JetBlue Airways Takes Flight to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

BOSTON, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) launches service to its 78th city, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Starting today, JetBlue will serve Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) with five daily nonstop flights from Boston's Logan International Airport (BOS).

To celebrate the airline's 78th destination, today through May 30, flights to/from Philadelphia are on sale from $39 one way for travel between June 1 and September 28, 2013 (blackout dates apply) (a). JetBlue's entrance to the City of Brotherly Love reinforces its commitment to offer the business traveler options for affordable air travel.

Adding Philadelphia to their growing route map helps solidify JetBlue's already strong relevance for the business traveler, particularly at Logan International Airport. JetBlue operates over 100 daily flights from Boston's Logan International Airport and Philadelphia will be the 48th destination JetBlue serves from Boston. JetBlue's service from Boston to Philadelphia will provide more options for the traveling public, inviting customers to experience comfy leather seats with the most legroom of any other domestic airline in coach (b), free snacks and drinks, free live entertainment and very soon in-flight Wi-Fi service.

Also, in partnership with First Book, JetBlue will be donating 1,776 books to Stonehurst Hills Elementary in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania and KenCrest Services, an Infant/Toddler Home Community Program with 325 pre-K students with developmental disabilities located in Philadelphia. First Book provides new reading materials to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books.

"We are thrilled to bring our enhanced product and J.D. Power & Associates award-winning service to Philadelphia and to connect two iconic cities that share such deep and meaningful history," said JetBlue's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Strategy Marty St. George. "As we continue to grow we remain focused on delivering the JetBlue experience that our customers have come to know and love. We look forward to serving the city of Philadelphia."

"The arrival of JetBlue is yet another accomplishment for Philadelphia International Airport in our quest to be the best Airport in the nation," said Philadelphia International Airport's Chief Executive Officer Mark Gale. "We continuously strive to provide the highest standards of service to our customers. I am pleased that our ongoing efforts have brought to us an airline that also highly values customer service."

"This is a great day for Philadelphia," said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. "JetBlue is a fine airline that has distinguished itself in the industry, and we are thrilled that travelers in the Philadelphia region can take advantage of JetBlue service with easy access to their flights. I want to acknowledge JetBlue for recognizing the value of doing business with the greater Philadelphia region and business community."

"We are pleased that JetBlue now has nonstop service from Boston to Philadelphia,'' said Edward C. Freni, Massport's Director of Aviation. "Since it began service at Logan in 2004, JetBlue has shown strong commitment to Boston reflected by the steady growth of service. This new route will bring choice to the consumer which is always important to an organization like Massport that focuses on customer service."

JetBlue's flights to Philadelphia will be operated with its 100-seat Embraer E190 fleet complete with award-winning service; convenient, assigned, comfy leather seating (with no middle seat); a first-checked bag free (c); more than 140 channels of complimentary live television and radio on personal seatback screens (d); and more legroom than any other carrier in coach (b). The airline, well-known for its superior and personable customer service, also offers a free and unlimited assortment of name brand snacks and drinks for the ride.

Qantas has this week completed the final Boeing 767 (B767) interior upgrade concluding the $20 million program to refresh 15 aircraft.

Undertaken as part of a wider investment in Qantas’ domestic customer experience, the refurbished fleet now offers contemporary interior designs with leather seats in Business, in-flight entertainment for all passengers and new carpet, lighting, curtains and dividers.

Flying to a range of destinations including Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin, Canberra, Adelaide and Cairns, the upgraded B767 fleet looks and feels like new and delivers an enhanced in-flight entertainment offering. There is also an upgraded Boeing 767 operating on flights to Honolulu.

Qantas Domestic Chief Executive Officer Lyell Strambi said Qantas was committed to providing its customers with the best travel experience.

“Passengers travelling on Qantas’ fleet of Boeing 767 aircraft can enjoy updated cabin interiors and in-flight entertainment streamed direct to iPads in every seat,” Mr Strambi said.

“We have partnered with Panasonic to provide over 200 hours of on-demand In-flight Entertainment content across Business and Economy.

“We plan to increase this content even further to up to 350 hours by the end of the year, giving customers 20 movies, 350 TV programs and a wide selection of music to choose from.”

Mr Strambi said feedback from customers had been very positive already.

