Southwest Is Adding Yet More Routes Out Of California (In April)
On Friday, I wrote about the great new flight options that Southwest will be giving the residents of Southern California when it launches 7 new routes out of Long Beach at the beginning of March. Today I'm quickly going to go over the details of five more new routes that Southwest will be launching out of California in April.
Delta WIll Continue To Block Middle Seats Through April 2021
Delta has today announced an extension of the measures it first introduced back in April 2020 as the airline says that it will continue to block the middle seat in its aircraft through April 2021.
The UK Has Extended Its Airport Slot Waiver (Bad News For JetBlue)
As far as news from the UK government is concerned, I've been mainly concentrating on what it has been saying with regards to pre-departure testing requirements and its travel policies relating to countries in which new variants of the coronavirus have appeared. This may be why I didn't notice that last Friday, it extended the waiver it has in place for the rules governing slots at the nation's airports.
LOT Polish Airlines Is Launching A New Route To New York
Before the pandemic wreaked havoc with the airline industry, LOT Polish Airlines had built up a good network of flights between Poland and the United States. A number of these services were suspended or cut back significantly in the first half of 2020 but LOT is now starting to add flights back and has now even announced a new route between Poland and New York.
JetBlue Reveals Its Fantastic-Looking Transatlantic Business Class Seats
When JetBlue rolled out its domestic 'Mint' Business Class cabin almost seven years ago the product was a game-changer. JetBlue brought down the cost of US transcontinental Business Class fares while offering an excellent product and it shook up the market. Now, JetBlue has turned its sights on the Business Class transatlantic market, and the product it will be using on its new routes could well change the game again.
ANA Suspends Two US Routes & Postpones Two More For Summer 2021
ANA has today announced its list of route postponements and suspensions for the summer 2021 season and with little sign that the world is getting the pandemic under control and with the United States contemplating mandatory quarantine requirements for all international travelers, it's no surprise to see ANA cutting back on its US operations.
Southwest Has Banned Emotional Support Animals
In news that was entirely expected, Southwest has announced that it's following in the footsteps of Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, and United Airlines by banning emotional support animals from its flights.
Former Boeing Engineer Says 737 MAX May Still Be Unsafe
Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing and a key witness at the congressional hearings that investigated the issues that led to the two disasters involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, has suggested that although the US has recently cleared the aircraft to return to the skies and although the European authorities are set to do the same this week, issues surrounding the 737 MAX have not been fully addressed.
KLM Will Not Be Suspending Long-Haul Flights After All
Last week, the government of the Netherlands voted to introduce new strict domestic restrictions on the movement of its citizens and, following that announcement, there were strong indications that the national airline, KLM, was set to suspend all international flights from last Friday.
American Airlines Releases Details Of Its New Tel Aviv & Athens Routes
American Airlines has now released details of two new routes that we were first told about when the airline announced its new and at the time, surprising, partnership with JetBlue in July last year. Back then, the airline could only tell us that a seasonal route between New York and Athens would launch in summer 2021 and that flights between New York and Tel Aviv were planned for some point in the future. We now know a lot more.
Qatar Airways Brings Back Service To Another US City & Adds Flights To Six...
In its latest route update, Qatar Airways has confirmed that it has now scheduled the resumption of yet another of the US routes that it suspended early last year (its 12th US destination), and the airline has also said that it will significantly increase frequencies on a further seven of the routes that it currently operates between Doah and the US.
Lufthansa Group Airlines Will No Longer Accept Most Face Coverings
Lufthansa Group (which includes Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, and Brussels Airlines) has today announced that while passengers are currently expected to wear masks that cover their mouth and nose during boarding, during the flight, and during disembarkation, as of next month most face covering will no longer be in compliance with the Group's policies.
KLM Is Expected To Suspend All Long-Haul Flights From Tomorrow
Although it is yet to be confirmed by the airline, it is being widely reported that KLM will temporarily halt all long-haul operations from tomorrow, 22 January 2021, following the introduction of new travel restrictions by the government of the Netherlands.
Singapore Airlines Introducing “One-Stop Online Solution” For Pre-Departure Testing
Singapore Airlines is partnering with Collinson to trial an online portal that will allow its customers to arrange a pre-departure COVID test, receive their results and have evidence of their results ahead of any flights they may need to take.
Virgin Atlantic’s Cancellation Policy Is Excellent (And I Made Good Use Of It)
Virgin Atlantic can be a bit slow to process refunds from flights that it has cancelled (although it doesn't come close to being as slow as some airlines I could name), but the airline offers a couple of options in place of refunds and in instances where a traveler chooses to cancel a trip that are excellent and well worth highlighting.
United Airlines Follows The Rest And Bans Emotional Support Animals
It started with Alaska Airlines towards the end of December, and then American Airlines and Delta banned emotional support animals in statements issued last week. Now the last of the 'Big 3' US airlines has come into line with United Airlines changing its terms and conditions to reflect that it too will no longer accept emotional support animals onboard.
