Wizz Air opens Austrian base at Vienna

Wizz Air, one of Europe’s fastest growing airlines and the leading low-cost carrier in central Europe, opened its Austrian base at Vienna Airport with one of its new Airbus A320 aircraft, last Thursday. The new allocated aircraft will support the start of operations of five new services from Vienna to the popular destinations: Valencia, Rome Fiumicino, Malta, Bari and Tel Aviv.

Two drink limit at airports demands Ryanair, yet reserves the right to sell as much as it can during the flight.

The Chief Marketing Officer for Ryanair, Kenny Jacobs has bashed out the airlines demnand that airports should have a two aolcoholic drink maximum for any passenger prior to a flight.

Speaking to Irish media Jacobs said the two drink limit at airports could be enforced through boarding cards, however, Ryanair wanted to still be able to service the person alcohol once on the aircraft!

Mr Jacobs also indicated the possibility of his low-fare, high-fee airline banning the sale of alcohol on its flights before 10am. His remarks came after reports of a Ryanair flight having to divert to Paris on Saturday 16t June due to drunken passengers. 

KLM unveil new economy class service

One of Europe's enduring legacy carriers KLM, the Royal Dutch Airline is launching a new economy class service on its intercontinental daytime flights out of its home base of Amsterdam. The new meal service will include a choice of warm dishes, a large, well-filled salad, and a dessert. On medium-range and longer intercontinental flights the, selection of snacks will be further extended with ice-creams, sweets, and savoury snacks. Passengers will also be welcome to collect these snacks in the galley.

Etihad and Qatar Airways mulling over cancelling 777x orders - will Singapore follow............

The order book for Boeing's 777x may be about to get significantly lighter in the coming months as a number of airlines are looking to either cancel their orders or switch to another model.

The news agency Reuters recently reported that Etihad Airways was exploring options with the US manufacturer to defer or completely cancel its multi-billion dollar order for the 777x jets.  The carriers management team has indicated that it no longer needs or wants the 25 777x it ordered following a review of the company and pasting massive losses last year.

Industry insiders in the Gulf region have also been told from airline staff that Qatar Airways is also looking to jettison its order for the newer versions of the triple seven craft.  The twinjet no longer 'fits' with plans the Doha based airline has for the 2020's and beyond, especially if the airline may be forced to get another capital investment from its shareholder - the Qatari government. 

It is also understood that Singapore Airlines is currently looking at switching its order for the 777 to the Dreamliner variety of aircraft, as it starts to rebrand offshoot Scoot to Singapore Airlines, however, this has neither been confirmed or denied by the carrier.

FAA calls for urgent tests on Boeing 767-300's wings

The US Federal Aviation Administration has sent out orders to all US based operators of the Boeing 767-300 aircraft fitted with winglets to carry out special test on the wing structure following fatigue cracks on other aircraft.

Aviation Partners Boeing winglets on the 767-300 give the aircraft an enhanced performance whilst also saving fuel and were introduced to American Airlines aircraft in 2009 and other operators followed over recent times.

The FAA has issued an Airworthiness Directive which tells operators they need to do high-frequency eddy-current checks for cracking of the lower outboard wing skin on the modified aircraft.  The directive also requests repeat checks, modification of internal stringers, and other similar safety measures.

Fatigue cracking in the skin of the wing and winglet could result in the separation of the winglet from the wing causing greatly reduced controllability. It's estimated that there are 140 767-300's in the US with the winglets and the estimated cost of the check is $510 each aircraft.  American Airlines and Delta have been reticent about checking the aircraft and asked for a grace period of some 18 months to carry out the inspections. 

Cargo airline NCA suspends flying operations

Nippon Cargo Airlines has temporarily suspended all its aircraft operations after finding an issue with its maintenance record keeping and using the wrong oil. 

The cargo carrier that flies a fleet of new Boeing 747-8F and 747-400F aircraft says it found one inappropriate maintenance record concerning the lubricating oil supply to the aircraft parts of JA14 KZ at Narita airport on 3rd April this year.

It may also be an issue with the maintence on the airlines' other aircraft, so in "abundance of caution and to ensure the safety of our operation, we decided to temporarily ground all aircraft until all maintenance records have been confirmed appropriate." the airline said in a statement.

The last flight took place on 16th June and the investigation is ongoing which is expected to take about one week to confirm the aircraft safety.

The carrier wished to apologize for the inconvenience and worries it had caused its customers. 

Even the biggest aircraft can suffer from wake turbulence

Even the biggest aircraft can suffer the effects of wake turbulence, as experienced recently by those on a Qantas Airbus A380 superjumbo double-decker that flew into some bumpy air at the weekend.

No passengers were injured during an incident which involved an A380 taking off from Los Angeles late on Sunday evening en route to Melbourne, which was flying behind another Airbus A380 aircraft operating another Australia bound Qantas flight.

QF94 was approximately 37 kilometres behind and 1000 feet below the other Qantas A380 when it encountered some disturbed air. Qantas confirmed that both aircraft were well aware of each other, but wake turbulence can be hard to predict and often arrives as a jolt from the previous smooth air the aircraft was flying through. 

Alaska Airlines announces new nonstop service between Sacramento, California and Kona, Hawaii

Alaska Airlines brings more aloha spirit to Northern California with the addition of new nonstop service between Sacramento, California, and Kona on Hawaii's Big Island. The new service, which is scheduled to begin Dec. 20, will be the only nonstop flight offered between the two destinations with a flight frequency of three times a week. Alaska currently offers nonstop service from Sacramento to Maui, Hawaii.

