Profits Down for Air New Zealand

Increased competition has been blamed for a fall in Air New Zealand's profit, it's been announced today.  The Auckland based airline posted a fall of 17.5 percent in its annual net profit, stating net profit for the 12 months to 30th June was NZ$382 million thats $278 million, down from a record NZ$463 million in the previous year.

The carrier said it was still the second-highest figure ever recorded by the airline, describing it as a "strong" result.  "This year Air New Zealand faced an unprecedented increase in the level of competition from some of the world's largest airlines and effectively rose to the challenge," chief executive Chris Luxon said.

"The impressive way our team responded to the new competition while at the same time achieving commercial, customer and cultural excellence, helped to deliver our second highest profit ever."

Pre-tax earnings also dipped 20.5 percent to NZ$527 and operating revenue was off 2.3 percent at NZ$4.4 billion.

However the company is "optimistic about the overall market dynamics" and aimed to improve its earnings in the current financial year.

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Airports Want Quick Euro Deal Post Brexit

The owners for five of the busiest airports in the UK have joined forces to press the government to 'urgently' agree a post-Brexit deal on flights between the UK and the EU. They warn that the current uncertainty alone would be enough to see bookings drop by up to 41%.

A special report has been submitted to ministers by the owners of Manchester, Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports which concludes that even if flights are not interrupted in March 2019 passenger numbers are likely to be hit hard without assurances.

WPI Economics created the report for the airports said that almost half of passengers booking in the year ahead were likely to alter their travel plans if there was any doubt over the status of flights. European based airlines have the freedom to fly from anywhere to anywhere in the EU, yet fears are this freedom of the air will end for UK based airlines as soon as Britain exits the EU.

Interline Deal For ANA and Malindo

Photo R A Samed

 All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline has signed a new interline deal with Malindo Air of Malaysia.  The interline arrangement will afford both airlines passengers to seamless travel with the two carriers offering greater connectivity on hundreds of routes.  

Malindo Air Chief Executive Officer Chandran Rama Muthy said the airline was delighted to partner ANA and take passengers beyond the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.  “With ANA, our passengers will be connected to more than 200 global and domestic destinations through its hubs in Narita and Haneda,” he said in a statement to mark the deal signing this week, adding "At the same time, this will increase the number of transit passengers at KLIA. Our extensive route network provides better options for passengers who travel for both the business and leisure segments,” he added.

ANA is the fifth addition to Malindo Air’s interline partners, after Turkish Airline, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Oman Air. The airline flies to over 46 cities - including 12 major Malaysian destinations.

Most On Time UK Airline - Jet2

OAG data shows that UK budget airline Jet2 has been ranked as the most punctual airline for the last two months in a row. 

The airline managed an 85.8% on time arrival rate in June and 85.7% the following month, which saw them beat all other airlines in the UK by just over 4%.

The performance of the airline is rather impressive, not least because this is the peak summer travelling period, the airline has also started flying from new bases Birmingham and Stansted. 

Windshear Caused Air Caraibes A350 to Collide With Runway Lights

An Air Caraibes Airbus A350-900 operating the airlines flight from Paris Orly to Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe, struck a number or runway edge lights causing major damage to part of its undercarriage.  windshere 

The incident took place at around 6pm local time on Sunday 20th and its believes that the aircraft was subjected to severe windshear upon touch down which caused to to veer to the right.  The aircraft's undercarriage came into contact with a number of runway boundary lights, damaging them and also the front two wheels of the right hand landing gear. 

American Airlines To Increase Capacity From Shannon to Philadelphia

American Airlines are to expand their operations from Ireland's Shannon Airport in a move welcomed by the airports management team.  

American Airlines will expand its Shannon to Philadelphia service during 2018, as the airline continues to build on the growing demand for flights between the Irish airport and its Philadelphia hub. 

Welcoming the increased capacity, Andrew Murphy, Managing Director Shannon Airport said: “The airline’s decision is significant and shows that the service is popular with passengers both sides of the Atlantic." 

