Radisson Collection opens its doors in Georgia’s most famous wine district, Tsinandali

The newest addition to the group’s premium lifestyle collection – reserved for its most outstanding properties – Radisson Collection Hotel, Tsinandali Estate Georgia is set in the heart of the country’s most popular wine district, ‘Kakheti’, and offers a truly unique Georgian guest experience. The property features an on-site wine yard and its own historical winery, whilst additional features include a spa on the top floor, an outside swimming pool, indoor and open-air ballrooms and a neighbouring historic 18-hectare park.

Michel Stalport, Area Senior Vice President Russia and Eastern Europe, said “We are extremely proud to welcome guests to our first Radisson Collection estate in this stunning region. Georgia is recognized as one of the most beautiful countries in the world, known to be the birthplace of wine and a place where travellers are welcomed with hospitality like nowhere else. The estate combines magnificent architecture and historical authenticity with the finest new design details to provide guests with truly exceptional and memorable stays”.

Hotel Indigo celebrates opening in 100 vibrant neighbourhoods around the world

InterContinental Hotels Group, one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has opened its 100th Hotel Indigo property globally, Hotel Indigo Berlin East Side Gallery. The brand is set to double its portfolio over the next three to five years and continue its strong growth as one of the largest boutique brands in this fast-growing segment.  

Alaska Air Group reports Fourth Quarter 2018 and full-year results

Alaska Airlines released its fourth quarter and full 2018 results this week showing the carrier reported net income for the fourth quarter and full year 2018 of $23 million, and $437 million. These results compare to fourth quarter 2017 net income of $315 million and full year 2017 net income of $960 million. The 2017 financial information has been adjusted to reflect changes associated with the implementation of new revenue recognition and retirement benefits accounting standards that became effective Jan. 1, 2018.

The 2018 results of Airbus Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters delivered 356 rotorcraft and logged gross orders for 413 helicopters (net: 381) in 2018 (up from 350 gross orders in 2017), maintaining its lead in the civil & parapublic market while reinforcing its position in the military market thanks to key successes with international campaigns. The company also booked 148 orders for light twin-engine helicopters of the H135/H145 family and secured 15 orders for the next-generation H160. At the end of last year, the overall backlog increased to 717 helicopters.

“Our commercial performance in 2018 demonstrates the resilience we have developed as a company to help us navigate what remains a challenging environment,” said Bruno Even, Airbus Helicopters CEO. “Even though the civil & parapublic market remains at a low level worldwide, we have managed to maintain our global leadership thanks to our wide and modern portfolio of products and services and our international footprint. Meanwhile, we have increased our market share in the military sector by securing major contracts with leading armed forces worldwide, with best-in-class solutions. These positive trends give us the means to prepare the future and continue our transformation, with innovation at our core and customer loyalty at heart.”

SOM Reveals Design for New O’Hare Global Terminal in Chicago

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has unveiled the finalists in a competition to design a new Global Terminal at O’Hare International Airport. A team led by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), including renowned firms Ross Barney Architects and Arup, showcased its bold, honest vision for the new O’Hare Global Terminal, a locally-inspired, globally-informed design that represents Chicago’s history of innovation and role as a leading global centre.

Hotel Emblem San Francisco - a bold hotel inspired by the spirit of the beat generation opens

Viceroy Hotels & Resorts Opens Hotel Emblem San Francisco, A Bold Hotel Inspired by the Spirit of the Beat Generation

Viceroy Hotels & Resorts has put a fearless, provocative spin on the modern hotel experience with the opening of Hotel Emblem. The boutique property, located in San Francisco where Nob Hill meets Union Square, is inspired by the Beat Generation – San Francisco’s most celebrated literary and cultural movement of the 20th century that inspired millions to live boldly and uncensored. Hotel Emblem entices travellers to leave the status quo behind with eclectic guestrooms, stimulating events, rich cultural and wellness experiences, and the authentic hospitality that Viceroy guests are accustomed to.

Delta scoops ‘Best Long-Haul Airline’ title at Business Travel Awards

Delta's year is off to a strong start in the U.K. The airline beat off competition from a number of global carriers to take the title of 'Best Long-Haul Airline' at the Business Travel Awards held in London.2019 Business Travel Award.jpeg

One of the U.K.'s highest-regarded industry accolades, the Business Travel Awards are judged by a panel of travel experts alongside Buying Business Travel magazine's editorial team. The judges called out Delta's innovation in biometric and facial recognition, saying its on-time performance, profitability and global outlook stood out when making their decision. Other airlines shortlisted for the award included American Airlines, ANA, Etihad, Japan Airlines and Lufthansa.

W Marriott Hotel Harbin River North Opens

JW Marriott, part of Marriott International, Inc., today announced the opening of JW Marriott Hotel Harbin River North. Situated in the heart of the bustling Harbin Songbei district, the hotel marks an exciting milestone for the brand as the first JW Marriott property in Northeast China. JW Marriott Hotel Harbin River North introduces an elevated standard of luxury into the city’s vibrant business centre, which features a myriad of celebrated tourist attractions including Jinhewan Wetland Park, Harbin Ice-Snow World, Siberian Tiger Park, the Harbin Grand Theatre and more.

