By BA StaffQatar Airways announced it will begin flights to Hangzhou, China beginning 20 December 2013. The non-stop service from Doha to Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, will fly four-times-weekly. Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “This year we celebrate 10 years of flying to China. The addition of our seventh route in China will …

By BA Staff Alaska Airlines began daily service between Boise, Idaho, and San Diego, from this month, as the carrier celebrates 30 years of service to Boise Airport. To celebrate the new flights, Alaska is offering one-way fares starting from $99* between Boise and San Diego. Joe Sprague, vice president of marketing said: “Alaska Airlines offers more flights from Boise …

by Devesh Agarwal Gurgaon based low fare carrier SpiceJet Ltd., continued the record of disastrous performance in the Indian airline industry when it announced a record Rs. 559 crore loss for the second quarter, ended September 30, of the fiscal year 2013~2014. This compared to the Rs. 163.5 crore loss from the same quarter last fiscal, and a Rs. 50.5 …

Guest post by Patricia Hogenes It’s time for a vacation, so the family is heading out to visit relatives. It won’t be a long plane flight, but for the kids – it will be their first time. So how can a parent prepare the children for the whole flying experience? Make it sound fun. Above all, the experience should be …

By BA Staff The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), to ensure equal access to air transportation for all travellers, is requiring airline websites and automated airport kiosks to be accessible to passengers with disabilities. In addition, DOT will allow airlines to choose between stowing wheelchairs in a cabin compartment on new aircraft or strapping them to a row of seats, …

By BA Staff The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) fined US Airways $1.2 million for failing to provide adequate wheelchair assistance to passengers in Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. The fine is one of the largest ever assessed by DOT in a disability case. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said: “All air travelers deserve to be treated equally and with respect, …

by BA Staff (left: Stefan Hansen, CEO Lufthansa Systems AGand Elyezer Shkedy, CEO El Al) EL AL Israel Airlines has selected Lufthansa Systems’ wireless in-flight entertainment system BoardConnect. Using their laptops, tablet PCs or smartphones EL AL passengers will be able to access on-demand audio and video and other content. The system will be installed on 10 Boeing 737s and …

by Devesh Agarwal Traditional Indonesian dance graces the ceremony US airframer Boeing has delivered to Lion Air a new Boeing 737-900ER, marking the delivery of the 100th Boeing 737NG to the Lion Group, Indonesia’s largest airline group. It is not surprising that the delivered aircraft was the largest in the Boeing 737 Next-Generation family. Lion Air, which was established in …

By BA Staff Alaska Airlines is inaugurating daily service between Seattle and Colorado Springs, Colo., starting Nov. 1, and between Seattle and Omaha, Nebraska, starting Nov. 7. The flight schedule is shown below: Summary of new service: Start date City pair Departs Arrives Frequency Nov. 1 Seattle-Colorado Springs 6:20 p.m. 9:55 p.m. Daily Nov. 2 Colorado Springs-Seattle 8:00 a.m. 9:55 …

By BA Staff Alaska Airlines is growing again in Portland, Ore., with new nonstop flights between the Rose City and Tucson, Ariz., starting Nov. 1, and between Portland and Reno/Tahoe, Nev., starting Nov. 8. Joe Sprague, vice president of marketing said: “Alaska Airlines is proud to give our customers two new destinations from our Portland hub, with daily flights to …

By BA Staff Courtesy of Wikipedia Boeing announced that production on the 737 program will increase to 47 airplanes per month in 2017, the highest rate ever for the best-selling airliner in history. Once implemented, the 737 program will build more than 560 airplanes per year, and will have increased output by nearly 50 percent since 2010. Beverly Wyse, vice …

By BA Staff Finnair celebrated its 90th anniversary on Friday, 1 November 2013.  The world’s fifth-oldest airline still in operation, Finnair was established in 1923. Today, Finnair specialises in flights between Europe and Asia, offering direct connections from Helsinki to over 60 European destinations and 13 Asian destinations. Over eight million passengers per year fly on Finnair’s all-Airbus fleet. CEO …

By BA Staff Alaska Airlines announced it successfully completed the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and has been renewed on the IOSA Registry. The airline has been on the registry since 2006. Brad Tilden, Alaska Airlines CEO said: “Ensuring the safety of our customers and employees is core to our responsibility. Meeting this internationally recognized benchmark …

By BA Staff Jean Chamberlin, Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) vice president of Program Management, has been honoured by Women in Aerospace for her “outstanding career and lifelong commitment to furthering the advancement of women’s opportunities in aerospace.” Chamberlin said as she accepted the group’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award on Oct. 29: “This speaks to the power of diversity …

By BA Staff British Airways added some very nice traditional ethnic touches to the first flights of their additional services to Chennai and Hyderabad. Enjoy the photos courtesty BA.

By BA Staff Delta Air Lines and FOOD & WINE managzine announced that Chef Linton Hopkins is the winner of the “The Cabin Pressure Cook-Off,” a culinary competition to find the next Delta chef. Chef Hopkins will join the Delta culinary team to consult on BusinessElite menus for flights between Atlanta and Europe beginning in February. Joanne Smith, Delta’s senior …

By BA Staff The Boeing 737 MAX program continues to make steady development progress since reaching Firm Configuration on the 737 MAX 8 in July. Engineers have completed an assessment of the airplane’s performance confirming an additional 1% fuel-efficiency improvement over the 13% already promised to customers. Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager, 737 MAX program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes …

By BA Staff U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 380,328 workers in August 2013, down 2.2% from a year earlier, as per the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports. August was the 12th consecutive month that full-time equivalent (FTE) employment for U.S. scheduled passenger carriers was below that of the same month of the previous year. Scheduled …

By BA Staff Amadeus, announced that dnata, part of the Emirates group of Dubai and one of the world’s largest combined air services providers, will implement Amadeus’ Altéa Departure Control’s Flight Management solution in their centralised load control offices (CLC) in Dubai. The airport ground handler, is now present in 75 airports in 38 countries. The deal spans all Emirates …

by BA Staff National carrier Air India is bringing the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to its services between its secondary hub at Mumbai and London Heathrow International Airport from 30th March, 2014. Schedules for the flight are as follow AI131 ~ BOM – LHR ~ D: 0630 A: 1130 ~ 788 ~ Daily AI130 ~ LHR – BOM ~ D: 1315 …