More services from Air Canada

Air Canada has confirmed it will be upgrading service and boosting capacity on key transborder routes from its Toronto and Montreal hubs.

"We are very pleased to offer customers travelling between Toronto and the cities of Nashville, Washington Dulles and Memphis an upgraded travel experience with larger and more comfortable aircraft featuring a choice of Business Class and wi-fi options on all flights. We are also adding daily frequencies on our Toronto to Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Austin routes and from Montreal to Baltimore," said Mark Galardo, Vice President, Network Planning at Air Canada.

Air France is switching to electrical power for its airport ramp vehicles.

There is a major development happening on the airport ramps at a number of airports,  not least in France as flag carrier Air France is moving forward with its responsibilities towards sustainable development with electric vehicles. 

The firm says that as part of its commitment and in line with the French Government's announcement of its support for the electric battery sector, Air France is gradually starting to replace the diesel engines in the conveyor belt vehicles used for loading and unloading baggage on aircraft by replacing them with an electric drive made from recycled products.

To develop this collaborative project, Air France has chosen to team up with CarWatt, a French start-up that retrieves used lithium-ion batteries from individual electric vehicles and recycles them to give them a new life.

The first operational prototype has just gone into service at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport and the conversion of 10 additional belt vehicles is under consideration.

There are several benefits of this conversion:

- Support the energy transition by reducing CO2 emissions by 3 tons per year, limiting fine particle emissions and reducing noise levels at the airport,
- Improve operational performance by improving safety during aircraft approach,
- Ensure an improved economic performance by reducing planned obsolescence by extending the life of these vehicles and limiting maintenance costs.

A380 to be put on Seoul service from July says Etihad

Starting from 1st July 2019, Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways will operate the Airbus A380 on its daily service linking Abu Dhabi and Seoul. The South Korean capital’s Incheon airport now joins London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, New York JFK and Sydney as a destination served by the airline’s award-winning aircraft.

Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Since launching our services to Seoul Incheon in December 2010, the route has proved tremendously successful and we have welcomed over 1.2 million guests on our flights to and from Korea since then. This reinforces the strong ties between our two countries, and the importance Etihad continues to place on the Korean market.

“The introduction of our award-winning Airbus A380 will provide our guests with the most revolutionary inflight experience. The Etihad A380 embodies our ‘Choose Well’ brand promise perfectly, offering every type of traveller a flying experience tailored to meet their requirements and to capture their imagination.”

Etihad Airways’ 486-seat A380 will provide customers on the route with new inflight experiences such as The Residence, a luxurious three-room cabin which can accommodate two guests in complete privacy, and nine private First Apartments. The double-decker aircraft also boasts 70 Business Studios and 405 Economy Smart Seats. This includes 80 Economy Space seats with a seat pitch of up to 36 inches.

The UAE and South Korea are major trade partners and the UAE is the largest importer of South Korean goods in the Middle East and Africa and the value of trade between the two countries is valued at approximately US$ 15 billion annually. It is estimated that over 200,000 Korean tourists now visit the country each year.

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I think I will travel to Rio Using the music for flight..................Delta to return to Rio for winter

For the third winter season in a row, US mega-carrier Delta will be flying down to Rio!  The Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport - New York JFK route will be operated using a Boeing 767-300 aircraft which features 25 Delta One flat-bed seats. With regionally inspired meals paired with wines selected by Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson and extra wide in-flight entertainment screens.

The aircraft also offers 29 Delta Comfort+ seats with four additional inches of legroom and 171 Main Cabin seats. Delta has made significant enhancements to the Main Cabin experience including free in-flight premium entertainment, complimentary headphones on international flights and access to Wi-Fi on nearly all flights. All customers will be able to enjoy over 300 movies and 550 TV show episodes alongside music and games on individual seat-back screens or streamed directly to a laptop, tablet or mobile.

VistaJet becomes official private jet travel supplier to Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow F1 Team

VistaJet, the first and only global business aviation company, announces its partnership with the Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow team as its Official Supplier of private jet travel.

With the tight schedule of the race calendar and often only days between Grands Prix, VistaJet will support the team to optimize their travel and transfer times throughout the 2019 Formula One season. In an industry where speed and efficiency are fundamental, the Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow team will further utilize time off track to arrive in optimum condition.   

