AirlinesEnd Of An Era: KLM Retires Its Boeing 747 Fleet Early It started with a rumor over two weeks ago that KLM would be retiring its 747 fleet early. As time passed, schedule data pointed to the rumor being true, with sources reporting that today’s flight of KL686 would be the final 747-400 passenger service operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. That flight is due to land very, very soon. It’s almost difficult to believe.
LinkGoodbye Jumbo: Qantas Retires Boeing 747 Fleet Early It is the end of an era at Qantas following the retirement of its last Boeing 747 aircraft. The Queen of the Skies has been with the flag carrier of Australia since 1971. However, with much of its fleet temporarily grounded, Qantas has taken the opportunity to retire the iconic jet earlier than planned.
LinkQantas Uses Dreamliners To Aquire Additional Funding Airlines around the world are desperate to find sources of funding to keep their companies afloat. Qantas Group is no different. On March 25th, the Australian flag carrier put out a press release announcing the completion of a new round of debt funding.
LinkAir Canada To Repatriate 8,500 Citizens In One Day Air Canada is running a massive repatriation flight program in conjunction with the Canadian government. This effort is working to bring Canadians home from all over the world. And, on March 28th, the carrier expects to fly 8,500 citizens back to Canada across almost 60 flights.
LinkDelta Will Fly Medical Volunteers For Free Delta Air Lines is offering free flights to qualified medical volunteers to Georgia, Louisiana, and Michigan. The carrier will offer free roundtrip travel to medical professionals who volunteer in some of the hardest-hit areas starting from early April.
LinkHi Fly Flies Aid From Shanghai To Lisbon On An Airbus A340 A Hi Fly aircraft has touched down in Lisbon with vital medical equipment supplied from China. The flight left Shanghai on the morning of 27th March and arrived in Lisbon by the evening on the same day. This is just one of Hi Fly’s efforts to support those who have been affected by the coronavirus.
LinkA Billionaire Is The Lufthansa Group's New Largest Shareholder A March 26th report indicates that German industrialist Heinz Hermann Thiele has increased his ownership of the Lufthansa Group to become the airline companies’ biggest single shareholder.
LinkAegean Airlines Turns Airbus A321 Into Temporary Cargo Plane On March 27th, Aegean Airlines announced its plans for a series of supply flights which will help the Greek state in its battle against coronavirus. The airline will work in cooperation with Hellenic Petroleum, Greece’s largest oil company, and its subsidiary EKO, who will cover the fuel costs for the flights.
LinkAmazing: Air Canada Donates Food From Its Kitchens Amidst all the disruption of the coronavirus outbreak, there are some moments of community spirit to come out of the pandemic. During these difficult times, Air Canada has stepped up to provide meals for vulnerable people. It has begun to donate food from its kitchens to support Canadian charities.
LinkWhat Is Spicejet's Plan For A Middle East Base? At the end of October 2019, SpiceJet had announced its plans of setting up a hub at Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK) in the United Arab Emirates. The Indian low-cost carrier had initially intended to start a five-weekly service from Delhi, with plans to further increase connectivity to other Indian destinations.
LinkSingapore Airlines Finds $13 Billion In Funding Singapore Airlines has received a vital lifeline to help it survive the coronavirus crisis. The airline has secured a S$19bn ($13bn USD) bailout which it says will help it not only survive the pandemic but thrive afterward.
LinkWizz Air Ventures 9000km To Collect Medical Supplies For Hungary European budget airline Wizz Air is helping to deliver 11 tons of medical equipment from China to Hungary as part of efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The shipment includes protective gear and test kits. Wizz Air answered the call of the Hungarian Government and stepped in to help with transporting the vital supplies with an A321neo.
LinkLufthansa Operates Rare Boeing 747 Flight To Auckland On March 25th and 26th, a Lufthansa 747-400 spent more than 20 hours flying from Frankfurt to Auckland. These flights were part of the German government’s efforts to repatriate its citizens in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight, however, was not without a stop.
LinkGaruda Leases 6 Heathrow Slots To Air India For 2 Years It appears that Garuda Indonesia is leasing six slot pairs at the congested London Heathrow airport to flag carrying Indian airline Air India. A slot swap request form has been shared on social media, suffering the lease will be in place for a period of two years.
LinkHere Is Why Iberia Is Flying To Shanghai And Tokyo Spain’s national flag carrier Iberia has opened up an all-important medical supply corridor between Spain, Shanghai, and Tokyo to transport much needed medical supplies from China and Japan to Europe.
LinkWhy Are Most Cabin Crew Female? The majority of the world’s cabin crew are women. That’s a fact. However, it’s a widely accepted notion that a lot has been done for gender equality in the past few decades. That said, when it comes to the diversity of those who help us inflight, gender equality is particularly lacking. So, why are most cabin crew female? Is anything being done about it?
LinkWow: Austrian Airlines Flies Direct Boeing 777 Vienna To Sydney Flight Austrian Airlines is currently undertaking the longest flight it has ever operated in more than 60 years. The European airline is flying from Vienna to Sydney today on a repatriation mission. The flight will arrive at around 03:30 UTC tomorrow morning.
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