Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit Marks the Hyatt Regency Brand’s Debut in Bangkok

Hyatt today announced the opening of Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit, marking the Hyatt Regency brand’s entry into the capital of Thailand. Located on the bustling Sukhumvit Road, the hotel is connected to the Nana station of the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) via a sky bridge and offers guests convenient access to nearby shopping malls, office buildings and tourist attractions.

“We are pleased to celebrate the launch of Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit, which marks both the brand’s debut in the Thai capital and the successful fruition of Hyatt’s first collaboration with Grand Asset Hotels and Property,” said David Udell, group president, Asia Pacific, Hyatt Hotels Corporation. “As the fourth Hyatt hotel along the Sukhumvit BTS train line, our strategic brand expansion in Bangkok caters to the growing number of international visitors to the city who are seeking premium accommodations and memorable travel experiences.”

Located in one of the city’s most vibrant neighbourhoods, Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit connects guests to

the old and the new Thailand

 

Hyatt Regency Al Kout Mall Opens in Kuwait

 Hyatt Regency Al Kout Mall Opens in Kuwait

                  Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced recently the opening of Hyatt Regency Al Kout Mall, marking the reintroduction of the Hyatt Regency brand to Kuwait. The opening marks the first of two Hyatt properties in collaboration with Tamdeen Group, the second of which is Grand Hyatt Kuwait, set to open in 2020.

                  The Hyatt Regency brand offers a seamless experience that connects guests to everything they need under one roof with a full range of services and amenities, including notable culinary experiences, technology-enabled facilities for collaboration, expert event planners with exceptional attention to detail, and flexible spaces to work, engage or relax.

Hyatt continues steadfast Middle East expansion with the opening of its first of two new Kuwait properties

EVEN Hotel Miami Airport Opens

South Florida’s premier wellness destination hotel opened December 2018

Miami-based Epelboim Development Group (EDG), in conjunction with InterContinental Group Hotels (IHG), announced recently the completion of its newest project: EVEN® Hotel Miami Airport.

EVEN® Hotels, part of IHG’s premier lifestyle hotel brand, offers guests a unique wellness and relaxation experience through its exclusive “Eat Well, Rest Easy, Keep Active and Accomplish More” initiative. From in-room trainers, mounted fitness walls, resistance bands and exercise balls, to yoga mats and blocks, 18+ On-Demand fitness videos, beds with built-in “mood lighting,” ergonomic workstations and more—all in its 190 guest rooms—EVEN® Hotel Miami Airport is set to be the most comprehensive wellness hotel South Florida has ever seen.

Seaborne Airlines Returning to the Dominican Republic

Seaborne Airlines is returning to the Dominican Republic with nonstop service between San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) and Santiago de los Caballeros Dominican Republic’s Cibao International Airport (STI) starting February 14, 2019.

 The initial service will operate three days per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and will increase to daily service May 23 – September 3, 2019.

In addition, the new service offers opportunities to experience nearby favourite vacation destinations, including the beaches of Puerto Plata, the birthplace of tourism in the Dominican Republic, and the peace, tranquillity and nature of Jarabacoa, the country’s most popular eco-tourism destination.     

JetBlue's December

Leading US carrier, JetBlue Airways reported its preliminary traffic results for December 2018 this week.

Traffic in December increased 6.8 percent from December 2017, on a capacity increase of 8.5 percent. Load factor for December 2018 was 81.4 percent, a decrease of 1.3 points from December 2017. JetBlue’s preliminary completion factor for December 2018 was 99.8 percent and its on-time (1) performance was 74.5 percent.

Fourth quarter revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is expected to increase approximately 2.4 percent year-over-year. This is consistent with our prior guidance range of 1.5 to 3.5 percent. December revenue trends performed as expected. Higher than expected completion factor negatively impacted fourth quarter RASM by approximately 0.3 points.    

Puerto Vallarta service from Abbotsford starts for Swoop

Today the low-cost carrier from WestJet, Swoop celebrates its inaugural flight from Abbotsford International Airport (YXX) to Puerto Vallarta's Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR). Swoop flight WO600 departs from Abbotsford at 12:20 p.m. PST and arrives in Puerto Vallarta at 7:02 p.m. CST.

This marks Swoop's second inaugural flight to Puerto Vallarta this week, the first from Hamilton, Ontario on January 8, 2019.  Travellers can also enjoy flights from Hamilton to Cancun beginning January 14, 2019 and Abbotsford to Mazatlán beginning January 20, 2019.

