Until recently, like many others, I was under the opinion Air France was a stuffy airline, an uncaring crew, and one I was not likely to fly any time soon. Recently, I was a guest of Air France to attend the launch of their new “Best and Beyond” campaign in Paris, and had the opportunity to fly the airline in …
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Qatar Airways to fly to Miami from June 2014
by Devesh Agarwal Image courtesy Qatar Airways Flag carrier, Qatar Airways, has announced Miami to be its sixth destination in the United States with flights beginning June 10, 2014. The airline will offer four non-stop flights a week from Doha using a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft in a two class configuration with 42 lie-flat seats in business class, and 217 seats …
Read More »ATR 72-600 suffers first fatal crash
by Devesh Agarwal Lao Airline ATR72-600. Photo courtesy ATR. Airbus joint-venture subsidiary ATR (Aerei da Trasporto Regionale or Avions de transport régional) suffered the first fatal crash of the ATR 72-600 aircraft it manufactures. The airframer confirmed that an ATR 72-600 operated by Lao Airlines as flight QV301 from capital Vientiane to Pakse crashed at around 16:00 (09:00 UTC) near …
Read More »Video tours of the British Airways Boeing 787 and Airbus A380
by Devesh Agarwal Flag carrier British Airways, by coincidence, has received the latest aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus around the same time. Take video tours of the carrier’s Airbus A380 double-decker super-jumbo and the composite fuel efficient Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Read More »Japan Airlines to launch Sky Suite on Tokyo Narita Vancouver route
by BA Staff Japan Airlines will launch its upgraded cabin JAL Sky Suite II business class product on its revamped 767-300ER service between Tokyo (Narita) and Vancouver, from December 9, 2013. The airline will also offer its Sky Wider improved economy class product on the same flight. The Sky Suite II is a 24 seat business in a 1-2-1 configuration …
Read More »Analysis: Air India sells Boeing 777-200LRs to Etihad. Aircraft ill-suited for its operations.
Two days ago, when gulf major, Etihad Airways, announced its intention to fly between Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles, we at Bangalore Aviation were the first to indicate that Etihad’s announcement was a pre-cursor to its purchase of Boeing 777-200LRs from Air India. Yesterday, it was confirmed that Air India will indeed sell five of its eight Boeing 777-200LRs to …
Read More »Boeing delivers Royal Canadian Air Force’s fifth CH-147F Chinook helicopter
Boeing has delivered the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) fifth CH-147F Chinook helicopter. Steve Parker, Boeing director of International Chinook Programs and Canada CH-147F program manager said “The Canadian Chinook is one of the most advanced military cargo helicopters ever delivered to the global market, and Boeing has executed the program on or ahead of schedule for every major milestone …
Read More »Etihad Airways to commence Los Angeles flights using Air India 777-200LRs?
by Devesh Agarwal Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300ER Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), today announced the launch of direct non stop flights between its home base of Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Los Angeles, California, USA (LAX), from June 1, 2014, subject to regulatory approvals. The announcement goes on to say, Etihad will deploy a three …
Read More »Royal Brunei Airlines receives its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Boeing (NYSE: BA) delivered to Royal Brunei Airlines, the flag carrier of the Sultanate of Brunei, the airline’s and South-East Asia’s first 787 Dreamliner. The carrier has ordered a total of five aircraft. The 787 is scheduled to begin flying regionally to Singapore on October 18, with long-haul service to London, via Dubai, set to begin on December 1. Royal …
Read More »Jetstar receives Australia’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner
by BA Staff Boeing (NYSE: BA) delivered to Jetstar Airways of Australia the carrier’s first 787 today, which is also the first Dreamliner for the nation of Australia. Jetstar Australia Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner VH-VKA Jetstar, is the Qantas Group’s low-cost brand. Like every other airline which has taken delivery of this new type of aircraft, Jetstar too will introduce the …
Read More »Japan Airlines places its first ever order on Airbus