“We are always working hard to maintain our reputation as best for business and premium travel,” he said.

“Our customers wanted greater comfort, better on board entertainment and a more modern design; our multi-million dollar investment in upgrading the fleet has delivered on this.

“Customer feedback has shown great support for the introduction of iPads. Passengers have been very impressed with the variety of in-flight entertainment that is provided on each flight.”

Qantas’ wide-bodied domestic fleet is made up of B767s and Airbus A330s. Qantas will take delivery of its 20th A330 this month and progressively the fleet of A330s will grow until the eventual retirement of all domestic B767s by mid-2015. The five Qantas B767s not included in the refresh program will be retired by the end of this year.

source: Qantas

United to Add 40 More Embraer 76-Seat Aircraft to United Express Fleet
SkyWest Airlines to Operate 40 Aircraft Under United Express Brand Through Capacity Purchase Agreement

CHICAGO, May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announced a capacity purchase agreement for SkyWest Airlines, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc., to operate 40 Embraer 175 aircraft under the United Express brand. SkyWest, Inc. will purchase the 40 76-seat aircraft with deliveries in 2014 and 2015. These aircraft are in addition to 30 Embraer 175 aircraft that United previously announced it will purchase and which will be operated by a United Express carrier, also scheduled for delivery between 2014 and 2015.

"These new aircraft will offer our customers an improved travel experience with a larger first-class cabin and wider fuselage and larger overhead bins," said Alex Marren, senior vice president Network Operations and United Express. "United Express is an integral part of our overall network, and enables us to bring customers from smaller cities to destinations worldwide. We have a longstanding partnership with SkyWest and we look forward to continuing to work together to provide a great travel experience for our customers."

The Embraer 175 is the first 76-seat regional jet aircraft in the United Express fleet. The aircraft will be configured with 12 First, 16 Economy Plus and 48 Economy seats. The design of the aircraft will result in more personal space for customers with wider seats and aisles than those on other regional aircraft. The aircraft can accommodate standard carry-on bags, resulting in more convenience for customers.

As United inducts the new aircraft into the United Express fleet, the company will remove some less efficient regional aircraft from the fleet. The E175s will consume less fuel per seat and will have less CO2 emissions per seat than the aircraft they replace.

source: United Airlines

Antitrust: Commission renders legally binding commitments from Star alliance members Air Canada, United and Lufthansa on transatlantic air transport passenger market

The European Commission has accepted commitments offered by Air Canada, United and Lufthansa to address the Commission's concerns that the parties' cooperation under a revenue-sharing joint venture may be in breach of EU antitrust rules and harm premium passengers on the Frankfurt-New York route. Premium passengers are passengers travelling in the first, business and flexible economy classes. In order to address these concerns, the parties offered to make slots available at Frankfurt and New York airports and to enter into agreements with competitors, allowing them to offer more attractive services. As a result, competition on the Frankfurt-New York route will improve. After having consulted interested parties through a market test, the Commission has now made these commitments legally binding on the three airlines for a period of ten years.

Commission Vice-President in charge of competition policy, Joaquín Almunia said: "The Commission is committed to ensuring that consumers are not harmed by cooperation between airlines. Thanks to the commitments offered by the three airlines, passengers on the Frankfurt-New York route will benefit from stronger competition. This decision is a further milestone in our effort to create a level playing field on transatlantic aviation markets, following our decision on oneworld in 2010."

The revenue sharing joint venture eliminated competition between the parties on price and capacity. The Commission had concerns that this may have resulted in higher prices for premium passengers on the Frankfurt-New York route. In addition, due to considerable barriers to entry and expansion, new and existing competitors would have been unable to challenge the market power of the parties.

The parties argued that their cooperation created efficiencies on both the Frankfurt-New York route and on other related routes (such as Prague-Frankfurt-New York or Frankfurt-New-York Seattle), leading to benefits for connecting passengers. However, the Commission found that the efficiencies produced would not outweigh the negative effects of the cooperation on the Frankfurt-New York route.

The parties therefore offered commitments aimed at facilitating the entry of new competitors on the Frankfurt-New York route. Since the main entry barrier remains the slot shortage at airports, the parties offered to make landing and take-off slots available at Frankfurt and/or New York. The parties also offered to enter into agreements allowing competitors to offer tickets on the parties' flights (reducing competitors' frequency disadvantage) and to get better access to the parties' connecting traffic. Finally, the parties committed to submit data concerning their cooperation, which will facilitate an evaluation of the alliance's impact on the markets over time.

