Alaska and Singapore Agreement

Alaska Airlines announced yesterday that Singapore Airlines will be its newest Global Partner. Members of Alaska Mileage Plan and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer loyalty programs will begin earning miles on each other's flights beginning Sept. 27. Mileage Plan members will be able to redeem miles for travel awards on Singapore Airlines-operated flights at a later date.

In addition, the two carriers will enact a codeshare partnership, pending government approval, which will allow guests booking through Singapore Airlines to travel on both airlines and enjoy seamless reservations and ticketing, one-stop check-in, baggage checked to the final destination and coordinated flight schedules.

"We're very proud to add an airline of the caliber of Singapore Airlines to our portfolio of Global Partners," said Andrew Harrison, chief commercial officer for Alaska Airlines. "Our guests will enjoy truly distinctive in-flight service when traveling with Singapore Airlines, while also taking full advantage of their Alaska Mileage Plan benefits when traveling from the West Coast to Asia."

Runway Excursion at East Midlands Airport

For a short period, East Midlands Airport was forced to close on Wednesday evening due to a runway excursion by a West Air 737 cargo aircraft.

The aircraft appears to have been vacating the runway when it veered off course and entered the gravel verge at the side of the runway.  No-one was injured in the incident and a spokesperson for East Midlands Airport said that the runway was not blocked and there is no fire, but flights are unable to go into and out of the airport while the fire crews and a tug dealt with the situation.

The airport reopened shortly after and an investigation is underway. Nobody from West was available for comment.


 

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BA Introduce New Restaurant Style Dining..

The dining experience in Club World on British Airways is set to get even better when the UK carrier steps up to a whole new level of service on 1st September.

  

The Restaurant Style Dining experience is the first in a raft of enhancements in BA's £400 million investment in Club World, its long-haul business cabin. From the 1st September, this new concept will be launched on the airlines flights from London Heathrow and New York JFK.

Club World passengers will be able to select their choice of freshly prepared starters and desserts from new display trolleys, which will be served by the crew on to new table settings.

Read on to see what the menu features:

Boeing to give $1 Million for Harvey Relief

The plane maker Boeing is committing $1 million from the Boeing Charitable Trust to assist with disaster relief across Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the company announced today. The contributions will be directed through the American Red Cross for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

"Our thoughts are with all our neighbors and teammates throughout Texas who are dealing with the unprecedented impact from Hurricane Harvey," said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman, president and CEO. "The American Red Cross is the most effective organization to put this contribution to work as it quickly brings recovery and relief efforts to those residents hardest hit by this devastating storm."

Profits Dip For China Southern

China Southern Airlines on Tuesday posted a 11.6 percent fall in first-half profit, as foreign exchange gains failed to offset the impact of higher fuel prices and lower returns on international flights.

China’s largest airline by passenger numbers posted net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.77 billion yuan ($420.08 million) over the six months to June, on an 11.5 percent increase in revenue to 60.3 billion yuan.

Passenger yields fell 2 percent, dragged down by a 7.5 percent slump on international routes, even as revenue per kilometre grew 12.5 percent. Cargo yields rose 13.9 percent on the back of a resurgence in cargo traffic globally.

Spirit Get First US Produced A320

The first delivery of an A320 aircraft from the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility has taken place in Mobile, Alabama, USA. The aircraft, delivered to Spirit Airlines, is the 37th overall delivery from the U.S. facility since production began in July 2015. The previous 36 aircraft were A321 aircraft, making this delivery another important milestone for Airbus. 

Executives from Airbus and Spirit Airlines were on hand for the occasion.

Bob Lekites, Executive Vice President-Customers, Airbus Americas said: “Airbus has reached another milestone in Mobile—delivery of the first A320 to be produced in the United States. Without a doubt, the A320 Family of aircraft meets the needs of our North American airline customers, and the 36 A321s already delivered from the U.S. have an extra special meaning for those airlines and their passengers. We’re pleased to celebrating this milestone with a great partner--Spirit Airlines.”

Tolmachevo to Perm Service from S7

Direct evening flights from Tolmachevo airport to Perm are to be launched by Russian airline S7 starting on 1st September 2017. 

