Emirates anticipates peak arrivals period in upcoming weeks

Emirates is ramping up services for hassle-free arrivals into Dubai for over half a million travellers

The next few weeks are going to be a busy time for the Dubai based mega-carrier Emirates as the airline ramps up services in the upcoming weeks for yet another busy period with travellers flocking into Dubai after the summer holidays and Eid breaks. Excluding transit passengers, over 500,000 people are expected to arrive into Dubai from 20 August until the beginning of September.

Mohammed Mattar, Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates Airport Services said: “With another record-breaking period coming up when it comes to passenger arrivals, we want to ensure that Emirates customers coming back to Dubai have the best experience possible starting from disembarkation through to every touchpoint and have positioned extra resources to ensure a speedy arrival journey.”

Cabo Verde to start service to Lagos.

The airline of the Cape Verde Islands,  Cabo Cabo Verde Airlines has confirmed it will start a new service to the Nigerian city of Lagos.

The airline will deploy a 757 to the route configured with 22 business/executive seats and 161 in the economy cabin. The schedule for the new route will see it fly on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, starting on 9th December. 

The airline is currently undergoing a massive expansion programme that has recently seen it announce new routes to various destinations including:

Angola, Brazil and Washington DC, Dakar, Lisbon, Milan, Paris and Rome.

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Aviation Week Network Expands Urban Air Mobility Conferences to Asia and Europe Starting Next Month

Aviation Week Network has expanded its Urban Air Mobility conference series to include Urban Air Mobility Asia-Pacific (#UAMAP), happening on Wednesday, September 25 at the Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Centre; and Urban Air Mobility Europe (#UAMEU), happening Wednesday, October 16 at the ExCeL Centre in London.

These shows come on the heels of the great success of the inaugural Urban Air Mobility Conference, which was held this past April in Atlanta, Georgia. The upcoming conferences will feature some of the biggest players in the industry including:

Asia-Pacific:

Neo Kok Beng, Founder and CEO, NEO Aeronautics

Damian Cheng, Project Manager, Crimson S8, NEO Aeronautics

Peter Littau, Head of Strategic Expansion, Volocopter

Dr. James Wang, Professor and Director of eVTOL Research & Innovation Center, Nanyang Technological University

Derrick Xiong, Co-Founder, EHang

Delta Air Lines return to Manchester

Now boarding – Virgin Atlantic and Delta unveil new schedule between Manchester and United States

Delta returns to Manchester to join forces with Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines are boosting flights between the UK and US from next summer, with Delta returning to Manchester Airport, once again joining forces with its partner Virgin Atlantic.

Delta will operate a new peak-summer service to Boston effective May 22, 2020 taking over Virgin Atlantic’s current operation. Flights will increase from the current three per week to a daily service, offering an extra 45% capacity verses last year.

New British Airways sale.......seats for £50 each way.

As the summer holidays come to an end and Autumn is on the horizon, so it seems the UK is bracing for a cooler climate. According to the Met Office, we’re in for a week of breeze and scattered showers.

With the children heading back to school shortly and the country braced for cooler, wetter weather, British Airways is offering 50,000 short-haul seats at £50 each-way for customers looking to avoid the crowds and the cooler jet stream during the last days of August and during September and October.

airBaltic Training Pilot Academy to build new aircraft hangar in Liepaja

airBaltic Training has launched the construction of a new aircraft hangar in Liepaja. On August 16, 2019, airBaltic together with Transport Minister of the Republic of Latvia Tālis Linkaits, partners from International Airport Liepaja, Liepaja’s city council and construction company LTD PICHE, gathered to celebrate the next step of the airBaltic new aircraft hangar construction process at International Airport Liepaja by inserting Time Capsule in the foundation of the hangar.

The new aircraft hangar will provide place for more than 15 training aircraft and a workshop for the Diamond aircraft technical maintenance. It is planned that the construction will be finalized by the end of 2019.

Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “This is a significant moment for the future development of the airBaltic Pilot Academy. airBaltic as the company is on a sustainable growth path and we are proud to have our own, high calibre Airline Pilot Standard Training, that leads to employment as an airBaltic pilot. Already since summer 2018 airBaltic Training Pilot Academy students are training in Liepaja, thus we are delighted to further strengthen our cooperation with our partner from Liepaja’s International airport and Liepaja’s City council, making Liepaja an even more important city on the European map.”

The two 'Club World' seats for £2019 sale from British Airways comes to an end tomorrow.

With just a day to go until the end of British Airways’ latest premium sale, there are still pairs of Club World (business class) seats available from £2019 return to New York, Washington, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Moscow, San Jose (Costa Rica) and Punta Cana.

Other destinations are available for marginally more with two Club World seats to the likes of Antigua for £2305, Barbados for £2332, Cancun for £2353 and both Beijing and Bangkok for £2998.

And those looking for a special First class trip can snap up a pair of tickets in the exclusive cabin from just £3019 to New York, Toronto, Washington, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami and Philadelphia.

Two World Traveller Plus seats to New York and Miami start from just £1398 and to New Orleans and Nashville from £1598.

The sale finishes at 11.59pm on Monday, August 19 for travel dates between now and September 30, 2019.

Full terms and conditions can be found at ba.com/luxury-offers.

New services from Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline in Africa has recently announced it will launch a new service to the central Mozambique city of Beira. The airline said it would operate the route three times a week via Malawi effective from September 3rd 2019 on Boeing 737-800s.

Beira is the fourth largest and one of the main commercial cities in Mozambique and will serve as a gateway to most of the countries in Central Africa with potential tourist attractions.  Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked, “Covering the largest network in Africa and connecting major world trading cities across our global network, we have been filling the connectivity vacuum in the continent not only with primary cities in countries but also with secondary and tertiary cities and towns. Our customers in these smaller cities will get special opportunity to connect to our global network of more than 120 international destinations in five continents with direct flights and fewer stops. Supporting our main hub in Maputo, Beira will serve as our hub in central Mozambique directly connecting passengers to our global hub in Addis Ababa for further connections to various parts of the world.”

Yacht company Edmiston has taken over title sponsorship of London Heliport

Photo London Heliport

Edmiston, the world-leading yacht company, has taken over the title sponsorship of The London Heliport. Coinciding with the heliport’s 60th Anniversary this summer, Edmiston has undertaken a major restyling of both the interior and exterior terminal, including a complete repaint of the landing, take-off and apron areas.  Effective 1st August, the Heliport will be known as The Edmiston London Heliport. 

Edmiston brings its iconic branding to 

the iconic vertical gateway.

Edmiston Chief Executive, Jamie Edmiston commented; "We have made a long-term commitment to this key London gateway.  For us, this is more than a branding exercise. Our aim is to bring the rigorous focus, attention to detail and teamwork that you would find onboard a large yacht - to the operation of the heliport.  Working in close partnership with the management and owners of London Heliport, our objective is to deliver the best possible experience for clients using the Heliport.”

“With this collaboration with Edmiston we are entering an exciting new era,” said London Heliport General Manager Simon Hutchins. “Edmiston is a prestigious luxury brand to align with and Jamie Edmiston has overseen a significant investment that has revitalised the whole look of the heliport.”

Air Astana signs Flight Directors as general sales agent for UK and Ireland

Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan, has contracted with Flight Directors as its new General Sales Agent for the UK and Ireland, effective immediately.  The eight-times SkyTrax award winner, which offers daily flights to London Heathrow to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan’s capital, has also moved its UK sales and marketing team to a new dedicated office in Chertsey, Surrey, very close to the main hub airport.

“We are delighted to be teaming with Flight Directors as our new GSA and also being able to offer an enhanced reservations call centre offering daily coverage between 08:00hrs and 20:00hrs, except 25th December,” said Simon Rickman, Country Manager UK and Ireland.

The UK and Norway reinforce North Atlantic security

UK's Defence Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Norwegian State Secretary Tone Skogen                                       Photo RAF

The UK's Defence Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan hosted Norwegian State Secretary Tone Skogen to discuss NATO and the UK’s role in the North Atlantic.