An independent trustee will monitor the parties' compliance with these commitments.

In July 2010, the Commission accepted commitments by several members of the oneworld alliance and made them legally binding to ensure competition on transatlantic passenger air transport markets (IP/10/936). The Commission is also currently investigating the transatlantic joint venture between certain members of SkyTeam (IP/12/79).

Background on the assessment of efficiencies

In light of the specific characteristics of the aviation industry and of the particular circumstances of this case, the Commission considered it appropriate to broaden the existing test for assessing efficiencies, contained in its Guidelines for application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

This broadened test includes efficiencies produced on routes related to the route of concern – the so-called "behind and beyond routes" (e.g. Prague-Frankfurt-New York or Frankfurt-New York-Seattle) – provided there is a considerable commonality between passenger groups travelling on the route of concern and these related routes. However, under this broadened test the Commission accepted only those efficiencies that accrued to the passengers also travelling on the Frankfurt-New York route. In other words, the broadened test does not weigh up the harm suffered by one customer group against benefits perceived by another customer group.

Background on the investigation
In April 2009, the Commission opened a formal investigation into the cooperation of the parties relating to passenger air transport on routes between Europe and North America (see MEMO/09/168).

The Commission had concerns that the airlines' cooperation might infringe EU antitrust rules (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits anticompetitive agreements). In December 2012, the companies offered commitments, with a view to alleviating the Commission's competition concerns. In December 2012, the Commission consulted stakeholders on these commitments (see IP/12/1445). The companies subsequently proposed modifications in order to address issues raised during the market test.

The Commission may adopt a decision under Article 9 of the EU's antitrust Regulation 1/2003, to make commitments offered by parties legally binding. Today's decision makes the commitments offered legally binding and ends the Commission's investigation. If Lufthansa, Air Canada or United were to breach their commitments, the Commission could impose a fine of up to 10% of Air Canada's, United's and Lufthansa's total turnover without having to prove a violation of EU competition rules.

More information, including the full text of the decision and the non-confidential version of the commitments, is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number 39595.

European Commission Press release, Brussels, 23 May 2013

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Pegasus Airlines announced today that they have signed a code share agreement effective for sales May 27th and for travel June 3rd, 2013. Passengers will benefit from quick and easy transfers between Pegasus flights and KLM flights through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen airport and Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport.

The agreement enables KLM to market under KLM flight numbers flights between Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen airport and Amsterdam, and flights between Izmir and Amsterdam, for connections to any of the 150 destinations on the KLM network.

Also an interline agreement has been concluded, allowing passengers to travel on a single KLM ticket between any airport served by Pegasus in Turkey and any airport served by KLM.

Mrs. Güliz Öztürk, Senior Vice President Commercial of Pegasus Airlines and Mr. Pieter Bootsma, Executive Vice President Marketing Revenue Management & Network for KLM, announced this agreement at a press conference held in Istanbul on May 22.

As Turkey’s leader low cost airline company flying to 71 destinations in 29 countries, we are very proud to start a partnership with KLM, one of the long-established airline companies. With this partnership, we will be able to share Pegasus experience with everyone who wants to visit Turkey by flying with KLM through Amsterdam with one ticket to more than 150 KLM destinations. (Mrs. Güliz Öztürk, Senior Vice President Commercial of Pegasus Airlines)

With this agreement KLM multiplies the options for its passengers to travel to and from anywhere in Turkey through the combined networks of KLM and Pegasus, benefitting from Schiphol as one of the best transfer airports in the world. It demonstrates KLM’s commitment to its customers in Turkey, where KLM has been operating since 1929. (Mr. Pieter Bootsma, Executive Vice President Marketing Revenue Management & Network for KLM)

Amstelveen 22.05.2013

Air France and Cyprus Airways are enhancing their cooperation to offer a total of 20 daily code-share flights on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Cyprus and Greece. This new agreement offers customers a wider choice of seamless travel solutions.



