04 January, 2024
Norse Atlantic to start service between New York JFK and Athens.
American Airlines reports strong performance over peak holiday season.
American’s winter holiday operational highlights
American has welcomed nearly 7.8 million customers across more than 71,000 flights since between 20 December and 8 January.To date, American has led its major competitors in completion factor, canceling the fewest number of flights. American didn’t cancel a single mainline flight for the first six days of this travel period (with nine total days without a mainline cancellation) and just 16 mainline flights have been canceled this holiday period.American’s on-time departure and arrival performance both improved by around 15% compared to 2022’s holiday period.American’s continued investments and focus on baggage handling across our network are paying off, with the key metric that measures mishandled baggage improving 66% compared to last year’s holiday period.
Prohibition of Supersonic, Transonic and Hypersonic Flight over land up for review in UK
Ryanair calls online travel firms 'Pirates' and some drop the carrier from their sites.
AerCap's major results....
Full Year 2023 Transactions
Signed 592 lease agreements, completed 173 purchases and 188 sale transactions.
Received cash insurance settlement proceeds of approximately $1.3 billion.Repurchased approximately 44 million shares, at an average price of $59.09 per share, for a total of approximately $2.6 billion.
Signed financing transactions for approximately $13.3 billion.
Fourth Quarter 2023 Transactions
Signed 179 lease agreements, including 11 widebody aircraft, 89 narrowbody aircraft, 3 regional jets, 57 engines and 19 helicopters.
Completed 52 purchases for 24 aircraft (including 4 Airbus A220 Family aircraft, 11 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, 6 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and 3 Boeing 787-9s for AerCap's owned aircraft portfolio), 23 engines and 5 helicopters.
Completed 36 sale transactions for 20 aircraft (including 3 Airbus A220 Family aircraft, 4 Airbus A320 Family aircraft, 3 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, 1 Airbus A330, 3 Boeing 737NGs, 1 Boeing 737-300SF, 2 Embraer E190s and 3 De Havilland Canada DHC-8s from AerCap's owned aircraft portfolio), 9 engines from AerCap's owned engine portfolio, 1 engine from AerCap's managed engine portfolio and 6 helicopters.
Received cash insurance settlement proceeds of approximately $609 million.Repurchased approximately 10 million shares, at an average price of $62.86 per share, for a total of approximately $649 million.
Signed financing transactions for approximately $1.7 billion.
Korean Air releases a new safety video featuring virtual humans
The UK's AAIB has sent an investigation team to Tokyo
Japan Airlines A350 crash latest....
03 January, 2024
Universal Studios looks at Bedford for first European resort.
Universal Studios is assessing the feasibility of opening its first European resort in the UK, following the purchase of a former brickworks in Bedfordshire.
SAS is getting ready for the summer season and will fly to over 130 destinations in more than 40 countries.
SAS is getting ready for a busy summer season with over 130 destinations in more than 40 countries.
The Scandinavian Airline SAS, currently under reconstruction and review has released details of its forthcoming summer schedule.
From Copenhagen there will be direct flights to Ibiza, Salzburg, Genoa, Tromsø and the Dalaman/Turquoise coast in Turkey. From Bergen SAS will start flights to London and from Oslo to Geneva, Milan and Tivat at the coast of Montenegro.
Erik Westman, Chief Revenue Officer at SAS said: “In addition to seamless connectivity to major cities and capitals, our summer traffic program offers new holiday destinations like Ibiza, Genoa, and Tivat. For those seeking familiar favorites, we've boosted capacity to destinations such as Malaga, Florence, Palma, and Alicante. Our passengers can discover a multitude of inspiring options with SAS as they plan their upcoming summer adventures. We look forward to a busy summer and to welcoming our passengers on board”,
South European favourites
SAS is adding flights to long-time favorites in Spain and Italy from all three Scandinavian capitals. From Stockholm and Copenhagen there will be up to 20 weekly flights to Malaga and from Oslo up to 17 flights to Alicante. Milan will enjoy four daily services from Copenhagen, there will be daily flights to Florence from Copenhagen and up to 25 weekly flights to Nice.
Oslo will have 14 weekly departures to Split, and it will be possible to fly with SAS from Stockholm twice a day to Milan and Paris during peak summer. Oslo and Copenhagen also have year-round operations to another Scandinavian favorite, Gran Canaria.
North Europe
From Copenhagen there will be five daily frequencies to Düsseldorf, four daily flights to Brussels and Gdansk and three daily flights to Warsaw and Vilnius. SAS will fly from Stockholm to Tallin up to six times per day and to Vilnius three times a day. Additionally, Stockholm will increase to two daily flights to Berlin, up to six daily flights to Helsinki, and increased frequencies to both Turku and Vaasa.
Domestic and Nordics
SAS has continuous focus on domestic routes and is increasing the numbers of departures between Stockholm and Visby, Kiruna, Skellefteå, and Östersund. Furthermore, there will be up to seven daily flights from Copenhagen to Bergen during peak summer, while Oslo will feature up to two daily flights to Aalborg and four weekly flights to Billund, and increased frequencies to Northern Norway.
Bournemouth Airport on track for 1million passengers
Bournemouth Airport expects to handle more than one million passengers in 2024 as Ryanair confirms its 19th destination from the airport.
LATAM to halt newly introduced Lima-London service.
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways mark 10 years of partnership success
Jet2 is getting ready for Liverpool John Lennon Airport launch
The UK’s largest tour operator and third-largest airline, Jet2 will start operating flights and holidays from Liverpool John Lennon Airport with a service to Tenerife.
Jetstar Asia starts Singapore to Wuxi service
Jetstar Asia CEO, Barathan Pasupathi said “This year has seen us increase our fleet, expand our network and grow our Jetstar family, so launching a brand-new route to such an important destination is a fitting way to end the year. China is a critical market for Jetstar and our customers, so it’s great to start flying to Wuxi, our second Chinese port following the successful launch of flights to Haikou early this year.We’ve seen strong demand for this route since we announced it in October, especially as borders are open and COVID travel restrictions have been removed.Our low fares will ensure our customers in China and Singapore can enjoy seamless and affordable connectivity between these two cities, bridging access to the Yangtze River Delta region. This will not only enhance travel experiences for business and tourism, but also enable families and friends to reconnect.”
02 January, 2024
Japan Airlines A350 collides with DHC-8 whilst landing in Tokyo.
First Airbus A220 arrived for Qantas in December
The first QantasLink Airbus A220 aircraft landed in Sydney on 20th December marking the next phase in the Group’s fleet renewal programme. The aircraft, which features a special indigenous livery, was ferried from Airbus’ facility in Mirabel, Canada, and touched down at midday after stops in Vancouver, Honolulu and Nadi (Fiji).
Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the A220 would unlock improvements ranging from lower emissions to less noise and better passenger comfort. “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome this new A220 aircraft, along with the benefits it will bring to our customers and career opportunities for our people. The size and range of the A220 means we can add new direct routes to our network that may not have been commercially viable before.More fuel efficient aircraft is one way we’re working towards net zero and the A220 generates around 25 per cent fewer carbon emissions than the previous generation as well as being much quieter. This arrival marks the start of the biggest domestic fleet renewal program in Qantas’ history as the Group takes delivery of one new aircraft every three weeks on average over the next few years.On the back of this fleet investment we’re recruiting more pilots, cabin crew and engineers and expect to create around 8500 local jobs over the next decade,”