Cobalt Aero is adding two new routes for the winter season. The Cypriot carrier will add the Larnaca – Paris (CDG) route on December 4, 2016 and Larnaca – Birmingham on December 10, 2016.
Copyright Photo:ย Cobalt Air (cobalt-aero) Airbus A320-232 5B-DCR (msn 928) PMI (Ton Jochems). Image: 933645.
Route Map:
Copyright Photo:ย Edelweiss Air Airbus A340-313 HB-JMG (msn 562) PMI (Javier Rodriguez). Image: 935100.
https://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/World-Airline-News/World-Airline-News-Oct-2016/i-WfhBKjG/A
On October 5, 2016 Etihad and TUI issued this joint statement:
It is proposed to contribute the touristic operations of the Airberlin Group and the German TUIfly company, including the aircraft currently operated by TUIfly for Airberlin under a wet-lease agreement (see above), into a new airline group established by TUI AG and Etihad Aviation Group.
This new airline group would serve a broad network of destinations from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The leisure airline group will be supported by the expertise of Etihad Aviation Group, the fastest-growing aviation group in the world, and utilize TUIโs state-of-the-art distribution capacity.
TUI AG, Etihad Aviation Group and Air Berlin PLC intend to finalize an in-principle agreement in due course. Any agreement entered into will be subject to all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals. TUIfly is part of TUI Group, the worldโs number one tourism business, with around 75,000 employees serving 30 million customers a year, across the globe. TUI Group has a portfolio of more than 300 hotels, 14 cruise liners, six European airlines with around 140 aircraft and a wide-reaching distribution network, covering more than 1,800 travel agencies and online portals.
Etihad Aviation Group is a fast-growing diversified aviation and travel group, with more than 26,000 employees. It comprises four business divisions โ Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways Engineering, the Hala Group, its destination management company, and the Airline Equity Partners.
Etihad Aviation Group holds minority stakes in Air Berlin PLC, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Etihad Regional, Jet Airways and Virgin Australia.
Airberlin is the second largest airline in Germany and carried more than 30.2 million passengers in 2015. Airberlin offers a global route network through its strategic partnership with Etihad Airways, which has a 29.21 per cent shareholding in Airberlin, and through membership of the oneworldยฎ airline alliance.
Copyright Photo:ย TUI Airlines (Germany) Boeing 737-86J SSWL D-ABKI (msn 37748) PMI (Ton Jochems). Image: 933944.
Orange2fly Airlines (Athens) is a newย Greek airline charter company.
Orange2fly is now operating in own its full colors with titles on its first Airbus A320, the pictured SX-ORG (msn 1407) pictured today at Palma de Mallorca. This A320 has been operating on behalf of Aigle Azur during the peak summer season and has now returned to Orange2fly on September 12.
The new airline describes itself:
โorange2flyโ Airlines is a brand new Greek airline company, based in Athens, Greece which shall carry out worldwide operations in ACMI and the charter business. The company was established in September 2015 and will operate under a Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, Air Operator Certificate in accordance with the European Aviation Safety Agency Regulation. (EASA)
โorange2flyโ Airlines aims at filling a niche section in the air travel and cargo market, ensuring high quality service and customer satisfaction. The company will order initially with an Airbus 320 of 180 Economy seats.
Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com.
Airberlin and German TV channel ,TELE 5, are ushering in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the “Star Trek” TV and movie series with a special logojet.
TELE 5 holds the exclusive free-to-air TV broadcast rights for the original Star Trek series in Germany.
Copyright Photo:ย Airberlin (airberlin.com) Airbus A320-214 D-ABFG (msn 4291) (Star Trek – Tele 5) PMI (Javier Rodriguez). Image: 934827.
Eurowings (Dusseldorf) first Airbus A330-203 D-AXGA (msn 530), operated on behalf of Germanwings (2nd) (Cologne/Bonn) and performing flight 4U592 from Cologne/Bonn (Germany) to Palma de Mallorca (Spain) with 169 passengers and 13 crew, departed Cologne’s runway 14L when the engine access doors of the left hand engine (CF6) opened, separated and came to rest in the first third of the runway. The crew continued the flight and in absence of abnormal indications landed in Palma Mallorca without further incident about 2 hours later.
