Billy Bishop Airport Named One of North America's Best at the Skytrax World Airport Awards

Last night, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport was named one of North America's best airports at the Skytrax World Airport Awards, which are voted on by air travellers in the largest annual global airport customer satisfaction survey. Billy Bishop Airport was ranked the tenth best regional airport in North America, and also ranked the tenth best airport globally in the under 5 million passenger category.

Chris Cosentino in culinary collaboration with Hong Kong Airlines

Hong Kong Airlines has announced a new culinary collaboration with San Francisco-based celebrity chef and television personality Chris Cosentino before its inaugural flight to San Francisco. Chef Cosentino is known for his San Francisco restaurant, Cockscomb, where he reinterprets classic San Francisco dishes by adding his own unique twist. He is also known as the winner of Top Chef Masters, a contestant on The Next Iron Chef and his appearance on Iron Chef America in addition to his extensive work raising awareness and funds for Chefs Cycle for No Kid Hungry, a national charity fighting to end childhood hunger.

Hainan Airlines Launches Shenzhen-Brussels and Shenzhen-Madrid Nonstop Services

Hainan Airlines launched nonstop service between Shenzhen and Brussels on March 20 then followed up with the rollout of a similar service between Shenzhen and Madrid on March 22. Following the success of the Beijing-Brussels and Shanghai (Pudong)-Brussels services, the Shenzhen-Brussels service is Hainan Airlines' third direct flight service to the Belgian capital while the Shenzhen-Madrid service is the airline's first direct international route between mainland China and Spain. The launch of the two services, which further complement Hainan Airlines' European route network, will allow both China and Europe to benefit from the Chinese government's One Belt, One Road initiative and provide more convenience for passengers travelling between China and Belgium, Spain and other European countries.

Boeing, SkyUp Airlines Finalize Order for Five 737 MAX Airplanes

Boeing and SkyUp Airlines announced they have finalized a firm order for five 737 MAX airplanes valued at $624 million at list prices. The order includes two 737 MAX 8 and three 737 МАХ 10 jets.     

                                                                                                  

“Distinctive dispatch reliability, low operational costs and passenger comfort were the main factors for choosing the 737 MAX,” said Eugeny Khainatsky, General Director of SkyUp Airlines. “We are confident that this purchase will give us a competitive advantage thanks to the unparalleled performance of the Boeing 737 MAX family, and the MAX 10’s unbeatably low cost per seat mile.”

SkyUp, based in Kiev, is a new airline that plans to begin charter operations in April with leased Next-Generation 737 airplanes. The airline is ordering the MAX airplanes to meet future demand in the Ukrainian market. 

SkyUp becomes 95th MAX customer, and first in Eastern Europe to order the MAX 10 model

Virgin Atlantic blames Brexit for loss and only survived because of Delta deal

The boss of struggling Virgin Atlantic blames Brexit for the carriers £28.4 million loss and its deal with Delta saved the compancy from bankruptcy.

In 2016 the Virgin Group scored a profit of £23 million, yet despite an ijection of capital from Virgin Holidays of £15.5 million the airline still managed to fall into the red to the tune of £28.4 million.

Craig Kreeger, Virgin Atlantic's Chief Executive Officer said: “There were three big external issues that we had to deal with in 2017: the full-year impact of a weak sterling relative to the dollar, an industry-wide engine supply issue and severe hurricane disruption in the Caribbean and US.”

The airline blames a 7% fall in the value of the pound following the Brexit vote as one of the main reasons for the loss. Tom Mackay said this year - 2018 would also be “challenging” for the company and declined to comment on the groups viability saying there is “uncertainty in the leisure sector”. Adding “I don’t believe consumer confidence has significantly recovered,” 

Boeing Delivers First 737 MAX 9 to Lion Air

The American aircraft maker Boeing and the Lion Air Group today celebrated the very first 737 MAX 9 to be delivered. The airplane will go into service with Thai Lion Air, where its added capacity will help the airline launch several international routes.

Chorus Aviation Announces Leasing Transaction with CityJet

Chorus Aviation Inc. announced today the acquisition of two Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft for lease to CityJet of Dublin, Ireland. The aircraft were purchased from CityJet pursuant to a sale and leaseback transaction. These aircraft are two years old and constitute incremental additions to Chorus Aviation Capital's growing regional aircraft fleet.

