Virgin Atlantic wants to grow at London’s Heathrow airport. A lot. This is no secret, of course. The carrier has strongly endorsed a third runway at Britain’s busiest airport for years, hoping to secure a significant boost to its landing slots portfolio should that finally come to pass. This week the company translated that drive into maps, hoping to generate public support for its plans. There’s just one problem: It is almost certainly impossible for Virgin Atlantic to deliver what it is suggesting.
Airplanes and Airports
Trying to make sense of the new WOW Air plans
As detials on the new WOW Air plans emerge the business model remains an interesting proposition. With a heavy focus on cargo in a softening market and premium passenger experiences with low fares it is unclear how this company will truly deliver for its investors.
Mitsubishi scores a SpaceJet 100 order in the US regional market
Mitsubishi Aircraft (probably) has a US-based customer for its SpaceJet M100 regional jet.
Are these the best airlines on social media??
What does it take for an airline to be great on social media? And is there a good way to objectively rank airlines on that front? Headed in to the 2019 edition of the World Aviation Festival Awario used its social media management tools to score 52 airlines around the globe and came up with some interesting results.
Alaska Airlines boosts its California hubs with more Pacific NW routes
The west coast is getting a lot more connected thanks to an expanding Alaska Airlines route map. The carrier is bringing new and expanded service online starting in early January 2020 to connect many of its smaller Pacific Northwest destinations to its hubs at Los Angeles and San Francisco.
United brings Dreamliner fleet to O’Hare
United Airlines is bringing its 787 Dreamliner fleet to Chicago. The carrier announced today that it will base some of the Dreamliner fleet at its hometown hub and also establish a pilot crew base to support those operations.
Frontier makes a major play at Newark
Goodbye, Southwest. HELLO, Frontier! Newark gets a big boost as the LCC aims to fill in the gap left by Southwest’s departure in November. And some interesting scheduling choices to go with that plan.
United, Qantas trim Hong Kong service as unrest continues
The protests in Hong Kong show no signs of slowing and the impact on the travel sector continues to grow. As demand drops so too is capacity into the market, with foreign carriers now adjusting operations to cope.
United bets big on premium leisure with 2020 transatlantic expansion
When you fly a plane with 30-50% fewer seats than the competition the business case must be incredibly strong. For United Airlines the new 763 High J layout is proving a valuable tool in its transatlantic market expansion, including new routes announced today for 2020.
Qantas plans London, New York nonstops to Sydney this year
The first flights for Qantas’s Project Sunrise will depart far sooner than expected. A trio of test flights later this year will help the carrier make smart choices about service patterns, crew rest and whether the program is really viable after all.