by BA Staff Japan Airlines (JAL) has signed a purchase agreement for 31 A350 XWBs (18 A350-900s and 13 A350-1000s), plus options for a further 25 aircraft. This is JAL’s first ever order for Airbus aircraft. (Japan Air System used purchase Airbus aircraft prior to its merger with JAL). Video of Fabrice Bregier, President and CEO of Airbus, below the …
Read More »Alaska Airlines orders five additional Boeing 737-900ERs
by Devesh Agarwal Alaska Airlines (NYSE: ALK) and Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced today the carrier is exercising options to purchase five Boeing 737-900ER (extended range) aircraft. The five new aircraft are worth $481 million at Boeing’s current list price. Two of the aircraft will arrive in 2015 followed by two more in 2016 and one in 2017. Alaska Airlines Boeing …
Read More »Delta receives first next generation Boeing 737-900ER
by Devesh Agarwal Delta Air Lines commenced its single-aisle fleet renewal process when it took delivery of the first next generation Boeing 737-900ER aircraft. The delivery is part of Delta’s 100-airplane order placed in 2011. Delta Air Lines new next generation Boeing 737-900ER N801DZ. Boeing photo. All rights reserved. Delta’s new 737-900ER seats 180 passengers and features the new Boeing …
Read More »Philips Healthcare to install 100 defibrilators at Mumbai airport
Under its sponsored Globally, Save Lives initiative Philips Healthcare will install 100 Automated External Defibrillators at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport (CSIA) by year end. An AED is a portable device which is attached via paddles to a patient suffering signs of a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) or myocardial infarction (a heart attack). The AED will automatically confirm the diagnosis, …
Read More »Analysis: Etihad announces huge increase in flights and seats between Abu Dhabi and India
Bangalore-Abu Dhabi-Chicago, Mumbai-Abu Dhabi-New York, Delhi-Abu Dhabi-Newark amongst new flights requested by Devesh Agarwal and Vinay Bhaskara Image Credit: Etihad Airways On the back of the new bilateral air services agreement which has almost quadrupled capacity, Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, will greatly increase both seats and flights for travel to and from India, …
Read More »SpiceJet to launch Bangalore – Bangkok flights
by Devesh Agarwal Delhi based low fare carrier SpiceJet will commence international flights from Bangalore on October 28. The first destination is Bangkok with four flights per week. The carrier will be the only Indian carrier to service this route. As per the SpiceJet website on which tickets which are available for purchase, the schedule is on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, …
Read More »Sudheer Raghavan leaving Jet Airways?
by Devesh Agarwal The rumour mill has that Jet Airway’s Chief Commercial Officer Sudheer Raghavan will be leaving the airline soon and is expected to be succeeded by Mr. Wayne Pearce, currently the CEO of Oman Air. Pearce reportedly enjoys a good rapport with Etihad CEO James Hogan. Etihad which is in the process of completing a 24% stake purchase …
Read More »Tatas and Singapore Airlines to form new airline in India
by Devesh Agarwal Taking advantage of India’s recent liberalisation of the aviation sector, the country’s most famous conglomerate, Tata Sons, and flag carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) have signed a memorandum of understanding and applied for Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to establish a new airline in India, thus adding a well financed full service carrier with strong customer service …
Read More »Lufthansa $19 billion order launches Boeing 777-9X. Carrier also orders 25 Airbus A350-900
German carrier also orders 25 Airbus A350-900 XWBs by Devesh Agarwal The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, at its meeting yesterday, has approved the purchase of 59 ultra-modern aircraft for the Group, comprising of 34 Boeing 777-9Xs and 25 Airbus A350-900s worth EUR 14 billion (approx $19 billion) at list prices, the largest ever jet order. Computer generated image …
Read More »Bangalore International Airport introduces official airport app for BlackBerry smartphones
by Devesh Agarwal The operator of the Bengaluru International Airport, Bengaluru International Airport Ltd., has announced the launch of its official ‘Airport Guide Application’ for BlackBerry® smartphones for all information relating to services at the airport. The free app is designed for both BlackBerry® 10 and BlackBerry® OS smartphones (running OS 5 or higher), and is available for downloads on …
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