"Mexico is an important market for Swoop, with an estimated 1.9 million Canadians visiting every year," said Karen McIsaac, Senior Advisor of Communications at Swoop. "We are pleased to see many first-time snowbird vacationers on our flights to Mexico which is confirmation of our mission to bring affordable fares to more Canadians, allowing them to travel more often."

A New “Tail” to Tell for a Tulsa Hangar

 It’s a new era for a World War II-era hangar at Tulsa for American Airlines

On January 9th, American's Tech Ops – Tulsa team officially reopened Hangar 2’s Dock 2D for business after a tail slot modification that allows it to house larger aircraft. Tulsa city leaders, the Airport Authority, Chamber leaders, TWU Local 514 leadership and several hundred team members attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Hangar 2 is one of four hangars that were part of the original base when American relocated its Maintenance operation to Tulsa from LGA in 1946. The hangars were built to accommodate smaller aircraft than we commonly fly today. Most recently, Dock 2D was used for maintenance on the McDonnell Douglas MD-80.

The modification — nicknamed the doghouse because of how it looks from the front — allows larger aircraft to fit completely into the dock, including the tail. The hangar ceiling had to be raised to accommodate the tail section and the new slot, and various structural beams, utilities and wiring had to be reworked to create the slot opening. The hangar’s two smaller doors became one larger door, and another door was added for the tail slot itself. Three other docks in the Hangar 1/2 complex in Tulsa have received similar modifications over the last several years.

Before on the left and after on the right.

   

Jet2 to add extra Corfu flight from Newcastle for summer

The UK's holiday airline Jet2 add more flights to the Greek island of Corfu from Newcastle Airport this summer, as demand from local holidaymakers hots up.

The airlines advises it will put on an additional service every Tuesday between July and the end of September, representing an extra 2,500 departing seats on sale.

The Tuesday morning flights are perfectly timed for holidaymakers wishing to head to resorts such as Sidari, Kavos, Acharavi and Kassiopi, and come in addition to the company’s existing Monday services which are operating from May until October in Summer 19.

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2 and Jet2holidays said: “Our commitment to providing award-winning flights and holidays means that we continue to attract more and more customers from Newcastle airport, and today’s announcement is yet more evidence of that. Corfu is a destination that is really hotting up for Summer 19, so we are delighted to be adding more flights and holidays, giving local holidaymakers even more choice and flexibility when it comes to getting to the Greek sunshine.”

Wizz Air to launch flights to Santander

Wizz Air, Romania’s largest airline and the fastest growing airline in Europe has announced a new route between Bucharest and Santander, starting from the 23rd of April 2019. The flights will be operated twice/week during the summer season, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Romanians can already plan their trip to Santander as tickets are already on sales from €19.99. 

Santander is a popular destination at the Atlantic Ocean that offers opportunities for everyone. Those seeking to relax under the sun can enjoy the local beaches and bars while others in search of the area’s cultural heritage can visit the many museums and cathedrals representing the region’s rich history.

The Spanish city is the 9 destination Wizz Air offers from Bucharest to Spain, besides Barcelona, Alicante, Madrid, Castellón, Málaga, Valencia, Tenerife and Zaragoza. Santander, situated in the Calabrian region, will be the 45th destination from Bucharest and the 145 destinations in the Wizz Air network.

Massive route expansion for Sun Country

Sun Country 737            Photo Sun Country Airlines

It has been tipped as the biggest route network expansion in the history of Sun Country Airlines!  This week the budget carrier announced its plans to launch 19 new seasonal nonstop routes and seven new airports. 

The network expansion includes eight new nonstop routes for the airline’s home base of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and eight new nonstop routes in recently expanded markets Nashville, Tennessee, Dallas Fort Worth and Portland, Oregon. The airline will also expand nonstop destinations from Las Vegas, and welcome San Antonio and Providence, Rhode Island to its growing network.

“Today is a very exciting day in the history of Sun Country as we make this tremendous step forward in growing our airline,” said Sun Country Airlines CEO Jude Bricker. “This network expansion allows us to provide even more destination options to our community, create new jobs in the Twin Cities market and further our reach across the country. We look forward to bringing our mission of offering leisure travellers safe, reliable service at a great price to more people and places.”

Air Dolomiti launches the new livery

Under the sign of its growth plan for 2019, Air Dolomiti, the Italian airline in the Lufthansa Group, unveiled its new livery earlier this week at the Catullo airport of Verona. 