Atlas Air release 2018 figures

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, announced record fourth-quarter and full-year volumes, revenue and earnings in 2018, and an outlook for continued growth in 2019, earlier this week. 

“2018 was another great year for Atlas, with substantial growth in the scale, diversity and profitability of our business,” said President and Chief Executive Officer William J. Flynn.

“Going forward, we are excited about Atlas’ future and the future of airfreight. We expect record Atlas volumes and earnings in 2019 driven by our multiyear initiatives, which enable us to serve a greater range of customers and provide a solid platform for future growth initiatives.

“Our focus is on express and e-commerce, and fast-growing markets in Asia and elsewhere, such as South America, where we had the strongest year in the company’s history. As airfreight tonnage continues to grow, further globalization will require time-definite air networks to facilitate the flow of goods.”

airBaltic to end 737 operations a year ahead of schedule

The Latvian government-backed airline airBaltic has confirmed it will call time on its Boeing 737 operations ahead of schedule.

The firm says its Boeing 737 fleet will be withdrawn from scheduled operation in the autumn of 2019, that is 12 months ahead of the firm's original plan. Towards the end of 2018, airBaltic phased out three of its Boeing 737-500 aircraft and currently operates six Boeing 737-300 and two Boeing 737-500 jets.

The airline says it wants to minimise fleet complexity as well as take full advantage of the additional efficiencies of operating a single type jet fleet will achieve.  Once all the older 737's are removed from operations airBaltic will be left with Bombardier Q400 turboprops while the jet of choice with will be Airbus A220-300.  

Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “Airbus A220-300 is the aircraft of our future and, by phasing out the Boeing 737, we will have the youngest jet fleet in Europe. The introduction of Airbus A220-300 has been very successful and provided the additional efficiency any airline is seeking in the highly competitive aviation market. Thanks to the good overall performance we took a decision to introduce a single type fleet of up to 80 (50 firm order and 30 options) Airbus A220-300 aircraft by 2022.”

Air Canada adds more Q400 services in the west

Photo Jazz

Canada's leading airline Air Canada recently announced it will boost capacity on regional routes across Western Canada this spring as it deploys more state-of-the-art Bombardier Q-400 NextGen aircraft.  The changes are part of an ongoing transformation of Air Canada Express that will result in enhanced services for customers.

"Air Canada is strategically enhancing the flying experience and increasing capacity this summer on key regional routes in Western Canada.  The ultra-quiet, comfortable, fuel efficient and faster Q-400 aircraft will be well-received by our customers and is larger than the regional aircraft it is replacing.  We are pleased to deploy it to more communities in Western Canada as we further strengthen our regional network to optimize all significant connections between our extensive regional and global markets," said Mark Galardo, Vice President, Network Planning at Air Canada. "With our varied and flexible fleet, we are also adding frequencies to our Vancouver-Anchorage and adding capacity to our Calgary-Winnipeg route with larger Airbus aircraft in response to demand."

Airbus opens state-of-the-art commercial pilot and maintenance training centre near Delhi

 2 Airbus A320 full-flight simulators 

Airbus has inaugurated a world-class training centre for commercial pilots and maintenance engineers in the National Capital Region of Delhi, as part of its continuing efforts to support the exponential growth of the civil aviation sector in the country.

Airbus forecast a need for more than 25,000 new pilots in India over the next 20 years to keep pace with the current double-digit growth in its commercial aviation industry.

The training centre incorporates an A320 flight simulator for full-flight simulation, along with programmes on aircraft procedure training, computer-based classroom training, and standard pilot transition training, including an ‘Upgrade to Command’ course aimed at improving skills and maturity of co-pilots as they transition to commandership. The facility will complement Airbus India’s training centre in Bengaluru which has trained more than 4,500 maintenance engineers since its inception in 2007.

The UK's drone no-fly zones increased

The drone no-fly zones around UK airports is set to be extended by the UK authorities, the government said in the morning of Wednesday, February 20th. The change in the law is a direct result of the disruption caused by repeated sightings of drones in and around London Gatwick Airports airspace during December 2018. Thousands of flights were cancelled and hundreds of thousands of passengers saw their pre-Christmas travel plans in chaos as the airport was forced to close for more than 32 hours.   

According to the UK Government, from March 13th it will be illegal to fly a drone within three miles - 5 kilometres of an airport. The UK's Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "The law is clear that flying a drone near an airport is a serious criminal act.  We're now going even further and extending the no-fly zone to help keep our airports secure and our skies safe.