Inspired by the dynamic destination and the culture of Northeastern China, JW Marriott Hotel Harbin River North couples modern features with local influences. The architecture of the hotel’s 345 grand guestrooms was thoughtfully designed to feature floor-to-ceiling windows, offering guests unparalleled views of the islands and rivers that run throughout the city.

TAP Air Portugal triples service between Newark and Porto on new Airbus A321 LR aircraft

TAP Air Portugal will triple its flights between Newark and Porto starting June 1, flying six weekly nonstop round-trips.   Also, the airline is adding new service from Porto to Brussels, Lyon and Munich which means US travellers can now enjoy a stopover of up to five days in Porto, en route to 14 European destinations from Newark.

The airline is growing its North American operations significantly this year, also adding service to Lisbon from Chicago O’Hare, San Francisco, and Washington-Dulles, starting June 1, 10 and 16, respectively.

The new EWR-OPO flights will operate every day except Tuesday aboard TAP’s new Airbus A321 Long Range fleet, one of the world’s most modern aircraft, offering the most advanced levels of comfort, efficiency and technology.

Finnair to Launch Direct Flights from Helsinki to Sapporo from December 2019 to March 2020

Photo WebWire

In line with Hokkaido’s growing popularity as a prime destination for “powder snow” skiing, stunning natural landscapes and exquisite food, Finnair has recently announced the opening of a new direct winter service between Helsinki and Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport from mid-December 2019 to late-March 2020. Japan’s commitment to hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup as well as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games is likely to boost inbound tourism from around 29 million visitors in 2017 to an expected 40 million in 2020 and as such, a new direct route from a major European hub to another Japanese city, especially in the more distant Hokkaido, is welcome news.

American Airlines 2018 and fourth quarter results are now in.......

The giant US air carrier, American Airlines reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 results, including these highlights:

Reported a fourth-quarter 2018 pre-tax profit of $387 million, or $634 million excluding net special items1, and a fourth-quarter net profit of $319 million, or $481 million excluding net special items1,3
Reported a full-year 2018 pre-tax profit of $1.9 billion, or $2.8 billion excluding net special items2, and a full-year net profit of $1.4 billion, or $2.1 billion excluding net special items2,3
Fourth-quarter earnings were $0.69 per diluted share, or $1.04 per diluted share excluding net special items. Full-year 2018 earnings were $3.03 per diluted share, or $4.55 per diluted share excluding net special items.
Accrued $175 million for the company’s profit sharing program in 2018, including $40 million in the fourth quarter
Returned $986 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in 2018

“We thank our team for taking care of our customers during the busy holiday travel period. Their efforts led to significant improvements in key operational metrics and great customer service. We also completed a number of important merger integration projects that will serve us well in the future,” Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said.

“We enter 2019 with great momentum. We are intent upon running the most reliable operation in our post-merger history, pursuing high margin growth opportunities at our most profitable hubs, and executing on a number of valuable revenue and cost-saving initiatives. We expect our total revenue per available seat mile to grow faster than our network competitors, and to deliver strong pre-tax earnings growth in 2019. At the midpoint of our guidance, 2019 diluted earnings per share excluding special items would increase approximately 40 percent versus 2018.”   

SAS to get three new long-range Airbus A321-200LRneos

Photo  SAS /Airbus

Aircraft leasing giant, Air Lease Corporation has confirmed it has agreed with SAS the long term lease agreements for three new Airbus A321-200neo LR aircraft.

The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2020 and 2021 and will add to two A320-200neos on lease to the airline, for a total of five Airbus aircraft confirmed to deliver to SAS from ALC.

 “ALC is pleased to announce this lease placement for three new Airbus aircraft with SAS and be the first to introduce the A321LR to the airline,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, Executive Chairman of Air Lease Corporation. “The A321-200neo LR will significantly enhance SAS’ expanding fleet operations as the airline launches new intercontinental routes with the most modern, fuel-efficient aircraft.”

Swoop ready for celebrations at Abbotsford International Airport

The Canadian ultra-low-cost offshoot of WestJet, Swoop is joining in the celebrations with its home base of Abbotsford International Airport to celebrate the expansion of the YXX terminal.

The expansion includes two additional gates, an enlarged baggage claim area, extended CATSA pre-board security screening area and a passenger departure lounge that is double the size of the pre-existing lounge. Swoop and YXX will celebrate with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, refreshments and guest speakers.

Ivory Coast joins the family of C295 operators

The Ministry of Defence of Ivory Coast has signed a firm order for one C295 medium transport aircraft, the European planemaker Airbus has confirmed.

The aircraft, in transport configuration, will enhance the capabilities of the Ivory Coast Air Force with its proven record of excellent performance in hot and harsh conditions, and affordable maintenance and operational costs.

