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Welcome to the The Atlantic Update for Wednesday 20 February 2019, our weekly update on transatlantic travel from Europe to North America.
American Airlines Secures Access To The Private Suite At Los Angeles
American Airlines has long offered a “Five Star Service” enabling passengers to purchase access to its top tier “Flagship” lounges and personal escorts at certain airports.
Passengers travelling through Los Angeles can, for a handsome fee, now secure access to a private terminal known as The Private Suite with a dedicated check-in and security screening for departing passengers, and customs and immigration for arriving passengers.
United announced a similar partnership last year. Whilst an expedited journey through the airport is one of the main benefits, this is really aimed at passengers who value discretion and privacy above all else.
In addition, passengers travelling through Los Angeles and New York JFK can also secure a helicopter transfer to / from the airport with helicopter charter company Blade. This can be done by selecting “American Add On” via the Blade app or website.
New Norwegian Routes
Norwegian may be battling to get its finances in shape, but it has not been deterred from launching new transatlantic routes.
Norwegian will fly from Athens to New York JFK four times weekly from Monday 1 July 2019 to Saturday 25 October 2019. Judging by the amount of New Yorkers who head to the Greek islands each summer, this could be very successful if onward connections were offered.
It will also fly from Barcelona to Chicago O’Hare four times weekly from Friday 7 June 2019 to Saturday 26 October 2019. Norwegian will also increase frequencies from Barcelona to New York to daily and Los Angeles to six times weekly.
Weather Waivers
A number of travel waivers are in place for severe weather:
American Airlines, BA and Delta have waivers in place for a number of airports in the North East of the US due to Winter Storm Petra. Passengers travelling up to Wednesday 20 February can rebook up to Saturday 23 February.
United has a number of waivers in place for New York, the North East, the Great Plains and Great Lakes over the next couple of days.
Full details of severe weather warnings are available from the National Weather Service.
Also of note this week:
The Association Of Professional Flight Attendants demands American Airlines investigates a comedy skit featuring flight attendants at a private fund-raising event. (Dallas News)
Southwest Airlines has declared an “operational emergency” at a number of airports including Dallas and cancelled nearly 5% of its flights due to a higher number of aircraft being taken out of service for routine maintenance. (CNBC)
Late Post Publication Updates
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The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday at 06:00 GMT. If you have any comments, suggestions or tips then please drop us a line at mail [@] londonairtravel.com
