Tag Archives: Tenerife South

Norwegian’s pilots continue to strike as talks fail

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian Air Norway) (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) continues to face a strike by its pilots after overnight mediated talks on a new collective agreement failed. The strike today enters the eighth day. The strike by its pilots, represented by the NPU and labor group Parat, will continue indefinitely. As a result Norwegian is canceling today all flights in Norway and Sweden and most flights between the Scandinavian capitals.

Norwegian issued a statement (translated from Norwegian):

“Norwegian has submitted several proposals that provide all the Scandinavian pilots job security, employment guarantee for three years, to keep their good wage conditions and not the least, their ties with the parent company. Therefore it is extremely sad that it was not possible to reach an agreement with Norwegian Pilot Union (NPU) and Parat with the national mediator. The strike continues, unfortunately indefinitely.

Norwegian deeply regrets that the strike will continue and that travelers, employees and others are affected. After many hours of negotiations on Friday night to Saturday, both sides failed to reach a solution. Norwegian wants an end to the strike and has gone a long way economically to end the strike and bring peace to the Group. The company has submitted written guarantees to the NPU on key points that job security, job security, and to become attached to the group.”

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-81D LN-NOR (msn 39412) completes the final approach into beautiful Tenerife Sur (Tenerife South Airport) in the Canary Islands.

Norwegian aircraft slide show:

Ryanair to make Berlin Schonefeld its 73rd base

Ryanair (Dublin) has announced it will open a new base at Berlin (Schonefeld), its 73rd base, from October with five based Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ryanair will launch 16 new routes (22 in total) as part of its Berlin Winter 2015 schedule, which will grow Ryanair’s Berlin traffic to 2.6 million customers a year.

16 new routes include: Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Bari, Bologna, Bratislava, Brussels, Glasgow, Madrid, Malaga, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Riga, Rome (Ciampino), Venice and Valencia.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8AS EI-EVH (msn 40290) prepares to land at Tenerife Sur.

Ryanair aircraft slide show:

Ryanair announces its 72nd base in the Azores

Ryanair (Dublin) has announced a new base at Ponta Delgada Airport in the Azores. The Azores will be the Irish budget carrier’s 72nd base, and fourth in Portugal. Ryanair released the following statement:

“Ryanair, Europe’s favorite low fares airline, today announced it will open its fourth Portuguese base in the Azores from April 2015 with one based Boeing 737-800 and three new routes to London Stansted, Lisbon and Porto.”

The ultra low-cost carrier is also in discussions with the government of the Azores about possible services to Terceira and additional international flights to the islands.

In other news, ch-aviation is reporting Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has revealed that the carrier is planning to lease seven aircraft to cover next year’s summer high season.

The airline currently operates 302 Boeing 737-800s on flights covering 180 destinations scattered throughout Europe and North Africa.

This year, the carrier wet leased four Boeing 737-400s, split between AirExplore (Bratislava) and Air Contractors (Dublin), three Boeing 737-800s from flydubai (Dubai), and a maiden Airbus A320-200 from defunct Italian carrier Livingston Compania Aerea (2nd) (Milan), for the duration of the summer

Reported by Oliver Wilcock, Assistant Editor, from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8AS EI-EXE (msn 40321) gracefully climbs away from Tenerife Sur.

Ryanair aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-3/Airlines-Europe3-QZ/Ryanair

Jet2 expands at Newcastle and Belfast for the summer of 2015

Jet2.com (Jet2holidays) (Leeds/Bradford) is continuing its growth at Newcastle International Airport with the launch of four brand new destinations for the summer of 2015. The discount airline will launch new routes from NCL to Antalya (Turkey) (weekly, May 22), Larnaca (Cyprus) (weekly May 27), Malta (weekly May 21) and Zante (Zakinthos) (weekly May 27).

The company has also announced a significant expansion plans at Belfast International Airport, including new routes, an additional aircraft plus even more seats for the summer of 2015. The new routes include Prague and Rome and the sunshine hotspots of Gran Canaria and Zante.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 757-27B G-LSAE (msn 24135) in the Jet2holidays livery (which is based on Allegiant Air’s color scheme) departs from Tenerife Sur. The 757 was previously painted in a promotional livery for Newcastle International Airport when they celebrated 75 years .

Jet2:

Ryanair to launch new Manchester winter services

Ryanair (Dubin) has announced it will launch a new Manchester winter route to/from Shannon as part of an extended Manchester winter 2014 schedule, with 24 routes in total, including four other new routes to Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lisbon and extra frequencies to Madrid, Riga and Rome.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8AS EI-DPK (msn 33610) arrives for landing at Tenerife Sur.

Ryanair:

Avianca to start nonstop Cartagena-New York service on July 17

Avianca (Colombia) (Bogota) will launch a new route from Cartagena nonstop to New York (JFK) on July 17. The new route will be operated three days a week with Airbus A319s per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A3219-132 N690AV (msn 5944) with Sharklets departs from Tenerife (Sur) on its delivery flight.

Avianca (Colombia):

Norwegian flies over 1.8 million passengers in March, an increase of 25 percent

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) is growing fast and its traffic is booming. The passenger volume grew by 25 percent alone in March. The company issued this statement (translated from Norwegian):

Norwegian flew over 1.8 million passengers in March 2014, an increase of 25 percent over the same month last year. Capacity growth was in the high 51 percent, in absolute terms the largest capacity growth that Norwegian has ever had in a month.