"We are delighted with the increase which will add an additional 50 return flights and 7,000 passengers. It is a service that continues to grow, with a 60% increase in capacity already added since 2013.  We're look forward to partnering with American Airlines on making the expansion a real success."

BA's Not Taking The Pee......

In case you missed this story, it's the case of British Airways - taking the pee by not taking the pee! It's a rather disgusting tale of how one passenger had to endure an 11 hour flight sitting in a seat soaked with somebody else's pee.   

Andrew Wilkinson, paid more than £1,200  for a seat on a flight to South Africa with the British carrier, only to find when  he boarded the busy flight, his seat had a damp patch.   At first he thought it was just water, but upon closer inspection, the stench was unmistakable - it was urine.

He recalled: “I got to my seat and saw that there was a wet patch. It was about the size of two decks of cards laid side by side.

“At first I thought it was water but the smell was so distinct it could only have been urine.

“I told the stewardess and she smelt it and agreed it was wee."

“She said ‘sorry about that’. Then she went to the toilet and brought me seat wipes and told me to clean it up myself.”

Thomas Cook Pilots To Strike on 8th September

Approximately 91% of pilots at holiday airline Thomas Cook Airlines have voted to take industrial action in a dispute over pay and conditions.

The vast majority of the 560 pilots at Thomas Cook are members of the British Airline Pilots Association, of which 91% have voted for strike action. 

Executives at BALPA have announced the strike will take place for twelve hours between 3.00am and 3.00pm on the 8th September this year. However, it is understood that talks between the union and the airline will continue.

Baggage Delays at North Terminal

Photo Gatwick's North Terminal - courtesy of Gatwick Airport 

A large number, thought to be in the hundreds, of holidaymakers were left without their luggage after a baggage belt failure at Gatwick over the weekend.  

According to reports a number of flights departed from the North Terminal without some bags due to problems with the baggage distribution handling system.  

“A small number of bags were not put on departing flights over the weekend due to an issue with the baggage system. The issue has since been rectified." A spokesperson for the airport said. “Gatwick recognises the inconvenience that this issue has caused and would like to apologise to anyone affected."  Advising that “Passengers should contact their airline for the latest information on their missing luggage.”

EasyJet was the airline mostly affected, a spokesperson said: “Due to a baggage belt failure at London Gatwick, easyJet, like other airlines, experienced delays in the delivery of hold luggage to departing aircraft. This resulted in a number of flights departing without all of the luggage stowed in the hold.”

The airline advised they were working on reuniting passengers with their luggage as soon as possible. 

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Qatar Airways and Vistara Partnership

Qatar Airways has today entered into a new interline partnership with growing, full-service Indian airline Vistara, as the Qatari national carrier marks more than 20 successful years of flights to India.


The new interline agreement taking effect from 22 August, 2017 will allow Qatar Airways’ passengers to travel seamlessly to and from a wide range of cities within India across Vistara’s network, via Qatar Airways’ existing 13 Indian gateways and under a single ticket with QR’s generous baggage allowance throughout the journey.

Panic as passenger tried to open door mid-flight

Drama on an American Airlines bound for Minneapolis on Saturday when a passenger tried to open an exit mid-flight.

There was panic and pandemonium for a when a passenger tried to open one of the emergency exits while the aircraft was on a flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis.    "There was a lot of yelling and screaming," passenger Richard Munassi told media after the flight landed safely in Minneapolis and the wayward passenger removed in handcuffs by the local police.  

"I thought perhaps two of the passengers had gotten into maybe a fist fight." Richard said, adding that the man tried to open the door "immediately after the pilot let passengers know that the plane was in descent. It was a couple of minutes afterward, so he had a plan to open that door as we were getting close to the ground," 

Another passenger, Salman Elmi, described the incident as a "crazy experience" 

AA to end Manchester - New York JFK route

It's been released that American Airlines will be ending its service between Manchester Airport and New York from next summer.

American Airlines have been at the airport for 31 years and also flies to Chicago and Philadelphia from the airport and say these routes will continue as planned.  The airline say they are cutting the New York service  to ‘maximise their fleet and profitability while matching customer demand’.

