Tag Archives: Sharklets

Virgin America teams up with Here On Biz to connect business passengers

Virgin America (San Francisco) has issued this statement about teaming up with Here On Biz:

Virgin America and Here On Biz, the app that ensures entrepreneurs never miss an opportunity to connect, have teamed up to launch the first in-flight social network – rolling out on all domestic Virgin America flights by the end of February. With a growing following of always-connected, tech-forward business travelers, Virgin America will offer guests on flights nationwide the opportunity to “network on the fly” at 35,000 feet. Travelers can download the free Here On Biz app from the Apple App store before their flight and use it in the air to locate LinkedIn connections on their Virgin America flight, at the airport or en route to a conference. Relying on the airline’s fleetwide Gogo In-Flight WiFi network and purpose-built APIs that identify an aircraft’s location in the air, Here On Biz’s geo-location technology offers travelers the chance to connect via the app with guests on their specific flight, guests on other Virgin America flights in the air, or fellow travelers at their destination. This month through July 2014, guests on all domestic Virgin America flights can access the Here On Biz app for free through the Gogo network. App users can manage their privacy settings, so that travelers can shut off or limit their visible connections to others onboard.

In 2013, Virgin America surveyed a portion of its top Elevate frequent flyers in its New York, San Francisco and Dallas markets. The ability to network in-flight with other Virgin America flyers was a suggestion that came out of these focus group sessions. The Here On Biz app allows users to see business professionals nearby who are interesting and allows users to chat with those they are connected to. The app provides the real time location of a user’s contacts through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and those in the user’s address book who use the app. In a unique partnership with Gogo and Virgin America, the app is now taking networking to 35,000 feet.

How the Virgin America-Here on Biz In-Flight network works:

Download the new Here On Biz iOS app from the mobile app store before your flight.
Register a new account using your LinkedIn profile.
Rolling out to all domestic flights by the end of February, guests can start connecting when they log in at a gate or onboard at 35,000 feet via Gogo on Virgin America. App users will be able to connect with other Virgin America guests traveling on their particular flight, other travelers on any Virgin America aircraft currently airborne, or fellow Virgin America guests at their destination.

In May 2009, Virgin America became the first airline to offer fleetwide WiFi and today remains the only U.S airline to offer WiFi on every flight. In 2011, the airline became the first carrier to launch Gogo’s improved ATG-4 WiFi service on select flights. The ATG4 technology increases WiFi capacity by approximately four times the current performance through the addition of directional antenna, dual-modem and EV-DO Rev. B technologies. The airline intends to complete its fleetwide installation of ATG-4 in 2014. Virgin America is further investing in the connectivity of its fleet as the launch partner for Gogo’s next generation Ground to Orbit satellite WiFi technology. With power outlets at every seat, Virgin America regularly sees more than one-third of guests logging on to in-flight WiFi on its more popular long-haul flights.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 N361VA (msn 5515) with Sharklets prepares to start its takeoff roll at Los Angeles International Airport.

Virgin America:

Current Routes from San Francisco:

Cebu Pacific is interested in buying Tigerair Philippines

Cebu Pacific Air (Cebu Air, Inc) (Manila) has started negotiations to possibly acquire rival Tigerair Philippines (formerly SEAIR) (Manila and Clark) according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. If the two parties can reach agreement, the acquisition would need to pass several regulatory hurdles including the Philippines CAB.

Tigerair Philippines was formed when Tigerair (Tiger Airways) of Singapore acquired 40 percent of SEAIR (formerly Asian Wings) and renamed the airline.

Read the full story: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Cebu Pacific Air’s (Cebu Pacific Air.com) Airbus A320-214 RP-C3273 (msn 5498) with Sharklets approaches Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) for landing.

Cebu Pacific Air:

SEAIR:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Kok Chwee K.C. Sim/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 RP-C6319 (msn 5188) with “It’s more fun in the Philippines” lands in Singapore.

The complete Tigerair Route Map including Tigerair Philippines:

American to add nonstop Dallas/Fort Worth-Edmonton service on April 2

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) will add a new nonstop route connecting its Dallas/Fort Worth hub with Edmonton, Alberta starting on April 2, 2014. The new daily service will be operated with an Airbus A319 featuring eight First Class seats, 24 Main Cabin Extra seats with additional legroom and 96 Main Cabin seats.

The new service will operate daily, with the three-hour, 55-minute southbound flight leaving Edmonton at 8:10 a.m. (0810) and arriving in Dallas/Fort Worth at 1:05 p.m. (1305). The four-hour, five-minute northbound flight will leave Dallas/Fort Worth at 4:20 p.m. (1620) and arrive in Edmonton at 7:25 p.m. (1925).
About Edmonton International Airport:

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/Airlinersgallery.com. Airbus A319-115 N9002U (msn 5698) arrives at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

American Airlines:

JetBlue Airways starts new service to Port-au-Prince, Haiti

JetBlue Airways (New York) today launched three daily flights to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Toussaint Louverture International Airport (PAP) will be served once daily from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and twice daily from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL).

Port-au-Prince is JetBlue’s 82nd destination and its 24th destination internationally.

