Tag: haul (Page 3 of 8)

Airbus Delivers First A350 to New Airline World2fly

June 9, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Toulouse, France 09 June 2021 – World2fly, the new long-haul airline recently founded by the Spanish hotel company Iberostar, has taken delivery of the first of two A350-900s on lease from Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL), becoming the latest operator of the world’s most efficient large widebody aircraft.

The airline, based on the Balearic island of Mallorca, will operate the two leased A350-900 aircraft on long-haul routes from Madrid to leisure destinations, such as Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, Cancun, Mexico, and Havana, Cuba.

World2fly’s A350-900s feature a modern and highly-comfortable single-class cabin layout with 432 seats. Passengers will enjoy more personal space, wide seats and absolute well-being on board and appreciate the latest-generation in-flight entertainment and connectivity. The A350 Airspace cabin is the quietest of any twin-aisle aircraft and offers passengers and crew the best flying experience.

The Airbus A350’s clean-sheet design features state-of-the-art aerodynamics, a carbon-fibre fuselage and wings, plus the most fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. Together, these latest technologies translate into unrivalled levels of operational efficiency and sustainability for World2fly, with a 25% reduction in fuel-burn and CO2 emissions compared to previous generation twin-aisle aircraft.

Virgin Australia Group Outlines Growth Plans to Support Tourism Recovery

April 19, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

BRISBANE, 15 April 2021: Virgin Australia Group has announced fast-tracked plans to acquire new aircraft, create more frontline jobs and grow its network to further support domestic tourism.

The recovery efforts include the reintroduction of 10 additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft and the planned return of more than 80 per cent of the airline’s pre-pandemic domestic capacity by mid-June. Network operational changes will also allow the airline to redeploy Boeing 737 aircraft to other parts of its network over the coming months.

After a year of rolling state-based restrictions, pent-up travel demand is supporting the launch of several new and expanded services and frequencies on key leisure and business routes. Virgin Australia Group is committed to maintaining a market share consistent with its pre-COVID position.

Commitment to Jobs

The creation of more roles at the Company will see more than 220 cabin crew return to the skies from the airline’s discontinued long-haul international, ATR regional and Tigerair Australia operations. The new recruits will join one of 15 cabin crew training schools over the next two months.

In addition, a major recruitment drive to fill more than 150 new cabin crew roles, including an expression of interest for future positions has also begun today, with applications from other Virgin Australia employee groups being assessed as a matter of priority. External expressions of interest can be made via the airline’s careers website.

Fleet and Network

The Company has finalised arrangements to re-introduce 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft which had previously been operated by Virgin Australia, with further aircraft under investigation. The first three aircraft will join the airline’s mainline fleet this month while the remainder are set to progressively enter service by October.

The Company is finalising wet lease arrangements with Alliance Airlines to operate Fokker 100 services on behalf of Virgin Australia between Brisbane-Alice Springs and Brisbane-Mt Isa from 19 April 2021. The move will allow Virgin Australia to explore more efficient ways of managing capacity and frequencies to support choice and convenience for regional customers.

Using an Airbus A320 aircraft, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) will also move to operate select services on mainline routes between Perth-Darwin, Perth-Broome and Perth-Adelaide from next month. These arrangements will support the redeployment of the Boeing 737 aircraft to other markets.

Between now and the June school holidays, the airline will add more than 220 return flights per week to its schedule, offering new and extended seasonal services and expanded frequencies on key business and leisure routes. Trans-Tasman services to Queenstown are set to recommence ahead of school holidays on 18 September 2021.

Lufthansa Airbus A350-900 “Erfurt” Will Become Climate Research Aircraft

April 7, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Predicting the weather even more accurately, analyzing climate changes even more precisely, researching even better how the world is developing. This is the goal of a globally unique cooperation between Lufthansa and several research institutes.

Converting an aircraft into a climate research plane poses major challenges. Lufthansa has chosen the most modern and economical long-haul jet in its fleet – an Airbus A350-900 named “Erfurt” (registration D-AIXJ). In three stages, the “Erfurt” will now become a flying research laboratory.

