Tony Tyler to become Qantas board member

News from 'Downunder' this week the Qantas Chairman Leigh Clifford announced the intention to appoint Tony Tyler as a Non-Executive Director to the Board of Qantas Airways Limited.

In welcoming Mr Tyler, the Chairman said he would bring significant experience in commercial aviation as well as in key overseas markets. “Tony is one of the world’s most seasoned airline executives. He’s been involved in commercial aviation for almost 40 years, including as CEO of Cathay Pacific and head of the International Air Transport Association. He’s also served on various airline boards. His industry knowledge runs deep and so does his experience of doing business in Asia, which is a key market for the Qantas Group. Tony’s perspective will be a valuable addition to the knowledge already on the Board,” added Mr Clifford.

Mr Tyler said: “Qantas is one of the world’s most iconic airlines and it continues to be responsible for a lot of innovation in commercial aviation. I’m very excited to join the board and I look forward to contributing to the Group’s continued success.”

Mr Tyler will formally join the board in October 2018 subject to a shareholder vote on his appointment.

easyJet want more girls to become pilots & boys to become cabin crew

The low-cost-carrier easyJet has launched a UK nationwide campaign to inspire more girls to become airline pilots.

In a recruitment film released earlier this week,  the airline reimagined a famous scene from Hollywood movie Catch Me If You Can where Leonardo DiCaprio impersonated a high-flying pilot for Pan Am in an airport.

By re-shooting the movie scene easyJet hopes to correct misconceptions forwarded by Hollywood movies like Top Gun, The Aviator and Flyboys that being a pilot is a man’s job. easyJet surprised holiday-goers and business travellers at London Southend Airport by reshooting the famous scene with a cast of children, aged between five and nine-years-old, putting a girl front and centre. 

easyJet launches a campaign to recruit 

female pilots of the future

Ryanair agreed Irish cabin crew representation deal with Forsa

Ryanair announced on Thursday that it has signed its fourth cabin crew union recognition agreement with Forsa, who will be the representative body for Ryanair’s directly employed cabin crew in Ireland.

Over 65% Of Ryanair Cabin Crew Now Covered By Union Recognition Agreements

The low-fare-high-fee airline will now be working with Forsa and the elected Ryanair Cabin Crew Company Council to conclude an early CLA for Ryanair’s directly employed cabin crew based in Ireland. This agreement follows Ryanair’s cabin crew recognition deals with the Italian ANPAC, ANPAV and Fit-Cisl unions, UNITE the union in the UK and the Ver.di union in Germany.

Ryanair’s Chief People Officer, Eddie Wilson said, “We are pleased to sign this cabin crew recognition agreement with Forsa in Ireland. We look forward to working closely with both Forsa and their Company Council to address issues of concern to our directly employed Irish based cabin crew. This is a further sign of the progress Ryanair is making with trade unions since our December 2017 decision to recognise unions, with over 65% of our cabin crew now covered by recognition agreements and we hope to sign more agreements in the coming weeks.”  

Rossiya Airlines transfers some flights in Moscow from Vnukovo to Sheremetyevo

Rossiya Airlines will transfer some of its flights from Vnukovo International Airport to Sheremetyevo International Airport (Terminal D) at the start of the 2018/19 winter season. Starting from 28th October 2018 Russia’s largest airport will service the following flights:

Moscow-Vladivostok

Moscow-Khabarovsk

Moscow-Magadan

Moscow-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Moscow-Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

Moscow-Kaliningrad

Moscow-Simferopol

Moscow-Orenburg

Moscow-Denpasar

The transfer of these flights is part of Aeroflot Group’s measures to create a strong transit hub (Rossiya Airlines is the second largest carrier of Aeroflot Group). Working with Sheremetyevo airport will allow the Group to streamline its route network and give passengers convenient transit opportunities on important domestic routes.

Three new international routes to Europe for United Airlines

United Airlines will be further expanding its impressive route network with the introduction of three new services to key European destinations during 2019. 

United have announced a daily, year-round service between San Francisco and Amsterdam and new nonstop seasonal summer service between New York/Newark and Naples, Italy, the only nonstop flight from North America to Naples, as well as New York/Newark and Prague will be introduced during 2019. The routes are all subject to government approval but represent an impressive strengthening to the United global network.  