Fly to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines from six California cities.

"We know our customers love Hawaii, even in sunny California. That's a big reason we're excited to add this new connection between Northern California and the Big Island," said John Kirby, vice president of capacity planning and alliances at Alaska Airlines. "This new route shows Alaska's ongoing commitment to continued growth and investment throughout the West coast."

Lufthansa eyes up Norwegian

The long-haul low-cost airline Norwegian is up for sale and the interest seems intense, the latest airline in contact about a take over is the German carrier, Lufthansa.

Lufthansa's boss confirmed on Monday that it was in contact with Norwegian over a possible deal, Carsten Spohr said “In Europe, everyone is talking to everyone. There’s a new wave of consolidation approaching. That means we are also in contact with Norwegian,” 

“Takeovers are always a question of strategic value, the price and anti-trust. There are no easy answers.” Spohr said, however, the Norwegian route network would greatly enhance the Lufthansa offering and therefore would be a very valuable strategic acquisition. 

Fly Erbil to start Birmingham route in July

New airline Fly Erbil have confirmed they will be starting flights to Birmingham in July this year, with eyes also in London for future development. The company has received the backing of  Kurdistan Regional Government and had been due to start its operations in 2015, however, due to the fighting with so-called Islamic State terrorists the start was delayed.

The carrier inaugurated flights to Stockholm today, with Gothenburg starting on Saturday and is all set to start a service to Birmingham on 13th July via Kiev.  All services will operate from Erbil International Airport on a Boeing 737-300 from Bravo Airlines. 

New Zealand to tax tourists

Tourists who already contribute over $26 billion a year to New Zealand's wealth will have to pay a good deal more if plans for a new tourist tax are approved.

The new labour government are seeking to punish the international tourists for coming to their country because they say it is unfair for the locals to pay for the infrastructure that tourists also use. According to Kelvin Davis the Tourism Minister  "In many places, our tourism infrastructure is creaking at the seams. We don't believe that the financial burden should rest purely on the shoulders of New Zealanders. We do believe that visitors should pay their fair share. This levy is an important step in ensuring the growth is managed well."

In addition to the money tourists spend on accommodation, meals, tourist attractions and local businesses, they also take away with them some $14.5 billion worth of tourists exports, that's 20.7% of New Zealand's total export earnings.  Nearly 9% of all New Zeland jobs are directly related to the tourist industry, that's about 230,800 people.

Alaska Airlines releases its May operational results.

Alaska Air Group has reported its May operational results on a consolidated basis, for its mainline operations flown by subsidiaries Alaska Airlines Inc. and for its regional flying operated by subsidiary Horizon Air Industries Inc. and third-party regional carriers SkyWest Airlines and Peninsula Airlines.

On Jan. 11, 2018, Alaska and Virgin America consolidated their operations onto a Single Operating Certificate. Results for Alaska and Virgin America have been combined into a single mainline operation.

Bravo Airways MD83 skids off Kiev runway

An investigation is underway to find out why a Bravo Airways aircraft skidded off the runway at Zhuliany International Airport in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev on Thursday.

The airport was closed for some time while the aircraft was examined and then removed.  The flight, arriving from the Turkish resort of Antalya carried 169 passengers 6 crew at the time of the incident, it is believed that none have sustained injuries.   

Bravo Airways a Ukrainian charter airline said t was looking it the matter, which saw the MD83 main gear collapse during the runway excursion.  Local media reported that the plane came down short of the runway at first, then bounced into the air before coming back down.

Hi Fly is the newest member of the exclusive A380 operators group

This summer, Hi-Fly, the largest widebody aircraft wet lease specialist will be joining some of the world renowned premier global commercial airlines in becoming the most recent member of the exclusive A380 operators club!

Yes, Hi Fly have confirmed they will be the 14th A380 operator and the first leasing airline to fly this aircraft.

The addition of a former Singapore Airlines A380 puts Hi Fly at the forefront of the aviation industry, stepping up and inaugurating the second-hand A380 market. Identifying the latent potential of the world’s largest passenger airliner, Hi Fly has decided to take the initiative and give this remarkable airliner a new life.

LOT Polish Airlines will fly into London City Airport with brand new E190's

LOT Polish Airlines will introduce its 100th connection in its route network on January 7th 2019 when the respected Polish carrier will fly directly from Warsaw to London City, up to twice a day. For this special route to London City, LOT will acquire 4 brand-new Embraer 190 jets.

Flights from Warsaw to London City will be operated according to the following schedule: Departures to LCY daily (except Sundays) at 7:15am, arrivals at 9:00am and daily (except Saturdays) at 4:15pm, arrivals at 6:00pm. Departures to WAW are scheduled daily (except Sundays) at 9:30am, arrivals at 1:00pm and daily (except Saturdays) at 6:30pm, arrivals at 10:00pm.

The following schedule enables particularly business travellers flying from Warsaw, as well as Vilnius, Kiev, Lviv, Riga, Bucharest, Larnaca or Tbilisi to complete their journey within one working day. London City Airport, conveniently located in London’s Royal Docks, is the nearest airport to the business and financial centre of London, including the City of London just 6 miles away. It is also expected that the route will appeal to leisure travelers seeking city breaks in either direction.