British Airways lounge at Aberdeen International Airport (Image Credit: Nick Morrish/British Airways)
British Airways has this week opened its new lounge in Aberdeen.
It follows a similar design aesthetic to its recently opened Rome Fiumicino airport. As with Rome there is a distinctly Scandinavian feel. It is a sharp contrast to the rest of BA’s lounge portfolio.
At 380 m2 in size, the lounge features a wide variety of seating options, with views of the runway. The centrepiece of the lounge is a self-pour granite topped bar. BA also promises food appropriate to the time of day.
The lounge also includes posters and art work from the airline’s collection and “The Long Winding Shores” by artist Maddie Rose Hills.
As is clear from the images below, there is no shortage of powerpoint throughout the lounge.
Passengers travelling in Club Europe and Executive Club Silver and Gold cardholders are eligible to use the lounge. BA flies from London Heathrow to Aberdeen up to eight times daily. Continue reading “BA opens new Aberdeen lounge”
Virgin Atlantic aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)
Virgin Atlantic has today, Wednesday 16 May 2018, announced a series of changes to its transatlantic route network.
As part of these changes, Virgin is to move its route to Las Vegas from Gatwick to Heathrow from Sunday 31 March 2019.
Virgin Atlantic has flown from London Gatwick to Las Vegas since June 2000. At the time it was the only airline to fly direct to Las Vegas from London. That was until BA launched its own route from Heathrow in October 2009. Virgin has also operated limited flights from London Heathrow for the Consumer Electronics Show.
Due to the move the flight will switch from a Boeing 747 to Boeing 787. This means a significant increase in Upper Class seats from 14 to 31 and a decrease in premium economy seats from 66 to 35 and economy seats from 375 to 192. The additional flight at Heathrow will be accommodated by a reduction in frequency on London Heathrow – Los Angeles.
Operating from Heathrow will enable Virgin to compete against BA which offers substantially more premium capacity with its Boeing 747 service from Heathrow.
BA will continue to fly to Las Vegas from Gatwick year-round. Norwegian also flies from Gatwick to Las Vegas on a winter seasonal basis from 5 November 2018.
London Heathrow – Las Vegas
Flight VS155 Depart London Heathrow 12:40 – Arrive Las Vegas McCarran International 15:25
Flight VS156 Depart Las Vegas McCarran Internaional 19:05 – Arrive London Heathrow 12:55
Additional Boston Frequency
Virgin Atlantic has also announced an additional flight to Boston will launch on Sunday 31 March 2019.
It will be operated by an Airbus A330-300 aircraft. An additional transatlantic day flight is certainly welcome.
Flight VS157 Depart London Heathrow 20:30 – Arrive Boston Logan International 23:00
Flight VS158 Depart Boston Logan Internaional 19:05 – Arrive London Heathrow 20:10
These flights will be on sale at Virgin Atlantic from Saturday 19 May 2018.
Virgin has also confirmed that winter seasonal flights from London Heathrow to Barbados will return on Tuesdays and Saturdays from Tuesday 11 December 2018 to Saturday 23 February 2019.
The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday morning at 06:00 BST, providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America.
KLM, Air France, Delta, Virgin Atlantic Tailfins (Image Credit: Delta Air Lines)
Hello and welcome to the The Atlantic Update for Wednesday 16 May 2018, providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America. The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday morning at 06:00 BST.
Air France-KLM, Delta & Virgin Atlantic agree joint-venture
It was nearly twelve months ago that Virgin Atlantic announced that Air France-KLM was to acquire a 31% stake in Virgin Atlantic from Virgin Group.
This transaction will leave Delta as the single largest shareholder in Virgin Atlantic and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group will cede control of the airline.
As part of this Delta’s respective transatlantic joint-ventures with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic will be combined into one.
Air France-KLM and Delta have yesterday, Tuesday 15 May 2018, announced that all parties have now agreed commercial terms on the joint-venture. This will cover matters such as capacity planning and revenue sharing.
They will now seek regulatory approval from the European Commission and Department of Justice. It is likely that approval will be granted. Given there is no overlap of direct routes between the two joint-ventures, it is unlikely there will be much, if anything, in terms of remedies.