United adds new year-round daily service

between San Francisco and Amsterdam and summer service between New York/Newark and Naples, Italy and Prague

"We've built an unparalleled global network and we continuously look for opportunities to make United the first choice for travellers booking flights to Europe and beyond," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network. "Whether customers are travelling for business or leisure, United offers more choice than ever before to connect to the places, people and moments that matter most."

SkyWork Airlines bankrupt

The small regional airline based in Bern Switzerland, SkyWork, has declared bankruptcy leaving the travel plans of some 11,000 people who had booked with the airline, in tatters.

The airline took the decision to end operations on the evening of the 28th August after failing to find another financial backer to invest in the company and underwrite its operations.  The airline issued a brief statement,  "SkyWork Airlines has stopped operations with immediate effect. We would like to thank you for your loyalty during the past seven years."

The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation stated, "Bernese Regional Air Line Skywork Airlines AG ceased operation with immediate effect due to economic reasons. 11’000 passengers, which made bookings, are affected by the cease of operation."  It advises that if passengers of Skywork Airlines booked direct with the airline, or via an online flight booking site they should contact the administrators/liquidators with their claims as soon as possible. If people had booked with a travel agency in Switzerland they should contact that travel agent.

Changes to UK aviation security - some restrictions lifted by UK's Department for Transport

The UK's Department of Transport has lifted restrictions on large phones, laptops and tablets which are now allowed in the cabin on the majority of flights to the UK.

Restrictions on carrying large phones, laptops, tablets and accessories into the cabin of UK-bound flights from Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia were introduced in March. However, after working with the aviation industry and international partners to introduce tough additional security measures, the UK government has begun lifting these restrictions on some UK-bound flights.

The vast majority of carriers operating out of these airports are no longer subject to these restrictions. Some airlines have decided to maintain the ban for operational reasons. This does not reflect the security standards at these airports, but is an operational decision by individual carriers.

Passengers travelling from these airports should contact their airlines for advice about whether their flights are affected:
- Turkey:

- Istanbul Atatürk

- Dalaman

- Saudi Arabia:

- Jeddah

- Riyadh

- Jordan:

- Amman

- Lebanon:

- Beirut

Royal Air Maroc to link Casablanca with Miami

The Moroccan national carrier Royal Air Maroc has confirmed it will introduce the first-ever  Casablanca - Miami route on 3rd April 2019. 

This new air link with be the first passenger flights to Africa from Miami International Airport since the year 2000 and Florida’s only nonstop service to the continent.

“I offer my congratulations and thanks to Royal Air Maroc for its decision to make Miami its first destination in Florida. Casablanca is one of the most historic, picturesque and influential cities in Africa, and we are proud to establish this first-ever connection between our two world cities." said 

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez.

Historic cargo route to Miami from Ethiopian Airlines

On 29th August, Ethiopian Airlines launched the first of two weekly cargo flights between the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and Miami, creating the first-ever cargo-only route between the African continent and Miami International Airport. The scheduled flights will operate on a route that includes intermediate stops in Spain, Colombia and Belgium on inbound and outbound services. All flights will utilize B777-200LRF freighter aircraft.

Profits jump at Air Asia

The AirAsia Group has released its latest results this week and the group saw a massive jump in second-quarter net profits on the back of a tax benefit, however,  operating profit fell sharply due to increased fuel and maintenance costs.

The Malaysian based low-cost-carrier reported today, Thursday that net profit for April-June rose by 147% to 361.8 million ringgit, that's around $88 million. The big jump was mainly due to a one-off tax benefit from the sale of aircraft last year, which covers for losses seen elsewhere in the company.

The group's revenues went up by 10.3% during the second quarter over the same period last year, yet its net operating profit fell nearly 18% to 324.8 million ringgit.

The load factor dipped down to an average of 86% across operations in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, whilst capacity was up around 12%.  