Bernhard Brenner, Airbus Defence and Space Head of Marketing & Sales, said: “The C295 has proven its outstanding capabilities in the exceptionally harsh sub-Saharan Africa operating environment. The aircraft will be a game changer for Ivory Coast and we feel very proud to welcome a new operator into our C295 family.”

With this new order, Ivory Coast becomes the 28th nation worldwide to operate the C295. Airbus Defence and Space has to date sold 91 aircraft to 17 countries in Africa. There is a growing fleet of C295s in the North and West Africa region with up to 35 C295s contracted by Egypt, Algeria, Ghana and Mali.

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Brisbane added back into Royal Brunei Airlines route network

Royal Brunei Airlines has confirmed it will recommence its Brisbane route with the launch of four flights per week from 11th June 2019.

“RB is delighted to recommence services to Brisbane, a very popular destination for Bruneians and guests from our expanding route network. We have very good connections from the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, East Asia and South East Asia to/from Brisbane. Our guests will experience the very best of Bruneian hospitality flying on our fleet of B787 Dreamliners and A320NEO’s, one of the youngest fleet in the world with an average fleet age of two years” said Mr Karam Chand, Royal Brunei Airlines CEO.

“We offer great value to our Australian guests and exciting destinations such as Brunei, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Ho Chi Minh City to name a few which could be packaged as single or dual destination holidays. Bruneians and the expat community will not only the enjoy many attractions and activities on offer in Brisbane city and its surrounds, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are just over an hour away from the CBD. Brisbane is also a gateway to many popular tourism spots in Queensland such as Cairns, Port Douglas, Fraser Island and the Whitsundays” added Mr Chand.

Drone chaos at Gatwick cost easyJet £15 million

Photo easyJet

The drone chaos at London Gatwick Airport (LGW) in the days before Christmas last year cost the budget airline easyJet at least £15 million, (€17.1 million / $19.4 million) the airline confirmed this week.

The airline says that more than 400 of its flights had to be cancelled during the drone crisis that effectively closed Gatwick for three days in December. EasyJet advised it had been forced to pay out around £10 million  ($13 million) in customer welfare costs and £5 million ($6.4 million) in lost revenues due to numerous flight cancellations.

Qantas to launch direct Sydney - Nadi flights

Qantas is making it easier for customers to holiday in Fiji by launching new direct flights from Sydney, meeting a growing demand from customers wanting a premium travel option to the islands*.

From 31 March 2019, the direct service will operate four times per week to Nadi, the country’s main gateway, with a Boeing 737 aircraft, offering a checked baggage allowance, inflight entertainment and food and drinks all included as part of the fare, and the option to fly or upgrade to Business class.

The flights add to Jetstar’s direct services which also operate four times per week and will see the Qantas Group offer customers more than 75,000 seats on the route annually and the choice to fly to the popular holiday destination six days a week.

Emirates introduces entertainment playlist syncing ahead of travel

Customers can browse over 4,000 channels of entertainment on the Emirates app, create personalised playlists and sync selection to seat once onboard.

Emirates has introduced an innovative new function on its app to allow customers to create bespoke playlists ahead of their flight and sync it to their seats once on board. Customers can plan their trip more effectively, and maximise their onboard experience by using the Emirates app to browse the expansive entertainment catalogue at any time.

ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment has reached a new milestone of over 4,000 channels of on-demand entertainment. The catalogue includes over 1,000 movies, more than any other airline, popular television box sets, tens of thousands of music tracks, podcasts and games. 

Air New Zealand has been crowned ATW Eco Airline of the Year

Air New Zealand has been crowned ATW Eco Airline of the Year and won the Passenger Experience Achievement award for recent upgrades to its Economy Skycouch seats.

Air New Zealand is the first airline in the world to scoop two awards at the Air Transport World Airline Industry Awards. The awards, which are considered the 'Oscars of the airline industry', will be presented in New York in March.

Air New Zealand has been crowned ATW Eco Airline of the Year and won the Passenger Experience Achievement award for recent upgrades to its Economy Skycouch seats.

The Eco-Airline of the Year award recognises Air New Zealand's portfolio of sustainability work. This includes the airline's commitment to reducing waste through its Project Green initiative, engagement with and support for regional New Zealand communities and reducing carbon emissions both within the airline's own operations and encouraging travellers to do the same through its voluntary carbon offsetting programme, FlyNeutral.

airBaltic carried 17% more passengers in 2018 than in 2017

The Latvian government-owned airline airBaltic carried 4,135 711 passengers or 17% more than 2017 during 2018. It is the highest number of passengers carried in airline’s history.

Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “Our airline has a strong and efficient hybrid business model, loyal passengers and dedicated employees. In addition to our new aircraft, we were able to continue our sustainable growth and build the groundwork for future success.”

“In 2019, we will continue to grow, by adding at least six new routes and additional capacities on various other destinations. From Riga, we will launch flights to Dublin, Stuttgart and Lviv. We will continue to grow our presence also in Tallinn, by adding flights to Malaga, Brussels and Copenhagen,” Martin Gauss added.