More flights from Stanstead says Jet2

The UK holiday airline, Jet2 will be increasing schedules and seats from London Stanstead Airport for summer 2019 the company has revealed this week.

The airline and holiday company is planning to base extra aircraft and adding another 100,000 seats from London Stansted, following strong demand from passengers and holidaymakers from the South and South East of England.

This airline says it will now base 12 aircraft at London Stansted next summer, the addition of a new aircraft means another 100,000 seats are going on sale from the Essex airport. That means total seat capacity at Stansted next summer will be over  1.85 million, an increase of 24% on Summer 18.

Jet2 advise they will operate to 36 different destinations during Summer 2019 from Stanstead including the Canary Islands, Cyprus, Turkey, Portugal, the Balearic Islands, and Mainland Spain.

The first Airbus A220-100 in Delta colours rolls out of the paint shop.

Another milestone in the development of the Airbus A220, formerly known as the Bombardier CSeries took place this week with the first Airbus A220-100 in Delta Air Lines colours rolling our the paint shop.

Larry Cato, a programme manager on Delta’s Fleet Management team, was onsite for the occasion. “There’s nothing like seeing years of planning come together in the shape of a freshly painted aircraft,” Cato said. “It’s a major milestone for the future of our fleet.” as the aircraft came out of the paint shop at the A220 assembly line in Mirabel, Quebec.

In total, the painting process took nine days to complete and used 200 rolls of masking tape and 165 gallons of paint and can be seen in a delightful time-lapse video. The new regional single-aisle jet that continues to surprise with its performance and comfort looked resplended in the Delta livery. 

Boston will be a new direct destination for Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines has confirmed it will be starting a new service to Massachusetts from 4th April next year.  "There is nowhere on Earth like Hawai'i, and we are bringing our islands closer than ever to Boston with nonstop service," said Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram. 

"Hawaiian is a unique airline because we have represented Hawai'i for nearly a century while flying people to, from and between the Hawaiian Islands. Each one of our routes starts or ends in the Aloha State. We look forward to sharing our warm hospitality with our New England guests whose vacation starts the minute they check in and step onto our plane."

The carrier will begin its five-day-a-week service on 4th April and at 5,095 miles, the route will become the longest regularly scheduled domestic route in US history.  The flight will be operated by the carriers fleet of Airbus A330 jets, offering superior comfort incorporating flowing curves evocative of the winds and the ocean, Hawaiian's spacious first-class cabin features 18 lie-flat leather seats that transform into 180-degree beds at a roomy 20.5 inches wide and 76 inches long. Aligned in a 2-2-2 configuration, the cabin feels roomy and expansive. 

Emotional support animals have a negative effect on travel - says US flight attendents

     

                 

Emotional support animals allowed on US flights continue to have a negative impact on air travel according to the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO (AFA) following a new national survey of US flight attendants released today.

The survey found that over 98% of all respondents had crewed a flight with at least one emotional support animal onboard during the last two years. 

"The rampant abuse of claiming a need for emotional support animals in air travel is negatively impacting all passengers. It's a safety, health, and security issue," said Sara Nelson, AFA President. 

The report detailed that 61% of the responding flight attendants reported working on a flight where an emotional support animal caused a disruption in the cabin; 53% of the disruptions included aggressive or threatening behaviour by the animal.  Examples include a dog snapping at a flight attendant's heel when they walked by or in another case an animal bit a flight attendant while they attempted to set a beverage on the tray table. Flight attendants also reported repeated barking, snapping, and lunging at crew members, passengers, and even children.

Jetstar Asia increases flight frequency to Okinawa

The only airline providing direct scheduled services between Singapore and Okinawa, Jetstar Asia has confirmed it will add an additional flight to the route to cope with increased demand.

The additional return service to Okinawa (Naha) will start from 15 November 2018, ahead of one of the busiest time of the year, the year-end school holidays, increasing the schedule from three to four flights a week. 

Since Jetstar started the route to Okinawa (Naha) a year ago, the carrier has welcomed thousands of passengers on the route.  "We understand how important low fares are to families over the holiday season and the additional service, as well as exceptional onboard service, will bring greater value to them." Says CEO of Jetstar Asia, Mr Bara Pasupathi.

Joon to head to Quito from May 2019

Starting on 14th May next year, the Air France network is expanding thanks to its airline exclusively for millennials, Joon, will be heading to Quito Ecuador, from the group's main hub of  Paris-CDG.

Passengers will be able to travel between the two capitals by Airbus A340 in the comfort of the new long-haul travel cabins, with 30 seats in the Business cabin, 21 seats in the Premium Economy cabin and 227 seats in the Economy cabin. 3 weekly flights will be offered starting at €299 including tax one way.

Flight schedules (in local time):

AF210: leaves Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 13h10, arrives in Quito at 18:05;

AF211: leaves Quito at 19h50, arrives in Paris at 13h50 the following day.

Flights operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays during the summer season2.

New route to Dallas Fort Worth for Air France from Paris

Air France has announced new international service between its main hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport.  The airline will operate up to five weekly flights beginning 31st March 2019, utilising Airbus A330 aircraft on the direct route.

"We're pleased to welcome Air France back to DFW Airport and bring more international flight service to the Dallas Fort Worth region," said Sean Donohue, chief executive officer at DFW Airport. "The new flights from Air France offer customers another convenient way to get to Europe for business connections or tourism."

Air Peace of Nigeria orders more Boeing aircraft

The US planemaker Boeing has announced today that Air Peace of Nigeria has made an order for ten 737 Max 8 aircraft during a signing ceremony in Lagos.

