Cathay Pacific has long been known for its highly regarded portfolio of lounges at its hub at Hong Kong International airport.
These lounges comprise The Bridge, The Pier, The Wing, The Cabin and The Arrival.
The airline has today reopened the first class lounge at The Pier.
Cathay Pacific has launched its first over-arching brand campaign since the airline undertook a very subtle rebranding exercise last year.
The campaign emphasises how Cathay Pacific’s Asian hospitality and attention to detail improves the travel experience for passengers, whether the frequent business traveller or occasional passenger, and makes “Life Well Travelled”.
In keeping with its stated brand philosophy “Softly spoken. Strongly felt.”, Cathay Pacific’s passengers take centre stage in the campaign.
It is supported by a dedicated Cathay Pacific microsite which features contributions from the airline’s staff and frequent travellers. The campaign also features regular postings on Cathay Pacific’s Instagram account.
Continue reading “Cathay Pacific launches its latest brand advertising campaign #lifewelltravelled”
BA is retiring the Boeing 747-400. However, it will still have a presence at London Heathrow for many years to come.
On 11 August 2014, flight BA78 arrived at London Heathrow from Accra in Ghana. For the aircraft operating the route, a Boeing 747-400 (registration G-BNLI), this was its last passenger flight after more than 24 years’ service at the airline (Source: The BA Source.)
G-BNLI is the 11th 747 to be withdrawn from service at BA. This marks a continuation of a process that started some five years ago.
The 747s were initially withdrawn in response to the financial crisis, but more recently to be replaced by more efficient Boeing 777-300s and Airbus A380s which have seen the BA 747 removed from routes such as London Heathrow to Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Sydney.
Continue reading “British Airways’ long farewell to the Boeing 747-400 jumbo”
Over the past fifteen years, Finnair has been steadily, but surely, building a niche as the European airline that provides the most efficient link between Europe and Asia via its hub in Helsinki.
In 2000, Finnair served just three destinations in Asia. Now, it serves 15 destinations. Finnair also serves a number of cities without direct links to London including Chongqing and Xi’an in China and Nagoya and Osaka in Japan.
Unfortunately, this has yet to translate into long term profitability for the airline. On Friday, Finnair joined the list of European airlines to issue a profit warning.
However, the airline is committed to its strategy and aims to double revenues from Asia by 2020. This week, Finnair revealed the interiors for its new Airbus A350 aircraft which will replace its quad-engine Airbus A340 aircraft and ply routes from Helsinki to Asia from mid 2015.
The airline has 11 firm orders for Airbus A350 aircraft, and a further 8 options.
The aircraft will initially be deployed on flights to Shanghai, Bangkok and Beijing in 2015. Hong Kong and Singapore will be served by the A350 in 2016.
In business class, Finnair has opted for the Zodiac Cirrus III seat which American Airlines (Boeing 777-300 flights only), Air France and Cathay Pacific have also adopted.
This seat provides both a fully flat bed and direct aisle access for all passengers, which is increasingly becoming standard for business class cabins. Finnair’s seat will also include touchscreen in flight entertainment and AC and USB power sockets. There will be a total of 46 seats in the cabin.
Continue reading “Finnair Unveils Airbus A350 Cabins”Over the past fifteen years, Finnair has been steadily, but surely, building a niche as the European airline that provides the most efficient link between Europe and Asia via its hub in Helsinki.
In 2000, Finnair served just three destinations in Asia. Now, it serves 15 destinations. Finnair also serves a number of cities without direct links to London including Chongqing and Xi’an in China and Nagoya and Osaka in Japan.
Unfortunately, this has yet to translate into long term profitability for the airline. On Friday, Finnair joined the list of European airlines to issue a profit warning.
However, the airline is committed to its strategy and aims to double revenues from Asia by 2020. This week, Finnair revealed the interiors for its new Airbus A350 aircraft which will replace its quad-engine Airbus A340 aircraft and ply routes from Helsinki to Asia from mid 2015.
The airline has 11 firm orders for Airbus A350 aircraft, and a further 8 options.
The aircraft will initially be deployed on flights to Shanghai, Bangkok and Beijing in 2015. Hong Kong and Singapore will be served by the A350 in 2016.
In business class, Finnair has opted for the Zodiac Cirrus III seat which American Airlines (Boeing 777-300 flights only), Air France and Cathay Pacific have also adopted.
This seat provides both a fully flat bed and direct aisle access for all passengers, which is increasingly becoming standard for business class cabins. Finnair’s seat will also include touchscreen in flight entertainment and AC and USB power sockets. There will be a total of 46 seats in the cabin.
British Airways has today confirmed that Singapore will be the fifth destination to be served by the airline’s Airbus A380 fleet of aircraft.
The airline is currently operating the A380 on selected flights to Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Johannesburg. Washington will be added to the A380 network from September of this year.
The Airbus A380 will replace a Boeing 747 on three flights a week between London Heathrow and Singapore from Thursday 28 October.
BA will continue to serve Singapore twice daily, with the second Boeing 777-300 continuing on to Sydney from Singapore.
It’s worth noting that BA has departed from its strategy of deploying the A380 on routes that are not currently served by the A380 from London Heathrow as the London Singapore route has long been served by Singapore Airlines’ A380.
BA has a total of 12 Airbus A380s on order, of which four have now been delivered to the airline. BA also has options for a further 7 aircraft (instincts tell us BA will probably maintain its order at 12 aircraft).
BA has released a promotional video for the A380 launch to Singapore on YouTube featuring a very excited Sex and the City star Kristin Davis:
British Airways has today confirmed that Johannesburg will join Hong Kong and Los Angeles in its network of destinations served by the Airbus A380.
Continue reading “British Airways adds Johannesburg to its network of Airbus A380 destinations”
British Airways has today, 10 June 2013, confirmed that is to take delivery of its first Boeing 787 aircraft on 26 June 2013, and a second Boeing 787 aircraft a day later. It will take delivery of its first Airbus A380 aircraft on 4 July 2013 at a special media event at Heathrow to celebrate the introduction of two new aircraft types to its fleet.
BA has previously confirmed that the Airbus A380 will operate the BA25/BA26 Hong Kong route and selected Los Angeles flights later this year. The airline has released seat plans for the A380 but has not revealed the full cabin specification for the aircraft.
BA is yet to confirm on which routes the Boeing 787 will first be deployed. However, it reasonable to assume that some of the first routes to receive the Boeing 787 will be transatlantic routes currently operated by the Boeing 767 aircraft which include Washington, New York Newark, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Calgary.
Continue reading “BA confirms delivery dates for first Boeing 787 & Airbus A380 aircraft”
British Airways has today confirmed that is to take delivery of its first Boeing 787 aircraft on 26 June, and a second Boeing 787 aircraft a day later. It will take delivery of its first Airbus A380 aircraft on 4 July at a special media event at Heathrow to celebrate the introduction of two new aircraft types to its fleet.