Delta Expanding African Service

From March next year, Delta Air Lines will be starting a new flight to Lagos, Nigeria, from New York's JFK airport.   The service is designed to complement the service already flying from Atlanta to one of the busiest airports in Africa.

The service will start 24th March and will operate three times weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The flight will depart New York JFK at 10.50pm arriving in Lagos as 2.05pm local the next day.  The return is scheduled to leave Lagos at 10.30pm and land back in the Big Apple in the morning at 5.30am

“JFK is one of Delta’s gateways to the world, and we’re proud to make that world a little smaller with the launch of service to Lagos,” said Henry Kuykendall, Delta’s Vice President-New York. “This new route to the African continent joins existing service from JFK to Dakar and Accra, and follows new trans-Atlantic routes to Lisbon, Berlin and Glasgow that began this spring. We’re proud to continue to grow and refine our network to serve the more than 27 million Delta customers that pass through New York every year.”

Qatar - Prague New Service Started Today

Qatar Airways’ first non-stop flight from Doha landed today at Václav Havel Airport Prague, inaugurating the award-winning airline’s first-ever passenger service to the Czech Republic. 

Qatar Airways flew an Airbus A320 to the picturesque Czech city today and in an auspicious beginning the inaugural flight arrived ahead of schedule at 12.50 pm.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker was one of a number of dignitaries who travelled on board the flight, including the Czech Republic’s Ambassador to Qatar, Mr. Martin Vítek, and were greeted by Mr. Vaclav Rehor, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prague Airport, Mr. Pavel Klucky, Director of Department of Near East Area, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ms. Monika Palatkova, General Manager of Czech Tourism.

Read on to find out what Qatar CEO thinks....

Probe Launched Into Tarom

Romania’s national airline Tarom is facing a stringent government probe after the airline reported significant losses in the first half of 2017. The embattled airline has not made a single profit since 2007.

It is reported that the airlines general manager Eugen Davidoiu had rowed with the Prime Minister Mihai Tudose over the poor results of the company and has since resigned.  The Prime Minister said on television on Saturday that he believed the company was now in a worse shape than last year.

The head of the government has ordered an investigation into the airline's management during the last 8 years, after the airline reported losses of 330 million euros over this period - 22.7 million in the first half of this year.

Cathay To Buy 32 A321neo's

It has been announced that Cathay Pacific has agreed to buy 21 Airbus A321 aircraft in a deal worth more than HKD$31.7billion, that's approximately USD$4.06billion.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU), was signed today between the Cathay Pacific Group and Airbus in Toulouse, France, and is for 32 of the super efficient aircraft that will go to sister airline Cathay Dragon, designed to dramatically increase the airlines single-aisle fleet replaced and expanded from 2020.

The new aircraft, are scheduled to be delivered between 2020 and 2023 and will replace Cathay Dragon’s existing 15 Airbus A320s and 8 Airbus A321s. Cathay Dragon also operates 24 wide-body Airbus A330s, serves 56 destinations in Asia, including 28 cities in mainland China.

Read on for what CEO Rupert Hogg says of “The substantial investment"

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Vineyard talk, tastings & afternoon tea for 2 near York, Only £29!

For less than £15 a head, you and a friend can take in a vineyard talk with wine tasting and afternoon tea at Yorkshire Heart Vineyard and Brewery in Nun Monkton.

2-night Somerset stay with breakfast & gin, 45% off!

The Queens Arms is an AA 5-star Country Inn on the Dorset-Somerset border, close to the medieval market town of Sherborne. A 2-night break at this award-winning hotel 

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Sussex: top-rated 3-course meal with bubbly for 2, Only £39.99!

AA-Rosette-awarded The Earl of March in the village of Mid Lavant, near Chichester, offers the "perfect blend of contemporary styling and relaxed country character", says The Michelin Guide 2018. You can now enjoy a 3-course meal and a glass of prosecco for less than £20 a head.

Kensington: 5-star dinner & champagne for 2, 42% off

The 2-AA-Rosette Park Terrace Restaurant, located in the 5-star Inspectors' Choice Royal Garden Hotel, offers "leafy views over Kensington Gardens" (The AA). You can now get a 3-course dinner for two accompanied by a glass of champagne and refreshments for £32.50 a head.