The airline confirmed that parts of the engine cowling separated, there were no abnormal indications, the crew received information when the aircraft was over southern France and continued the flight to Palma Mallorca. Lufthansa Technik as well as Germany’s BFU are investigating as to why the parts separated.
Germany’s BFU confirmed they were informed about the separation of parts of the cowling of the left hand engine and are currently undertaking a technical examination in coordination with Spain’s CIAIAC.
The Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), Germany’s ATC provider, reported that tower did not observe parts separating from the engine, the parts were later reported by another crew, collected in a runway inspection and identified, which took about 45 minutes. The crew was informed about the parts of engine cowling having been found when the aircraft was over southern France about one hour after departure.
Assistant Editor Javier Rodriguez reporting from Palma de Mallorca.
Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez.
Eurowings (Dusseldorf) made its Airbus A330-200 commercial debut on October 14, 2015, initially operating service for Germanwings (2nd) (Cologne/Bonn). The new type entered service operating a flight from Cologne/Bonn to Palma de Mallorca as flight GWI588. The airline will also operate a flight from Hamburg to Palma de Mallorca from October 19. Services from both German cities to Palma will end on October 31.
On November 2, Eurowings will launch intercontinental Airbus A330 service to Veradero, Cuba, followed by the Caribbean destinations of Puerto Plata and Punta Cana. In addition, the airline will offer nonstop service to Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand, as well as Dubai.
The airline have two A330s which are wet leased from the Lufthansa-Turkish Airlines joint venture SunExpress. The Eurowings A330s are formerly EVA Air aircraft. The new Eurowings Europe GmbH was launched in Vienna on August 10, 2015.
The Eurowings A330s have 21 premium seats and 289 in economy, including a 46-seat economy โMore Comfortโ zone. This 310 seat configuration is a major change compared to Lufthansaโs three-class A330s which have 217-221 seats.
Assistant Editor Javier Rodriguez reporting from Palma de Mallorca.
Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-203 D-AXGA (msn 530) D-AXGA it pictured on its final approach runway 06L at Palma de Mallorca with the nice autumn light.
Eurowings aircraft slide show:ย 
Eurowings (Dusseldorf) in February, through its parent (Lufthansa Group,) announced Vienna, Austria would be its first base outside of Germany:
“Following close consultation with Austrian Airlines (Vienna) and at the carrierโs own request, two Airbus A320 aircraft are being stationed at VIE initially, offering point-to-point connections on European routes. The aircraft are to fly in the colors of the new Eurowings. The aircraft will be staffed with crews from Austrian. This partnership is possible as a result of Austrianโs new collective agreement, which was entered into in December 2014 and offers additional prospects to the 900 pilots and 2,300 flight attendants.
With the new Eurowings brand, the Lufthansa Group is entering new markets in the price-sensitive leisure travel sector, thereby safeguarding its leading position in its home markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. By the end of 2015, Eurowings and Germanwings along with other European airlines are to be united on a joint platform and should acquire new customers by offering low-cost short and long-haul services.”
In October, Eurowings will be taking over 55 routes from Germanwings along with the appropriate amount of aircraft and crews to fly the newly assigned routes.
Eurowings has now announced a further expansion at VIE with four additional routes starting on ย November 9 to Barcelona, London (Stansted), Palma de Mallorca and Rome (Fiumicino).
The new Eurowings will operate the Airbus A320s in Austria under a new Austrian AOC.
Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 D-AIZR (msn 5525) approaches the runway at Zurich.
Eurowings aircraft slide show:ย
easyJet (UK) (London) is adding five new routes from Vienna this fall. The carrier is adding new routes from VIE to Amsterdam (December 17), Berlin (Schoenefeld) (October 29), Bristol (November 6), London (Luton) October 23) and Manchester (November 5).
