Qantas is on its way back to San Francisco for the first time since 2011 after flight QF 73 took off from Sydney Airport on Friday afternoon. The Boeing 747-400ER operating the flight, VH-OEG, departed from the NSW capital a little after 1510 local time. The airline’s return to the Bay Area for the first time since 2011 kicks off a new joint-venture partnership between Qantas and Ameri...
Premium economy: big seats, big news, big money for smart airlines. Yet, with very few exceptions, premium economy across airlines is the same seat on the same plane with the same screen and the same experience. Conventional wisdom is that airlines want to differentiate their products, but that wisdom isn’t borne out in the class between business and economy as much as it is elsewhere in the...
Delta Air Lines Inc. expects to cap its seating-capacity increase at 2 percent next year, reaffirming a commitment to limit growth as U.S. carriers struggle to raise fares because of weak foreign currencies and competitors’ rapid expansion. Seating capacity in 2016 will be flat to up 2 percent, with any additions focused on growth markets including the U.S., the U.K., Mexico and the Carib...
Cuba and the United States reached an agreement Wednesday night that will allow US commercial airlines to begin operating flights to the island for the first time in decades, according to US officials with knowledge of the discussion. The understanding comes on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the announcement that the two countries would restore diplomatic ties and turn the page on a hal...
Two women have died after a Cessna 182 crashed into the Outeniqua mountains in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, ENCA reports. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has confirmed that the aircraft crashed near Hankey. Also on board was the pilot, who was airlifted to Greenacres Hospital in Port Elzabeth and is currently in critical condition, and a small dog, who survive...
Etihad Airways will deploy the Dreamliner on five routes next year as the Boeing 787 gradually becomes the Abu Dhabi carrier’s flagship long-haul aircraft. Etihad expects to receive 66 Dreamliners over the coming years. The 787-9 Dreamliner is Boeing’s high-tech fuel-efficient aircraft. Etihad received its first one last December. Starting from May next year, Etihad will deplo...
Turkish Airlines has suspended its daily flights to the Somali capital Mogadishu following a failed al-Shabaab attack on the airport on the evening of Sunday, December 13. Local media report the terrorists attempted a water-borne assault on the airfield but were repelled by African Union forces stationed on the beach front. Aden Adde International Airport's sole runway 05/23 only op...
Kuwait Airways is withdrawing from the New York JFK-London Heathrow market after the US Department of Transportation (DOT) ruled against the carrier in a discrimination case brought by an Israeli citizen earlier this year. Though the Kuwaiti carrier will continue to operate a 3x weekly New York JFK-Kuwait via London Heathrow service, it is no longer accepting passengers for the UK-US secto...
Australia’s three east coast capital city airports all posted healthy increases both domestic and international passenger numbers in November. Melbourne Airport said international travellers rose 9.9 per cent to 728,212 at Tullamarine in November, compared with the prior corresponding period, as airlines such as Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Philippine Airlines added extra...
Perth is among five cities set to receive Etihad Airways’ first batch of two-class Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners due for delivery from May 2016. While the initial deliveries of 787-9s to Etihad featured eight first, 28 business and 199 economy seats for a total of 235, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier is introducing in 2016 five two-class versions of the Dreamliner configured with 299 seats compris...
The U.S. House and Senate are set to begin consideration of a sweeping government-wide funding and tax package that would provide nearly $16.3 billion for the FAA in fiscal 2016 and renew key tax breaks such as the research and development credit and bonus depreciation. Lawmakers unveiled the package late on December 15, shortly before the deadline of the most rece...
At a ceremony held yesterday afternoon in São José dos Campos, Brazil, Executive AirShare (EAS) took delivery of the company’s 30th Phenom on behalf of its managed-aircraft and fractional-share customers. This delivery is a Phenom 300 that will serve EAS fractional-share owners in the Houston market, and it will be based at Hobby Airport. “As a trib...
