June traffic sets new record at London Stansted Airport

London Stansted saw over 2.65 million passengers pass through its doors in June, the highest total for the month on record at the airport.

The monthly total was boosted by the 10 new routes operating this year compared to June 2018. The destinations now available are Venice, Murcia, Kyiv, Nantes, Paris, Lvov, Rijeka, Kristiansand, Rodez and Hurghada.

The top three destination countries reporting the strongest growth by passenger volumes in June over the same month last year were Turkey (+31%), Portugal (+19%) and France (+14%).

The moving annual total for the 12 months ending June 2019 increased by 6.3% on the previous year as the airport welcomed over 28.49 million passengers.

Athens joins Air Italy network thanks to new agreement with Aegean Airlines

Air Italy US passengers can reach Athens via seamless connection in Malpensa. Athens easily reachable via Milan for Air Italy customers from central and southern Italy

Starting from today, Air Italy has added Athens as a new destination to its network, thanks to the signing of a new Special Prorate Agreement with Aegean Airlines.

Air Italy passengers travelling from our four US destinations – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and New York – and from Toronto can now easily reach the Greek capital via Air Italy’s Milan Malpensa hub, continuing with flights directly to Athens on Aegean Airlines.

In addition, all Air Italy customers departing from the main airports of central and southern Italy, such as Rome, Naples, Palermo, Catania, Lamezia Terme, Cagliari and Olbia will now have the opportunity to fly Athens via Malpensa.

JetBlue’s Soar with Reading initiative lands in New York City with vending machines offering FREE books!

JetBlue, New York’s Hometown Airline has launched its ninth annual Soar with Reading initiative this week, in its hometown, marking the first time its innovative free book vending machines have touched down in New York City. Soar with Reading, an award-winning literacy initiative tackles the issue of book availability in underserved communities, where access to age-appropriate books for children is often limited. Since 2015, JetBlue has taken a creative approach to this issue through its free book vending machine program which previously visited Detroit; San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.; Washington, DC and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This summer, JetBlue will place six free book vending machines throughout New York City’s five boroughs, in areas where the need is greatest. The six vending machines will be placed in neighbourhoods where the ability to purchase age-appropriate books is limited, with one machine in each borough and two in Queens. To date, JetBlue, through its Soar with Reading initiative, has donated more than $3.5 million worth of books to kids in need.

JetBlue Airways reports June traffic

Photo Business Wire

JetBlue Airways Corporation reported its preliminary traffic results for June 2019. Traffic in June increased by 4.7 % from June 2018, on a capacity increase of 4.8 %. Load factor for June 2019 was 86.9 percent, a decrease of 0.1 points from June 2018. JetBlue’s preliminary completion factor for June 2019 was 99.5 % and its on-time (1) performance was 70.1 %.

Second quarter revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is expected to increase approximately 3.1 percent year-over-year. This is consistent with our revised guidance range of 2.0 to 4.0%.

British Airways confirms move to Beijing's new Daxing Airport

British Airways has announced this week that all direct flights to and from Heathrow and Beijing will move to new state-of-the-art Daxing airport from 27 October 2019.  

British Airways is the first international airline to confirm it will move all operations to Beijing Daxing, in recognition of its importance in driving travel between China and the UK and its offer of a world-class customer experience.

With a massive 52,000m2 available for retail, food and beverage and service, facilities at Beijing Daxing for British Airways' customers will include over 300 shops and restaurants and for that eligible access to a brand-new partner lounge.

Delta launches A330-900neo service

Delta's newest widebody aircraft – the Airbus A330-900neo – will begin operations today, with flight DL589 flying from Seattle to Shanghai. As the first North American airline to operate this aircraft type, Delta will use its A330-900neo aircraft for flights connecting Seattle with Seoul beginning Oct. 1 and Tokyo-Narita beginning Oct. 27.

The aircraft launch nearly doubles the premium seat offerings from Seattle to top Asian markets and is the latest in a series of investments Delta has made as it marks the five-year anniversary of its Sea-Tac hub.

"We're transforming the airline customer experience on a global scale and this new aircraft is the latest example of our commitment to our international customers," said Steve Sear, Delta's President — International and E.V.P. — Global Sales. "This state-of-the-art aircraft will provide the latest amenities, entertainment and technology to our customers as they journey to destinations worldwide on Delta's expanding global network."

British Airways unveils new lounge in San Francisco

British Airways unveils its new lounge in San Francisco, the third US lounge to benefit from the airline’s investment plan for its customers, following the recent opening of its First and Club lounge at New York JFK’s Terminal 7.

The new contemporary lounge is spread across 665 square metres with fantastic views of the runway, thanks to floor to ceiling glass windows that run along the side of the lounge letting natural light flow in.

The airline has created a number of zones throughout the lounge to cater to its customers' needs.  For those wanting to unwind ahead of their flight, they can do so at the beautifully crafted granite feature bar, that forms the centrepiece of the lounge. Customers wishing to catch up on some work ahead of their flight will be able to use a new study area with wireless printing facilities.