JetBlue’s schedule between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL) and Port-au-Prince (PAP) effective December 5, 2013:



FLL to PAP:	PAP to FLL:


Depart – Arrive	Depart – Arrive


6:30 a.m. – 8:25 a.m.	9:25 a.m. – 11:34 a.m.


12:40 p.m. – 2:38 p.m.	3:34 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.

JetBlue’s schedule between New York (JFK) and Port-au-Prince (PAP) effective December 5, 2013:



JFK to PAP:	PAP to JFK:


Depart – Arrive	Depart – Arrive


6:30 a.m. – 10:13 a.m.	11:10 a.m. – 3:07 p.m.

JetBlue Airways:

JetBlue now flies as far south as Lima, Peru (are Airbus A330s coming?)

JetBlue Airways (New York-JFK) is stretching its route map further south in Latin America suggesting the rumored Airbus A330s could be ordered in the future. Yesterday the fast-growing company began daily nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood to Lima, Peru. The new route is part of the airline’s continuous expansion at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood airport, where JetBlue now offers nonstop flights to 25 destinations, three of which are in South America. Lima is JetBlue’s 81st destination.

JetBlue’s schedule between Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL) and Lima, Peru (LIM), effective November 21, 2013:

FLL to LIM:	LIM to FLL:
Depart – Arrive	Depart – Arrive
5:40 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.	12:30 a.m. – 6:19 a.m.

Flights operate daily effective November 21, 2013 (southbound) and November 22, 2013 (northbound) –

All times local.

JetBlue’s flights between Fort Lauderdale and Lima, Peru, will be operated with its Airbus A320 fleet.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 WL N827JB (msn 5677) with Sharklets in the Blueberries tail design lands at Las Vegas.

JetBlue Airways:

Wizz Air to open its 19th base in Craiova, Romania

Wizz Air (Budapest) has announced its 19th base to be opened in Craiova, Romania in July 2014 with one based aircraft. A new Airbus A320 aircraft will be delivered in Craiova on July 23, 2014.

The new aircraft will support operations of a total of six Craiova routes and increase seat capacity in the first 12 months of based operations to over 260,000 seats. The airline believes this will also stimulate the local job market in aviation and tourism sectors as consumers will have access to more low cost routes. Wizz Air announced more weekly flights on the existing services to Milan Bergamo and London Luton, and announced four new routes to Barcelona, Bologna, Dortmund and Rome Ciampino, that will start operating from July 23, 2014.

WIZZ AIR’S NEW ROUTES FROM CRAIOVA:

To	Days	Starts	Fares from**
Bologna	Wed, Sun	23 July	RON 99
Rome Ciampino	Wed, Sun	23 July	RON 99
Dortmund	Tue, Thu, Sat	24 July	RON 129
Barcelona	Mon, Fri	25 July	RON 129

WIZZ AIR’S INCREASED FREQUENCIES FROM CRAIOVA:

To	Days per week
London Luton	from 2 to 4
Milan Bergamo	from 2 to 3

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 WL HA-LWV (msn 5660) with Sharklets lands at EuroAirport serving Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg.

Wizz Air:

Routes from the new base:

Nasair rebrands as Flynas with a new color scheme

Nasair (subsidiary of National Air Services) (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) has repainted this Airbus A320-200 with Sharklets in a new livery in Singapore. The new look rebrands the carrier as “Flynas” which trades on its website flynas.com URL address. The change was announced on November 13.

Copyright Photo: Kok Chwee K.C. Sim/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 VP-CXJ (msn 5716) appears in Singapore after emerging from the paint shop.

Flynas (Nasair):

Route Map:

Video (in Arabic):

Avianca Holdings reports adjusted net income of $99.1 million in the third quarter

Avianca Holdings S.A. (Avianca) (Bogota) for the third quarter of 2013 reported a consolidated adjusted net income of $99.1 million (all amounts in US dollars) excluding FX effects related to liabilities denominated in Colombian Pesos and on the gain on sale of assets. This represents an increase of 151.3% over the same period in 2012. Avianca´s adjusted net profit margin increased by 450 basis points reaching 8.5%. Including the aforementioned effects on net income, Avianca Holdings S.A. and its subsidiaries generated a net income of $39.9 million.

Operating revenue came in at $1.182 million, representing an increase of 9.6% over the same period of 2012. Said increase is the result of a rise of 9.4% in passenger income resulting from a growth of 3.5% in carried passengers. Cargo and other revenues grew by 10.9%. This increase is mainly driven by the cargo and loyalty program business unit.

Revenue per Seat Kilometer (RASK) grew 3.6% whereas the Cost per Available Seat Kilometer (CASK) in 3Q 2013, grew from USD$10.3 cents to USD$10.4 cents, an increase of 1,5% with respect to the same period in 2013.

EBITDAR (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and aircraft rentals) increased 23.1% with respect to 3Q 2012. The EBITDAR margin reached 20.1%.

Operating income (EBIT) for 3Q 2013 rose to $132.2 million, a 32.2% increase with respect to the $100.0 million reached in the same period in 2012. The operating margin in 3Q 2013 came in at 11.2%, increasing by 1.9pp with respect to 3Q 2012. Said rise was generated by an increase in operating revenue as well as by cost control measures.