Once regulatory approval has been granted, Air France-KLM will acquire a 31% stake in Virgin Atlantic.
Welcome to our weekly Monday Briefing on the main developments in air travel in London and around the world, as published every Monday morning at 06:00 BST.
Hello and welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 14 May 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week, and a look the week ahead.
How do you solve a problem like Air France-KLM?
Air France-KLM’s Chief Executive, Jean Marc-Janaillac, is to leave the airline group tomorrow.
As has been well documented, Jean Marc-Janaillac, tended his resignation after Air France staff rejected a pay offer.
Bloomberg and the Financial Times have extensive reports on the possible successor candidates. These include internal candidates from Air France and Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive of KLM.
Whilst the decision in theory rests with the company, as the French state owns 23% of the voting rights of Air France-KLM, there is a considerable political dimension.
The fact that the nationality of the Air France-KLM Chief Executive is considered significant is a sign of its divergence from IAG and Lufthansa Group.
All three groups began consolidation by bringing two de-facto national European airlines together: BA and Iberia in the case of IAG; and Lufthansa and SWISS in the case of Lufthansa Group.
IAG is no longer thought of as simply a marriage of two airlines from the UK and Spain. Whilst there were tensions and local political difficulties in its early years, IAG has a pan-European brand LEVEL and a Global Business Services centre in Poland. It has acquired a hub in Dublin through its purchase of Aer Lingus. BA’s CEO is Spanish, having previously had Australian and Irish CEOs.
Talk of the demise of Air France is premature. The local Paris market is simply too big to let it go. However, the rest of aviation in Europe has largely moved on and it’s time for the French state to let Air France-KLM go. Continue reading “London Air Travel’s Monday Briefing – 14 May 2018”
The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday morning at 06:00 BST, providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America.
WestJet Boeing 787 Dreamliner (Image Credit: WestJet)
Hello and welcome to the The Atlantic Update for Wednesday 9 May 2018, providing a weekly bulletin on developments on transatlantic travel between Europe and North America. The Atlantic Update is published every Wednesday morning at 06:00 BST.
WestJet unveils its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Canadian WestJet has unveiled the livery and cabin interior of its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner features WestJet’s first business class cabin, which has fully flat seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, all with direct aisle access. WestJet also promises on-demand dining and a turndown service in business class. The aircraft also has a premium economy and economy cabin.
The cabin interior has been designed by London based design agency PriestmanGoode. The new logo and livery has been designed by Canadian agency Ove Brand.
The design palette draws its inspiration from the Canadian landscape with a choice alpine lake blue in economy, aurora‑inspired tones in premium economy, and earth tones inspired by Canadian summers in business class.
The airline is due to take delivery of the first of ten Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners from 2019. The routes on which it will operate have not been confirmed.
The new WestJet logo and livery unveiled today will also be progressively rolled out fleet wide. There’s more on a dedicated WestJet microsite.
WestJet’s initial foray into long-haul flights at London Gatwick did not get off to the best of starts with signifiant reliability issues with second-hand Boeing 767s. If these aircraft are deployed at London Gatwick it would make WestJet very competitive against BA and Air Canada.
BA World Traveller Cabin, Boeing 777-300 aircraft (Image Credit: British Airways)
For airlines, charging for seating selection is the ultimate revenue raising exercise.
For passengers, the certainty of knowing where on the aircraft you will be seated can be of huge value. Whilst some can live the uncertainty. Others can’t bear it.
Not only that, beyond the initial IT expense, it costs airlines nothing to offer this service. All the extra revenue from seat selection charges goes straight to the bottom line.
BA has for nearly ten years charged for seat selection, except primarily for those travelling in First or Bronze, Silver and Gold Executive Club cardholders.
It was one of a number of measures introduced when the airline was scrambling to survive the post-Lehman Brothers financial crisis. Although many balked at the idea at the time, not least charging to reserve a seat in Club World, it has survived.
KwaZulu-Natal South Africa (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways has launched a new direct route from London Heathrow to Durban.