In other news, easyJet has issued this statement about a possible strike from its cabin staff and its plans to operate a full schedule:
easyJet can reassure its passengers that there is no industrial action currently planned by its UK cabin crew and that easyJet is confident it will operate its full summer flight schedule.
easyJet values the contribution our cabin crew make to the company. โeasyJetโs cabin crew receive the highest pay in the UK airline industry with total annual package of ยฃ25,000 – which is in line with the average UK national wage for all workers. All crew share in easyJetโs success through an annual bonus and share awards. easyJet has now awarded its UK cabin crew increases of 4.1% for cabin crew and 5.1% for cabin managers over two years backdated to January 2015 on top of an already market leading set of pay and conditions in the UK.
Following months of discussions with UNITE, the UK cabin crew union, including talks facilitated by ACAS, and despite a series of pay offers easyjet was unable to reach an agreement with the union.
As a result the airline has awarded its cabin crew with the pay increase which was put forward during the pay discussion process.
We believe it is right to make the award now since cabin crew, the majority of which are not union members, have been waiting for a conclusion to the pay discussions for a number of months.
easyJet is disappointed that in a recent Unite pay ballot members voted to reject the offer however we note that the majority of easyJetโs cabin crew are not members of Unite and we estimate that only one in five of easyJet’s UK cabin crew voted against the offer.
The offer was well above inflation and above recent pay increases received by BA and Thomas Cook under agreements with UNITE.
Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 G-EZOL (msn 6572) in the new livery and the special “250th Airbus” markings.
easyJet aircraft slide show:ย
Jet2 (Jet2.com) (Leeds/Bradford) has issued this statement concerning the rise of disruptive passenger behavior:
As the summer holiday season moves into full swing, the UKโs largest holiday companies are reporting a record double figure rise in disruptive passenger behavior. As a result, leading leisure airline Jet2.com, along with some of the UKโs biggest travel operators, is calling for industry-wide measures to tackle what has become a serious problem for the travel sector.
Phil Ward, Managing Director of Jet2.com said, โWe are a family airline and holiday company carrying millions of passengers every year. These are people who have chosen to take their well-earned summer breaks with us and we want them to have a wonderful time. Therefore, under no circumstances will we allow the disruptive few to spoil the experience for the majority of the fantastic customers that fly with us.โ
Jet2.com is working closely with other high profile holiday companies, industry bodies such as BATA (British Air Transport Association), the AOA (Airport Operators Association) and the UKโs leading airports, to put in place a series of comprehensive measures to tackle disruptive conduct associated with air travel.
Over the past two years, unruly and disorderly behavior often linked to excessive alcohol consumption prior to embarkation has risen drastically on-board aircraft. Cabin crew increasingly have to deal with people displaying abusive, racist and often noisy and aggressive conduct, causing misery and disruption for other passengers nearby.
Jet2.com has already put in place a series of measures under its โOnboard Togetherโ program, to educate passengers about the effects of alcohol at high altitude, and to outline its policies. It has empowered its staff to take decisions quickly regarding disruptive passengers including verbal and written warnings and, ultimately, the ability to divert the aircraft to the nearest airport to off-load particularly offensive people before flying remaining passengers onto their holiday destination. Measures also include banning disruptive passengers for life, handing them over to the police, issuing a bill for the cost of the diversion and taking legal action, post travel.
Jet2.com, along with its fellow operators, has also written to the Secretary of State for Transport, urging more decisive action from the government to help them enforce new policies to ensure unpleasant and disruptive behaviour during air travel is eradicated.
Continues Phil Ward, โBy far and away the majority of the travelling public are decent people wanting to have a great holiday. We want people to have a fantastic time from the moment they start their holidays with us. Most passengers absolutely know how to behave on board, whilst having a good time too. Itโs for that reason that we must stamp out this rise in disruptive behavior.โ
Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Jet2’s Boeing 737-8K2 WL G-GDFC (msn 28375) with “Points for FREE flights” sub-titles taxies at Palma de Mallorca.
Jet2 aircraft slide show:ย
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