The big seats up front matter a lot for Lufthansa. The carrier, citing “growing premium demand, for business as well as leisure travel,” will “temporarily” reactivate five of its A340-600 aircraft for the Summer 2022 season to help fill that need.
A340
Airbus, EASA warn on parked aircraft battery issues
With thousands of aircraft parked around the globe this year the industry is learning more and more about the impact of these long-term storage actions. This week Airbus and EASA issued an advisory regarding battery systems on the A320, A330, A340 and A380 family aircraft that “could lead to reduced battery endurance performance, possibly resulting […]
Lufthansa announces major, permanent fleet restructuring
Lufthansa is not particularly optimistic on the industry’s return to pre-crisis levels. As a result the airline announced significant fleet changes today, with many aircraft to be removed from service.
Swiss completes A340 retrofit with updated IFE/C suite
Passengers on the Swiss International Air Lines A340 fleet are now guaranteed to fly with the company’s newest product. The carrier announced this week that the fifth and final aircraft completed its retrofits and returned to service.
Air France to swap A380, A340 fleets for A350 with expanded order
Air France will add ten more A350-900 aircraft to its fleet in the coming years, supporting the retirement of its A380s and A340s. The deal will help the carrier to simplify its operations and deliver a more consistent passenger experience across its long-haul operations.
PaxEx Premium: Easing the 2Ku backlog
Loose ELT antenna impacts 2Ku deployments
Earlier this month EASA issued an Airworthiness Directive affecting certain of Gogo’s 2Ku inflight connectivity installations. Air vortices created by the 2Ku radome cause excessive vibration in the ELT antenna, potentially shaking it loose or causing structural issues in the fuselage. Fortunately the issue was discovered relatively quickly, the number of aircraft affected is low and a revised installation process is expected to be in place in the near future.
Bunk beds on board: The new plan to make economy class travel comfortable
Passenger want long flights in economy class to be more comfortable. Airlines want more money from passengers. Surely a bunk beds option meets that need. And it probably will eventually. Just not this version, at least not yet. And probably not for the reasons you’re thinking.