BA will fly from London Heathrow Terminal 5 to Durban (King Shaka International Airport) three times a week from Monday 29 October 2018.
Flights will be operated with a three class Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
This is the only direct route between Europe and Durban. Emirates flies direct to Durban from Dubai. Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines also serve Durban via Johannesburg.
Although flights do not operate daily, it will be possible to connect to domestic BA services to/from Cape Town and Johannesburg on flights operated by BA’s franchise partner Comair.
This does solidify BA’s position on the London – South Africa market. BA is the sole operator on London Heathrow – Cape Town, to where BA can despatch up to three Boeing 747s a day in the winter. BA also operates up to two Airbus A380s a day on London Heathrow – Johannesburg, where South African Airways is cutting capacity.
One noteworthy difference to Cape Town and Johannesburg is that the return flight to London is a day flight rather than an overnight flight, which is obviously a matter of personal preference.
Welcome to our weekly Monday Briefing on the main developments in air travel in London and around the world, as published every Monday morning at 06:00 BST.
Qantas Boeing 747-238B “City Of Canberra” (Image Credit: Qantas Airways)
Hello and welcome to our Monday Briefing for the week beginning 7 May 2018, summarising the main developments in air travel over the past week, and a look the week ahead.
IAG & Norwegian
What is going on between IAG and Norwegian?
In the three weeks that have passed since IAG announced it had acquired a stake in Norwegian, the group has tabled two proposals to Norwegian management, both of which have been rejected.
From the statements issued by IAG and Norwegian to date four things are clear:
a) Norwegian is prepared to entertain bids as it has appointed advisors
b) IAG has not yet submitted a formal takeover bid
c) IAG wants 100% ownership of Norwegian; and
d) IAG’s bid comes with, as yet undisclosed, conditions.
As Norwegian’s co-founders Bjørn Kjos and Bjørn H. Kise own a joint 27% stake in the airline, no takeover bid could go ahead without their consent.
BA Boeing 787 at British Airways Maintenance Cardiff (Image Credit: British Airways)
IAG, the parent company of British Airways, provided an update yesterday, Friday 4 May, on the impact of a recent Federal Aviation Administration Directive on Boeing 787 aircraft with certain Rolls Royce engines.
This affects the ETOPS certification of the aircraft which determines how far they can fly away from the nearest diversionary airport.
At the time of writing, one Boeing 787-8 and one Boeing 787-9 aircraft has been out of service for at least a week. BA has 9 Boeing 787-8 and 17 Boeing 787-9 aircraft in service. Together, they represent about 20% of BA’s wide body long-haul fleet.
IAG CEO Willie Walsh has not hidden his dissatisfaction over the issue. Given that IAG is currently in negotiations with Airbus and Boeing over future long-haul aircraft orders, there will be even more pressure on Rolls Royce to resolve this.
London Heathrow Cancellations
Since mid-April a number of flights have been proactively cancelled on selected Boeing 787 routes from London Heathrow. This issue is going to continue until at least August of this year.
Routes that have been prone to cancellation include Baltimore, Luanda, Newark, Philadelphia, San Jose California, Tokyo Narita and Toronto Pearson.
International Airlines Group, the parent company of Aer Lingus, BA, Iberia, LEVEL and Vueling, has today, Friday 4 May 2018, released its first quarter results for 2018.
The figures themselves contain few surprises. IAG reported an increase in operating profit to €280m, and increase of €120m from €160m in the previous year.
There was less positive news at Air France KLM. Strikes at Air France have resulted in a widening of its first quarter operating loss from €33m to €118m.
IAG also provided an update in its presentation to analysts on a number of current issues:
Norwegian Rejects Two Conditional IAG Bids
IAG confirmed it has been in discussions with Norwegian and has issued the following statement:
On 12 April 2018, IAG announced that it had acquired a 4.61 per cent ownership position (minority investment) in Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (Norwegian). The minority investment was intended to establish a position from which to initiate discussions with Norwegian, including the possibility of a full offer for Norwegian. IAG confirms that it has had contact with the Norwegian Board regarding a possible offer, without reaching an agreement. IAG is currently considering its options in relation to Norwegian.
