Great news for Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Xetra: LHAG) customers in the Los Angeles area! The popular Airbus A380 will return to Los Angeles International Airport on October 26. With air travel surging in demand, the added capacity that the A380 brings to the LA region will provide the much-needed increased volume that the market requires.
Flight LH453 will depart Los Angeles at 6:30pm and arrive into Munich at 1:40pm, the following day. Flight LH452 will depart Munich at 12pm and arrive back in Los Angeles at 4:15pm. All times are local. The already daily operating flights, now have increased capacity due to the placement of the A380.
Due to the sharp rise in demand for travel and the delayed delivery of ordered aircraft, Lufthansa decided in 2022 to reactivate the Airbus A380, which is particularly popular with passengers and crews. By the end of 2025, a total of eight A380’s will once again be deployed for service to and from Munich.
(Reuters) – Australia’s Qantas Airways (OTC: QABSY) on Thursday announced an order for 24 widebody aircraft, the final piece of the company’s jet fleet renewal program, and said the move is aimed at replacing its current Airbus A330 and Airbus A380 aircraft.
The multi-billion dollar order is split between 12 Airbus (OTC: EADSY) A350’s and 12 Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787’s, which will arrive from fiscal 2027 and into the next decade, Qantas said.
Qantas flights from eight overseas destinations are touching down in Australia today, bringing the first international tourists in almost two years and an eagerly anticipated boost for the country’s tourism industry.
The Qantas Group will fly more than 14,000 passengers into Australia this week as quarantine and border barriers for international tourists come down.
QF12 from Los Angeles was the first to land at 6.20am and flights from other international destinations including Vancouver, Singapore and London will arrive into Sydney throughout the day. Jetstar’s first unrestricted international flight JQ18 will touch down in Melbourne from Phuket at 10.05am and QF70 from Delhi to Melbourne will arrive at 1.35pm.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said bookings had been strong since the Australian Government announced the country was opening to international visitors, and today’s arrivals will be the first of many.
Qantas restarted its international network for Australian citizens and visa holders on 1 November 2021, with a number of routes coming online since then. Sydney to Dallas recommenced flying on 16 February, and flights to other destinations are scheduled to relaunch in coming weeks including:
KiwiRail has leased an additional freight ferry to provide capacity and resilience on Cook Strait, KiwiRail Group Chief Executive Greg Miller announced today. The Valentine is completing technical due diligence in England now, ahead of sailing to New Zealand. It is due to arrive in mid-December and Interislander crews will familiarize themselves with the ship before Valentine begins working the Cook Strait, likely later in December.
Mr Miller said the Interislander fleet is aging and more prone to breakdown. “Old ships tend to have mechanical problems and this has been highlighted with the current mechanical issues on Aratere. While she has now resumed service, we know that disruption is bad for us and our customers.
The Valentine is being leased for an initial 12 months. Valentine has been working in the English Channel and is well-suited to KiwiRail operations.
Mr Miller says the move shows KiwiRail’s determination to support the movement of essential supplies in New Zealand through increased capacity, collaboration, and improving scheduling and resource planning.
New service increases flexibility for customers traveling between Los Angeles and San Diego
ORANGE, Calif. – Oct. 10, 2019 – The Amtrak® Pacific Surfliner® will soon offer an additional train in each direction between Los Angeles and San Diego, giving customers expanded options for travel along the southern California coast. Tickets can now be purchased for travel beginning October 14.
A schedule change, effective Monday, October 14, features the addition of a 13th Pacific Surfliner roundtrip between Los Angeles and San Diego. The new southbound Train 578 will depart Los Angeles at 1:15 p.m., arriving in San Diego at 4:12 p.m. Existing northbound Train 591 will be renumbered to Train 593. New Train 591 will depart San Diego at 5:25 p.m. and arrive in Los Angeles at 8:34 p.m.
“Each of the new trains will fill a nearly three-hour gap in our existing schedule, providing expanded possibilities for business and leisure travel between Los Angeles and San Diego,” said Al Murray, chairman of the Los Angeles–San Diego–San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency, which oversees the Pacific Surfliner service. “We appreciate the support of the state of California, Amtrak, BNSF Railway, and our local member agencies in launching these additional trains, which mark the first expansion of Pacific Surfliner service in the past three years.”
The Pacific Surfliner travels along a 351-mile route through San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties, with portions of the route hugging the Southern California coastline. As part of the new schedule, minor changes are also being made to arrival and departure times of other Pacific Surfliner trains to improve reliability and coordination with other trains.
“This service expansion represents the initial benefit of a decades-long, multi-hundred million dollar capital investment by the state of California to add a third track and grade separations between Los Angeles and Fullerton, which will greatly expand capacity and reduce delays for passenger and freight trains on this busy rail corridor,” said Chad Edison, chief deputy secretary for rail and transit at the California State Transportation Agency.
“We look forward to adding additional passenger rail service in the near future, taking full advantage of the new frequencies enabled by the completion of this project.”
With almost 3 million riders in 2018, the Pacific Surfliner is the busiest state-supported intercity passenger rail route in the United States and will now offer a total of 26 trains a day between Los Angeles and San Diego.
All Pacific Surfliner trains feature comfortable, reclining seats with power outlets, Wi-Fi, bike and luggage racks, a free and generous baggage policy, and an onboard Market Café that offers fresh food, snacks and beverages, including California wines, cocktails and local craft beer.
“As the second busiest rail corridor in the United States, the Pacific Surfliner has generated significant demand for customers,” said Amtrak President and CEO Richard Anderson. “The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency alongside the state of California had a vision to expand transportation and we are thrilled to see that investment realized. With service that connects major cities along the Southern California Coast – this increased service offers a significant benefit to customers.”
Ticketing and reservations are available onPacificSurfliner.com, Amtrak.com, Amtrak mobile apps, or by calling 800-USA-RAIL. Boarding documents can be self-printed, or customers using a smartphone or mobile device can present the eTicket to the conductor by opening a document in their email.