The UK is investing £3 billion in nine new Boeing Poseidon P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, with Norway committing to a further five. The aircraft are sophisticated submarine-hunters designed to scout complex undersea threats. 

The aircraft will work together, and with NATO allies, to combat a range of intensifying threats in the North Atlantic, including increased hostile submarine activity.

“The UK’s maritime patrol aircraft programme demonstrates our ongoing commitment to working with international allies in the North Atlantic, strengthening our alliances with valued partners such as Norway.

“Our two nations share basing facilities, undergo cold-weather training together and patrol the seas and skies side-by-side allowing us to successfully face down the growing threats from adversaries in the North Atlantic region.”  Said Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Defence Minister.

Photo RAF

Etihad deploy Boeing 787-9 on the Abu Dhabi - Lagos Route

Photo Etihad Airways

The Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways as revised its scheduled to Lagos, Nigeria to be flown by one of the carriers new state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

The airline made the change from 2nd August when the inaugural flight from Abu Dhabi EY673 took off from Abu Dhabi at 2.35am and arrived on schedule at 7.10am local time. The return EY674 departed Lagos at 8.30am and landed back just after 7pm. 

• Travellers will experience industry-leading, next-generation cabins
• Flying Nannies and Food and Beverage Managers offer innovative hospitality services in-flight
• Includes highly-acclaimed interiors featuring 28 Business Studios and 271 Economy Smart Seats

The two-class B787-9 Dreamliner features Etihad Airways’ next-generation Business and Economy cabins configured with 299 seats - 28 Business Studios and 271 Economy Smart Seats.

Icelandair drops the Boeing 737 Max from its flight schedule until the end of the year!

Icelandair has updated its flight schedule until the end of December 2019 as it does not anticipate the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to be in operation during that time. The changes also reflect other market developments.

The total seat capacity in November and December will be increased by almost 3% compared with the same period last year. The seat capacity to Europe will increase considerably, for example to Copenhagen, Dublin, Brussels and Berlin. However, the total seat capacity to North America will decrease, which can be explained by the changes in the number of destinations compared to last year which has already been announced. In addition, Portland will not be part of the Company’s winter schedule but will resume in the spring of 2020. Despite this, seat capacity to certain North American destinations will increase, such as Minneapolis, Vancouver, Denver and Orlando.

Delta now flying from Santa Barbara to Salt Lake City hub

Delta has added a new destination to its route map and made the "American Riviera" more accessible than ever with the start of three daily year-round flights from Salt Lake City International Airport to Santa Barbara Airport on August 12th 2019.

SBA-SLCSanta Barbara is the 330th destination in Delta’s expanding network and the 13th city in California served by the airline. Combined with the start of other new routes – including Detroit-San Jose in November 2018, Atlanta-Ontario in April, Detroit-Sacramento in June, and Atlanta-Burbank in July – the number of seats Delta offers from California has grown by over five percent.

For Delta’s hub in Salt Lake City, Santa Barbara is the latest in a series of destinations that have been added in the last two years, including Cleveland, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; and Tampa, Fla.

United Airlines Adds Service to Tokyo, Haneda with Routes from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York/Newark and Washington, D.C.

United Airlines announced on Friday that it will begin service between four of its U.S. hubs and Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, located approximately 15 minutes from downtown Tokyo. United will begin operating nonstop service between Chicago, Los Angeles, New York/Newark and Washington, D.C. and Haneda on March 28, 2020, subject to government approval. United currently offers daily nonstop service between San Francisco and Haneda. Tickets for United's new Haneda flights will be available for purchase from today, Saturday, August 17th.

In addition to United's new Haneda flights, Tokyo's Narita International airport will continue to be a hub for United with nonstop daily service between Narita and Denver, Guam, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark and San Francisco. With the start of these new routes, United will no longer serve Narita from its Chicago and Washington D.C. hubs, and will shift these flights from Narita to Haneda.