The new flights will depart from Novosibirsk on Mondays and Fridays at 21:50 and will arrive at 23:00 local time. Return flights will depart from Perm at 23:40 and arrive in Novosibirsk at 04:25.

The winter schedule starts on 29th October which will see the flights operate during the day time with a revised schedule on Thursdays and Sundays. The flight from Tolmachevo will depart at 14:55 and will arrive at 16:05. The flight will depart from Perm at 16:45 and will arrive at 21:25.

The Cost of Harvey

Experts and analysts in the US aviation world have been crunching the numbers and estimate the cost of Harvey, the hurricane / tropical storm and subsequent floods for United is somewhere north of $265 million.  United is particularly affected as Houston is one of the airlines major hubs, account for approximately 17%percent of United's capacity. 

United hasn't issued any warnings to its investors and backers regarding the storms negative effect on the company and its bottom line, "Our focus right now is on resuming operations out of Houston and helping our customers and employees," said a United spokesperson. 

Other airlines expected to suffer financially include Southwest Airlines who according to the bean counters, could lose as much as $77 million. And the low low mellow yellow of the US aviation world, Spirit could be facing losses of $12 million, thanks to Harvey.  

These estimated losses could rise even higher as the weather continues to be unpredictable and flood waters remain high. 

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Norwegian's Low Low Birthday Deal - Fares as low as £99

That super low-cost, rapidly expanding airline, Norwegian are celebrating their 15th birthday this coming weekend and have something very special for passengers to mark the occasion.

They have launched a birthday sale giving passengers the chance to bag a bargain flight to their favourite destinations. Starting today (29th), the birthday sale offers savings on 19 long-haul routes, with flights to the US from just £99/€99 one-way and flights to Europe available on nine routes from just £29 one way.

The celebratory fares are available on 28 routes from the UK & Ireland with the special sale lasting three weeks, starting today (29th August) until the 18th September. The sale covers travel from 16th October 2017 to 16th March 2018 (see full T&Cs below). 

 Read on to find out which flights are included in the offer. 

Alaska Airlines New Service to Austin & Tucson

Alaska Airlines starts a new daily, non-stop service from San Jose, California to Austin, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona. With the addition of these two new extra services, Alaska Airlines now offers service to 18 destinations with a total of 31 daily departures from Mineta San Jose International Airport - morn than any other airline.  

"Alaska Airlines continues to meet the needs of Silicon Valley travelers with new daily, nonstop flights from our San Jose focus city to popular destinations like Austin and Tucson," said Annabel Chang, vice president, Alaska Airlines, Bay Area. "With the additional flights, Alaska and Virgin America will offer guests 131 daily nonstop flights to 42 destinations from the three major Bay Area airports by the end of the year."

Read on for a summary of new service: 

Dreamliners are Brisbane Bound

Dreamlines are bound for Brisbane according to the latest announcement from Australian airline - Qantas.  They will be basing four 787-9 Dreamliners at Brisbane, bringing 470 new jobs and opening up new potential international routes.

The first of eight Dreamliners ordered by the Australia's national carrier are scheduled for delivery in late October this year with the first to be based in Brisbane arriving in mid-2018. All four Brisbane-based aircraft should be at the airport by the end of 2018.

Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, said basing four of the airline’s Dreamliners in Brisbane will help drive international tourism into the state over the long term.  “Queensland is the birthplace of Qantas and it’s fitting that we will base four of our Dreamliners in the state. The 787 offers a step-change for customers in terms of comfort and efficiency and we are pleased Queenslanders will be able to experience them direct from Brisbane."

SkyWest To Stay Flights Linking Cape Girardeau and Chicago

According to the City of Cape Girardeau officials, SkyWest Airlines has been approved as Cape Girardeau's essential air service provider and will be operating flights from the small Missouri airport to Chicago .

“We are excited to welcome SkyWest to Cape Girardeau,” said Airport Manager Bruce Loy. “The new, United Express service to Chicago will connect Cape Girardeau passengers to 208 nonstop destinations, including 153 domestic and 55 international communities. The Cape Girardeau region will soon be directly connected to destinations all over the world with more than 1230 daily flights, including over 600 daily United Airline departures.