Fraport to deploy FlightAware predictive technology at Frankfurt Airport

Fraport AG will begin using real-time predictive runway arrival times, so-called 'ELDTs' (Estimated Landing Times) delivered via FlightAware's Firehose feed as an additional data source in the further optimization of airport operations at their home base of Frankfurt Airport. Fraport is one of the leading managers in the global airport business with activities at 30 airports worldwide. Offering the world's largest flight tracking data platform, FlightAware is an industry leader in digital aviation solutions. The partnership gives Fraport access to precise, predicted runway arrival times, aircraft positions and flight status from FlightAware.

Giving the gift of life: Delta people are No. 1 again in American Red Cross corporate blood donations

By Judy Graham-Weaver

Delta people donated a record 13,064 pints of blood in

the fiscal year 2019 (year-end June 30).

18% increase since the fiscal year 2018.

Delta hosted a record 254 blood drives across

44 locations system-wide​

Delta employees, retirees and customers contributed a record 13,064 pints of blood at Delta-hosted American Red Cross blood drives during the 2019 fiscal year (year-end June 30) across the system – an 18% increase from the fiscal year 2018.

The unprecedented record allows Delta to retain the No. 1 spot in corporate blood donations in the U.S. and marks the most successful donation year since Delta's partnership with the American Red Cross began in 1941. Delta was No. 11 on the corporate sponsor list just seven years ago.

Changes to Icelandair’s flight schedule through October due to suspension of Boeing 737 MAX

Icelandair has made changes to its flight schedule until the end of October 2019 as it is expected that the suspension of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will last longer than anticipated.

To minimize the impact on its passengers, Icelandair has been operating five leased aircraft during the summer season. The leasing agreements of two of the aircraft will expire at the end of August while the other three will be in operation until the end of September. Icelandair is currently working on extending the leasing agreement of one aircraft until the end of October.

Busy time for Air Lease Corporation during the second quarter of 2019

Air Lease Corporation is a leading aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, California, USA that has airline customers throughout the world. Its dedicated and experienced team of professionals are principally engaged in purchasing commercial aircraft and leasing them to its airline customers worldwide, has had a busy time during the second quarter of 2019. 

As of June 30, 2019, ALC’s fleet was comprised of 297 owned aircraft and 64 managed aircraft, with commitments to acquire a total of 345 new aircraft for delivery through 2024.

Spaceflight to launch multiple Spacecraft from International Space Station via Cygnus

Spaceflight announced it is providing mission management and rideshare integration services on an upcoming launch from the International Space Station (ISS) and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus launch vehicle. Spaceflight bought the capacity through an arrangement with Hypergiant SEOPS for a variety of customer spacecraft, including:

RFTSat from Northwest Nazarene University; selected for flight via NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative

NARSSCube-2 from NARSS-Egypt developed by researchers from NARSS-Egypt for technology demonstration and environmental study; launch was coordinated by Smart Integrators 

An undisclosed 6U Cubesat

Delta named among ‘Best Workplaces for Millennials’

The US mega-carrier Delta is the only airline among the 100 companies honoured, landing the No. 61 spot on the list.

Great Place to Work and Fortune have named Delta Air Lines as one of the 2019 Best Workplaces for Millennials, the first time Delta has won this honour. ​​The ranking considered feedback representing over 4.5 million employees working at Great Place to Work-Certified organizations. Delta is the only airline among the 100 companies honoured, landing the No. 61 spot on the list.

Research from Great Place to Work, a global people analytics and consulting firm, evaluated more than 60 elements of team members​' experience on the job. These included the extent to which employees trust leaders, the respect with which people are treated, the fairness of workplace decisions, and how much camaraderie there is among the team. Rankings are based on employees' feedback and reward companies who best include all employees, no matter who they are or what they do for the organization.

JetBlue named No. 1 US domestic airline in the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2019

The US budget carrier and New York's hometown airline, JetBlue has been named the number one domestic airline in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2019. 

Each year, the readers of Travel + Leisure, the largest travel brand in the United States, vote on their favourite airlines, destinations, hotels, and more. Now approaching 20 years of low-fare flying, JetBlue continues to put the customer at the centre of the travel experience in ways no airline can match.

“Whether it’s new planes on new routes, our customer comfort and inflight connectivity, or our airport amenities and caring crewmembers, JetBlue strives to lead the industry in every aspect of air travel,” said Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s president and chief operating officer. “Honors like this from Travel + Leisure show that the dedication of our 22,000+ crewmembers is truly making a difference in the experiences of our customers each day and we couldn’t be prouder.”

Silver Airways appoints navy veteran as its manager of in-flight services

The Fort Lauderdale based boutique airline Silver Airways has appointed Marie (Nadia) Laforest as the airline’s new Manager of Inflight Services.

Laforest launched her career at Silver Airways four years ago as a flight attendant and went on to serve in leadership roles in the inflight services department, including as Air Transportation Supervisor and Air Transportation Ground Instructor before being promoted to the airline’s Manager of Inflight Services.

In her new role as Manager of Inflight Services, Laforest is responsible for supervising Silver Airways’ inflight department and ensuring that the airline’s flight attendants are providing safe and friendly service for guests, adhering to all regulations and company policies and procedures, and creating a positive quality work environment for team members.