In Lufthansa Technik’s hangar in Malta, the first and most extensive conversion work was carried out. Preparations were made for a complex air intake system below the belly. This was followed by a series of test insertions, at the end of which came the certification of a climate research laboratory weighing around 1.6 tons, the so-called CARIBIC measurement laboratory. The acronym CARIBIC stands for “Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container” is part of a comprehensive European research consortium.

The “Erfurt” is expected to take off from Munich at the end of 2021 for its first flight in the service of climate research, measuring around 100 different trace gases, aerosol and cloud parameters in the tropopause region (at an altitude of nine to twelve kilometers). Lufthansa is thus making a valuable contribution to climate research, which can use these unique data to assess the performance of current atmospheric and climate models and thus their predictive power for the Earth’s future climate. The special feature: Climate-relevant parameters can be recorded at this altitude with much greater accuracy and temporal resolution on board the aircraft than with satellite-based or ground-based systems.

The A350 conversion, which has now been launched, was preceded by an ex-tremely elaborate planning and development phase of about four years involving more than ten companies (in particular Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik, Airbus, Saf-ran, enviscope, and Dynatec) as well as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) as representative of a larger scientific consortium.

The Lufthansa Group has been a reliable partner of climate research since 1994 and has since equipped several aircraft with special instruments. This is now the first time worldwide on an Airbus A350-900 aircraft.

Corsair Takes Delivery of its First A330neo

April 5, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Toulouse, 31 March 2021 – Corsair has taken delivery of its first A330-900, on lease from Avolon, to join the French airline’s fleet. By selecting a total of five A330neo’s, Corsair is executing its strategy to become an all-A330 operator. Thanks to the aircraft’s latest technologies, Corsair will benefit from cost-effective and eco-efficient solutions, while providing passengers with the best comfort standards in the quietest cabins in its class.

The aircraft features 352 seats in a three-class layout, providing all the comfort and amenities of Airbus’ leading ‘Airspace’ cabin, including state-of-the-art passenger in-flight entertainment (IFE) and full WiFi connectivity throughout the cabin.

The A330neo is powered by Rolls-Royce’s latest-generation Trent 7000 engines. The Corsair aircraft will also be the first A330neo to feature an increased maximum take-off weight of 251 tonnes. This capability will allow the airline to fly long-haul destinations up to 13,400 km (7,200nm) or benefit from ten tons more payload on board.

The A330neo is a new-generation aircraft and successor to the hugely popular A330ceo widebody family. As well as the new engine option, the aircraft benefits from a host of innovations, including aerodynamic improvements and new wings and winglets that together contribute to 25% fuel-burn and CO2 reductions.

Corsair, which already operates an Airbus fleet of five A330 Family aircraft, became a member of the Airbus Skywise ‘Open Data Platform’ in 2020, thus benefiting from several Skywise-based services, such as a real-time in-service fleet performance analysis capability (aircraft health monitoring), reliability analysis and predictive maintenance.

Austrian Airlines to Add Montreal and New York JFK Flights Starting in May

March 1, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Austrian Airlines is expanding its long-haul services in the upcoming summer flight schedule. From May, Austria’s home carrier will once again be flying three times a week to Montreal and New York JFK. As Newark was already in service up to now, the total number of flights to New York will increase to eight connections per week as of May.

“With five destinations in North America and three in Asia, including Tokyo and Bangkok, our long-haul services are back on a slight climb this summer. Unfortunately, we are still a long way from reaching cruising altitude. We hope that a rapid increase in the vaccination rate and a corresponding relaxation of travel restrictions will give us a further boost in the future”, says Austrian Airlines CCO Michael Trestl.

Austrian Airlines was already able to announce an increase in its summer flight schedule last week. From the end of March, various destinations will be resumed, including Barcelona, Dubrovnik and Florence. Hanover will be served by Austrian Airlines again for the first time since 2009. In addition, numerous vacation destinations are back on offer, for example in Greece, Italy and Spain. In the intercontinental route network, Amman, Bangkok, Chicago and Tokyo are back in the flight schedule.

On the Austrian Airlines website, passengers will find information on travel in times of corona, mandatory wearing of masks, country-specific travel regulations or flexible rebooking arrangements. The information is updated on an ongoing basis.

Austrian Airlines sells three Boeing 767s to US company MDI

February 27, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Austrian Airlines has found a buyer for the three long-haul aircraft that were up for sale. The Boeing 767-300ER aircraft will go to the U.S. company MonoCoque Diversified Interests. The purchase agreement has already been signed. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The first aircraft, registered OE-LAT, will leave Vienna at the beginning of March for Pinal Airpark, Arizona. The aircraft is currently undergoing all the necessary preparations for the handover. The next transfer flight is scheduled for May with the Boeing 767 registered OE-LAX.

“Being able to sell all three Boeing 767’s to one buyer is very gratifying and a big step for our fleet transition”, says Austrian Airlines CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech. “I would like to thank MonoCoque Diversified Interests for the good negotiations and our team for their great commitment.”

“MDI is excited to continue the growth of its passenger and cargo aviation portfolio with the addition of three 767-300ERs”, adds MDI’s manager Mary Alice Keyes. “It has been a pleasure to work with Austrian Airlines, a group with a long history and outstanding pedigree.”

At an average of 28.5 years, the three 767’s sold are among the oldest aircraft in the Austrian Airlines fleet. The remaining three 767’s are between 20 and 22 years of age. After the completed handover, Austrian Airlines will continue to have nine long-haul jets at its disposal, which will connect Austria with destinations around the globe – from the USA to the Far East. In detail, these are six Boeing 777’s with over 300 seats and three Boeing 767’s with over 200 seats.

Until the beginning of 2022, 28 aircraft will leave the fleet of Austria’s home carrier: In addition to the aforementioned three Boeing 767-300ER’s, 18 Dash turboprops and seven Airbus A319 jets will be handed over. Ten turboprops have already left Vienna, with the remaining eight to follow soon. This means that the fleet will consist of around 60 aircraft by the beginning of 2022. As mainly smaller aircraft will be retired, this corresponds to a capacity reduction of around 20 percent.

British Airways Launches New Fare Brands Offering Enhanced Flexibility

February 24, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Wednesday 24 February, 2021 – British Airways has today launched two new fare brands for its trade customers, which offer refundable options and enhanced flexibility. Select and Select Pro are both refundable fares, which will give customers the flexibility to cancel a flight and claim a full or partial refund should their travel plans change. There will also be no change fee payable for Select and Select Pro bookings.

The Select and Select Pro fares are available to book from today, exclusively for agents, via both the GDS or NDC. They will sit alongside the current Basic, Standard/Plus and Fully Flexible fares, and will enhance the suite of fare options available to suit the different budgets and flexibility needs of customers. In the UK, Select fares will be available on short-haul routes and long-haul routes, and Select Pro available on long-haul routes.*

The table below shows the differences between each available fare brand:

These new fare products will also be available to book through British Airways’ Atlantic Joint Business partners American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair.

Fares will cost from £50 extra on a short-haul return ticket and from £100 extra on a long-haul return ticket, compared with Standard/Plus fares. The refund fee for Select products is similar.**

British Airways’ book with confidence commitment for free changes or the ability to take a voucher will continue to apply to all Basic, Standard/Plus, Fully Flexible, Select and Select Pro bookings. As always, if a flight is cancelled the customer is entitled to a full refund.

More information for trade partners is available through the BA Travel Trade website. Partners can also contact their Account Manager.

United Airlines Works With Archer Aviation to Accelerate Production of Electric Aircraft

February 10, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

CHICAGO, Feb. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAL) today announced that it has completed an agreement to work with air mobility company Archer as part of the airline’s broader effort to invest in emerging technologies that decarbonize air travel. Rather than relying on traditional combustion engines, Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are designed to use electric motors and have the potential for future use as an ‘air taxi’ in urban markets.

Under the terms of the agreement, United will contribute its expertise in airspace management to assist Archer with the development of battery-powered, short-haul aircraft. Once the aircraft are in operation and have met United’s operating and business requirements, United, together with Mesa Airlines, would acquire a fleet of up to 200 of these electric aircraft that would be operated by a partner and are expected to give customers a quick, economical and low-carbon way to get to United’s hub airports and commute in dense urban environments within the next five years.

Working with Archer is another example of United’s commitment to identifying and investing in innovative technology that can reduce carbon emissions while also improving the customer experience and earning a strong financial return. The airline was an early stage investor in Fulcrum BioEnergy and recently partnered with 1PointFive, a joint venture between Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Rusheen Capital, to jumpstart the establishment of direct air capture and sequestration technology.

With today’s technology, Archer’s aircraft are designed to travel distances of up to 60 miles at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour and future models will be designed to travel faster and further. Not only are Archer’s aircraft capable of saving individuals time on their commute, United estimates that using Archer’s eVTOL aircraft could reduce CO₂ emissions by 47% per passenger on a trip between Hollywood and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), one of the initial cities where Archer plans to launch its fleet.

Led by co-founders and co-CEOs Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein, Archer’s mission is to advance the benefits of sustainable air mobility at scale. Archer plans to unveil its full scale eVTOL aircraft in 2021, begin aircraft production in 2023, and launch consumer flights in 2024. To drive this fourth transportation revolution and transform how people approach everyday life, work and adventure, Archer has built a highly accomplished team of top engineering and design talent, with a collective 200+ years of eVTOL experience.

SpiceJet Adds Two More Wide-Body Aircraft to Cargo Fleet

February 7, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

SpiceJet of India (SPICEJET.BO) has added two more wide-body planes – a Boeing 767 and Airbus A330 – to its cargo fleet. With the latest induction, SpiceJet will have a dedicated fleet of 19 cargo aircraft, including five wide-body jets. Other than the wide-body aircraft, SpiceJet’s cargo fleet includes five Boeing 737 freighters and nine Q-400’s.

The two wide-body cargo aircraft that have been inducted would primarily be used for transporting cargo goods, medical and essential supplies on long-haul routes including to destinations in Europe and North America. With the latest induction, SpiceXpress, the airline’s cargo arm, aims to further strengthen its cargo fleet while providing a seamless and secure transportation of Covid-19 vaccine.

SpiceJet had recently tied-up with Brussels Airport for providing seamless transportation of Covid-19 vaccine between India and Europe and beyond.

With a network spanning 54 domestic and 45 international destinations and a fleet of 19 cargo planes, SpiceXpress is capable of flying over 600 tonnes of cargo per day to both domestic and a wide list of international destinations. The airline has also tied up with global leaders in cold chain solutions offering active and passive packaging with dedicated equipment to perform seamless cold chain operations.

Ever since the lockdown began, SpiceJet and its cargo arm, SpiceXpress, has played a critical role and worked relentlessly to ensure that the country’s supply chain remained intact. The airline has helped in the transportation of vital goods and medical supplies to all corners of India and the world. SpiceJet has operated 12,950 cargo flights since the lockdown began and carried around 105,200 tonnes of cargo.

Air Peace Takes Delivery of First Embraer E195-E2 for African Continent

January 29, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Air Peace, Nigeria and West Africa’s largest airline, took delivery of their first E195-E2 aircraft today. The aircraft is now due to fly from Embraer’s facility in São José dos Campos to join the Air Peace fleet in Nigeria.

The jet delivered today is the first of 13 firm E195-E2 orders, with 17 remaining purchase rights, as announced in March 2019, and updated with three further firm orders from purchase rights announced at the Dubai Air Show in November 2019. The total value of the deal, with all purchase rights exercised is US $2.2 billion. The aircraft are configured in a comfortable dual class arrangement with 124 seats.

Air Peace already operates eight ERJ-145s, and will use the E195-E2s to enhance domestic and regional connectivity. The E2 is able to achieve this both affordably for passengers and profitably for the airline, along with delivering a superior travel experience. This enhanced network will also help feed and sustain long haul operations at the Lagos Hub, such as the UAE route launched in 2019 and South Africa launched in December 2020.

There are currently 206 Embraer aircraft operating in Africa with 56 airlines in 29 countries.

Archives