Emirates Brings Back Flights To Three US Cities (And Boosts Flight To Two Others)
As things stand, Emirates offers non-stop services between Dubai and six major US cities. Starting from next month, Emirates will start to bring back a number of its previously-operated Americas routes which will see the airline will serving nine US destinations by the beginning of March. In addition, two of Emirates' existing US routes will see services boosted.
British Airways Makes Real Improvements To Short-Haul Economy Class Catering
British Airways has today announced an unexpectedly good update to its short-haul Economy Class catering that sees the airline pulling back further from the cuts that it began to implement just a few years ago.
Now Delta Bans Emotional Support Animals
First Alaska Airlines banned emotional support animals at the end of December, then American Airlines announced a ban earlier this week and now Delta has announced that it too will no longer ticket emotional support animals from Monday, 11 January.
Qatar Airways Brings Forward Its Flights To Seattle
At the beginning of December, Qatar Airways announced that it would be launching a new service between Doha and Seattle in the Spring of this year as well as entering into a frequent flyer partnership with Alaska Airlines on December 15. Now the airline says that it will launch its Seattle service a lot sooner.
Emirates Brings Back The ‘My Emirates Pass’
Countries like the US and UK may still be struggling with huge coronavirus infection rates but some parts of the world are starting to see a bit of normality returning. One sign that Dubai is starting to see a return to normality is the welcome return of the 'My Emirates Pass' which sees an Emirates boarding pass turned into a discount coupon for spending at over 450 locations.
American Airlines Is The Latest Airline To (Mostly) Ban Emotional Support Animals
American Airlines has today said that it's following in the footsteps of Alaska Airlines and effectively banning most emotional support animals from its aircraft from next week.
Emirates’ New Premium Economy Cabin Will Operate Between Dubai & London
Emirates recently unveiled its new (and first) Premium Economy cabin that has been installed in the latest Airbus A380 to be delivered to the airline and we now know the route on which the cabin will first appear.
Qatar Airways Says Its 10% Bonus On Travel Vouchers Is Permanent
While a significant number of airlines spent most of 2020 doing their very best not to refund monies that their customers were entitled to (the behavior of some airlines when it came to refunds was nothing short of despicable), some airlines chose to incentivize travelers not to request refunds by offering bonuses to those who accepted a travel voucher instead.
Emirates Refreshes Its A380 First, Business & Economy Class Cabins
Earlier today, Emirates unveiled the new Premium Economy cabin that has been installed on its newest Airbus A380, but that wasn't the end of the news the airline had to share. The latest Emirates A380 to be delivered also comes with First, Business, and Economy Class cabins that have been retouched and refreshed.
Emirates Finally Unveils Its New Premium Economy Cabin
The only things that feel like they have been around longer than the pandemic are the rumors surrounding the new Emirates A380 Premium Economy cabin, but those rumors have finally been put to rest with today's unveiling by the Middle Eastern carrier.
Pictures & Notes From The Virgin Atlantic 747 Farewell
A couple of weeks ago Virgin Atlantic hosted a very low-key farewell for the last of its Boeing 747 aircraft which, on December 21st, took off from Heathrow in Virgin Atlantic livery for the final time. I was one of just 42 incredibly fortunate people who were able to snap up tickets for the final goodbye and what follows are some of the pictures that I took on the day.
Delta Eliminates Change Fees On Select International Bookings
Back in November, American Airlines announced that it was eliminating change fees on most international bookings that originate in the United States and now, three weeks later, Delta has followed suit with a similar announcement of its own.
Qatar Airways Adds Seattle To Its Network & Will Partner With Alaska Airlines
Qatar Airways has confirmed that it plans to operate flights between Doha and Seattle from the first quarter of next year taking its tally of US destinations up to 11. The airline has also said that it also plans to enter into a frequent flyer partnership with Alaska Airlines (headquartered in Seattle) ahead of that airline's entry into the oneworld alliance.
Virgin Atlantic Will Sell Tickets To A Farewell For Its Boeing 747
Airlines like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic were set to operate their 747s for a few more years before the coronavirus rolled into town. Then, with schedules pared to the bones and with passenger numbers going through the floor, there was suddenly no viable reason to keep the uneconomical 747s in the skies. The virus saw to it that the British Airways aircraft didn't get the farewell they deserved, but now Virgin Atlantic is giving a few lucky fans the chance for one last moment in time with the Queen of the Skies.
Emirates Is Starting To Reopen Its Worldwide Lounge Network
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What it’s like flying British Airways Club World during lockdown (daytime flight)
Recently, I took my first flights since the beginning of March and I finally got home to Los Angeles for a few days. I've been putting off a return to LA for months (I've cancelled four separate trips) but, eventually, things came to a head and I had no choice but to fly.
