers two weekly flights from London Gatwick to the Portuguese island of Madeira and one weekly flight to La Palma in the Canary Islands. Those more keen on white and powdery conditions in the Alps this winter, can from December 13 fly nonstop to Grenoble and Salzburg once a week.

Today, Norwegian is a major player at London Gatwick airport. The airline established a crew base at the airport in 2013 and now offers 41 routes from London Gatwick. Norwegian has eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft based at London Gatwick today as well as around 90 pilots and 200 cabin crew members.

On the financial side, Norwegian (NAS) reported a second quarter 2014 net profit of 128 million NOK ($20.5 million). According to the carrier, “The second quarter is characterized by strong growth and a record high load factor, and influenced by significant, one-off costs, a weak Norwegian currency and high oil prices. The strike from labor union Parat earlier this year alone cost Norwegian over 100 million NOK in lost revenue.

The second quarter figures also reflect Norwegian’s growth strategy and the company’s goal to fill all its new seats. Despite significant costs related to the start-up of the long-haul operation and higher costs due to the weak Norwegian currency, the unit cost (CASK) is down, strengthening Norwegian’s competitive advantage further. Over the past year, Norwegian has introduced seven Dreamliner aircraft to its long-haul operation.

The total revenue in the second quarter was over 5 BNOK, up 26 percent from the same quarter last year. The pre-tax result (EBT) was -137 MNOK. 6.4 million passengers chose to travel with Norwegian during the second quarter, which is an increase of 16 percent and almost 900 000 passengers more than the same period last year. The company’s traffic growth (RPK) was considerably higher at 46 percent, which reflects that each of Norwegian’s passengers on average flies significantly longer than they did a year ago.”

Record high load factor

Norwegian realized a strong production growth (ASK) of 41 percent. The growth is, naturally, stronger in new markets. Despite Norwegian’s strong capacity growth, the company is still filling its seats. The load factor in this quarter was 80 percent, up three percentage points from the same quarter last year, which is record high for a second quarter.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8JP LN-NGT (msn 41125) taxies at Palma de Mallorca (PMI) with Anton K.H. Jakobsen on the tail.

Norwegian:

Current routes from London Gatwick:

Norwegian launches Boeing 787 flights from London Gatwick to Los Angeles, New York and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood

Norwegian Long Haul (Norwegian Air Shuttle) (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) this week has expanded its Boeing 787 operations, this time from London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW). On July 2 the fast-growing airline launched Gatwick-Los Angeles service. Yesterday (July 3) Norwegian started Gatwick-New York (JFK) flights and today it will commence Gatwick-Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood service.

According to Norwegian, “almost all of the 291 seats on Norwegian’s 787 Dreamliner are fully booked on the launch trips to Los Angeles, New York and Fort Lauderdale.”

The airline continued (translated from Norwegian), “The launch of long-haul routes from London Gatwick is an important part of Norwegian’s global growth strategy and in a few years, it is Spain’s turn. We are excited that Norwegian’s routes between London and the United States are now running. We think that everyone should be able to afford to fly, even between Europe and the USA. The trans-Atlantic market has for too long been dominated by a few large airlines with expensive tickets and limited flexibility”, says CEO Bjorn Kjos.

In 2013, Norwegian launched the only low cost long-haul routes between the United States and Scandinavia, and between Asia and Scandinavia.

This past year, according to Norwegian, 100,000 Americans have flown with Norwegian and 200 000 passengers have traveled from Europe to the United States with the company.

According to Norwegian, “Currently Norwegian employs 300 American cabin crew at the base in Fort Lauderdale and in New York and 200 at the base in Bangkok. Norwegian had over 6,000 applications for the 300 posts in the United States. 150 pilots fly its 787 Dreamliner and 40 more pilots will be employed, including the base in New York.

Norwegian currently has seven 787 Dreamliners in service. By 2018 the company will have a long-haul fleet of 17 Dreamliners.

Norwegian’s current long-haul Boeing 787 routes:

From New York (JFK): Stockholm (ARN), Oslo (OSL), Copenhagen (CPH), Bergen (BGO and London (LGW)

From Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL): Stockholm (ARN), Oslo (OSL), Copenhagen (CPH) and London (LGW)

From Los Angeles (LAX): Stockholm (ARN), Oslo (OSL), Copenhagen (CPH) and London (LGW)

From Oakland, CA (OAK): Stockholm (ARN) and Oslo (OSL)

From Orlando (MCO): Oslo (OSL)

From Bangkok (BKK): Oslo (OSL) to Stockholm (ARN)

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 EI-LNE (msn 34796) with Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen on the tail arrives in New York at JFK International Airport (JFK).

Norwegian:

Monarch to launch two ski routes from Birmingham this winter

Monarch Airlines (London-Luton) has announced two new routes from Birmingham Airport – to Salzburg and Turin – as part of its winter ski program for 2014/15. Flights will commence on December 13, 2014.

Monarch flies from Birmingham (BHX) to Salzburg (SZG) and Turin (TRN).

In addition, Monarch Airlines will offer twice-weekly London Gatwick – Agadir service starting on October 28.

Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 G-ZBAI (msn 2553) climbs away from Palma de Mallorca.

Monarch: