Tag: Cathay Pacific

First Boeing 777 Finds New Home In Tucson

September 19, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) – Aviation history was made Tuesday morning when the very first Boeing 777 ever flown made its final landing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

The former Cathay Pacific airliner was donated by the company to the Pima Air & Space Museum. Built in 1994, the massive aircraft was a test plane before becoming a part of Cathay Pacific’s commercial fleet in 2000, operating more than 20,000 flights across the globe over 18 years.

I’ll have to go check it out this Saturday!

Click the link below for the full story and video!

First Boeing 777 Finds New Home

New airline routes announced in December, 2017

December 27, 2017 / WIL BALDWIN

Aer Lingus will begin flying between Dublin (DUB) and Seattle (SEA) starting on May 18, 2018. The route will be served by an Airbus A330, with flights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

Air Canada announced several new nonstop international routes starting in May of 2018, including Toronto (YYZ) to Omaha (OMA) and Providence (PVD); Montreal (YUL) to Baltimore (BWI) and Pittsburgh (PIT); Vancouver (YVR) to Sacramento, Calif. (SMF); and Edmonton (YEG) to San Francisco (SFO). All flights will operate daily, year-round except for Toronto/Providence, which will be daily summer seasonal service.

Cathay Pacific will begin nonstop service between Washington, D.C. Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Hong Kong (HKG) on Sept. 16, 2018. Flights will operate four times a week with Cathay Pacific’s new Airbus A350-1000. Flights from Washington, D.C., to Hong Kong will operate Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and leave IAD at 1:15 p.m.; flights from Hong Kong to Dulles will operate Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and leave Hong Kong at 6:35 p.m.

United Airlines is adding 10 new routes from five of its domestic hubs, beginning in April of 2018, including the addition of service to two new cities: Wilmington, N.C. (ILM) from Chicago (ORD) and Washington, D.C. Dulles (IAD), and Elmira, N.Y. (ELM) from Newark Liberty (EWR). Starting on April 9, United will offer twice daily flights between Chicago and both El Paso (ELP) and Wilmington, N.C.; between Los Angeles (LAX) and both Redmond (RDM) and Medford (MFR), Ore.; between Newark and Elmira; and between Washington Dulles and Wilmington. There will be one flight daily between Denver (DEN) and Jacksonville, Fla. (JAX). Daily seasonal service between Chicago and Fresno (FAT), and between LAX and both Kalispell (FCA) and Missoula (MSO), Montana beginning on June 7.

Norwegian Air is adding four new routes between the United States and Europe. Service from New York (JFK) to Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) will begin on July 18, 2018, and operate three times per week. Service from New York (JFK) to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) will start on May 7, 2018, and operate four times per week. Norwegian will begin flying from LAX to Madrid four times a week, beginning July 16, 2018, and between LAX and Milan-Malpensa Airport (MXP) four times a week, starting on June 18, 2018.

Qatar Airways to buy stake in Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific

November 7, 2017 / WIL BALDWIN

Qatar Airways has agreed to buy a 9.6% stake in Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific Airways for $660 million. The investment comes as Qatar Airways has been searching for ways to expand globally for the last few years. The air carrier, based in the State of Qatar in the Persian Gulf region, recently dropped an unsolicited bid for a 10% stake in U.S. based American Airlines Group. Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific are both members of the oneworld frequent flier alliance, which allows each carrier’s customers to earn and redeem miles on the other’s flights.

The investment is the first by a Middle East air carrier in an Asian airline. The deal also comes on the heels of Qatar Airways purchasing a 20% stake in British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group, a 10% stake in South America’s LATAM Airlines Group, and a 49% stake in Meridiana Airlines of Italy. The leading air carriers in the world have been investing in other regional airlines to try and expand their global footprint, but the strategy has been hit and miss. The collapse of both Alitalia and Air Berlin followed the cutoff of funding by their partner Etihad Airways. American Airlines last March committed to investing $200 million in China Southern Airlines in a bid to access a bigger share of China’s growing travel market. That deal represented around 2.8% of China Southern’s shares.

Management at American Airlines showed no interest in any involvement Qatar Airways. The U.S. carrier opposed the unsolicited offer, which came as American, Delta and United are all publicly accusing Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, and Emirates of receiving unfair subsidies from their governments. The North American carriers have been lobbying the U.S. government to restrict the Middle East carriers rights to fly to the United States. Since 2004, proven subsidies to the 3 Gulf carriers have totaled almost $50 billion. This has allowed them to expand without the normal financial realities by which privately held airlines must abide.

First Boeing 777 Finds New Home In Tucson

New airline routes announced in December, 2017

Qatar Airways to buy stake in Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific

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