REX launches extraordinary fare sale with no blackouts

In an unprecedented move, Rex has launched a raft of sale fares with no Christmas holiday blackout dates to celebrate the re-opening of its domestic network from November 15. The move follows up the lifting of COVID restrictions in Australia’s two biggest states – New South Wales and Victoria. The domestic network-wide sale with no …

Today in Aviation: WOW Air Acquires Rival Iceland Express

MIAMI – Today in Aviation, Icelandic low-cost carrier WOW Air (WW) acquired rival Reykjavík-based low-fare airline Iceland Express (HC) in 2012. WOW Air Stressed that this was a takeover, not a merger with WW purchasing HC’s route network, branding and customer base. It also allowed the airline to gain access to ‘all knowledge and expertise …

Today in Aviation: Concorde Makes Its Final London-NYC Flight

MIAMI – Today in Aviation, The Concorde Speedbird 001 departed London Heathrow (LHR) for the last time, bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The year was 2003. By that time, BA had flown more than 2.5 million passengers on its fleet of seven aircraft of the type. With Concorde, the airline operated scheduled …

The Detailed World of Airport Dioramas

MIAMI – Airport dioramas are more than just a display for die-cast airplane collections; some designs have all the essential airport areas in detail. Airport dioramas may include runways (single or dual), terminal building areas, parking and/or parking garage areas, cargo areas, fuel depots, and hangar areas in one complete diorama. Some designs offer you …

British Airways, Kenya Airways Announce New Codeshare Agreement

MIAMI – British Airways (BA) and Kenya Airways (KQ) today announced a new codeshare agreement. BA passengers who fly to Nairobi can now seamlessly connect to 20 destinations across East and Central Africa. The agreement also gives BA travelers more convenient flight options to popular holiday destination Mauritius and Seychelles. Likewise, the agreement enables KQ …

Today in Aviation: The FLRA Decertifies PATCO

MIAMI – Today in Aviation, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) trade union was decertified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The decision came following an illegal strike that was ultimately broken by the Reagan Administration in 1981. PATCO was established in 1968 with the assistance of the lawyer and Pilot F. Lee Bailey. On July 3 of …

Singapore Airlines puts Melbourne flights on sale.

Singapore Airlines will open sales on its 14-weekly flights between Singapore and Melbourne for eligible customers from 8 pm on October 22, 2021. Over the course of the past 18 months Singapore Airlines has continued to operate to Australia, maintaining flights that allowed key trade channels to remain open and connected, and essential travel to …

Vietjet relaunches services with full network by November 30

Vietjet has relaunched all services connecting Vietnam’s largest hub of Ho Chi Minh City with the capital city of Hanoi, Da Nang, and other localities across the country. The carrier will operate its Vietnam flight network of 48 routes from November 30, 2021.  Currently, the flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and Da …

Qantas brings back the A380 and all its staff

The Qantas Group is bringing back its iconic A380s early and all staff will be back at work by early December as the airline group accelerates its return to the international skies. In a briefing this morning Qantas chief Alan Joyce said that two A380s that had been slated to remain in the desert till …

American Airlines Reports US$9bn Revenue for Q3 2021

MIAMI – American Airlines (AA) today announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2021, with a revenue recovery of US$9.0bn. In summary, the airline group reports: Third-quarter net profit of US$169m, or US$0.25 per diluted share. Excluding net special items, third-quarter net loss of US$641m, or (US$0.99) per share. Third-quarter revenue of $9.0bn, …

Three Ways Designers Are Reimagining Airplane Interiors

MIAMI – The decline and slow recovery of air travel demand have aircraft designers rethinking how plane interiors should look, function and feel. Modern airlines transport more passengers than ever, but things have not yet recovered to pre-COVID levels. To attract travelers and improve the experience, companies are now looking for ways to maximize available …

Airways Profile Ep7: Patrick DeWaal, TRACON S56

MIAMI – Hello everyone, and welcome to a new episode of the Airways Profile. For this episode, we’re going atop the control tower to our special guest Patrick DeWaal what it means to be an Air Traffic Controller. Patrick, first question: what’s your name and your role in aviation? My name is Patrick DeWaal. I …

Today in Aviation: Maiden Flight of The Yak-40

MIAMI – Today in Aviation, the prototype of the Yakovlev trijet Yak-40 took to the air for the first time in 1966. It would be produced until 1981. The type’s brainchild was the JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau, a Russian aircraft designer, and manufacturer founded by Soviet aeronautical engineer Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev in 1934. However, some date …

Singapore Airlines brings the A380 back to Sydney

Singapore Airlines will bring the A380 back to Sydney, Australia from Wednesday, December 1, 2021, increasing capacity to the Sydney market ahead of the Christmas holiday period. SIA was the first to fly the A380 in 2007, choosing Sydney as the inaugural destination for the world’s largest passenger aircraft. In 2017, SIA once again selected …

