Jet2 (Jet2.com) (Leeds/Bradford) is expanding operations to Alicante, Spain from three U.K. airports this autumn.ย A total of 42 extra flights will now be available to the Costa Blanca area from Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford and Manchester.
The new flights will operate between September 30 and November 16, 2015.
Copyright Photo: Richard Vandervord/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 757-21B G-LSAG (msn 24014) ย taxies at Manchester.
Jet2 aircraft slide show:ย 
Flybe Group Plc (Exeter) reported a pre-tax loss for its full fiscal yearย of ยฃ35.6 million ($55 million) for the fiscal year ending on March 31, down from a pre-tax profit of ยฃ8.1 million ($12.5 million) for the previous fiscal year.
Flybe blamed its massive loss on having more Embraer E-Jets than it needs. It also blamed the loss of the costly disposal of its Finnish joint venture.
In other news,ย Flybe on June 1 opened its second base in less than a month, this time at Cardiff Airport, with passengers boarding inaugural flights to Edinburgh, Paris and Dublin as part of its extended route network that includes brand new routes to Cork, Duesseldorf, Faro, Glasgow, Munich, and Milan.
The first of the two 118-seat Embraer 195 aircraft to be based at the airport jetted into Cardiff to begin operations.
The 10-year agreement secured with Cardiff Airport creates an additional half-million extra seats for sale each year, supporting 50 new jobs that includes flight crew. Last month, Flybe opened another new two-aircraft base at Bournemouth with Bombardier Q400 aircraft.
Copyright Photo: Rob Skinkis/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Flybe Embraer ERJ 190-200LR (ERJ 195) G-FBEA (msn 19000029) arrives in Manchester.
Flybe aircraft slide show:ย
Austrian Airlines (Vienna) will resume daily Vienna – Manchester Fokker 100 service on September 10 per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Previously operated by Tyrolean Airways as Austrian arrows, all Fokker 100s are now operated by a combined and new Austrian Airlines. Tyrolean Airways was quietly closed down on March 31, 2015. Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100 (Fokker 100) OE-LVI (msn 11468) departs from London (Heathrow).
Austrian Airlines aircraft slide show:ย
Austrian-Tyrolean aircraft slide show:ย
Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) has announced that it is expanding its services to the United States from its Manchester hub. From May 2016, the carrier will fly to Los Angeles and Boston. Thomas Cookโs fleet of Airbus A330-200s will most likely serve the routes, which, as previously reported, already serve routes to New York (JFK) and Miami as well as seasonal services to Las Vegas and Orlando.
Unfortunately, if you are one of the people eagerly waiting for Thomas Cook to open its seasonal service from London Gatwick to Reno, Nevada beginning on December 19, your luck may be out. The Reno Gazette is reporting that the carrier has abandoned its plans for the route, citing U.S. Customs’ inability to process London arrivals at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in a timely manner.
Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.
Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 G-OMYT (msn 301) in the old 2002 livery with the Sunny Heart tail logo prepares to land at Stockholm (Arlanda).
Thomas Cook Airlines aircraft slide show:ย
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 carrierโs fleet of Airbus A330-200s, with the inaugural flight to Miami being served by the first aircraft to be fully painted in the airlineโs new 2013 โSunny Heartโ 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:
โWelcome to Miami! Our first flight touched down in the ‘magic city’. Have fun everyone, we are not jealous… Much!!โ
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:ย
EgyptAir (Cairo) will resume the Cairo – Manchester route on July 3 initially with three weekly flights per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-866 SU-GDX (msn 40757) approaches the runway at London (Heathrow).
EgyptAir aircraft slide show:ย
Iraqi Airways (Baghdad) announced on February 20 that it will begin services to Manchester, UK beginning on March 15, 2015.
The twice-weekly service, flown by one of the carrierโs Boeing 737-800s, will include the first flight being between Manchester and Erbil on Wednesdays at 22:00 and the second flight being between Manchester and Sulaymaniyah on Sundays, also departing at 22:00.
Erbil is the largest city and capital of the semi-autonoumous Kurdistan region of Iraq. Erbil is located 55 miles east of Mosul.
Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Copyright Photo: Brandon Farris/AirlinersGallery.com. Brand new Boeing 737-8Z YI-ASR (msn 40080) was just handed over to the carrier on February 20.