Niki Lauda May Buy Back Niki From Air Berlin

Former F1 driver Niki Lauda is interested in buying back insolvent Air Berlin’s Niki, the Austrian airline he once owned, joining a slew of companies and investors vying to grab parts of the German carrier.

Lauda expressed his interest in Niki in a letter to Air Berlin’s insolvency administrator but he has yet to look into Niki’s books, he told Austrian newspaper Kronen-Zeitung.

“Now let’s see what happens, whether I’ll be invited to the negotiations at all,” he was quoted as saying.

Hi Fly Getting A380's

Wet-lease specialist Hi Fly have announced they will be operating two Airbus A380's double decked superjumbos next year.

Hi Fly will launch the two Airbus A380s during  the first quarter of 2018, Hi-Fly have said they will release the full details of the service and who is supplying the aircraft in October when the contracts are finalised.  They will fly the aircraft on high capacity routes where airport slots are incredibly limited and the aircraft will be configured in a two class cabin of 560 seats. 

Hi Fly currently operates a fleet of Airbus aircraft available for wet-lease charters including, 5 A330's, 8 A340's and an A321. 

Singapore Airlines are the first to park one of their A380 aircraft, 9V-SKA has been parked at Singapore Changi Airport since June.  The aircraft is 10 years old and will soon be made available for leasing opportunities.

 

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Air Mauritius Bringing Forward Service Dates for A350

Air Mauritius has brought start date of its new Airbus A350-900 by an amazing four weeks.  The opening route for the new aircraft will be from Mauritius to Johannesburg in October and from the 2nd December operating the daily flight to paris.

The aircraft is schedule to arrive on 19th October and is configured with 28 seats in Business Class and 263 in Economy, bringing the total capacity to  291. The new arrival will take off from its base at Port-Louis-Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam at 9.15am to arrive at 11.40 at the Johannesburg, the return flight departs at 1.35 pm to arrive back at its home at 7.35pm. " Several rotations per week " will be carried out in A350-900 according to Air Mauritius who codershares with SAA on this route.  

Increased Seat Selection Charges For Emirates

Emirates continues its pathway towards a low-cost airline model with an increases in the amount of money they charge for pre-selecting seats on their flights.

For a ‘preferred seat’ one closer to the front of the plane allowing the passenger to disembark more quickly the cost is $25-$80.

The airline even charges for a ‘twin seat’ selection, these are  seats in a row of two rather than three seats like at the back of the Boeing 777  or at the front on the upper deck of the A380, these seats costs between $35-$110 depending n the flight sector being flown. 

Big Losses at flydubai

flydubai, the low cost airline from the United Arab Emirates have reported a sizable loss of Dhs142.5million, that around $38.8million for the first half of this year. The airline had reported a loss of Dhs89.9m in the same period last year, showing an increase of 58.5 percent.

Passenger numbers at the Dubai based airline increased to 5.4 million, up up 10.5 percent from a year ago and turnover always went up. Loads on the airlines routes also went op by almost 14 percent for the same period last year. Also increases this year was the amount of business class passengers travelling with the airline, up by 22 percent. 

“The demand for travel on flydubai remains strong and the airline has seen its overall market share grow,” the airline said in a statement. “These factors have, however, been offset by the price performance determined by the market."

Vietnam Airlines and Garuda indonesia extend codeshare deal

Garuda Indonesia and Vietnam Airlines are going to be expanding the current codeshare agreement between the two carriers to include a number of additional services across Southeast Asia.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed by representatives of the airlines last week, indicating they will begin codesharing on domestic Vietnam flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as internationally between Singapore and Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.

Similarly, domestic Indonesian flights between Jakarta and Bali will be added to the codeshare agreement, as will international services between Singapore and Jakarta and Bali.

 

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Two Milestones For AzurAir This Month

Azur Air has increased its fleet with a another Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline, which started operations in January already flies four 737-800's with this latest addition bringing the total to five.

All the aircraft are configured with a single class cabin designed to carry 189 passengers, over a maximum flight range of just over 5,600 km. These aircraft are deployed on Azur's routes to Turkey, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus from Moscow and nearly thirty other Russian cities.  

AzurAir also have more expansion plans on the drawing board as the airline's plans include the possibility of extending the 737-800 fleet even further with an additional aircraft for next year, expect an announcement before the end of October. 

Vietnam Airlines and Angkor Air Extend Codesharedeal

Cambodia Angkor Air expanded their codeshare partnership with Vietnam Airlines earlier this month, the extension sees the airline’s K6-coded flight numbers being placed on selected service to Indonesia as well as the UK. Those routes are -

Cambodia Angkor Air operated by Vietnam Airlines
Hanoi – London Heathrow
Ho Chi Minh City – Jakarta
Ho Chi Minh City – London Heathrow

Here's your gateway to the world-     

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Final 777 For Kuwait Airways

The 10th and final Boeing 777 for Kuwait Airways arrived yesterday, the aircraft is called Garouh and the flight number for its first flight to its home base was KU1954 - the year the airline was founded.  

The flight number was carefully chosen to demonstrate the airline's commitment for continuous development, both of its services and the modernization of its fleet. While this was the last Boeing 777 for the airline, their expansion and modernisation programme continues at a pace with no less than 25 new Airbus aircraft on order. 

"Kuwait will continue to do everything in its power to serve Kuwait, its community, citizens, residents and all its customers. " The airline posted on instagram to mark the arrival of the tripple 7. 

A318-100 for Turkish VIP fleet

It has been announced that Turkish Airlines has decided to buy an ACJ318-100 business jet to be used exclusively for its VIP services. According to reports from the Istanbul operator will have the aircraft configured for just eight to ten passengers in a special premium cabin with full rest and galley areas.

The aircraft will join the small fleet of aircraft the airline uses to provide air transport for the senior officials of the Turkish Government.  This fleet includes a ACJ319, one ACJ330-200, one ACJ340-500, and one Challenger 850.   At this stage it is not clear when the new aircraft will arrive or if it will replace one of the existing aircraft in the fleet.  

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Buta Airways Launch 1st September

Azerbaijan Airlines has taken delivery of a leased Embraer E190 all ready for the launch of its new low cost budget airline Buta Airways subsidiary, which is scheduled to launch on 1st September. 

Buta Airways was set up in December 2016 by Azerbaijan Airlines and will have its own all Embraer aircraft fleet, staff and livery which features a mythological bird called the Simurg bird. It also includes the colours of the Azerbaijan flag. 

Read more to see where they will be flying to- 

Pilot Heart Attack Forces Emergency Landing For Qatar Airways Flight.

A Qatar Airways  jet was forced to made an emergency landing at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad late Friday night - early Saturday morning after one of its pilots suffered a heart attack.

The dramatic events took place on flight, QR 964 operating the Doha to Denpasar Airport, Bali, Indonesian. There were a total of 240 passengers on board the popular flight. 

According to local sources, Andre Dinu one of the pilots crewing the jet to Denpasar, complained of severe pain in heart and lungs, while the flight was over India at around midnight local time. Immediately, the other pilot contacted ground and made a rapid descent for an emergency landing. 

The Qatar Airways jet arrived at 12.05 am, doctors attended to Dinu immediately after landing and after finding his condition critical, he was immediately transferred to Apollo Hospital around 1.20 am local time.  The 34 year old Romanian pilot was said to be in a stable condition according to medics today. 

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flyadeal get first Airbus A320 ahead of launch next month

Photo Airbus

In just under a months time a new airline will take to the skies over Saudi Arabia with a fleet of shiny new Airbus aircraft. Flyadeal, took delivery of its first aircraft and the first of eight Airbus A320ceo aircraft, becoming the newest operator of the Airbus A320 Family earlier this week.

The new low cost airline will commence operations on 23rd September 2017, on the national day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It will start off serving domestic markets before expanding into regional routes and markets.

The new A320's are powered by CFM engines and will be configured with 186 seats in a single-class economy cabin. However the seats are the new Recaro 18” wide economy class seats, which come with USB power outlets and personal electronic device holders.

Chairman of flyadeal, H.E. Mr Saleh Al Jasser said: “Saudi Arabia has launched its Vision 2030; a strategic platform for the future development of the Kingdom where transportation and tourism are key pillars.  The launch of flyadeal is core to the strategy to mobilize further the country and the region”.

Engine Hiccup For MRJ90

There will be another delay in the flight testing programme for Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation's . MRJ90 passenger jet.  The flight test program has had to be grounded following an unplanned engine shutdown during the middle of a test flight.

It's the latest in a series of setback for the new entrant into the commercial aircraft manufacturing sector who are currently running a major flight testing programme  with four MRJ90 aircraft they have in the US.

The aircraft was performing a routine test flight from their base at Moses Lake, Washington, earlier this week, when one of the Pratt & Whitney PW1200G geared turbofan engines shut down unexpectedly.

Expanding The Spirit

The low-cost airline that promises that you pay less money and get more go are certainly trying to live up to that mantra with a raft of new routes opening in November from New Orleans.

The new destinations from 'the Big Easy' are  Boston, Newark, Tampa all served daily and Minneapolis/St Paul which will operate 4 times a week.  These new routes are all scheduled to start on the same day, 9th November 2017. Tickets are on sale now and there are, we're told, some crazy low fares and vacation packages available.
But that's not all,  read on to find out more

Wizz New Aircraft And New Routes

The European budget carrier Wizz Air was in celebratory mood today with the launch of a new routes and the first flight of a brand new Airbus A321.

The low cost airline started a new route to the Danish capital of Copenhagen from Ukraine's Kiev today and  low-cost airline is opening new flights from the Kyiv International Airport to Denmark and Germany on August 25-27, as the Centre for Transport Strategies informs.

Today, August 25th, the Hungarian company starts flights to Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen. Tomorrow,  sees the launch of a service to Frankfurt while on Sunday the third new route will depart for the first time, heading for Nurnberg.

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Radio Mercury Remembered Free App Available Now

Our partner radio station, Radio Mercury Remembered are proud to announce their new fully functional sexy app is now available to download for FREE in app stores.

For iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch

For Android 

Blackberry - coming soon

24 hour a day Radio Mercury Remembered brings you the best in classic hits from the 50's right through to the 00's and beyond. Plus regular news updates, showbiz reports, weather and other fun features and specials. 

Visit their website here. 

Visit their facebook page. 

Twitter  @mercremembered 

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United Airlines Pilot Freaks Passengers Out

It's not often you board a flight and it is an angry pilot that freaks you out, but thats what happened on a United Airlines flight on Tuesday.

Passengers on the UA flight heading to Newark were warned by the pilot the plane would be flying through "horrific storms including tornadoes," and would probably have to stay in the air an hour longer than the usual flight time. 

He made the remarks over the aircrafts public address system and his announcements  rattled so many passengers that the number one flight attendant rapidly went on the pa to try and reassure the worried passengers. 

The Oldest Commercial Planes In The Sky......

Would you feel uneasy about flying on a plane built in 1970? Ask an article on The Daily Telegraph Newspapers website, which seems to try and foster a little fear in the travelling public about flying o older aircraft, especially pointing to Jet2 - who have the oldest flying 'in normal service' commercial passenger jet in the UK.

The oldest passenger plane in Britain

• Model: Boeing 737
• Registration: G-CELH
• Airline: Jet2
• Age: 31 years
• Capacity: 148
• First delivery: 02/10/1986
• First airline: Lufthansa (subsequent airlines include Saudi Arabian Airlines, BA, and Channel Express)

Where's it been flying this week?

Based in Edinburgh, G-CELH has visited Budapest, Venice, Vienna, Alicante, Reus, Verona, Ibiza and Girona so far this week.

The article is an interesting read about some of the oldest aircraft flying in the world today, yet far beit from making readers afraid, the article seems to have the opposite effect - a poll on the site asks Would you be comfortable flying on a 47-year-old jet?  As of 1159 today, 100% say yes they would, its as safe as any other!

Sometimes, just sometimes the thrill of flying on a 'classic' jet evokes the romanticism and pioneering spirit of aviation of days long gone by, and for most of the travelling population, forgotten!

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BA calls on Border Force to cut immigration delays.

British Airways has called on the UK's Border Force to tackle 'serious inefficiencies' that are causing British citizens and visitors to endure long queues and frustrating delays when arriving at UK airports.

In a submission to the Home Office, the airline has raised concerns that families returning from holidays face long queues to pass through immigration. It also stated that with Brexit just round the corner, more than ever, the UK needs to show that it's an easy place to travel to.

When launching Terminal 5's eGates in 2015, the Home Office said that: "Automated technology, such as eGates, give Border Force the ability to process a higher number of low risk passengers more quickly and using less resource. This reduces queue times as well as freeing Border Force officers up to focus on other priority work such as cracking down on the smuggling of dangerous goods and identiftying potential victims of trafficking."

More Twin Otters For Fiji Airways

The delightfully friendly Fiji Airways has agreed to purchase three Viking Twin Otter Series 400s for use by its sister company Fiji Link to operate on domestic routes throughout the many islands of this picturesque island nation. 

The new 400 versions of the Viking Twin Otters are scheduled to be delivered between October this year and February of next. The new arrivals are the standard land plane variety with a 19 seat configuration and are powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turbine engines and Honeywell Primus Apex fully integrated digital IFR avionics suite.

Montreal to Tokyo new route for Air Canada

Air Canada announced yesterday, the introduction of a new service between Montreal and Tokyo Narita starting June 1, 2018. Flights will operate year-round, with daily service during summer peak travel and three times a week during the winter, with Air Canada's flagship aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Air Canada's new transpacific service from its Montreal hub is designed to optimize connectivity to several Canadian and U.S. cities: Quebec City, Ottawa, Halifax, Charlottetown, Boston, Philadelphia and Orlando. 

"Air Canada is continuing its global expansion by strategically building its Montreal hub, and we are thrilled to announce the launch of non-stop flights to Tokyo, Montreal's first scheduled link to Japan. The new flights will offer travelers from Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern U.S. convenient access to Japan and beyond, complementing our existing Tokyo flights from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, while also strategically positioning Air Canada as a leader in the growing Montreal–Asia market," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada. "This new transpacific service further reflects Air Canada's ongoing international growth strategy from Montreal, following the recent introduction of non-stop flights to Shanghai, Lima, North Africa and Europe. In addition, it enables Montreal to derive significant direct benefits including the creation of close to 130 Air Canada flight attendant, pilot and airport positions."

KLM Welcomes its 10th Dreamliner

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines welcomed its tenth Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Schiphol Airport yesterday. The aircraft landed at 8.00am coming from Seattle in the US. The aircraft will bear the name Margriet – Dutch for Marguerite. 

All KLM’s Dreamliners are named for flowers or flowering plants, a t popular Dutch export product, which goes well with KLM. Other B787s have received names such as Zonnebloem (Sunflower), Anjer (Carnation), Dahlia, and Lavendel (Lavender). The ninth Dreamliner, delivered in July, bears the name Lelie (Lily).

Icelandair To Launch Tampa and Cleveland Flights

Icelandair will begin flights from Reykjavik to Tampa International on Wednesday 6th September 2017.  The new year-round service will operate twice a week departing on Wednesdays and Sundays and returning on Thursdays and Mondays.

The hip, urban heart of Florida’s Gulf coast beats in trendy Tampa Bay. From world-famous attractions, fabulous shopping and vibrant neighbourhoods to character-filled festivals, award-winning restaurants and a thriving craft brewery scene, Tampa’s easy charm will hook visitors from the moment they arrive.

Read on for more about the new Cleveland and to find out the schedules. 

SkyWest Flight Diverts Due To Turbulence

A SkyWest Airlines aircraft operating flight AA3167, on behalf of American Eagle has had to divert to St Louis following severe turbulence. 

The jet was en route to Chicago when it hit a patch of what has been described as severe air turbulence, which has resulted in at least three people being injured and was then forced to divert to St louis Lambert Airport.

SkyWest issued the following statement - "SkyWest Flight 3167, operating as American Eagle from Atlanta to Chicago, diverted to St. Louis after it briefly encountered unexpected severe turbulence. The flight landed without incident in St. Louis, where paramedics met the aircraft. A flight attendant and two customers were transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation. The safety of all onboard our aircraft is our primary concern. Both American Airlines and SkyWest are taking care of our passengers and crew at this time."

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First Dreamliner arrives for EL AL

Plane maker Boeing, EL AL Israel Airlines and Air Lease Corporation are celebrating the delivery of the carrier's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner today.

The 787-9 touched down in Tel Aviv today following a nonstop, 6,746 mile (10,856 km.) delivery flight from Paine Field, adjacent to Boeing's factory in Everett, Wash.

"The arrival of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a day of pride and joy to all of us at EL AL," said EL AL Chief Executive Officer David Maimon. "It is the highlight in the ongoing renewal of the EL AL fleet, which started a year and a half ago when we decided to order 16 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. We are happy to embark on a new journey with our first Dreamliner."

Read on for more from David Maimon and the new Dreamliner

Gulf Air and Oman codeshare deal

Photo Gulf Air

Gulf Air, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s national carrier, has recently launched a new codeshare agreement with Oman Air, the national carrier of the sultanate of Oman, which will sees the airlines’ combined frequencies between Bahrain and Muscat increase to 6 daily flights.

Mr. Ahmed Janahi, Gulf Air Chief Commercial Officer, commented on the agreement: “This codeshare reflects Gulf Air’s consistent drive to offer our customers attractive options to fly to popular travel destinations. With this agreement we are not only increasing our flight frequencies to and from Muscat but also giving Muscat-based passengers an expanded range of connections with Gulf Air via Bahrain International Airport to various destinations across our network. On this occasion, we thank Oman Air for sharing our commitment and vision, which I am sure will allow us to continue to reinforce the longstanding relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman – helping strengthen tourism and commercial ties.”

Technical Issue Force Oman Air Flight To Return To Base.

Photo  Oman Air

An Oman Air plane flying from Muscat to Kathmandu, Nepal, was forced to return to base after experiencing a technical snag on takeoff.

Flight WY 337, which took-off at 0613 local time with 137 guests and six crew members on board, made a safe return to Muscat International Airport.

The guests and crew disembarked smoothly and without incident.

All guests were accommodated on an alternative aircraft later the same day.

"Oman Air’s over-riding priority is the safety and well-being of all its guests and staff, and the airline is proud of its unblemished safety record," the airline said in a statement.

"Oman Air thanks the Public Authority for Civil Aviation, the staff at Muscat International Airport, Royal Oman Police and Oman Airport Management Company for their cooperation and professional support," it said. 

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Major US expansion for WOW air next year!

The low-cost transatlantic Icelandic airline, WOW Air continues its North American expansion plans by offering a raft of new flights from iceland's  Keflavik International Airport to the US.

The new destinations are Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Cincinnati and the rather lovely St. Louis Lambert International Airport.  The addition of these four routes brings the total Midwest destinations WOW flies to, to five.

Earlier this year, WOW air began service to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and now with these four more flights, the airline's total number of U.S. destinations to 12.

Read on to find out when the new services start.

8th A350 for Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines welcomed it's 8th super efficient and sexy Airbus A350 at the start of this week and has already put ti to use on commercial services.  

Originally in July2 015, the A350 uses the Rolls Royce’s Trent XWB engine. It is one of the largest, most efficient and most fuel efficient civil aviation engines in the aviation world today. This latest addition to the A350 fleet operated its first revenue service from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City  on 21st August.

Atlas to provide another 747-400f for Nippon Cargo Airlines

Atlas Air  announced that yesterday that it has entered into an agreement to operate a second Boeing 747-400 Freighter for Nippon Cargo Airlines, with also includes a possible expansion to include a third additional aircraft in the future.

This aircraft will be flown on key routes across the transpacific connecting Asia and the U.S. Service is scheduled to begin in September 2017.

“We are very pleased that NCA has chosen to expand its partnership with Atlas Air,” said William J. Flynn, President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlas Air Worldwide. “This follows the successful start of the first aircraft for NCA earlier this year and underscores our focus on the fast-growing Asia Pacific market.”

Fukashi Sakamoto, President and Chief Executive Officer, NCA, said, “We are delighted to expand this strategic arrangement with Atlas Air by adding the second aircraft, and we look forward to having a long, mutually beneficial relationship.”.