OneJet starts twice daily flights between Kansas City and Pittsburgh

 OneJet, the air transportation network that provides consumers with increased access to nonstop travel in small and medium markets, today inaugurated nonstop service between Kansas City International Airport (MCI) and Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).

OneJet will now offer twice-daily round-trip flights between Kansas City International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport.

Adopt-a-Pet.com Urges United Airlines to Accept Offer of Aid in Pet Safety Education

Following the third major pet incident on United Airlines in merely a week, Adopt-a-Pet.com has announced an offer to the airline to aid in educating employees on implementing best practices in humane travel for companion animals. The proposal comes on the heels of a turbulent week for pets flying the airline, with dogs in two separate incidents ending up in the wrong destination and one beloved family dog died as the result of a flight attendant insisting his carrier be put in the overhead compartment.

Norwegian updates market and raises new equity

The company will shortly announce a contemplated private placement of shares with gross proceeds of up to NOK 1,300 million by issuing new ordinary shares in the Company.In connection with the contemplated private placement, Norwegian is providing the following update to the market. Additional capital will boost competitiveness and protect existing and future investments in a market characterized by higher oil prices and fluctuating currencies. The company is now positioning itself for the final stages of a strong growth period that has lasted for several years and will reach its peak by the second quarter of 2018.

Lauda sells Laudamotion to Ryanair - slowly!

Things are moving fast at Laudamotion, not least its shares, hardly a week after publically launching the airline founded by Niki Lauda is selling out to Ryanair.

The Irish low-cost high-fee budget carrier has entered into a binding agreement to take an initial 24.9 percent stake in the Austrian airline born from the ashes of carrier NIKI that went down with the airberlin collapse.

With the new deal, Ryanair will provide start-up capital and lease six aircraft to Laudamotion to take their fleet to 21 and vastly increase the pace of development. Within the year Ryanair will increase its investment in Laudamotion to 75 percent.

Initially, Niki Lauda will chair the Board of the airline and oversee the implementation of his strategy to build a successful Austrian low fares airline but will step away from the airline towards the end of 2019.

Data Breach at Expedia's Orbitz

Hackers may have accessed the personal information of about 880,000 payment cards from customers of Orbitz, a subsidiary of Expedia.

The company said an investigation had shown that the security breach may have occurred between 1st Jan 2016 and 22nd Dec 2017 for its partner platform and between 1st Jan 2016 and 22nd June 2016 for its consumer platform.

It is unclear exactly which information such as names, phone numbers, email and billing addresses may have been accessed or potentially stolen the travel website operator advised. They also said its website, Orbitz.com, was not impacted.

“To date, we do not have direct evidence that this personal information was actually taken from the platform and there has been no evidence of access to other types of personal information, including passport and travel itinerary information,” the company claimed.

Finnair is more important for Finland than the company’s size indicates says boss Jouko Karvinen

Jouko Karvinen, Chairman of the Board of Finnair, emphasized in his opening words the role of Finnair personnel and the right strategy as key enablers of Finnair’s successful year 2017: I would like to thank all of our 12 million customers, the entire Finnair team and our shareholders for our excellent year 2017

Jouko Karvinen, Chairman of the Board of Finnair: 

Finnair is more important for Finland than the company’s size indicates

CEP Pekka Vauramo: 

Growth continues. Together we can build a successful travel ecosystem in Finland

Miracle Flights Provided 569 Free Flights for Sick Kids in February

Continuing its mission to help critically ill children get the life-changing medical care they need, Miracle Flights, the nation's leading medical flight charity, today reported a total of 569 free flights performed in February. Since its establishment in 1985, the Las Vegas–based nonprofit organization has provided a total of 115,273 flights and flown more than 64 million miles to help children with rare and life-threatening conditions gain access to specialized, distant medical care.

KLM launches podcast about unique travel experiences

KLM just launched "The Journey," an English-language podcast in which passengers talk about a journey that has changed their lives. KLM is the first airline that uses a podcast to display the power of travelling. Every episode will focus on a single journey. The podcast takes listeners to different parts of the world, from the snowfields of Alaska to the busy streets of New Delhi.