KLM Resumes 75% Pre-COVID Network, 162 Winter Destinations

MIAMI – KLM (KL) resumes service to nearly all of its pre-COVID network, operating intercontinental flights at roughly 75% of capacity this winter. KLM’s new winter schedule begins on October 31 and runs through March 26, 2022, according to a company press release. KLM will be able to raise capacity again this winter as further …

Singapore Airlines to Resume Houston Flights

MIAMI – Singapore Airlines (SQ) will resume its service between Singapore and Houston, US, via Manchester on December 1, 2021. The flight will run three times each week, as follows: SQ51 departs Singapore at 1:30 a.m. and arrives in Manchester at 7:55 a.m.SQ51 departs Manchester at 10:05 a.m. and arrives in Houston at 2:25 p.m. …

Today in Aviation: Congo Airways Starts Operations

MIAMI – Today in Aviation, the new flag carrier of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Congo Airways (8Z) commenced operations in 2015. The airline was created in 2014 after the countries government decided to re-establish a national airline. This followed the collapse of Lignes Aériennes Congolaises (LAC) – Congolese Airlines (4V) in 2013. …

Cathay Pacific restores full capacity to Sydney

Cathay Pacific will operate at full capacity from Sydney from November 1 in response to moves by the New South Wales government to lift quarantine restrictions. The airline has been operating at reduced capacity since march 2020 but will return to 10 flights a week to and from the NSW capital after quarantine restrictions were …

United aims to take on the world in 2022

United Airlines plans to increase international capacity by 10 percent in 2022 while keeping domestic capacity flat at 2019 levels. The airline is hoping to take advantage of a rebound in premium leisure travel, the reopening of the US to European travelers next month, and early indications of loosening travel restrictions in key Pacific markets. …

Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 passes 100% sustainable fuel test

Evidence continues to mount that 100% sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) can be successfully used in aircraft engines after a successful test flight by Rolls-Royce, Boeing and World Energy. The test flight in the US of almost four hours used the Rolls-Royce  Boeing 747 Flying Testbed aircraft with a Trent 1000 engine running 100 percent SAF …

Southwest plan to reduce unit carbon emissions by 20% by 2030

Southwest Airlines plans to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent per available seat mile and boost sustainable aviation fuel use as it spends $US10 billion on new planes by 2030. A newly launched 10-year environmental sustainability plan commits the US carrier to using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for 10  percent of its total jet fuel …

SEA Milan Airports, Skyports Partner for Vertiport Network

MIAMI – Vertiport owner Skyports and operator SEA Milan Airports have signed a partnership agreement to develop a vertiport network across Italy. Starting with Milan, where SEA manages Milan Malpensa (MXP) and Milan Linate (LIN) airports, the partnership will enable Skyports and SEA Group to explore the deployment of vehicle-agnostic, scalable, and cost-effective vertiports across the city and the surrounding region.  …

Flair Airlines Announces Massive Route Expansion

MIAMI – Canadian ultra-low-cost carrier Flair Airlines (F8) has announced massive domestic and international route expansion to begin in 2022. The new routes will launch in the spring of 2022 and serve the city of San Francisco, Nashville, and Denver in the United States and Comox in Canada. The expansion to four new destinations will …

Today in Aviation: Hamburg International Ceases Operations

MIAMI – Today in Aviation, German charter carrier Hamburg International (4R) ceased operations in 2010, just after 12 years of operations. The airline was founded in July 1998 by a group of businessmen who saw a gap in the German charter market. German conglomerate Scmider Kleiser Holdings provided the funding, taking a 51% stake. Private …

Confused about domestic travel? Here’s how the aviation industry is helping

A tangle of changing health requirements has made air travel even more complicated, prompting Australian airports and airlines to join forces to help passengers navigate the confusion. The progressive opening of Australia’s internal borders means passengers are facing travel between destinations with differing vaccination rates and requirements. To test or not to test? Do you …

Qantas prosecuted for standing down worker in COVID dispute

Safework NSW is prosecuting Qantas for allegedly discriminating against a worker stood down for raising concerns about COVID-19 while working on aircraft arriving in Sydney from China in early 2020. Theo Seremetidis was a union health and safety representative working with Qantas Ground Services who advised colleagues to stop cleaning planes arriving from China due …

Rex to bring back Boeing 737s from November 15

Regional Express (Rex) plans to resume domestic Boeing 737-800 services between Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra from November 15. The airline said domestic services to South Australia and Queensland would follow once vaccination rates in those states reached 80%. It also runs a fleet of Saab 340B turboprop aircraft and said regional intrastate services in New …