The arrival of the first A330-200 marks the latest stage of a fleet-renewal programme which will eventually include the arrival of new A350s and Boeing 777-300ERs. In February 2014, Kuwait Airways announced the lease of 12 Airbus aircraft including seven A320ceo (with first deliveries commencing late last year) and five A330-200s in addition to the purchase of 25 aircraft including 10 A350-900 and 15 A320neo Family aircraft.
Icelandair has opened reservations for the return of the Boeing 767 to its scheduled operations. The airline will use the aircraft on a single flight to London Heathrow on April 1, 2016 and then on daily rotations to the UK capital and New York JFK International from April 15, 2016.
An additional ten airports worldwide have been added to the approved list of airports to offer preclearance facilities to passengers travelling to the US.
The route switch follows agreements earlier this year for SAS to dispose of two of its slot pairs at the heavily constrained Heathrow Airport for a combined positive earnings impact of $82 million. The first slot pair was sold to an unidentified carrier for $60 million, while the second was sold to Star Alliance partner, Turkish Airlines for $22 million.
According to the airport’s chief executive officer, John Holland-Kaye, there are more than 30 airlines currently seeking access to London Heathrow, an issue that will only be overcome with further expansion at the heavily slot constrained facility.
The arrival of the second A380 on the Doha- London route from July 1, 2015 reinforces Qatar Airways’ presence in the United Kingdom, with six flights a day between the two cities in addition to daily direct services from Doha to Edinburgh from May and double daily services to Manchester. The three-class aircraft will be operated on the ‘QR001/002’ flight.
The measures outlined by Heathrow’s management would boost the seven existing domestic routes served from the airport (Aberdeen, Belfast City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle), offering the potential for better timed and more frequent flights, but also the introduction of direct flights from nine other domestic airports not currently served by Heathrow, meaning that a total of at least 16 regional airports will have the opportunity of direct links to the UK’s hub.
Equitable access for the UK's regions must be a key consideration when the case for future runway capacity in the South East is determined this summer, Lord John Shipley, Chair of the National Connectivity Task Force, will announce later today when its independent report is published.
In partnership with our Airline Route blog, Routesonline is launching a new weekly 'Historic Airline Schedule Snapshot' as part of our Throwback Thursday series, where we look back at the historic flight operations of a current or defunct airline.
Over a twelve-month period, preliminary data shows a growth rate of 5.1 percent year over year, with both international and domestic traffic posting strong growth rates of 5.8 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.
The airline, part of the Lufthansa Group, has been forced to cancel a number of its domestic and European short-haul routes as a result of the walkout by the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union which has failed to reach an agreement on working contracts for its members with the Lufthansa Group.
According to SAS, currently the fifth largest holder of slots at London Heathow, the transaction will generate positive earnings of $60 million. Following the closure of this deal, SAS will now hold 20 daily slots at London Heathrow which it uses to offer non-stop flights to Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo, Stockholm and Stavanger.
The airport has ended London Heathrow’s years of dominance as the world’s number one international hub, with its full year passenger numbers totalling 70,475,636 – a 6.1 percent rise from the previous year. A record 68.1 million international passengers used London’s Heathrow during the same period.
A recent social media report by ACI Europe shows the ways in which European airports are using social media to communicate with their customers. We’ve broken the report down to analyse each social media platform, and add some of our own insights.
A recent social media report by ACI Europe shows the ways in which European airports are using social media to communicate with their customers. We’ve broken the report down to analyse each social media platform separately, and add some of our own insights.
A recent social media report by ACI Europe shows the ways in which European airports are using social media to communicate with their customers. We’ve broken the report down to analyse each social media platform separately, and add some of our own insights.
Two of Britain’s biggest airports recorded the highest passenger numbers ever in 2014, alongside many other UK airports who have recorded an increase in passengers since 2013.
The carrier currently operates two flights per week to the UK capital from Hanoi and two from Ho Chi Minh City. These will move across to Heathrow from March 30, 2015 and a third weekly rotation on the Hanoi route introduced from July 4, 2015. These will initially be flown by a Boeing 777-200ER but will be switched to Vietnam Airlines’ new Boeing 787 Dreamliner from July 1, 2015.
The news came after the low-cost carrier’s chief executive, Tony Fernandes, revealed the intent to resume the popular route via the social networking site, Twitter.
The new services to Heathrow Airport will bring the number of daily rotations on this route to up to five and will end the monopoly currently held by the oneworld alliance.
It is just over two years since the first 787 flights were launched to the UK capital and at periods this year more than 740 flights a month, around 24 departures a day have been recorded using the Dreamliner.
