AirlinesAmerican Airlines revamps airport loungesAmerican Airlines is renovating its airport lounges across the US and will add dining facilities to select lounges later this year.
LinkAmerican to debut no-frills fare in FebruaryAmerican Airlines will debut its long-awaited basic economy fare in February, joining Delta Air Lines and United Airlines with a no-frills offering. The Fort Worth-based carrier will offer basic economy in 10 markets initially and expand it to more later in 2017, it says. It does not plan a systemwide roll out, it adds.
LinkBritish Airways cabin crew to strike againBritish Airways (BA) is bracing for a further three days of industrial action by some 2,900 cabin crew members, represented by the Unite trade union, in a continuing dispute over pay rates. The UK national carrier will cancel 1% of flights during the strike, which starts at 12:01 a.m. local time Jan. 19. An airline spokesman was unable to give a precise number of services that would be scrapped.
LinkEmirates to launch A380 service to South AmericaEmirates Airline will operate its first scheduled commercial Airbus A380 flight to South America when the Dubai-based carrier upgrades existing Boeing 777-300ER Dubai-São Paulo Guarulhos (GRU) service March 26. Emirates said the A380 service will mark the airline’s 10th year of operations in Brazil, which it began with daily flights to São Paulo in October 2007. In 2012, Emirates added daily Dubai-Rio de Janeiro services. Emirates SkyCargo operates 2X-weekly Dubai-Viracopos freighter services.
LinkFinnair denies interest in A350-1000; expands long-haul networkFinland flag carrier Finnair has denied media reports that it has plans to switch some of its Airbus A350-900 orders into the larger -1000 variant, a spokesperson in Helsinki confirmed. The Finland flag carrier is the A350 launch customer with 19 of the type on order, all scheduled for delivery through the end of 2023. Qatar Airways, the launch operator for the A350-1000, is expected to receive its first of the type this year.
LinkOman Air plans to double contribution to national economyThe coming year will see continuing expansion of Oman Air’s fleet and network, as it seeks to increase its input to the Omani economy, the carrier will announce at its annual internal conference. The conference, which will be held in Muscat Jan. 19, will hear an update on the perennially loss-making carrier’s financial performance for 2016 and will discuss the outlook for 2017.
LinkRyanair to contest Lufthansa, airberlin dealIrish low-cost carrier (LCC) Ryanair will lodge a formal complaint against Lufthansa’s plans to wet lease 38 aircraft from its German competitor airberlin. The agreement, which was finalized in December, will see 38 airberlin Airbus A319/A320 aircraft operating for Eurowings and Austrian Airlines for six years from February.
Eurowings will take 33 of the aircraft, enabling it to phase out up to 20 older A320s, and Austrian Airlines will take the remaining five. The deal also includes a codeshare between Lufthansa and airberlin equity parent Etihad Airways.
LinkUnited Airlines names 777-300ER "New Spirit of United"United Airlines gave its first Boeing 777-300ER the moniker of "New Spirit of United" to reflect the company's new direction. "This aircraft symbolizes the new spirit, the energy and enthusiasm that I have seen in our employees who take great pride in the work they are doing to take care of our customers and one another," said CEO Oscar Munoz.
LinkUnited outlines basic economy roll out; to start with MinneapolisUnited Airlines will initially test basic economy fares on flights to/from Minneapolis before rolling out the offering to its entire domestic network. United president Scott Kirby, speaking to analysts and reporters to discuss United’s 2016 earnings, said the Chicago-based airline wants to “make sure everything works” with basic economy before it rolls it out “to the rest of our domestic system in the near future.” Basic economy fares will go on sale soon for United’s second-quarter Minneapolis flights.
LinkUnited Airlines Q4 Profit Down 52 PercentUnited Airlines reported fourth quarter 2016 net income of USD$397 million, a 52 percent fall from 2015. Pre-tax income for the quarter to end December, 2016 was USD$884 million, a 2.3 percent drop from the prior year. Fourth quarter revenue eased up 0.2 percent at USD$9.05 billion.
LinkCS100 'too large' for Wideroe operationNorwegian regional carrier Wideroe opted for the Embraer 190-E2 after concluding that the Bombardier CS100 would have been too large. Wideroe has been a loyal Bombardier operator, with a fleet comprising several variants of the Dash 8 turboprop.
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