Iraqi Airways aircraft slide show:ย
Air France (Paris) on Saturday (February 21) diverted its flight AF 007 from New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG) to Manchester. The prestigious flight was operated with an Airbus A380. The 460 people aboard the Air France flight were diverted to Manchester at 11.30 am (1130), but were not allowed off the Super Jumbo until around 6 pm (1800) on the same day.
It all started in New York, where passengersโ tempers were already being tried after flight AF 007 had been delayed from taking off by around four hours at New York while the aircraft had to be de-iced.
But once the aircraft entered UK airspace, the few hundred people were begging to get off.
The 4 hour delay meant that the flight crew would have exceeded their allowance of flying hours, so the captain decided to take a sommeil (pardon my French) in my beloved Manchester. At the time, Manchester was experiencing torrential rain, I might add.
The aircraft touched down at 11:30 am (UK time) and that is where it happened. Six and a half hours on the grounded plane with reported no food or water.
Air France had originally told passengers it would send a new crew to fly the plane onto its destination. However, while pre-flight checks were being carried out a technical fault was then discovered in the cabin. The airline then said it would fly three extra planes (two Airbus A318s and an A320) over to collect the passengers, but these relief aircraft took hours to arrive. After being eventually let off the double decker A380, passengers were taken to a waiting room near departures, where they say around 50 burgers were provided.
You can already imagine the tweets and statuses by the passengers. With the common denominators being โawful experienceโ and โworst flight of my lifeโ.
The story that really shocks me is of a woman whoโs destination was actually Manchester, but almost wasnโt allowed to end her journey prematurely.
She had been due to get a connecting flight back to Manchester from Paris – but refused to get on the later service and went home without her luggage.
The woman, who lives in south Manchester, told the Manchester Evening News: “They wouldn’t let us off the plane – I kept saying ‘I only live down the road, please can you let me off?
“But there were other people on there flying to all over Europe from Paris. There was no food whatsoever. There were kids who hadn’t eaten since leaving New York the previous day who had had no food.
“There was a lot of frustration on the flight, people were getting quite annoyed. Eventually, about 6ย pm they let us off into a secluded area near departures and 50 Burger King burgers were sent down.”
“About 13 of us who live in the UK refused to get on the later flight to Paris so eventually they let us go, but our bags had to go on the original plane and I am still waiting to get my luggage back.”
Manchester Airport did not comment.
Air France said in a statement it “understands well the exasperation of its customers in this situationโ.
Read more from The Telegraph: CLICK HERE
Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reports from Manchester.
Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Formerly with the special 80 Ans/Years logo, Airbus A380-861 F-HPJI (msn 115) no longer wears the special logo.
Air France aircraft slide show:ย
Flybe (Exeter) flight BE 202 from Manchester to Inverness landed at the Scottish airport at 10:14 am yesterday morning, January 20, before encountering ice on the runway and skidding off onto the nearby grass.
The aircraft involved was the pictured Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) registered G-JEDW (msn 4093).
None of the 47 passengers and four crewmembers were injured by the incident and all were immediately transferred to the terminal building by bus.
Temperatures of -3ยฐ were recorded around the airport following the coldest night of the year in Scotland where temperatures dropped to -12ยฐ.
A Flybe spokesman said: โFlybe can confirm that, when taxiing at low speed at the end of the runway having landed safely at Inverness Airport this morning, the wheels of the Q400 aircraft skidded on the surface of the airfield causing it to slide onto the grass.
โThe 47 passengers and four crew were unharmed and exited the aircraft by the stairs for bus transfer to the terminal where they collected their luggage as normal.
“The safety of its passengers and crew is the airlineโs number one priority and Flybe regrets any inconvenience experienced as a result of this incident.โ
Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Read more (with photos) from the Mirror: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. G-JEDW before its was repainted in the new livery.
Flybe aircraft slide show:
http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Flybe
Southwest Airlines (Dallas)ย is adding more nonstop flights and connections between Seattle/Tacoma and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Boston and Manchester and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for the Super Bowl. The additional flights will only be offered between January 29 and February 2 to handle the anticipated increase in travelers.
Copyright Photo: Mark Durbin/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Southwest Airlines’ Boeing 737-3H4 N654SW (msn 28399) taxies to the runway at San Francisco International Airport.
Southwest Airlines aircraft slide show (new livery only):
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