The new aircraft takes off with an

exclusive flight in the skies over Verona

The first Air Dolomiti aircraft, painted in England, has a simple, modern and elegant design that launches the revamped image with a total white style intended to bring out the turquoise colour of the tail fin, where the diamond triumphs in all its splendour. 

Hawaiian Airlines Carries Record 11.8 Million Passengers in 2018

Hawaiian Airlines, has today announced its system-wide traffic statistics for the month, quarter, and full year ended December 31, 2018. 

The airline welcomed a record 11,840,178 guests in 2018, a 2.9% increase over the previous year.  The record number of passengers in 2018 marks 14 straight years of growth as Hawaiian continues to expand its network and fleet, providing travellers options to fly to, from, and within the Hawaiian Islands than any other carrier.

Hawaiian took delivery of nine A321neo aircraft in 2018, bringing the total size of its A321neo fleet to 11 aircraft.  The A321neo will help the airline build upon its already strong U.S. West Coast presence, including new daily non-stop service to Maui's Kahului Airport from Portland, Sacramento and San Diego international airports, as well as to Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport from Long Beach.  The airline will also begin new five-times-a-week non-stop service to Honolulu from Boston's Logan International Airport on April 4th.     

Angie Owens Named American Airlines Controller

Today, American Airlines announced that Angie Owens will succeed Mike Carreon as Vice President and Corporate Controller, effective March 1, 2019. Mike is set to retire after 24 years with the company once the 2018 reporting season concludes.

At that point, Angie will begin overseeing all accounting operations, including external reporting, tax, financial systems and internal controls, as well as the company’s payment processing. She has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of American Airlines Federal Credit Union for the past 10 years. Angie is currently serving as Vice President of Finance at American during the transition.

Indonesian Air Force places order for eight additional H225Ms

Under the agreement between the Indonesian Ministry of Defence and PT Dirgantara Indonesia (Persero) (PTDI), the 11-ton combat-proven helicopters will be delivered to the air force upon reassembly and completion of the mission equipment outfitting and customisation by PTDI at its facility in Bandung, Indonesia. These additional helicopters will join the air force’s existing fleet of six H225Ms to perform similar combat search and rescue missions.

“We welcome Indonesia’s selection of our H225M helicopters for their expanding fleet. The H225M is a combat-proven helicopter that is well regarded by military customers worldwide, and Indonesia’s additional order speaks strongly of their confidence in Airbus’ helicopters,” said Ben Bridge, Executive Vice President, Global Business of Airbus Helicopters. “Indonesia continues to play a vital role in Airbus Helicopters’ global industrial footprint. With a trusted partner in PTDI, we stand ready to support the availability of Indonesia’s fleet.”

Frontier to launch 22 new routes................

The US low-fare carrier, Frontier Airlines is launching 22 new non-stop routes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS), Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Orlando International Airport (MCO). The new services will begin in spring 2019. 

“With the addition of these 22 new routes, Frontier has added its 106th city, Boston, and increased service in 19 other cities across our network,” said Daniel Shurz, Senior Vice President, Commercial for Frontier Airlines. “We continue to make air travel more accessible and affordable for Americans. We look forward to making it easier for people to fly, and for people to fly more often.”

airBaltic on time every time.........

The Latvian Government owned airline, airBaltic celebrated its 2018 performance record, it operated 99.8% of its planned flights during the year.  Just 0.2% of flights were cancelled last year due to different circumstances, including delays caused by strikes in European airports and weather conditions.

Martin Gauss, CEO of airBaltic: “When a notable proportion of our clients travel using a transfer via Riga, it is instrumental for us to provide them a reliable service. As one of the most punctual carriers globally, we always strive to improve our service and our passengers can count on us. Even though last summer in Europe was especially tough due to widespread strikes across the continent, we maintained the world-leading punctuality and regularity ratings, enabling passengers to use our convenient connections with ease,” 

On January 3rd, 2019, it was announced the had been recognized as the most punctual airline in Europe for 2018 by OAG analysts, who tracked the performance of a total of over 58 million flight records. airBaltic has been on the top of the global on-time performance ranking for the past five consecutive years.

A third group of students began their study process at airBaltic's Pilot Academy on January 10th, 2019. The third group of 11 students will become airBaltic pilots upon completion of the full-time programme in less than two years from now.

