The base in Madrid is Norwegian’s sixth Spanish base along with Barcelona, โโAlicante, Malaga, Las Palmas and Tenerife. Norwegian also has bases in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, UK, USA and Thailand.
Two Boeing 737-800 aircraft will be stationed in Madrid and about 75 pilots and cabin staff have been recruited to the base. Norwegian has now 64 flights a week from Madrid to eight destinations (Stockholm, Copenhagen, London, Helsinki, Oslo, Malta, Hamburg and Warsaw).
The six bases in Spain together have 116 routes to and from Spain.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8JP LN-NGU (msn 39030) with special 1000th markings prepares to land on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
Jet2 (Jet2.com) (Leeds/Bradford) in May 2015 will add three new routes from its Leeds/Bradford base to Antalya (starting on May 21, 2015), Malta (May 23) and Kelalonia (May 27) per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8Z9 G-GDFP (msn 28177) prepares to land at Tenerife Sur in the Canary Islands.
Aer Lingusโ (Dublin) inaugural flight today (May 1), from Shannon to Faro took to the skies as planned. The three times weekly service will operate until the end of October, giving customers in the West of Ireland direct access to the ever-popular holiday resort of the Algarve.
In addition, Aer Lingus operates daily flights between Shannon and London Heathrow, three flights a week to New York and four flights a week to Boston. Aer Lingus Regional operates daily flights between Shannon and Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester.
This brings the total number of weekly flights with Aer Lingus from Shannon to 58 with over 8,000 seats available each week, from May through to October.
On the financial side, for the first quarter the company reported anย operating loss of โฌ48.5 million ($67.2 million) which was โฌ3.0 million ($4.1 million) or 6.6% higher than the first quarter of 2013. This result reflects the later timing of Easter in 2014 and the negative effect of threatened industrial action on booking volumes in March 2014. This threatened action resulted in the cancellation of flights in advance of St. Patrickโs weekend as well as the forced re-booking and re-accommodation of a significant number of passengers.
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.
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 Bjรธrn 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).
Airberlin (ariberlin.com) (Berlin-Tegel)ย and Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi), which currently controls ย 29.21 percent of the Airberlin stock, are reportedly in negotiations aboutย 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.
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 (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.
Finnair (Helsinki) tomorrowย marks exactly 90 years since Finnairโs first commercial flight. On March 20, 1924, Finnairโs 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 onย 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 worldโs 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 worldโs most punctual airline in four different months last year, and in 2013 it operated the worldโs second most punctual airline network.
Finnairโs recent milestones include the launch of new routes to Xiโan 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 fellowย 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 Pilotsโ Association and the Finnish Aviation Museum will organize a joint celebration to mark the 90th anniversary of Finnairโs maiden flight at 12:00 pm on March 20ย at Matruusinpuisto park in Helsinkiโs 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 Finnairโs 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.
Monarch Airlinesย (London-Luton) will begin offering twice-weekly Airbus A321 service from London (Luton) to Antalya starting on March 30 per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-231 G-ZBAE (msn 5606) with Sharklets arrives at Tenerife Sur.
Thank you for your support and readership of World Airline News. This is our 10,000th post.
Ryanair (Dublin) on February 27 opened its second base in Belgium at Brussels (Zaventem) with four based Boeing 737-800s. The ultra low-fare airline will operate to 10 destinations (Alicante, Barcelona, Ibiza, Lisbon, Malaga, Palma, Porto, Rome, Valencia and Venice) with 200 weekly flights.
In other news, the carrier on February 26ย added extra flights on nine London Stansted routes to Bologna, Dublin, Lanzarote, Marrakech, Paphos, Riga, Salzburg, Santiago and Tours.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8AS EI-EVV (msn 40314) with special “Krakow and Malopolska” sub-titles departs from the lunar-like landscape of Tenerife (Sur) in the Canary Islands.
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