Thanks to this new code-share agreement, Air France will now offer flights operated by Cyprus Airways: Larnaca-Paris, Larnaca-Athens, Athens-Heraklion and Athens-Rhodes. Every day, passengers on flights between Paris and Larnaca will benefit from multiple connecting opportunities via Athens on domestic flights within Greece operated by Cyprus Airways. Air France passengers will also benefit from connections at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, to and from Cyprus.

Cyprus Airways will offer customers flights operated by Air France between Athens and Paris.

Moreover, passengers on both Air France and Cyprus Airways flights can earn miles for their frequent flyer programmes, Flying Blue and Sunmiles, on all code-share flights.

To better serve passengers on both airlines’ codeshare flights, Cyprus Airways has conveniently moved from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, which is also used by Air France for its own flight operations.

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Air France inaugurates its seasonal service between Paris and Minneapolis-Saint Paul

Air France yesterday inaugurated its service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The Company will operate this seasonal service until 1st September 2013, with five weekly frequencies from 21 May to 16 June, followed by a daily flight as from 17 June 2013, making it with Delta the only airline to offer direct flights between Paris and Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

Air France flights are operated by Airbus A340 equipped with 30 seats in Business, 21 seats in Premium Economy and 224 seats in Economy.

With the opening of this route, Air France and KLM now serve 12 US destinations thanks to over 200 weekly flights departing from and arriving at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol hubs. This new Air France flight to Minneapolis is operated within the framework of the trans-Atlantic joint venture combining Air France-KLM, Alitalia and Delta. The partner airlines have chosen to concentrate their capacity on routes linking together their hubs. Minneapolis is one of the American airline’s main hubs, serving 118 destinations in the United States and Canada with over 450 daily departures.

Flight times:

AF 694 – Departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 13:50– Arrival at Minneapolis-Saint Paul at 16:00
AF 697 – Departure from Minneapolis-Saint Paul at 20:00 – Arrival at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 11:25 the next day

Information and bookings online at www.airfrance.com, by phone at 36 54 (€ 0.34 including tax per min from a landline), Air France agency or from a travel agent.

With over 250 daily transatlantic flights and a fleet of 125 aircraft, the joint-venture between Air France-KLM, Alitalia and Delta offers customers the benefits of a vast network, numerous frequencies, competitive fares and a streamlined service on transatlantic routes. The joint-venture network is organized around seven main hubs: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Delta, Minneapolis, New York-JFK, Paris-CDG and Rome-Fiumicino. In 2012, the joint-venture carried 17 million passengers. It represents 24% of global transatlantic capacity and generates revenue of 12 billion dollars.

Wednesday 22 May 2013

A330 success continues as the solution for long-haul growth

Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, has placed an order for three A330-300s, growing its A330 Family fleet to a total of ten Airbus aircraft. The aircraft will be operated on long haul routes and can comfortably seat close to 300 passengers.



“The efficiency, reliability and passenger appeal of our in-service A330’s already make The Pillar of Oman Air’s long haul operations,” said Wayne Pearce, CEO of Oman Air. “This additional order will allow us to continue our strategy of growth with an aircraft we know to be both reliable and profitable, and in addition offering the highest levels of passenger comfort.”

“We are proud to continuously grow and develop our partnership with Oman Air through our popular A330-300 aircraft,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers “The winning combination of efficiency, reliability and comfort provided by the A330 continues to delight customers and passengers worldwide and will do so for many years to come, with our consistent investment in the aircraft family.”

Airbus aircraft share a unique cockpit and operational commonality, allowing airlines to use the same pool of pilots, cabin crews and maintenance engineers, bringing operational flexibility and resulting in significant cost savings. Airbus is the leading aircraft manufacturer with the most modern and comprehensive family of airliners on the market, ranging in capacity from 100 to more than 500 seats.

The A330 Family, which spans 250 to 300 seats, and includes Freighter, VIP, and Military Transport/Tanker variants, has now attracted more than 1,200 orders, with around 900 aircraft flying with more than 100 operators worldwide. Ever since the original version of the A330-300 entered service, the hallmark has been its very efficient operating economics. Thanks to the introduction of numerous product improvements, it still remains the most cost-efficient and capable aircraft in its class, and the family is achieving average dispatch reliability above 99 percent.