On a sweet note 

Discounts

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Out of date EasyJet Food

Airline food has a reputation for sometimes being below par, sub standard and rather bland, but never past its best before date - until now!

We've never come across a story like this before, but it is has been giving a chuckle to the team in the office this week.  

A cheese toastie that's 10 years out of date

A CS300 Shimmers in Korean Air Colours After Paint Job

On Thursday, Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, proudly unveiled the first CS300 aircraft freshly painted in Korean Air’s colors as it rolled out of the paint shop in Mirabel, Canada. 

The first CS300 is scheduled to be delivered this autumn, enabling Korean Air to be the very first airline to operate the C Series in Asia.

SAA Harare Flights Cancelled

Tensions are mounting rapidly between the African nations of Zimbabwe and South Africa diplomatically after Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace claimed diplomatic immunity last week.  Mrs Mugabe was charged with assault  following a disturbance at a hotel where she is said to have attacked and assaulted a girl that she found in her son's hotel room in a suburb of Johannesburg.

On Friday, the state-owned Airports Co. of South Africa canceled an evening Air Zimbabwe flight to Harare after authorities asked for the airline’s foreign operators permit.  Now the government of Zimbabwe is responding in a similar way with all eight of the  scheduled South African Airways flights between Harare and Johannesburg being cancelled on Saturday. ere canceled on Saturday

Jet2 Passengers Terrified By French Fighter Jet Shadowing Them

Photo by Emily Hatfield from the Jet2 aircraft

A UK bound commercial passenger aircraft was intercepted and shadowed by a French Air Force fighter jet in an unnecessary act of aggression yesterday. 

The airline, Jet2 has asked for official clarification from the French why its aircraft was targeted in such a manner that it caused anxiety, dismay and alarm among some of the passengers onboard.   

Passengers were travelling to Birmingham from Malaga on the Jet2 Flight LS1204 on Friday when they became aware of the French fighter jet getting so close to the passenger aircraft, some could see the small print on the fighter's tail. 

Terrified passengers 

Happy 90th Birthday MKC

We send birthday wishes to Kansas City Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport on turning 90 years old this week. Kansas City Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport - MKC, is the city's first airport and still one of its busiest.

Originally home to commercial aviation, the airport now attracts a large number of corporate, charter and recreational flyers, with up to 700 aircraft taking off or landing each day.

Celebrating the major milestone was former Mayor Charles B. Wheeler, whom had only recently celebrated his own 91st birthday.  Happy Birthday to you both! 

http://www.flymkc.com

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CRJ's Enable Shree Airlines To Operate Fixed Wing Services. Nepal

The largest helicopter operator in Nepal, Shree Airlines, has now launched a new regional fixed-wing jet service, with three Bombardier CRJ aircraft.

The airline already owns and operates a large mixed fleet of helicopters in Nepal and in Africa, mainly on charter work and also on occasion for UN Peace-Keeping Operations as well as World Food Programme. The new expansion into fixed-wing operations will allow the tiny airline to serve a larger part of the Nepalese population whilst complementing its rotor-wing services. 

“We are pleased to welcome Shree Airlines to the worldwide family of CRJ Series aircraft operators,” said David Speirs, Vice President, Asset Management at Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. 

"The CRJ Series aircraft have been instrumental in revolutionizing regional route networks, and we are confident that Shree Airlines will achieve much success as it launches fixed-wing operations in the regions of Nepal with two CRJ200 aircraft and one CRJ700 aircraft.”

What does Shree mean?

LATAM Cautious on outlook

LATAM Airlines Group SA, Latin America's largest airline, is still "very cautious" on the outlook for its key domestic Brazilian market, with demand volatile, a top executive of the company said on Friday.

"We have seen some very positive weeks in terms of demand in Brazil," Chief Financial Officer Ramiro Alfonsin told investors on a conference call following the release of second-quarter earnings.

"But we're still very cautious because we've also seen that certain weeks are not very good," he added.