The company plans to lease in five more aircraft during the second part of this year which it will place with AirAsia X Malaysia and AirAsia X Thailand. These are in addition to the 100 Airbus A330neo aircraft Air Asia X orders a month or so ago. The deal is worth at least $30 billion at official manufacturer list prices. The aircraft are scheduled to start arriving during the second part of 2019. 

Air France unions unhappy at halted talks

The unions representing Air France employees have voiced impatience with a frozen pay dispute with the airline and renewed the threat of industrial action unless the Air France-KLM airline group resumes talks soon that were halted when the last chief executive resignation in May. 

Southwest Airlines Gets Ready For Spring Break With More Nonstop Routes

The US low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines has released some details its spring 2019 schedule and the addition of new international routes from key US gateway cities.

Beginning Saturday, 9th March 2019, the carrier will add new and returning seasonal flights on Saturdays between:

St. Louis and Montego Bay, Jamaica*

St. Louis and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic*

Milwaukee and Cancun

Pittsburgh and Cancun

Raleigh-Durham and Cancun

San Antonio and Cancun

Baltimore/Washington and Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos

*Subject to government approvals

New Nonstop Routes throughout the United States


Southwest also announced the beginning of new seasonal service on Saturdays from 9th March 2019, between:

Cleveland and Tampa

Cincinnati and Orlando

On Sunday, 10th March 2019, the carrier will begin weekly service on Sundays between:

Dallas and West Palm Beach, Fla.

Dallas and Harlingen, Tex.

Houston and Lubbock

The first A380 for ANA rolls out

European planemaker Airbus has rolled out the first A380 double-decker for All Nippon Airways ANA from the final assembly line at its main production centre of Toulouse.  

This is the first of three of the type ordered by ANA in 2016 and will now undergo various ground tests in preparation for its first flight in the coming weeks.  Once those have been completed the mega aeroplane will then head off to Hamburg for cabin installation and painting.

ANA can expect this first A380 to arrive during the first part of 2019 and it will be deployed on the popular Tokyo-Honolulu route initially after crew familiarisation flights. 

Offering more personal space than any other aircraft, the A380 is the most efficient solution to meeting growth on the world’s most heavily travelled routes, carrying more passengers with fewer flights at lower cost and emissions.

To date, Airbus has delivered 229 A380s, with the aircraft now in services with 14 airlines worldwide.

Cape Air to launch service into New York's JFK airport

The small regional US airline, Cape Air has announced an impressive move that will see one of the smallest commercial aircraft flying into the mega busy New York city airport of John F Kennedy on a scheduled basis.

The airline will start offering seasonal service between Nantucket Memorial Airport and Barnstable Municipal Airport to New York JFK on a daily basis. The airline announced that the daily round-trip will be scheduled from 23rd  October this year and run all the way through to mid-May, 2019.  Passengers will be able to embark from either Hyannis or Nantucket for travel to New York City.

The daily roundtrip service will be operated by Cape Air’s Cessna 402 aircraft, which carried up to nine passengers and will be one of the smallest commercial aircraft to ever use JFK on a schedule flight basis. The aircraft will use Terminal 5 at JFK which means easy connections are possible with one of Cape Air's partners, JetBlue.

“We are excited to be able to offer the Cape & Islands the option to connect to JFK during the shoulder seasons,” said Linda Markham, President of Cape Air. “We are all about connecting communities, so creating a means of easy access between Nantucket, Hyannis and Metropolitan New York has been a priority. Having this new service grow from planning to launch has been a rewarding process for all of us at Cape Air.”

Turkish Airlines and Loganair agree interline deal.

Turkish Airlines and Scotland’s regional air carrier, Loganair have signed an interline agreement that benefits the customers of both airlines. Kay Ryan, Loganair’s commercial director said: “We are excited that Turkish Airlines has chosen to work with Loganair. This is a deal with one of the biggest names in international air travel, and we see it as the start of a partnership that will develop into a full codeshare agreement later in the year.”

Gokhan Haciibrahimoglu, general manager of Turkish Airlines Scotland said: “We are pleased to be working with Loganair for our flights operating from Edinburgh Airport, thus giving Turkish Airlines the opportunity to extend its network and better serve Scotland. Our partnership will allow both of our passengers to easily connect with the regional airports of North and West Scotland to over 304 destinations and 122 countries.”

LATAM axe 1200 ground jobs

LATAM is going to dismiss some 1,200 airport-based staff in Brazil and replace them with workers from a services company to cut costs it has been revealed this week. 

The airline confirmed there would be redundancies but hasn't specified the exact number,  would not give an exact number. A union representing the employees said that employee terminations would become effective next week. 

LATAM advised “The company has adopted measures so the change will have the least impact possible on workers.  Still, there will be a reduction” in the number of employees.  The employees affected work at Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro airports in the baggage and ground handling departments. LATAM has gone with Orbital to handle ground operations including baggage from next week onwards.

Ryanair launch Edinburgh route from City of Derry

The low-fare-high-fee airline Ryanair has announced today that it will be launching a flight to Edinburgh from the City of Derry Airport from October this year.

The airline has said the service will operate five times a week as part of Ryanair’s Winter 2018 schedule, Ryanair’s Eimear Ryan said, “Our new City of Derry Airport route to Edinburgh commences in October, operating five times weekly as part of our Winter 2018 schedule."

Charlene Shongo, Airport Manager at City of Derry Airport, said, “We are absolutely delighted to launch Ryanair’s new service to Edinburgh.  The charming city of Edinburgh has so much to offer travellers, from romantic getaways, family trips or a weekend break with friends.  The new Ryanair service to Edinburgh will operate five times per week and will commence on 28th October.  Flights are on sale now with fares starting from as little as £9.99 one way.  As well as offering city breaks, this new route will be of huge benefit for those who travel to Scotland to visit family and friends, for studying or sporting events throughout the year”. 

Air New Zealand winter schedule changes over Boeing 787-9 issues.

Air New Zealand has announced alterations to its winter 2018 schedules due to the ongoing issues with Boeing 787 aircraft. 

The Sydney – Rarotonga route from 15th November will have a Boeing 777-200ER rather than the scheduled 787-9.

Flights to Vancouver from Auckland had been planned to be flown by 787-9 aircraft, however due to the issues with the type, a 777-200ER will continue to operate the service. The extra flights previously planned from 7 to 8 or 9 flights a week from 10th December have been shelved for the time being. ANZ will upgrade to a 777-300ER on these dates 28th October, 10th November, 17th November and 1st December.

The planned increase in schedules on the Auckland to Buenos Aires will be cancelled and will remain at 5 flights a week with a 777-200ER continuing to operate the route.

Cayman Airways to launch its longest passenger flight next year.

Cayman Airways will introdeuce its longest scheduled route ever next year when it starts a service Grand Cayman and Denver, Colorado.

The long route for the airline is only possible thanks to the new arrival of the first of four Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft the airline has ordered.  The service starts on 2nd March 2019.

President and CEO of Cayman Airways, Fabian Whorms, said, “The new Denver nonstop service will reduce the travel time to Cayman from typically between nine and eleven hours using multiple flights, to less than five hours aboard a direct flight on our brand new state-of-the-art Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft with industry-leading comfort and legroom in both our Business and Economy cabins, combined with our renown Caymankind in-flight experience, which includes free Rum Punch. We look forward to welcoming new and returning visitors from the Mile High City with our special introductory roundtrip airfares starting from US$396 plus taxes.”

Hi Fly A380 goes to Reunion

Photo Fabrice Villenfin

Last week the Hi Fly A380 arrived at Reunion Island, flying from Paris as the wide-body wet lease specialists proudly operated the first commercial service of an Airbus A380 to this beautiful region of France, in the Indian Ocean on for Air Austral.

The double-decked passenger plane has been wet leased by Air Austral and prior to that, it had been deputising for a Norwegian 787 aircraft on the London Gatwick to New York JFK route. 

This first A380 for Hi Fly is powered by one of the most reliable engines in the world, the Rolls Royce Trent 900 model. The aircraft is fitted out with 471 seats distributed between three classes. The main deck has the First class for 12 passengers and Economy class for 311 passengers while the upper deck has Business and Economy class seats carrying 60 and 88 passengers respectively. The configuration and seats are the same as its former operator Singapore Airlines, although Hi Fly also offer a high-density version which could carry up to 853 passengers.

Hi Fly’s A380 is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and truly luxurious cabin interiors. Each seat will have its own in-seat IFE system by Panasonic eX2 providing the passengers with great in-flight entertainment options and an optimised user experience. Moreover, the performance of the A380 goes in line with Hi Fly’s environmental commitments. By producing only about 75 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometre, the A380 minimises greenhouse gas emissions being capable of carrying more people with less impact on the environment. Apart from its incomparable efficiency, it also has the quietest and smoothest ride making it a true favourite for both airlines and passenger.

GOL shows off its first 737 Max 8

GOL Linhas Aéreas today celebrated the unveiling of the carrier's newly outfitted Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft during a celebration in Sao Paulo. 

"Today is an exciting day for the entire GOL team, we are happy to welcome the 737 Max 8. We can further improve our operational efficiency by flying a young, modern and safe fleet, while also lowering the cost of air travel and expanding our network to new international destinations," said Paulo Kakinoff, Chief Executive Officer of GOL.

The Brazilian airline took delivery of its first 737 MAX 8 this year and has been improving onboard products and services, such as adding wireless internet to the popular Boeing Sky Interior cabin. The airline is now outfitting its second 737 MAX aeroplane – which it received last week – with the same cabin amenities.

As part of its strategic fleet renewal program, GOL has placed multiple orders for the 737 MAX, including a new order last month at the Farnborough International Airshow. In all, GOL is on track to become the largest MAX operator in Latin America with a fleet of 135 MAX aeroplanes.

Laudamotion to double fleet in summer 2019

The Ryanair airline in Austria, Laudamotion has said it will increase its Airbus fleet from 9 to 18 aircraft with the aircraft arriving in summer 2019. 

Laudamotion’s CEO, Andreas Gruber, said, “Laudamotion now faces the future with great confidence, backed by the enormous financial strength of Ryanair, our new majority shareholder and Europe’s largest airline.  Laudamotion has already achieved load factors over 90% in its first summer season, thanks to the efforts of over 500 Laudamotion colleagues.  These 9 additional 2019 Airbus deliveries ensure that Laudamotion will grow again by at least 20% in 2019 to 5m guests p.a.  We look forward to offering even more low fare choices to Austrian and German customers.” 

Seattle to Columbus coming soon from Alaska Airlines

 A new air service to Buckeye Country from Seattle!

From March next year, Alaska Airlines will be starting a new service to Buckeye Country!  The airline will start a new daily nonstop service between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio from 7th Match 2019.

"Alaska Airlines continues to connect the West Coast with exciting new destinations across the country," said John Kirby, vice president of capacity planning and alliances at Alaska Airlines. "This new service to Columbus represents Alaska's first destination in the Buckeye State, and our commitment to offer the most nonstop destinations from our hometown of Seattle."

Passenger numbers up at Dubai International Airport

The home base of Emirates and flydubai, Dubai International Airport recorded a rise of 1.8% in the number of passengers using the airport during July this year.  The world’s busiest airport for international travellers handled 8.2 million passengers during the month, up from 8.06 million a year ago.

The airport also reported that for the first seven months of the year has also seen an increase in passenger traffic, up 1.6% to 51.9 million. And, it is not just passengers numbers that are up, the amount of cargo handled also went up over the July figures, by 4.8% although the year to end of July was down on last years totals by around 1.6%, although that is to be expected as Al Maktoum International, handles a significant amount of Dubai’s air cargo.   

In terms of growth rate, Eastern Europe was the fastest growing region in July with traffic up 24.4% - mainly fueled by flydubai’s route development plan. The CIS was next, up 18.34% with major contributions from the Russian market and destinations such as Bishkek, Baku and Almaty among others, and Africa (+9.7%).

Recently Emirates airlines announced an increase in schedules to Riyadh with the addition of a fourth daily flight to the Saudi capital from 1st September 2018. The airline is also increasing flights to Amsterdam early next year due to phenomenal increase in demand. 

CIB change Bombardier order

CIB Leasing Converts CRJ Series Order to 

Five 90-Seat Q400s and Five CRJ900s

Industrial Bank Financial Leasing Company (CIB Leasing) have arranged with Bombardier Commercial Aircraft to convert a previously announced order for 10 Bombardier CRJ Series aircraft to five 90-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops, and five Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets.

“As we work alongside CIB Leasing to explore market opportunities for regional fleet growth and network expansion in Asia, we are pleased to see that more 90-Seat Q400 turboprop will be available in the region,” said Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “With 15 percent lower cost per seat than the 78-seat version, our 90-seat turboprop aircraft has unique capabilities and unbeatable productivity, and we are confident that our leasing partner and potential operators will extract tremendous value from it.”

Virgin Australia converts order for 10 MAX 10's

Virgin Australia and aircraft makers Boeing have confirmed that the Australian carrier has converted its ten orders for the 737 MAX 8 to the larger MAX 10 variant.

Virgin Australia Group Chief Financial Officer Geoff Smith said, "We are pleased to be welcoming the 737 MAX 10 aircraft into our expanding fleet in 2022. The addition of the 737 MAX 10 will provide us with additional flexibility and capability to support our network and operations. We are proud to become Australia's first operator of the 737 MAX and we look forward to the opportunities that operating this type of aircraft will open up to us."

More aircraft and more routes from London City Airport for British Airways

London City Airport and British Airways have enjoyed the busiest summer ever and they anticipate the record numbers of passengers travelling to and from the airport as the UK's leading carrier plan to base more aircraft and offer more routes from the airport. 

British Airways will base an additional four Embraer E190 aircraft at the airport, joining the BA CityFlyer fleet during 2019, which will raise the number of aircraft at the subsidiary regional operation to 26 aircraft.

From 11th November the airline will launch a new year-round service to Rome from the London Docklands airport, which will have lead in fares of £55 one-way, taking hand baggage only. In addition, a fifth daily service will be added to the popular Zurich route on weekdays.

Rome is the first of a number of new routes and extra flights to be announced for next year. Tom Stoddart, managing director BA CityFlyer, said: “It is an exciting time for us at London City Airport.  The four new aircraft shows our commitment to giving our customers an even bigger range of destinations and flight times.  This growth will see the number of job opportunities in East London increase with direct employment opportunities for pilots, cabin crew and engineers, as well as indirect roles for our various suppliers in and around the airport.”

Finnair enjoys strong growth to Asia and adds more flights for summer 2019

One of the nicest European airlines, Finnair continues to see strong growth in the Asia marketplace and has therefore decided to increase frequencies to the region for summer 2019.

The airline confirmed this week it will be adding frequencies on many popular Asian routes for next summer, including double-daily flights to Hong Kong and additional flights to Japan.  

Finnair will add flights on several of its Japanese routes, increasing its capacity to Japan by 15% for the summer season. Three weekly flights will be added on the Helsinki-Osaka route, meaning Finnair will now fly a total of ten weekly frequencies during the summer season starting on March 31, 2019. The new departures will now offer an alternative departure for customers with two daily frequencies on selected days. The added frequencies depart on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from Helsinki, with departure times from Helsinki at 00:45.   

Continuing on the success of the double-daily flights to Tokyo during the summer of 2018, Finnair will operate double-daily flights on the Tokyo route for the entire summer season in 2019 and will also add a third daily flight during Japan’s Golden Week holiday. With these changes, Finnair is increasing its capacity to Tokyo by 9% compared to the 2018 summer season. 

Norwegian extend wet leases to cover for 787 Dreamliners

To cope with its Dreamliner mechanical issues, the super long-haul low-cost carrier, Norwegian has had to extend the short-term wet-lease arrangements for the first part of the winter season.

The airline is retaining the use of the following aircraft, at least until 27th October and possibly longer to use on its various New York services.

London Gatwick – New York JFK 02nd Sep 18 – 27th Oct 18 1 of the 2 daily flights will be flown by a Wamos Air A330-200

Paris Orly – New York, Newark  15th Sep 18 – 27th Oct 18 a EuroAtlantic 777-200ER wil operate the 6 weekly flights

Rome –  New York Newark  15th Sep 18 – 27th Oct 18  6 weekly flights will be on Privilege Style 777-200ER. 

Norwegian recently wetleased Hi Fly's A380 on the London Gatwick - New York route, which proved popular with passengers, but was beset with massive delays, mainly to due to congestion at New York's JFK - where the gate capable of taking the A380 was already in use during Norwegian's scheduled arrival time.  However, it is understood the wet lease specialists have been in discussions with Norwegian about a further lease period for the A380 on the route, operating to a slightly alternative schedule. 

Aeroflot launches direct flights to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia.

The leading Russian airlines of Aeroflot and Rossiya Airlines have confirmed they are about to launch direct flights to Denpasar, the capital of Bali, under a codeshare agreement. 

The route will start on 28th October 2018 and will be flown on Boeing 777 aircraft with a schedule of three flights a week.

The Moscow-Denpasar flight, SU6295 will depart Sheremetyevo on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 15:05 and arrive in Denpasar at 8:20.  While the return flight SU 6296 will depart Denpasar on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 10:05 and arrive at Sheremetyevo at 17:50.

Denpasar is the largest city on the island of Bali. It is perhaps most famous for its ancient temples, palaces and museums, and of course, it is the gateway for the hundreds of thousands of tourist heading to the island each year. 

Flair's fantastic load factor

The low-fare Flair, of Canada, has announced a busy summer which has seen the airline double its flying operations and score a high load factor.  More than 90% is far more than many in the industry had predicted for the friendly low-cost carrier.  

“It’s been a delightfully busy summer for us” stated David Tait, Flair’s Executive Chairman. “Since mid-June - when we more than doubled our capacity and expanded our network to 10 cities from Victoria to Halifax - our fleet of seven aircraft has carried more than a quarter million passengers and we’re currently enjoying load factors in excess of 90%.”

The airline is working closely with the local community around its new home base of Edmonton, as it truly becomes the city’s ‘hometown airline'. To further emphasise the point, already, some 75% of Flair's flights go through Edmonton International Airport EIA. Throughout the coming months, Flair will continue to relocate staff to its new HQ building at EIA, as well as hire new members of the team.  

David Tait said, “As one of the founders of Virgin Atlantic Airways, I’ve played the David versus Goliath role before – and won! The tenacity of the Flair team, their spirit and determination to ensure that air travel becomes an affordable reality for all Canadians is really quite remarkable. I am truly proud to be of a part of this dynamic team, and, as Yogi Berra would have said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” 

 Flair recently announced low fare service (starting in December) out of Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto (YYZ), to Palm Springs, Phoenix/Mesa, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando and St. Pete/Clearwater.  The airline is also moving forward with an impressive fleet expansion and renewal programme that should see up to 20 newer, more fuel efficient and longer-range aircraft in Flair's colours by the end of 2020. The first additions will start arriving in early 2019!  

Frontier launch new routes including its 100th city served

Frontier Airlines announced has announced the one-hundredth city in the low-fare carrier’s network and the addition of six new routes to its network. The airline will add new, low-fare service to/from Harlingen, Texas with the only non-stop service to Denver and Chicago as well as international service from Las Vegas with non-stop flights to both Cancun and Cabos San Lucas, Mexico. To celebrate these new routes, Frontier is offering special introductory fares as low as $39.

WOW to start service to Delhi

The Icelandic airline WOW is hoping to wow passengers with a new service to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.  

In press releases, the Icelandic airline says the flight leaves the US to go to India, but it is actually from Iceland and the airline's flights from various US cities, connect with it.  It boasts "The new route will provide millions of Americans in seven major metro areas across the country an extremely affordable way to visit the lively city."

"We are very excited to start flying to New Delhi in December.  I am very happy with the feedback and demand we have gotten so far on our India flight and it's clear that there is a great need for affordable travel between North America and Delhi," said Skúli Mogensen, founder and CEO of WOW air. "Our mission is to enable everybody to fly by offering very reasonable prices to all our destinations and as a result hopefully more people will have the opportunity to see the World."

The airline is to use a brand new Airbus A330neo on the New Delhi route, which will also be fitted with the premium seats that have some extra legroom as well as a host of other benefits.