In March flew 1,805,551 passengers on Norwegian, an increase of 25 percent compared with the same month last year. The total traffic growth (RPK) increased by 52 percent in March, while capacity growth (ASK) increased by 51 percent. This represents an increase of 1.2 billion seat kilometers, the largest capacity growth ever during a month. The passenger load factor was 77.8
percent in March, up 0.2 percentage points compared with the same month last year.

Despite the increased load factor, this year’s late Easter had a negative impact on the load factor in March.

We have a record capacity growth this month, something that depends on the establishment of new bases outside Scandinavia and the launch of several new routes and flights throughout its route network. Despite strong growth in capacity and this year’s late Easter filled planes slightly better than the same period last year. It shows that Norwegian holds the promise of good quality and low prices, said CEO Bjørn Kjos.

In March came two brand-new aircraft; a Boeing 737-800 and a 787 Dreamliner. In 2014, Boeing will deliver 14 Boeing 737-800s and four 787 Dreamliners. Norwegian’s fleet is among the most modern and environmentally friendly in Europe.

Norwegian completed 99.7 percent of scheduled flights in March, of which 87.1 percent departed at the scheduled timetable.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-86N LN-NOJ (msn 37884) with Danish astronomer Tycho Brache on the tail lands at Tenerife Sur (South).

Norwegian:

Routes from Oslo:

Etihad Airways reportedly will raise its share in Airberlin to 49.9%, could it be merged with Alitalia?

Airberlin (ariberlin.com) (Berlin-Tegel) and Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi), which currently controls 29.21 percent of the Airberlin stock, are reportedly in negotiations about Etihad Airways raising its stake to 49.9 percent according to Reuters, citing the Wirtschafts Woche magazine.

Wirtschafts Woche magazine is reporting a group of German shareholders, among them former and current Airberlin executives, will raise their share to more than 50 percent as required by German law.

The article also reports Airberlin would be delisted if the sale is completed.

This report, if correct, would explain why Airberlin delayed its annual meeting by one week citing an imminent announcement to be made about ownership.

Etihad Airways has been on a buying spree lately for airlines that need financial help. The fast growing Gulf carrier has been in negotiations with Alitalia (2nd) (Rome) about a possible buy-in. This has lead to speculation that Airberlin, Niki and Alitalia could be combined with a common Etihad ownership thread.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airberlin’s Boeing 737-86J D-ABML (msn 37773) prepares to land at Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

Airberlin:

Etihad Airways:

Airberlin delays its annual meeting and financial results due to “advance discussions on options” with an unnamed party

Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin-Tegel) has delayed its annual meeting for a week and issued this statement:

Air Berlin PLC is currently in advanced discussions on options, which, if implemented, would have a substantial effect of the company. The company therefore postpones its annual press conference and the analysts and investors conference from March 20, 2014 to March 27, 2014.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 D-ABCJ (msn 5126) prepares to land at the lunar landscape of Tenerife Sur.

Airberlin:

Tomorrow Finnair celebrates 90 years of flying

Finnair (Helsinki) tomorrow marks exactly 90 years since Finnair’s first commercial flight. On March 20, 1924, Finnair’s first flight transported 357 pounds of mail from Katajanokka in Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia aboard a Junkers F13 D-335 seaplane. Finnair, originally called Aero Oy, was founded on November 1 of the previous year.

Nine decades later, Finnair currently operates 43 aircraft traveling to more than 60 destinations around the world and employs nearly six thousand people. Last year, the company transported 9.3 million passengers, which represents 60 percent of all passengers that passed through Helsinki Airport. Air traffic plays a central role in Finnish business and the national economy, directly and indirectly employing over 120,000 people in Finland.

Today, Finnair, the world’s sixth-oldest airline still in operation, has six daily flights on weekdays between Helsinki and Tallinn operated by Flybe.

According to Flightstats, Finnair was the world’s most punctual airline in four different months last year, and in 2013 it operated the world’s second most punctual airline network.

Finnair’s recent milestones include the launch of new routes to Xi’an and Hanoi, design cooperation with Marimekko, renewed inflight dining options in Business Class, new and environmentally friendly offices, and becoming the first airline in the world to take delivery of new A321 Sharklet aircraft (see photo above).

Later this year Finnair is set to enter a joint business on EU-Japan traffic with fellow oneworld partners British Airways and Japan Airlines. Furthermore, Finnair will continue the retrofit of its widebody fleet with seats in Business Class that convert to full-flat beds. In 2015 Finnair will become the first European airline to operate the next-generation Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.

The Finnish Airline Pilots’ Association and the Finnish Aviation Museum will organize a joint celebration to mark the 90th anniversary of Finnair’s maiden flight at 12:00 pm on March 20 at Matruusinpuisto park in Helsinki’s Katajanokka district. The event is open to all aviation enthusiasts. Weather permitting, the event will also feature a visit by a seaplane.

Follow the events celebrating the 90th anniversary of Finnair’s maiden flight on Twitter under the hashtag #Finnair90.

Congratulations Finnair!

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Newly-delivered Airbus A321-231 OH-LZH (msn 5803) with Sharklets prepares to land at Tenerife Sur.

Finnair:

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