Air Peace already operates Boeing 737s between major cities in Central and West Africa. The airline, which recently added Boeing 777s to its fleet, is looking to soon launch its international flight operations.

"We are excited to add the 737 MAX to our fleet as we expand our network to offer more destinations and serve more passengers," said Allen Onyema, Chairman and CEO, Air Peace Limited. "The fuel efficiency and superior operating economics of the 737 MAX will ensure that the aircraft will play a major role in growing our business in the years to come."

"Africa is a growing market for commercial airplanes and we are proud that airlines like Air Peace are selecting Boeing aircraft to be part of that growth," said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Commercial Sales & Marketing for The Boeing Company. "This order reflects the strong demand that we are seeing for the 737 MAX as airlines choose the aeroplanes superior performance and reliability.".

(Photo 737 Max 9 from Boeing)

Third quater results for Transat A T

The Canadian Transat A.T. Inc. group, one of the largest integrated tourism companies in the world has released its results for the third quarter which ended on 31st July 2018.

"Like most of our competitors, we're affected by rising fuel prices, which impacted our summer results as we had forecasted in mid-June. Prices always take a certain time to adjust. We are still confident that we will meet our long-term targets, while Air Transat was just named the world's best leisure airline by Skytrax," stated Jean-Marc Eustache, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transat.

"During the quarter, we opened our hotel division's headquarters in Miami and identified attractive opportunities, some of which should materialize soon.".

Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport records its busiest ever summer.

PortsToronto, owners and operators of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, confirmed earlier this week, that it experienced its busiest summer on record with 817,171 passengers arriving and departing through the airport from June to August 2018. Both Porter Airlines and Air Canada contributed to the high passenger numbers, which were a combination of leisure and business travellers.

More than 817,000 Passengers passed through Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport from June to August!

SkyWest's August

SkyWest reported its August results earlier this week, which showed the airline achieved 155,900 block hours in August 2018, compared to 162,200 block hours in August 2017, a decrease of 6,300 or 3.9%.  The net decrease was consistent with SkyWest's fleet transition plan to improve the mix of aircraft in its fleet.

The year-over-year net change was primarily driven by approximately 7,800 additional block hours from its E175 aircraft (includes the E175 aircraft and the E175 SC aircraft) and a decrease of approximately 14,100 block hours from its other aircraft types.   

Southwest releases its latest figures.

August was another busy month for the US low-cost airline, Southwest Airlines, which was shown by the latest figures released by the carrier this week.

The latest results, released on Wednesday showed the company flew 11.4 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in August 2018, an increase of 1.3% from the 11.3 billion RPMs flown in August 2017. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 2.0 % to 13.5 billion in August 2018, compared with August 2017 ASMs of 13.3 billion. The August 2018 load factor was 84.3%, compared with 84.9% in August 2017.

Boeing get another US Air Force contract for the KC-46A Tanker

The U.S. Air Force and plane maker Boeing confirmed a $2.9 billion contract for 18 KC-46A tanker aircraft, spares, support equipment, spare engines and wing air refuelling pod kits, on Tuesday.

“We’re excited to partner with the Air Force on an aircraft that will provide its fleet unmatched capabilities and versatility,” said Mike Gibbons, Boeing KC-46A tanker vice president and program manager. “This is another big milestone for the team and we look forward to delivering this next-generation, multi-role tanker for years to come.”

Boeing plans to build 179 of the 767-based refuelling aircraft for the Air Force to replace its legacy tanker fleet. Tanker deliveries are expected to begin later this year.

Ryanair boss warns of an end to air services in Europe as a result of Bexit

The aggressive chief executive of the low-fare-high-fee carrier Ryanair, Michael O’Leary has again warned that flights between Europe and the UK will be halted for many days because of Brexit.

The airline boss, trying desperately to deflect media attention away from yet another strike by disgruntled employees, this time taking place in Germany today, stoked up media attention by repeating his dire Bexit warnings.

O'Leary claims he's had been no assurances on the issues of flights being allowed to continue, despite conversation to the contrary with officials from both the UK and European side. “Flights to and from Europe will be stopped in a hard deal Brexit,” the boisterous boss who favours the 'bullying' style of management said at a press conference in London on Wednesday. He said he believed the grounded flights scenario would not last more than “a couple of days or a couple of weeks”.

Although softening his stance, he uttered “I do think it’s possible that there will be an agreement on flights between the UK and the European 27, I’m just not sure that that will be reached in time for the first of April next year if there’s a hard Brexit,”

Canada's Swoop will head to Jamaca in December, the airline said today.

The ultra-low-cost airline owned by Canada's WestJet, Swoop has announced a new route today. The latest addition to the route network for the carrier will be Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The airline advises that its first Caribbean sun-destination will be Montego Bay in Jamaica. The airline will operate a service from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) to Sangster International Airport (MBJ) twice a week starting on 16th December until 24th April next year. 

"The addition of Montego Bay to our network is another important milestone," said Steven Greenway, President of Swoop. "Many Canadians of Jamaican origin live in the Toronto area, which makes this new route ideal for connecting friends, family and loved ones, as does the vacation appeal of replacing ten feet of snow with ten miles of white sand beaches this winter.".

"We are very excited to see Swoop continue to grow and expand its route offerings," said Cathie Puckering, President & CEO, John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. "Swoop began operation in June with domestic service, before adding U.S. destinations beginning this fall and further adding Caribbean service which will begin in December. We are proud to partner with Swoop and look forward to bringing our customers more services and destination offerings."