Capacity, measured in ASKs (Available Seats per Kilometer) grew by 5.87% throughout 3Q 2013. This growth is driven by the expansion of Avianca’s operations in its core markets, the incorporation of larger aircraft as well as an improvement in operating cycles of 1.1%. Traffic measured in RPKs (Revenue Passenger Kilometer) grew 5.9%, resulting in a Load Factor of 82.0% representing an increase of 20 basis points with respect to the Load Factor of 3Q 2012.

In accordance with the fleet renovation and modernization plan, between July and September 2013, the company through its subsidiary Avianca S.A., took delivery of one Airbus A320 aircraft equipped with Sharklets (see above), one ATR 72-600 and one A330-200 freighter. As a result, Avianca Holdings S.A. subsidiaries ended the quarter with a consolidated operating fleet of 154 aircraft.

With these third quarter results, Avianca Holdings S.A. reports a consolidated net income for the last 9 months of $183.4 million, reaching accumulated net margin of 5.4% year to date.

During the remainder of 2013, the company expects to continue with a capacity expansion in its key markets, as a result the company forecasts ASK growth between 7% and 8% for the full year 2013 compared to 2012. In terms of passenger traffic, the company expects a sustained growth during the remainder of 2013. Passenger numbers are expected to increase between 9% and 10% for the full year 2013 and as a result the load factor should stand between 79% and 80%.

Avianca Holdings S.A. is an investment firm that serves as an instrument for the execution of the shareholders agreement which resulted in the integration process known as AviancaTaca and acts as the controlling company for the integrated operation of various airlines that operate both domestically and internationally: Aerovías del Continente Americano S.A. Avianca (Avianca), Tampa Cargo S.A. incorporated in Colombia, Aerolíneas Galápagos S.A. Aerogal incorporated in Ecuador, and the companies that make up the TACA Group: TACA Internacional Airlines S.A., incorporated in El Salvador; Líneas Aéreas Costarricenses S.A., LACSA, incorporated in Costa Rica, Trans American Airlines S.A. TACA Peru incorporated in Peru, Servicios Aéreos Nacionales S.A., SANSA incorporated in Costa Rica, Aerotaxis La Costeña S.A., incoporated in Nicaragua and Isleña de Inversiones C.A. de C.V. ISLEÑA incorporated in Honduras.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. The pictured Airbus A320-233 D-AXAS (msn 5840) was handed over to Avianca (Colombia) as N603AV on November 5.

Avianca (Colombia):

The first Airbus A321 is painted for American Airlines

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) will soon take delivery of its first Airbus A321-200. The first, the pictured A321-231 with the temporary registration of D-AVZK (msn 5834), has been pulled out of the paint shop at the Airbus facility in Hamburg (Finkenwerder). The first airframe will be delivered as N101NN.

American plans to take delivery of 130 current generation Airbus aircraft from the A321 and A319 variants and up to 100 Boeing 737-800s through 2017. American plans to configure some of the A321s for use on trans-continental flights and intends to use the remaining A321s, as well as all of the A319s and new Boeing 737-800s to retire aging aircraft in its existing fleet.

The A321 aircraft will be equipped with V2500-A5 engines from International Aero Engines (IAE), a joint venture between Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, MTU and JAEC.

American intends to take delivery of the A321s beginning in November 2013 through 2014. The A321 trans-continental aircraft will replace American’s existing fleet of Boeing 767-200s and fly between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and JFK and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

American intends to replace its fleet of domestic Boeing 757-200s and DC-9-82/83s (MD-80s) with A321s, A319s and Boeing 737-800s.

Beginning in 2017, American expects to begin taking delivery of 130 aircraft from the A320neo (New Engine Option) family featuring next-generation technology. The new aircraft are about 15 percent more fuel efficient than today’s models. American is scheduled to be the first network airline in the U.S. to deploy this new technology. Engine selection for the A320neo family aircraft will be made in the future.

The new type provide a three-class layout for trans-continental flights on its new Airbus A321s – which includes these full lie-flat beds in business class (all photos from Airbus).

Inside American Airlines’ new A321s – which are equipped with Sharklets – passengers will benefit from Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the cabin, as well as inflight entertainment (IFE) and 100v AC power outlets and USB jacks at every seat.

The first class cabin offered in American Airlines’ new Airbus A321s will feature full lie-flat beds for coast-to-coast direct service initially between New York and Los Angeles, followed by a New York-San Francisco route.

Top Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Airbus).

Have you seen the “new look” AirlinersGallery.com photo library website?

American Airlines:

Vueling to create a new base at Brussels with seven new routes

Vueling Airlines (Vueling.com) (Barcelona) will open a new base in Brussels in May 2014. The airline stated it would launch seven new routes from BRU to Ibiza, Lisbon, Oporto, Palma de Mallorca, Rome, Santiago de Compostela and Venice bringing the Brussels total to 11 routes.

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Vueling’s Airbus A320-214 EC-LVP (msn 5587) with Sharklets in the “Linking Europe” special scheme arrives at London Heathrow.

Vueling Airlines: