Delta adding extra flights and waiving fees as Maria approaches

Delta teams are finalizing operational plans as yet another hurricane, expected to bring "devastating to catastrophic impacts" according to the National Weather Service, bears down on the Caribbean.

Hurricane Maria is expected to hit the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico overnight Tuesday-Wednesday. Delta will continue flying to San Juan all day Tuesday from its hubs in Atlanta and New York, and has added three extra flights above its normal flight schedule to allow residents and visitors more opportunities to evacuate. Delta flights to St. Thomas remain cancelled due to the approaching storm and infrastructure constraints caused by Hurricane Irma.

"Our teams throughout the Caribbean are working diligently to ensure a safe operation for our customers ahead of Hurricane Maria," said Luciano Macagno, Delta's Managing Director— Latin America and the Caribbean. "We're doubling the number of flights from San Juan to Delta's Atlanta hub today and operating late into the evening to provide our customers and employees a chance to get out of the hurricane's way."

The long slow goodbye's for Delta's jumbos

Delta customers and employees began saying their goodbyes to the airline's iconic Boeing 747 fleet in a rather long and slow sedate manner. The aircraft operated its final Tokyo-Narita to Honolulu flight. It then made a rare appearance on two domestic flight legs earlier this month.

After arriving in Honolulu from Tokyo-Narita for the last time, the aircraft was routed through Los Angeles on its way back to Detroit. The flights from Honolulu to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Detroit were expected to be the final domestic 747 flights by any U.S. airline before two 747s were sent from Detroit to Orlando last week to help assist with Hurricane Irma evacuation efforts.

Employees in Honolulu paid tribute to the aircraft, which regularly operated the Honolulu-Narita route, with traditional Hawaiian customs by fashioning a maile lei big enough to fit over the top of the aircraft as a sign of respect. The team also held a gate celebration, and several employees held back tears as the group sang Aloha Oe and watched the aircraft depart Honolulu for the last time.

New route for low-cost airline Wizz

Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, today announced a new route from Gdansk to Tromsø in Norway. Commencing on 16 December, the newest WIZZ service will be operated with up to three weekly flights. Seats on the route are already on sale and can be booked on wizzair.com or via the WIZZ mobile app from just PLN59 / €14.99*, which includes a free hand luggage allowance of up to 55x40x23cm maximum dimensions.

Latest Flight Cancellations From Ryanair

The updated list of Ryanair cancelled flights.

Full list of cancellations here 

More cancellation below.

Monarch In Review

Monarch Airlines are working hand in hand with KPMG on a review of the airline which could see the holiday airline radically transformed. 

The airline is already in talks with regulators Civil Aviation Authority regarding its Air Travel Organiser's Licence (ATOL)  and is looking at a major restructuring of its European operations as looking further afield. 

According to media speculation, Monarch is looking to greatly expand long-haul operations to compensate for the poor profits on European routes due to increased levels of competition and budget airlines price wars. One of the other options thought to be under consideration include an arrangement with another, bigger, long-haul airline that Monarch would work as a feeder for.  Another tie-up could be with one of the low-cost airlines like Jet2 or EasyJet.  

Ryanair Try To Downplay Mass Cancellation Action

The Boss of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary has been forced to apologise for the horrendous inconvenience caused by what they are now calling 'a pilot rota blunder' for leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers in limbo over the cancellation of flights. 

The so-called low-cost budget airline has had to concede that it had "messed up" in the planning of pilot holidays, but still, blames air traffic control strikes and weather disruptions for an increase in delays for the first part of September.

The airline had faced calls from consumer watchdogs to publish a list of the 40 -50 flights it was planning to cancel every day for the next six weeks.  The airline is facing a compensation bill of potentially £18m as a result of the problems.  In a bid to ward off an Irish Government investigation into the airlines' behaviour, it will publish a list of flights to be cancelled, to ease passenger concern. 

Massive Fine For Frontier

It's emerged last week that the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a fine to Frontier Airlines of $1.5 million for keeping passengers on a number of flights at Denver for more than three hours, last December.

The incident happened during a snowstorm on 16th & 17th December, which grounded many aircraft and the passengers concerned were kept onboard a dozen aircraft for over three hours. Whilst the DoT levied the fine, it confirmed it will forgive the airline $900,000 of the total because of $1.2 million compensation payouts to the passengers the airline has already made.

According to the reports, up to 8 inches of snow fell at Denver airport during the storm which caused mass disruption and Frontier Airlines left customers aboard 12 aircraft on the tarmac for more than the three-hour limit, which is set by US law. 

Air India Aircraft Hits Ground Vehicle

Photo HT

An investigation has been launched after an arriving Air India aircraft hit a parked ground vehicle at Delhi on Friday.

The incident occurred at around 9.40pm local time on Friday evening when  the aircraft that had recently arrived from Vadorara was manoeuvring into its parking bay C33.

The aircraft's number 1 engine (port side) struck the stationary ground cooling unit which then scraped along the side of the engine a short distance.  Even though the damage to both engine and ground unit is understood to be minimal and mostly cosmetic the airline has instigated its own high-level investigation into the incident.  This is, according to Air India in addition to and independent of any other investigations by regulatory authorities.  “The committee will submit the report within seven days. This committee is apart from other committee constituted by other regularity bodies,” said a spokesperson of Air India.

Two new US routes for Norwegian from Gatwick this weekend

The dynamic Norwegian is expanding its trailblazing long-haul network by launching the UK’s cheapest direct flights to Denver and Seattle from just £179 one way.

The forward-thinking airline started its direct service from London Gatwick to Denver on Saturday 16th with the flags and mayor coming out for the inaugaration. The following day, 17th September, Norwegian’s first route to America’s Pacific Northwest will take flight, giving business and leisure travellers more choice and affordable fares for travel to the USA.

Norwegian’s brand new year-round service from London Gatwick to Denver International Airport provides travellers with a low-cost way to reach the city. Passengers can explore vibrant Denver, before heading for adventure in the abundance of national parks situated in Colorado – perfect for experiencing the great outdoors. A twice-weekly service will operate on Tuesday and Saturday during the summer season and will increase to a three-weekly service in the winter with an additional Thursday departure with fares from £179 one-way in economy.

Qantas A380's To Get Upgrade

Qantas has reached an agreement with Airbus to upgrade its 12 flagship A380 cabins to further improve passenger comfort on long-haul operations while maximising economics. In particular, the new interior takes advantage of the A380’s large floor area to most efficiently embody Qantas’ latest seat products for Business Class and Premium Economy.

Airbus will be responsible for the overall upper-deck integration. In addition Airbus will develop specific tailored monuments for Qantas and a new and unique business lounge area in the forward upper-deck. The installation phase will start in Q2 2019. All 12 aircraft are planned to be upgraded by around the end of 2020.

Didier Evrard, EVP Programmes Airbus Commercial Aircraft said: “We are very pleased to contribute to Qantas’ success and reputation by applying our innovation and proven expertise in designing and upgrading cabins to increase the efficiency and value of its A380 operations.” Evrard added: “This also shows the continued confidence of Qantas in the A380 as a key member of its fleet to offer its passengers a unique way to travel.”

Read more about the upgrade which creates more space and also increases capacity. 

Air India's First Flight to Copenhagen

Air India celebrated in style today at the launch of the airline's first flight to Copenhagen from Delhi on a brand new Dreamliner aircraft.

The service had an 80% load factor and was crewed by an all-female flight crew.  Part of the celebrations included the lightening of a ceremonial lamp to mark the inauguration and flower garlands festooned checking and gate areas. 

Commenting at the ceremony for the launch of the new services, Air India chairman and managing director Rajiv Bansal said: “With this new service, we expect to cater to the majority of traffic between Copenhagen and Delhi... We have also received good cargo load for the sector.”

The new route is operated with a state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which is expected to fulfil a growing need in the Scandinavian market for low-cost travel to India. 

The new service to Copenhagen is the 11th non-stop European destination for Air India and it now operates to 44 international gateways. 

Ryanair Strand 226,800 passengers in order to get a better punctuality level

The budget airline Ryanair announced yesterday that it would cancel 40-50 flights daily for the next six weeks (to the end of October) in order to improve its system-wide punctuality which has fallen below 80% in the first two weeks of September.   The airline wants its figures to look better and in true Ryanair fashion, they blame everyone else rather than themselves and their shockingly poor management.

Ryanair says the fall in punctuality is through a combination of Air Traffic Control capacity delays, strikes, weather disruptions and the impact of increased holiday allocations to pilots and cabin crew. Last month they blamed passengers for actually taking advantage of the rules regarding baggage for causing delays. Now they blame the hardworking and dedicated cabin crew and pilots for daring to actually take the holiday days they are entitled to as part of the terms and conditions of employment!

The smaller number of crew on duty combined with capacity restrictions in the skies above the UK, Germany and Spain have all impacted the airline claims. Yet having spoken to the nice people at Swanwick, they are at a loss to know what restrictions Ryanair are talking about that would have such a major impact, 'It's pure fabrication' our contact said.

Of course, there have been some issues with French Air Traffic Control, they have been conducting industrial action recently, which would have had an impact on some flights.  Ryanair also blames the weather, they say thunderstorms have caused a massive dent in their punctuality figures, especially in the recent weeks. It's a good job Ryanair only fly in Europe because heaven knows how they would cope with real adverse weather events like hurricanes Harvey and Irma.  

32 Airbus 321neo's for Cathay Pacific

Photo Airbus

Cathay Pacific Airways has finalised an order with Airbus for 32 A321neo single-aisle aircraft. The aircraft will be operated by Cathay Dragon, the regional carrier of the Group, on services linking its Hong Kong home base with destinations across Asia. The purchase agreement firms up an MOU announced last month.

The new A321neo aircraft will replace and modernise Cathay Dragon’s current in-service fleet of 15 A320s and eight A321s, with the additional aircraft allowing the airline to capture growth opportunities in the region. The Cathay Dragon network currently covers 56 Asian destinations, including 28 in mainland China.

Cathay Dragon is an all-Airbus operator, with a current fleet of 23 A320 Family aircraft and 24 widebody A330-300s. In addition, Cathay Pacific operates 37 A330-300s, making the Group the largest A330 operator in the Asia-Pacific region. Cathay Pacific also operates the all-new long haul A350 XWB, with 18 A350-900s already in service. The carrier has another 30 A350 XWBs on order for future delivery, including the A350-900 and larger A350-1000.

Double Up Airbus Order For Pegasus

The Turkish low-cost carrier, Pegasus Airlines, confirmed last week that they have increased their order for new Airbus A320neo's.

Speaking at London's Design Centre for the Aviation Festival the airlines boss CCO Guliz Ozturk said the airline will now double its order for the new aircraft from three to six. “We already have the youngest fleet in Turkey and one of the youngest in Europe comprising 77 aircraft with an average age of 5.80 years - and with the new deliveries, the average age will fall even further as we look to create our fleet of the future to improve the customer experience, drive efficiencies and reduce our environmental impact across the board ¬ a vital part of our strategy to transform travel in our region,” Guliz Ozturk said.

Founded in 2005, Pegasus Airlines currently flies to around 108 destinations in 40 countries across Europe, Russia and the Caucasus, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

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United's Europe Expansion Continues

United Airlines has announced this week more services from the US to Europe as they continue to expand their Euro route network.   

The American airline will launch new direct services next year to four popular destinations in Europe, including Reykjavik, Iceland, Porto, Portugal, Edinburgh, Scotland, and Zurich, Switzerland. 

United's 2018 summer schedule offers more options for United customers from more than 100 North American cities to conveniently connect to Europe with just one stop in New York/Newark, San Francisco or Washington/Dulles hubs. Some routes are subject to government approval. 

New Service for Avior Airlines

Despite financial and political instability in the country, the Venezuelan airline Avior will be starting a new service between Caracas and Bogota.

The service is due to start on 3rd October and will be flown by a Boeing 737-400 aircraft on a daily rotation.   The early morning departure leaves Caracas at 07.00 and lands in Bogota at 07.50, while the return will land back at Caracas at 09.50am.

22 New Destinations For Eurowings in 2018

Eurowings is continuing to spread its wings far and wide with the latest announcement in its global expansion programme and its aim to be the fastest growing airline in Europe.  

The airline, part of the Lufthansa Group will be flying to an additional new 22 destinations from next year for its summer 2018 schedule. Numerous new routes from Munich, Hanover, Cologne, Salzburg, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Palma complete the offer of the growing low-cost carrier. 

New New Brunswick Service for Porter

Skytrax four star, best regional airline in North America, Porter Airlines is growing its presence in New Brunswick with the official arrival of its first flight to the provincial capital of Fredericton. 

The new flight service will operate on a daily basis between Ottawa and continue to downtown Toronto. The flights are timed to offer onward connections to other Porter cities, available from both locations.

There was much celebration at Fredericton as hundreds of locals greeted arriving passengers with fanfare that included a bagpiper, Garrison District guards, maritime cuisine and music. Also on hand to welcome the flight on the 12th were politicians and other community leaders.  

“The enthusiastic welcome for our inaugural flight is something that we want to build on to ensure Porter has a long, successful presence in Fredericton,” said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, after arriving on the flight. “We believe that the desire for competition and lower prices will encourage more people to fly and consider Porter when they do.”

British Airways' Caribbean Schedule Back To Normal.

A British Airways Boeing 777 took off for Turks and Caicos today for the first time since the island was struck by Hurricane Irma. The airline has now resumed all its flights to the Caribbean and Florida after they were disrupted by the worst hurricane to hit the region for decades.

Over the last ten days, the airline rearranged travel for more than 10,000 customers whose flights to the region had to be cancelled. In addition the airline offered flexibility to more than 40,000 other customers so they could choose either to delay trips to the region or come home earlier.

To ensure as many customers as possible could escape the areas in Irma’s path the airline laid on five relief flights as well as chartering four flights from Caribbean airline, Liat, to connect customers in St Kitts and Turks and Caicos with British Airways flights. More than 300 staff from across the airline were involved in planning these additional flights, helping customers change their travel plans and offer updates and support to customers in the region.

Bomb Scare Causes Aircraft Evacuation in Germany

A bomb threat against a Turkish Airlines flight at Cologne-Bonn airport forces aircraft to make an emergency stop as it taxied towards the runway.

The drama played out earlier today after a telephone threat was called in, “From the telephone call, it was clear the caller was targeting a Turkish Airlines flight,” a Federal Police spokesman said.  Such was the seriousness of the call, the aircraft was ordered to make an immediate stop and a complete and comprehensive search of the aircraft. 

The Airbus A321 registration TC-JRO was initially scheduled to depart at 10.00 am local time on flight TK1672.

The 111 passengers on the flight were taken back to the terminal building while searches were carried out. 

Tug Collides With Aircraft At Charlotte

A PSA aircraft arriving at Charlotte-Douglas Airport collided with a 'tug' vehicle outside of Terminal E, hospitalizing one person Wednesday afternoon.

The aircraft was operating flight 5233 on behalf of American Airlines and was coming from Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia, landing around 3.40 pm.  The aircraft was taxiing to gate E-35. Shortly after, it ran into an airplane tug vehicle that was not working with the aircraft.

The flight was carrying 31 Passengers and 3 crew at the time of the incident, there were no reported injuries to anyone on board.  However, the driver of the tug vehicle was taken to a local hospital, her condition is said to be stable.

Witnesses at the airport reported seeing a woman operating the vehicle when it quickly turned and hit the aeroplane abruptly.  At the moment there is no clear reason for the accident which is being investigated.

The FAA released the following statement

PSA Airlines 5223, CL600-2B aircraft, and a tug collided on the north ramp at Charlotte Douglas International Airport at 4:35 pm today. The collision occurred while the aircraft was taxiing to the gate after landing. The aircraft and tug are blocking several gates.

The E Terminal is mainly used for regional flights and part of the terminal was closed because of the incident and to allow the investigation to take place.

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Strong Forecast for Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft released its 20-year Market Forecast for the 60- to 150-seat segment, yesterday. According to this new 2017-2036 Market Forecast, the 60- to 150-seat seat segment will be a catalyst to further growth, market penetration and airline profitability.

“The outlook for our markets is strong,” said Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “We are the only manufacturer with a solution for any type of business model in the 60- to 150-seat segment, and we are well positioned to capture the value from the exciting opportunities outlined in this Market Forecast.

Kenya Airways passenger pushed to the floor by staff

A video widely shared on social media shows ground staff of African airline Kenya Airways verbally abusing and heckling a female passenger at Kotoka International Airport at Accra in Ghana.

The video shows a group of Kenya Airways staff in hi-viz vest surrounding a lady, voices are raised and then a male employee roughly pulls the passengers arm so she falls to the floor.  Watch the video below- 

Fellow passengers say that the flight was already two hours late at this stage with no apology or announcement given by the Kenya Airways staff.

“This woman said to the ground staff that it was 'Nkwasiasem' (nonsense)... that's what ended in her being ejected from the flight in this manner.

The hashtag #kenyaairwaysabuse. has been trending on Twitter as more passengers and flyers condemn the airline and its abuse of the passenger.

Kenya Airways issued a statement via facebook,  read more to see the video and read the Kenya Airways statement.

Alaska Airlines named Official Airline of the San Francisco Giants

Alaska Airlines announced today that the company has signed an agreement to become the official airline of the San Francisco Giants for the next seven years, extending the partnership that Virgin America established with the organization in 2008. To celebrate this partnership and Alaska'scommitment to the Bay Area, the company unveiled the design for an Airbus 321 featuring the Giants logo and team colors that will begin flying early next year.

"Our commitment to San Francisco and our Bay Area employees has never been stronger and, as part of that, we're thrilled to extend the Giants sponsorship for the next seven years," said Andrew Harrison, chief commercial officer at Alaska Airlines. "As the official airline of the Giants, we look forward to supporting both the organization and fans at the airport and on the field for many years to come."

Norwegian Joins EasyJet ? Will it save you money?

When I first saw this in my inbox I was a little perturbed, Norwegian joining Easyjet.... Norwegian the low-cost long-haul specialist airline that has a great reputation and public image was joining with the budget airline EasyJet the regularly comes tops of those 'worst' airlines in Europe polls are joining together?  

However, upon further investigation I find I should not worry too much, they are not merging, amalgamating, conjoining or other such interloping integration ingestations. Nope it isn't a case of airline mergers, but Norwegian is partnering with easyJet on the new ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ platform, which makes it rather easier for folks to connect a Norwegian long-haul flight with an easyJet short-haul flight in one single booking.

‘Worldwide by easyJet’ launched this morning and allows passengers to seamlessly connect their easyJet flight with other partner airline flights, including Norwegian. The ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ service will initially focus on routes at London Gatwick Airport, using the airport’s ‘Gatwick Connects’ product. easyJet then expect the service to expand to other key airports in Europe in future, including airports where Norwegian also offers long-haul connections such as Paris Charles De Gaulle and Barcelona.

Norwegian has a rapidly growing long-haul network which includes over 55 routes from Europe to the US, Asia and South America. From London Gatwick, Norwegian offers direct lower cost long-haul flights to 13 destinations, including 11 major US cities, plus Singapore and Buenos Aires.

Norwegian Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl said: "Travel should be affordable for all so we are delighted to partner with another quality low-cost airline like easyJet to offer passengers even more choice."

Read more about the deal

Fourth Daily Sydney Flight For Emirates

Emirates is set to introduce a fourth daily service from Dubai to Sydney from 25 March 2018, compl

ementing its existing three daily A380 services and improving connections globally.

The new service will be operated by Emirates’ iconic A380 aircraft and will increase passenger capacity on the route by 6,846 seats a week, inbound and outbound between Sydney and Emirates’ hub in Dubai, and represents a 7.3% increase in capacity for Emirates’ Australian services.

The move will provide passengers travelling from Europe and North Africa greater connectivity to Australia. It also builds on Emirates’ partnership with Qantas, meeting continued demand for services to Dubai and complementing Qantas’ re-routing of its current Sydney to London service via Singapore (instead of Dubai).

Smiles All Round As Westjet Reports Record Load Factor For August

There were smiles all round today as fWestJet announced its August 2017 traffic results with a load factor of 90.6% percent, an increase of 4.1% percentage points year over year - the highest in the airlines 21 years.

Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 10.6 per cent year over year, and capacity, measured in available seat miles (ASMs), grew 5.6 per cent over the same period. The airline flew an all-time monthly record of 2.3 million guests in August, a year-over-year increase of 13.8 per cent or approximately 288,000 additional guests.

"We are extremely pleased with our double-digit traffic growth, as we reported our highest ever load factor of 90.6 per cent, flew the most monthly number of guests in our twenty-one year history and set a new single day record on August 8th by flying 81,423 guests," said WestJet President and CEO Gregg Saretsky. "My sincere thanks go out to our over 13,000 WestJetters for continuing to deliver our award-winning brand of friendly caring service over this record breaking summer season."

Read more for August 2017 traffic results -

Airberlin Ends Caribbean Flights

The troubled insolvent airline airberlin will end its Caribbean long -haul flight schedule from Dusseldorf from 25th September 2017.  

This drastic action is a direct result of the airlines' reduction of its long-haul fleet which became necessary due to the current preliminary insolvency proceedings.   The routes affected are Curacao (Netherlands Antilles), Cancun (Mexico), Havana and Varadero (Cuba) as well as Punta Cana and Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic).

The airline asks that passengers booked as part of package deals to contact their tour operator or travel agent and those that booked directly with the airline after the filing for insolvency proceedings on 15th August 2017, will be reimbursed without charge.  However, those that have tickets issued before the filing for insolvency proceedings will not be reimbursed due to insolvency law regulations.

Delta gives $1M to American Red Cross and $100K to Red Cross/Crescent for Irma relief

Delta will make an additional contribution of $1 million to the American Red Cross to help in the effort to aid the hundreds of thousands of people affected by Hurricane Irma - the most powerful Atlantic Ocean storm on record- that tore through the Caribbean and Florida before hitting Georgia. In addition, Delta will make a contribution of $100,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world's largest humanitarian network, to support relief efforts in the hardest hit areas, such as St. Maarten and Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. 

Pilot Action Forces More Air Berlin Cancellations

Unofficial action by pilots of troubled airline Air Berlin to cancel numerous flights today, including those it operates on behalf of Eurowings.

Hundreds of pilots called in sick to airberlin over the last 24 hours, such was the unprecedented and seemingly coordinated sickness reporting that the airline was unable to operate a normal schedule.

Passengers affected will be offered other travel plans and were asked to contact airberlin and not go to the airport.  Passengers whose flights are part of a package deal should contact their travel provider or tour operator.

Over 100 flights have had to be canceled and local media report 250 pilots called in sick, although this figure has not been verified or confirmed. Many see this self-defeating action by the pilots as further damaging to the possibility of the airberlin being rescued as a whole and detrimental to their own future re-employment.  One pilot who is working today told us, "It is a pointless action, it only disrupts passengers, it could make it more difficult for the potential buyers to continue with [their] plans"

"It's appalling, its like they - the pilots don't want anyone to buy the airline, or give them new jobs. They should be ashamed of themselves" Said E Bansol an airberlin passenger whose flight had been cancelled due to the pilot's action.

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KLM's Final Schedule For Fokker F70's Announced

The Fokker F70 has served faithfully for many years, delighting passengers, plane spotters and aircraft enthusiasts alike. However,  the time has come for one of Europe's major operators of the type to retire these classic happy jets. 

In true KLM style, the Dutch airline is giving lovers of the Fokker F70 a change to be aboard one of the final flights for this soon to be classic airliner. 

Read more for the final schedule for these delightful birds for the last day of operation - 28th October 2017. A few seats are still available and can be booked via www.klm.com.

Alaska Air Group August Results

Photo Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group Inc. released its August and year-to-date operational results on a consolidated basis yesterday for its mainline operations operated by subsidiaries Alaska Airlines, Inc. (Alaska) and Virgin America Inc. (Virgin America), and for its regional flying operated by subsidiary Horizon Air Industries Inc. (Horizon) and third-party regional carriers SkyWest Airlines and Peninsula Airlines.

Air Group's acquisition of Virgin America took place on Dec. 14, 2016. Operational results below include Virgin America results from pre-acquisition periods for comparison.

Read more for the full figures 

New Pilot Base At Dublin For Norwegian - Pilot Roadshow Tomorrow

Photo Norwegian

The budget long-haul airline Norwegian continue their rapid and exciting expansion with the opening of a new pilot base at Dublin Airport later this year to support the airline’s growing international operations, including the new transatlantic routes from Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Belfast. Recruitment is now underway for new pilot positions for the Dublin base.

Earlier this summer, Norwegian launched 24 weekly transatlantic flights from Cork, Shannon, Dublin and Belfast serving the New York, Boston and New England areas on the U.S. East Coast, with the routes served by brand new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. To help support the transatlantic operations and future growth in Ireland, Norwegian will open a new base at Dublin Airport later this year. The base will initially include approximately 40 pilots but Norwegian is also exploring options for further pilot and cabin crew positions at the base next summer.

Moscow to go daily for Gulf Air

The national airline of Bahrain, Gulf Air announced over the weekend that they will increase the service to Moscow from a 4 times a week offering to a daily flight.  

The airline will introduce the daily schedule in the last week of October, which coincides with the airline’s 3-year anniversary of direct, nonstop service to/from Domodedovo International Airport in the Russian capital.

Read more to find out what Gulf Air's CEO said about the expanded service. 

More awards for Qatar Airways

 Qatar Airways has been awarded the ‘Best Up In The Air Experience’ award for the third consecutive year and the ‘Best Baggage Initiative’ award at the Future Travel Experience Global 2017 awards ceremony, held last week in Las Vegas.

End of an era as Brussels Airlines phase out Avro RJ100's

Brussels Airlines are phasing out their last three Avro RJ-100 aircraft this autumn, ending a long history of flying the four engined regional jet.





The airline, part of the Lufthansa Group have scheduled the last RJ flight to be SN2720 from Geneva to Brussels on 28th October this year.

Over the years the airline has flown a number of the aircraft on many regional routes to Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Denmark, Poland, Czechia, and Sweden from its Brussels base.

The airline will be wet leasing a number of aircraft to take up the schedules of the retiring Avro RJ-100's including some Sukhoi SSJ's from CityJet. A proposed complete airline review by parent company Lufthansa has been postponed due to the ongoing Air Berlin situation.

The end of an era is coming soon, however, let us enjoy these classic aircraft while we can!

Eurowings Reach Deal With Crew

The budget airlines Eurowings and Germanwings, part of the Lufthansa group, have reached an agreement in principle on wages and retirement benefits with German cabin crew union UFO, Eurowings said on Sunday.

The outline deal, reached over the weekend, could end a three-year dispute which forced the cancellation of around 400 flights last October, after cabin crew at budget airlines Eurowings and Germanwings staged a strike.

The collective wage agreement includes wage levels, profit participation and a pension deal for around 1,400 staff, Eurowings said in a press release on Sunday.

The agreement needs to be formally approved and voted on by UFO’s management and Lufthansa Group’s senior management.

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United's Month

United Airlines reported its August 2017 operational results last week, here's how the airline did,  the consolidated traffic (revenue passenger miles) increased 2.3% percent and consolidated capacity (available seat miles) increased 2.4%  percent versus August 2016. The load factor was only slightly down on last years figures.

Scott Kirby, president of United Airlines, said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by Harvey and those impacted or currently in the path of Hurricane Irma. We are doing all we can to assist during this extraordinary time, and we stand with all of those affected as they prepare for and recover from these two unprecedented storms. Last month, faced with the devastating impacts of Harvey, as well as other operational issues, our employees rose to the test to make the most of a very challenging month. Thanks to the resilience and spirit of our dedicated employees, our operation in Houston has returned back to 100 percent ahead of schedule."

United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,500 flights a day to 338 airports across five continents. In 2016, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 143 million customers. United boast to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark/New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 748 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 475 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to more than 190 countries via 28 member airlines. 

August Increases For Southwest

Southwest Airlines has a good month in August its recently released results show.  The company flew 11.3 billion revenue passenger miles in August 2017, an increase of 5.3% percent from the 10.7 billion RPMs flown in August 2016. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 4.9% percent to 13.3 billion in August 2017, compared with August 2016 ASMs of 12.7 billion.

The August 2017 load factor was 84.9% percent, compared with 84.6% percent in August 2016.   However, based on these results and the effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma the airline is predicting that operating profit for the quarter will either be stable or slightly lower than last year.

August Results Show Increase for Allegiant

Las Vegas-based Allegiant released their August results last week and they show nice increases in passenger numbers and seat revenue, while load factor decreased slightly, the airline put on 10.7% percent more flights. Total passenger numbers were up by 9.2%percent and revenue passenger miles was also up by 5.3% percent.

This impressive little carrier specializes in linking small cities to world-class leisure destinations and offers industry-low fares on an all-jet fleet while also offering other travel-related products such as hotel rooms and rental cars.  The airline started in 1999 with a single route but flies 350 routes with a fleet of over 85 aircraft. 

Aeromexico August Figures Up.

 The Aeromexico group released its figures for August during the week and they show an increase in passenger numbers of 4.5% over the same period last year. 

The airline carried over 1 and 3 quarter million passengers during this August a 4.5% percent rise over the same period last year. International passenger numbers were also up by  12.1% percent and seat revenue jumped by just over 15% percent.

Aeromexico, Mexico´s global airline, continues to expand despite tough trading conditions, it now flies to more than 80 cities on three continents, including 44 destinations in Mexico, 18 in the United States, 15 in Latin America, 4 in Canada, 4 in Europe, and 3 in Asia. It operates more than 600 daily flights and the number is set to increase during the rest of the year.

Emirates Want Airbus Assurances

The Dubai based airline Emirates is demanding assurances from the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus over the future of the A380-800 programme, before it commits to buying any m ore aircraft.

Speculation in the media indicates that Airbus is heavily reliant on Emirates putting in an order for at least twenty of the super jumbo aircraft to keep the production line open and operational.  The announcement had been scheduled to occur at next months Dubai air show and any less than twenty aircraft would force Airbus to slow production of the double decker to less than ten a year. 

Opening date set for T4 at Singapore's Changi Airport

photo to Changi Airport Group

The opening date for the new Terminal 4 at Singapore's Changi Airport has been set for 31st October according to the  Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

This new development is seen by many as a major milestone in the airport's development and will greatly enhance both passengers experience of the airport with increased technology and energy efficiencies.  

For the first time at the airport, there will be special a special facial recognition system which aims to capture passenger’s photo at different locations, centralized security screening, as well as start-to-end self-service options for check-in and other functions.

Announcing the opening date on Facebook the transport minister Khaw Boon Wan said that since the completion of construction last December, T4 has undergone extensive trials. So far the airport has completed over 100 trials, involving up to 2,500 airport staff along with 1,500 volunteers. Mr Khaw said “After endless rounds of testing and fine-tuning, we are ready to open T4. 

"Nine airlines – the AirAsia Group, Cathay Pacific Airways, Cebu Pacific Air, Korean Air, Spring Airlines and Vietnam Airlines  – will operate from the new terminal."

Bhutan Airlines Flight Evacuated Photo

Photo ANI

An emergency evacuation caused by smoke coming from a Royal Bhutan Airlines flight on Saturday causes some minor injuries.

The Airbus aircraft was taking off from Kolkata's Netaji  Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport earlier today and was heading to Bangkok.

According to local news sources, all passengers evacuated the aircraft, with a few suffering minor abrasion injuries.

There is currently no information on the cause of the smoke.

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