22 May 2013 Press Release

Contract also includes additional 60 reconfirmable aircraft and 100 options

Embraer and SkyWest Inc. (SkyWest) announced a firm order, today, for 40 EMBRAER 175 aircraft. SkyWest will operate the aircraft under a Capacity Purchase Agreement (CPA) with United Airlines. Another 60 firm orders are reconfirmable aircraft, which are subject to SkyWest being awarded CPA agreement contracts with major U.S. airline partners. In addition to that, the agreement includes options for another 100 E175s, taking the total order potential up to 200 airplanes.



The firm orders for the first 40 aircraft will be included in Embraer’s 2013 second quarter backlog. This sale is in addition to the contract signed by Embraer with United Airlines for 30 firm and 40 options for E175 jets.

If all 100 firm orders are exercised, the order has an estimated value of USD 4.1 billion at current list prices, representing one of the most significant orders in each company’s histories. SkyWest plans to configure the E175s in a dual-class 76-seat layout, with the delivery of the first aircraft scheduled for the second quarter of 2014.

“This is truly a milestone order for Embraer. As our largest Brasilia and ERJ operator, SkyWest has now selected the enhanced E-Jet for their fleet, validating their confidence in Embraer and recognizing the tremendous capabilities of the E175 as the best aircraft in its class,” said Paulo Cesar Silva, President & CEO, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “I’m confident the technologically advanced E175 will become the company’s flagship, bringing greater efficiency to their operations and a higher standard of comfort to their customers.”

SkyWest, based in the U.S. State of Utah, is the largest regional airline group in the world and is the parent company of SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines. Both airlines have long histories with Embraer and were early customers for the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop aircraft. Over 40 EMB 120 Brasilias continue to fly in the SkyWest Airlines network, primarily in the western United States. ExpressJet Airlines operates 249 aircraft of the ERJ 145 family and is the largest ERJ operator in the world.

Jerry Atkin, Chairman and CEO of SkyWest, said, “We have enjoyed our partnership with Embraer since the 1980s, and now it is extremely rewarding to be placing this significant order for E175s. We are confident the E-Jet will serve our partners and passengers well, with greater cabin comfort and with the best economics in its class.”

As the leader in the 70 to 120-seat segment, Embraer continues to invest in the E-Jets family, which is flown by some 60 airlines from 40 countries. The Company has begun implementing a series of enhancements to the E175, including new wingtips, systems optimization, and aerodynamic refinements that will lower fuel burn by up to 5%. Longer maintenance intervals and component improvements will increase aircraft productivity and lower maintenance costs. All the SkyWest deliveries will include these enhancements.

More than 150 E175s are currently in service with 12 carriers around the world. Since the E175 has no over wing exits that can restrict seat placement, operators have more flexibility in configuring the aircraft cabin. In addition, the 2,000 nm (3,706 km) range, short field performance and superior hot and high capability make the E175 ideal for the North American network.

​São José dos Campos, Brazil, May 21, 2013

Boeing begins certification testing on 747-8 performance improvements
Performance package improves fuel burn by another 1.8 percent

A Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental successfully completed its first test flight this week with a package of performance improvements including enhanced GE engines. This package is designed to improve the fuel efficiency of the popular jetliner.



With Boeing Flight Test and Evaluation Capt. Kirk Vining and Chief Pilot Capt. Mark Feuerstein at the controls, the airplane took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. at 1:30 p.m. local time and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle approximately four hours later.

"It was a great flight and the engines performed as expected," said Capt. Vining. "This is an important milestone for the flight test program."

The airplane Performance Improvement Package (PIP) includes improvements to the GEnx-2B engines and Flight Management Computer (FMC) software.

Boeing's continuous efforts to improve the 747-8 family have resulted in an accumulated 1.5 percent gain in fuel efficiency since the first airplane was delivered less than two years ago. These new improvements will give operators an airplane that is an additional 1.8 percent more efficient.

"These improvements are a part of our commitment to continually improve our great airplanes for our customers," said Eric Lindblad, vice president and general manager of the 747 program. "Improving fuel efficiency by another 1.8 percent saves the airlines approximately one million dollars per year in fuel per airplane and reduces the carbon footprint."

The test program will also validate the design changes and demonstrate the operation of the horizontal tank fuel system on the passenger version of the 747-8, which was deferred from the initial deliveries. The new configuration will first deliver in early 2014 and be available for retrofit. Entry into service of the new engines and FMC software will take place in late 2013.

EVERETT, Wash., May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/