Air France - KLM full year 2018 results

The Air France - KLM group has released its 2018 full-year today which demonstrates how the group still managed to achieve a strong performance despite higher fuel costs and strike action.  In total, more than 100 million passengers flew on the group's airlines during 2018, leading to revenue increases across the board. However, it is clear that once again the groups' survival is thanks mainly to the continued good operations of Transavia and KLM.

The operating result of € 1,332 million was, according to the group, thanks in part to strong commercial performance, cost control and streamlining.  2018 also saw further reductions in the Groups net debt, down €195 million to €6.2 billion. 

In the latest results. the group said it will continue to work on yield improvement within the context of an anticipated fuel bill increase. 

Based on the current data for the Passenger network:

Long-haul forward booking load factors from February to April are on average stable compared to last year, and positively oriented for the early summer,
Passenger unit revenues at constant currency expected below last year for the first quarter 2019 partly due to the Easter shift,
Unit cost (CASK) reduction between -1% and 0% at constant currency and fuel price,
Net debt/EBITDA ratio below 1.5x.
The Board of Directors of Air France-KLM, chaired by Anne-Marie Couderc, met on 19 February 2019 to approve the financial statements for the Full Year 2018.

Delta Cargo gets a rebrand - aligning with SkyTeam Cargo

Delta Cargo is rebranding its international products to align with SkyTeam Cargo, providing customers with a common product portfolio across the global alliance. There are no changes to Delta Cargo product attributes.

“By rebranding our international products to align with our SkyTeam Cargo partners, it is now easier for our customers to do business with all 12 member airlines,” said Shawn Cole, Delta Cargo–Vice President. “With SkyTeam, we offer consistent service and handling to over 850 destinations in 175 countries.”.

2018 was better than expected says Cathay Pacific

The Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways has confirmed it would post full-year profits for 2018 of about HK$2.3 billion - £225.5 million that's around US $293 million. Which is more than double than most expectations for the airline that is midway through a restructuring programme.  

During 2018, Cathay Pacific said its main passenger business benefited from impressive capacity growth, improved revenue management and yield control. The airline was able to maintain its load factors and improve yields despite the competitive pressures existing in its market place

The Company’s transformation programme has also had a positive impact on the year-end results, the firm said and the news sent its share price soaring as the story broke on Wednesday. 

Mechanical & maintenance issues ground Southwest aircraft

A top Southwest Airlines Co executive said the low-cost carrier would investigate why the number of aircraft unable to fly due to mechanical issues had doubled in recent days, causing flight delays and cancellations, reports news agency Reuters.

“AMFA has a history of work disruptions, and Southwest has two pending lawsuits against the union,” Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven said in a statement. Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) represents about 2,400 mechanics who maintain the carrier’s Boeing 737 fleet.

Southwest has been in negotiations with the union representing its mechanics for six years.

Van de Ven said the disruption had arisen despite no change to the low-cost carrier’s maintenance programs, leadership, policies or procedures.

“We will be investigating this current disruption and exploring all possible remedies,” Van de Ven said.

Flight cancellations by Southwest accounted for roughly 24 % of nearly 800 total flights cancelled across the United States on Tuesday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.com.

Southwest said about half of its cancellations had been related to unscheduled maintenance issues, and the remainder due to winter storms forecast to hit the Midwest and Northeast over Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lisa Shumaker

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Due to growing demand Singapore Airlines adds third daily service to Osaka

One of the World's most popular air carriers, Singapore Airlines confirmed recently that it would be adding a third daily service to Osaka’s Kansai International Airport from April 2019. The third flight is to meet the growing demand for travel between Singapore and Japan.

SIA already operates two flights per day on the popular Singapore-Osaka route, and the third will be introduced with effect from 27 April 2019. Airbus A330-300 aircraft will be operated, adding nearly 2,000 seats per week in each direction.

Flight SQ620 will depart Singapore at 0830hrs and arrive at Osaka at 1610hrs. The return flight will operate as SQ621, departing Osaka at 1725hrs and arriving in Singapore at 2305hrs.