"Internationally, we're doing very well but domestic in Brazil I would say we're cautious still on the second half of the year," he said.

Jamie Oliver Visits Gatwick Airport to Unveil The Diner

Jamie Oliver has visited Gatwick Airport again, this time to unveil his new flagship restaurant, which is called The Diner and aims to be a wonderfully vibrant  a homage to great American comfort food!

The Diner is home to three distinct areas, a diner restaurant section serving food in a rustic way, on big trays or in baskets, making it perfect for sharing, an art-deco inspired bar that really looks great and is bound to be popular plus also a ‘grab and go’ deli.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Some of the grub on offer at this new restaurants, one of the largest at Gatwick at 627 m2, with room for 278 diners, include a Super Food Breakfast - Poached free-range eggs, baby spinach, super grains and pulses, smashed avocado, toasted super nuts and seeds.  Another item on the menu that we rather like the sound of is the delightful Naughty Chocolate Pancakes which are Chocolate chunk pancakes, caramelised banana and honey-toasted pecans.

For passengers wanting to take food away with them they will be able to pick up a super food wrap, super food salad or Jamie Oliver inspired burrito - selecting from a choice of pulled, smoked meats, slow-cooked beans, wholegrain rice or quinoa, avocado, low fat yoghurt or Jamie Oliver’s secret chilli sauce.                                                                                                                                                   

What did Jamie say?

737-Max For Kish Airlines

Photo Kish Airlines  Fokker F100

Iran’s Kish Airlines and Boeing are undstood to have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) this week for the purchase of 10 new 737-Max aircraft. 

Mohammad Taghi Jadidi, Kish Airlines’ managing director told local media that the MoU for purchasing 10 Boeing-737-MAX airplanes was signed following the negotiations with the representative of the US company this week. 

Kish Airlines is currently actively seeking a financing invester to help it complete the deal for the new fuel efficent aircraft which would dramatically enchance and upgrade the carriers exsisting fleet. 

Capt Jadidi also told reporters that, Kish Air will purchase six Airbus A-320 family jets by the end of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 2018), explaining that these aircraft are ones that have been from other airlines by banks.

The Kish fleet currently includes -

2 Airbus A320-200
2 Airbus A321-200
4 MD83
3 MD82
3 Fokker F100

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Cal Jet Air by Elite Airways offers new daily scheduled service beginning September 28 out of McClellan Palomar Airport.  Starting with 2 flights per day to Las Vegas, this new service will save North County residents hours of commuting time and is a monumental breakthrough for Carlsbad since this will be the first regularly scheduled jet service ever offered. 

The fleet of new generation Bombardier CRJ700 luxury jets will operate twice daily flights and feature six first class seats and fifty eight economy / coach seats. The airline is promising fares starting as low as $67 each way and passengers even get complimentary beverages and snacks for that price.  

The owners of Cal Jet LLC are former airline and travel executives who have partnered with Elite Airways to expand services throughout the U.S.  “We know this will greatly benefit the airport, passengers and greater North San Diego County with positive new business development and employment opportunities" they said. 

(images from Cal Jet)

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Ryanair Attacks Passengers Over Cabin Baggage

The budget carrier Ryanair has again attacked its passengers, this time it is over the size of their carry on bags! 

The Irish airline complained today that too many of its customers were attempting to sneak larger bags on board than the supposed budget airline allowed. They say this is what is causing flight delays and aggravation at the boarding gate.   

Today the Ryanair demand passengers comply with its cabin bag rules, which it claims are "repeatedly flouted", warning if it continued they would review the policy. Many in the travel industry believe this is just the next step of introducing a charge for the carriage of cabin bags. 

At the moment Ryanair passengers can take a single 10kg cabin bag, that's 55cm x 40 cm x 20cm in size, plus an additional item such as shopping carrier bag or handbag.  Anything else, or bigger than the sizes above would have to be placed in the hold – at the passengers expense. The dimensions for bags allowed in the cabin with Ryanair is smaller than British Airways, Monarch,  Thomson, Jet2, Norwegian and most other airlines, with the exception of Easyjet - which is slightly smaller.