Pauls Cālītis, airBaltic SVP Flight Operations: “The students that received their first epaulettes today have passed the same meticulous application process all our pilots go through. Being the only pilot academy in the Baltic region that is linked to an airline, our students benefit greatly while learning from the first-hand experience of our professional instructors. We launched our Pilot Academy last spring, and since then we have received four state-of-the-art Diamond Aircraft and a flight simulator, established training facilities at Liepāja Airport. Over 30 Baltic students are now on their way to fulfill their dreams and become commercial pilots,"

airBaltic serves over 70 destinations from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, offering the largest variety of destinations and convenient connections via Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East. For summer 2019, airBaltic will launch new direct routes from Riga to Dublin, Stuttgart and Lviv. In addition, next summer airBaltic has introduced three new destinations from Tallinn to Malaga, Brussels and Copenhagen.     

(Images from airBaltic)

Thunder Bay to become a maintenance base for Porter Airlines

Photo Porter

The Canadian regional airline Porter has announced this week that it will further invest in Thunder Bay International Airport with the opening of a new aircraft maintenance base at the airport. 

This development contributes to Porter servicing its fleet of 29 Bombardier Q400 aircraft and will create 18 full-time jobs in the city from February this year.  This follows on from the investment the airline has already made at Thunder Bay with a cabin crew and pilot base at the airport a year or so ago. 

Thunder Bay has the right combinations of factors for Porter's decision to open the maintenance base at the airport, including a rich pool of talent to operate the facility, plus the availability of hangar space and is also already a Porter operational base. 

Photo Thunder Bay International Airport      

British Airways introduces electric vehicles to its fleet

British Airways has introduced a brand new and environmentally-friendly electric cab service at its Heathrow home, giving customers the opportunity to experience travelling in a legendary London taxi without leaving the airport.

The London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) taxi features WiFi, phone, laptop and USB charging and a panoramic roof - great for plane spotting.

In addition, customers can expect a smooth ride, air-conditioning and a spacious cabin with room for all of customers’ hand luggage.

Airline introduces iconic London taxis within Heathrow

Providing a service for premium connecting customers

Part of British Airways’ commitment to reduce vehicle emissions at the airport

Airbus starts US recruitment drive

US Jobs

Airbus, in conjunction with its hiring partner AIDT, is seeking its first candidates to fill manufacturing positions for its newest assembly line in Mobile, Alabama. The positions are the first wave of production jobs announced for the company’s A220 aircraft assembly line. The open positions include aircraft structure/installation mechanics, installers for aircraft cabin furnishings and aircraft electricians.

Successful candidates for all positions will participate in several weeks of training at AIDT in a combination of classroom and on-the-job training. Some candidates will also have the opportunity for on-the-job training with the company’s manufacturing team in Mirabel, Canada before returning to Mobile. Production on the first aircraft begins in the third quarter of 2019.

Aircraft structure/installation mechanics are responsible for the structural installation of parts and major components in the aircraft. Installers for aircraft cabin furnishings are responsible for installing various cabin amenities into the aircraft including cabin equipment, floor covering, cockpits, cargo and doors. Aircraft electricians are responsible for the electrical installations, connections, bonding, measuring and troubleshooting within the aircraft. For the first wave of hiring, the company prefers candidates to have at least two years of experience in aerospace/aviation production.

In addition to the positions for the new A220 production facility, Airbus is also hiring for similar production positions in its current A320 production facility. In total, the company expects to hire approximately 600 new employees over the next 18 months.

For a full job description of all the positions and to apply, go to airbususmanufacturing.applicantpro.com/jobs.

The A220 production facility will be located at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Alabama, adjacent to Airbus’ A320 Family production lines and will build aircraft for U.S.-based customers. The assembly line, which will create more jobs and further strengthen the aerospace industry, is part of Airbus’ strategy to enhance its global competitiveness by meeting the growing needs of its customers in the United States and elsewhere. A220 aircraft assembly is planned to start in 2019.

Airbus starts US recruitment drive 

Marrakesh to become a new destination for Turkish Airlines

The national flag carrier of Turkey, Turkish Airlines can date its history to as far back as 1933 when it had just five aircraft. Today the carrier has a fleet of 332 aircraft, although some of those are cargo variants, and is among the top airlines of the world. 

The carrier has confirmed that from March 27th this year it will operate a service from its home base of Istanbul to the beautiful and historic Moroccan city of Marrakesh.  The service will operate five times a week and are scheduled for a departure around 11.30, arriving Marrakesh at 14.30 local time.  The flight back departs around 15.15 landing in Turkey at around 22.05.  The airline plans to operate these flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. 

The new Morocco services are just the latest in a raft of new routes to come from the carrier as part of its global expansion programme that will see it have more than 500 aircraft by the end of 2023.