In addition to Osaka, Singapore Airlines operates six daily services to Tokyo (Haneda and Narita airports), as well as daily services to both Fukuoka and Nagoya. Regional subsidiary SilkAir operates thrice-weekly services to Hiroshima, while low-cost subsidiary Scoot operates 11 weekly flights to Osaka, four weekly flights to Sapporo and 19 weekly flights to Tokyo Narita. With SIA’s third daily service to Osaka, the SIA Group will operate a combined 114 weekly flights between Singapore and Japan.

The new flights are subject to regulatory approvals. 

Alaska Airlines confirms John Ladner to vice president; Horizon Air promotes Brooke Vatheuer to senior vice president

As Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air continue to grow, two talented executives, who have become strong leaders during their lengthy tenure at Alaska Air Group, have been promoted to key roles leading large teams in crucial customer-facing operational areas.

The Alaska Airlines board of directors has elected John Ladner as vice president of flight operations for Alaska Airlines. The Horizon Air board of directors has elected Brooke Vatheuer as senior vice president of operations and planning for Horizon Air.

Amsterdam's Schiphol and Cathay Pacific launch facial recognition pilot

Passengers travelling with Cathay Pacific can take part in a pilot for boarding by means of facial recognition. This pilot belongs to the first phase of fully enabling travel by means of facial recognition at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the longer term.

After check-in, participants in the pilot will be accompanied to one of the special registration kiosks. The passengers will have their passport, boarding pass and face scanned here. This process will be followed by security and passport control, as always. When boarding, the passenger’s face will be scanned at the gate. The scan will be compared with the one produced when registering. If the face is recognised, the gate will open and the passenger will be able to board immediately, resulting in greater convenience for the passenger and a smoother flow at the airport. We call this concept ‘Seamless Flow’.

Solid results for Air Canada in 2018

The Canadian flag carrier, Ar Canada reported its full-year 2018 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, impairment and aircraft rent earlier this week of $2.851 billion compared to full year 2017 record EBITDAR of $2.928 billion.  

Air Canada reported 2018 operating income of $1.174 billion compared to 2017 operating income of $1.371 billion.  Adjusted pre-tax income(1) amounted to $952 million in 2018 compared to adjusted pre-tax income of $1.165 billion in 2017.  On a GAAP basis, the airline reported net income of $167 million in 2018 compared to net income of $2.029 billion in 2017.  The decrease of $1.862 billion in net income year-over-year is mainly due to an increase in net tax expense of $981 million, unfavourable foreign exchange results of $437 million and Air Canada having a recorded a loss on disposal of assets of $188 million in 2018. 

The cameras are disabled.....

One of the World's most popular air carriers, Singapore Airlines, has had to reassure passengers that its new in-flight entertainment systems are not spying on them, after eagle eyes passengers spotted cameras on the newer systems.

The airline confirmed on Tuesday, February 19th that some of the hardware for the new onboard entertainment systems did actually have cameras embedded in them by the manufacturers. “Some of our newer in-flight entertainment systems provided by the original equipment manufacturers do have a camera provisioned and embedded in the hardware," an airline spokesperson told local media.

Currently, there are over 80 aircraft with the newer in-flight entertainment systems with the camera embedded within them operating in the Singapore Airlines fleet. Those aircraft include the carriers Airbus A350-900s, Airbus A380s and Boeing 777 and 787 models.

Air Canada suspends flights to Haiti as protests turn more violent.

Running from police gunfire Photo Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated Press

Opposition protesters have taken to the streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, for another day as the unrest continues amid a corruption scandal and soaring inflation.

Demonstrators had put up makeshift barricades and burnt tyres over the weekend following days of protests over allegations that officials and ministers had stolen funds from an oil deal said to run into more than $2 billion.

According to local figures, seven people have been killed during the protests which began earlier this month and have caused many countries around the world to warn against travel to Haiti, including Canada and the United Kingdom. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office now warn advise against all but essential travel to Haiti due to the current unstable and dangerous security situation. 

On Monday, Air Canada Rouge operated flight AC1815 on a Boeing 767 from Port-au-Prince with 209 customers and 16 crew and support employees onboard. The airline has suspended its usual two flights a week, with  Craig Landry, Executive Vice President, Operations at Air Canada saying, "Our thoughts are with the Haitian people during this period of disturbance. Given the strong ties between our two countries, Air Canada has a long, proud history of serving Haiti and we intend to resume regular service as soon as it is safe to do so."