Over the weekend Qantas brought another 787-9 home to its fleet in Sydney. But this was not a normal delivery flight. Project Sunrise is coming, and maybe it shouldn’t.
London
JetBlue, Norwegian aim to link route networks in 2020
JetBlue and Norwegian intend to establish an interline agreement, allowing passengers to transfer more easily between the two carriers on a single ticket. But the partnership leaves many questions and questionable value for travelers, at least to start.
Virgin Atlantic’s incredible–and almost certainly impossible–plan to grow at Heathrow
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.
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.
Blue Skies ahead as Delta, KLM, Air France, Virgin Atlantic receive ATI approval
It only makes sense that the Department of Transportation tentatively approved the latest antitrust immunity (ATI) request. After all, the mutual ownership blend across Delta Air Lines, Air France/KLM and Virgin Atlantic lends itself to coordination of operations, marketing and pricing efforts. The DoT did hold back a tiny bit, though it is unlikely that will be sufficiently consolatory for the parties that objected to the deal.
Virgin Atlantic acquisition of Flybe approved
Flybe’s absorbtion into the Virgin Atlantic family receive final approval from the European Commission last week, with conditions applied. At least one competitor will be disappointed at just how limited the conditions are.
Norwegian drops Vegas service. Again.
Norwegian will not fly its 787s from London to Las Vegas this winter. That is one of a dozen routes affected in the latest long-haul LCC shakeup.
Air Canada to acquire Air Transat
Air Canada wants to buy its LCC competitor Air Transat in a half billion dollar deal. But can it get past the regulatory hurdles along the way??
Etihad increases Heathrow flights to protect Jet Airways slots
How do you say “slot squatting” in Arabic? Etihad Airways plans a pair of additional flights to Heathrow from its Abu Dhabi home starting in the next two months, squatting on openings it picked up from Jet Airways as that carrier collapsed.