The newest business class cabin for British Airways launches this summer on the A350 and will include direct aisle access and mini doors for the “suites” on board.
London
Bringing Artificial Intelligence to ATC: Huge promises, challenging timelines
Urban air mobility – flying taxis – will revolutionize personal transport. But the projected volume of traffic is simply too much for humans to effectively manage. Artificial Intelligence systems aim to solve that problem.
JetBlue’s A321LR plans: Coming soon(ish)!
When will we finally know JetBlue’s plans with respect to long-haul flying? Soon! Company CEO Robin Hayes recently informed employees of a New Years’ resolution for the company: A decision on the A321LR in 2019.
WestJet Dreams of Europe: Initial 787-9 routes announced
London, Paris and Dublin are the first destinations for WestJet’s new 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The aircraft will be based in the carrier’s Calgary hub and offer streamlined connecting opportunities for passengers headed to Europe as the carrier adjusts its connection banks to benefit the Transatlantic routes.
Primera halts operations effective immediately
Primera Air’s Transatlantic LCC efforts sank the company. Small but stable in delivering European charter services, the carrier sought something more. It wanted the grandeur of being a transatlantic operator. Instead it is closing up shop tonight.
American Airlines cuts international from Chicago, adds seasonal services
American Airlines continues its cuts to Asia service from its hub at Chicago O’Hare. After previously announcing that it would drop Beijing service, Shanghai flights will also be terminated this October. Seasonal adds across the Atlantic in 2019 will help offset these cuts.
Digging in to Norwegian’s A380 mess
Let us assume, for a moment, that airlines are ridiculous but not outright stupid. That might be a stretch, but presumably they go in to any particular course of action with something resembling a plan. Which makes Norwegian’s use of the Hi Fly A380 this week incredibly baffling.
Anyway Travel Passes open up cheaper holidays from England on Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss
Looking to get far away from England this winter but don’t want to break the bank on flights? Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss launched their Anyway Travel Pass promotion this week, offering a discounted means to a guaranteed flight on your desired date of travel, so long as you don’t care too much about the departure time or which of the three carriers you’re flying on. The deal applies for departures from London-Heathrow (LHR), Birmingham (BHX) and Manchester (MAN) with 14 destinations available starting at £139 each way including all taxes.
Alitalia is out, Virgin Atlantic is in: TATL JV changes proposed
Alitalia’s struggles continue. The carrier still needs a fresh infusion of cash to pay off the bridge loan from the Italian government and some sort of long-term plan. And, for the latter, Alitalia will soon find itself forced to be more independent than it is today. Ouch.
American is "playing to win" with international route shake-up
“We very often don’t earn enough cash to cover the price of fuel on the flight.” That’s definitely not what you want to hear from the VP of network planning. For American Airlines, however, it is part of a major shift in international operations at its O’Hare hub.