Alaska Airlines Swaps Airbus A320s For New Boeing 737-9 MAX
In the past few days the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted its ban on Boeing's 737 MAX aircraft (other jurisdictions have yet to follow suit) and we're already seeing airlines lining up to give support to the beleaguered aircraft. Alaska Airlines is the latest US carrier to provide a show of faith to the MAX as the airline confirms that it is swapping a number of its Airbus A320 aircraft for new Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft.
United Airlines Brings Coronavirus Testing To Houston
United Airlines may have been the first US airline to announce Covid-19 tests for travelers heading to Hawaii and it may have been the first US airline to announce measures to test transatlantic passengers for coronavirus before their flights, but it was American Airlines that was first to act when it comes to testing on routes to Latin America and the Caribbean. Now, United is making moves in those regions too.
American Airlines Eliminates Change Fees For Select International Bookings
The major US airlines have recently been rolling back some of the fees that they have introduced over the years as they stumble towards the conclusion that they're going to have to be ultra-competitive in the coming years if they're not to lose out on market share to their closest competitors. Now, in the latest fee-cutting exercise, American Airlines has announced that it is eliminating change fees on select international bookings.
You Can Now Apply For British Airways Refunds Online (Again)
Since early March, customers have had to put in a call to British Airways if they wanted a refund for a trip that the airline had cancelled but now, finally, British Airways has brought back the option to request a cash refund online. The option to request a refund on an Avios booking has yet to be brought back online and the availability of the cash refund option is far from obvious, but it's there.
Qatar Airways Returns To Miami And Adds Flights To Chicago & New York
Qatar Airways has announced that it is restarting operations to seven of the destinations that it served before the coronavirus intervened and turned the travel world upside down, and the airline has confirmed that it will be boosting services on two of it key US routes from as early as this weekend.
American Airlines introduces new Wi-Fi subscription plans
American Airlines has finally decided to do something about the fact that its fleet has three different Wi-Fi suppliers but there has never been a single plan to cover access to all three networks. As of yesterday, the airline is now offering a choice of two monthly plans that give users access to Wi-Fi on all American Airlines aircraft regardless of who the Wi-Fi supplier is.
Is This More Bad News Regarding The Qatar Airways Unbundled Business Class Fares?
As I noted yesterday, Qatar Airways has revamped its fare codes and, in the process, has introduced an unbundled Business Class fare that offers customers less than what most Business Class fares offer. The Qatar Airways website has now been updated to show the new fare options (on most routes) and in researching the latest changes, I noticed something that I wasn't expecting to see.
Virgin Atlantic Will Operate Just 14 Routes During England’s Lockdown
Virgin Atlantic has now published its flight schedules for the rest of November as the airline responds to the month-long lockdown that the British Government has imposed on England. With at most 14 routes operating between now and 2 December, Virgin Atlantic's schedule has been pared to the bone.
Bad News: Qatar Airways Is Set To Offer Unbundled Business Class Fares
Back in June 2019, Emirates dropped the bombshell that it would start to offer a 'Basic' Business Class fare that stripped out a number of benefits that we have all come to expect from a Business Class ticket and, earlier this year Finnair announced that it planned to introduce a 'Business Light' fare on select routes. To most readers, those announcements weren't especially bad news, but they were a clear indication of a direction the airline industry is taking. Today's news, however, could be more serious.
Warning: British Airways Cancellation Notices Can Be Misleading
British Airways will start suspending at least 46 routes starting from tomorrow so, in the next few days, a lot of people will be receiving messages that inform them that their flights have been canceled or that they have been rebooked on to other flights. If you receive one of these notifications, please be careful as their contents do not fully inform you of your rights.
British Airways Is Suspending These 46 Routes Starting Tomorrow
Yesterday, a letter sent out by Mark Muren, BA’s head of global sales, gave a very strong indication that the airline was about to start canceling a significant number of its routes following England's descent into its second lockdown of the year. Now, courtesy of a document shared with another blog, we know that at least 46 routes will be suspended during the coming month with a number of suspensions kicking in as of tomorrow.
Warning: Get Ready For A Stream Of British Airways Flight Cancellations
England went into lockdown for the second time today and with all outbound travel being discouraged and with airlines already at the mercy of England's ever-changing quarantine rules, this is a body-blow to the likes of Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. So far, there hasn't been too much evidence of deep route cuts from the UK's primary long-haul carriers but, based on a letter just sent out by BA's head of global sales, a significant number of cancellations appears to be on the way.
Virgin Atlantic Announces A New Caribbean Route
Virgin Atlantic may still be fighting for its very existence (alongside a host of other airlines) but that hasn't stopped it from announcing a new route between the UK and the Caribbean that, all being well, it plans to launch next summer.
British Airways Brings Back Hot Meals On Long Haul & Ends Partnership With M&S
As of 25 October, British Airways is once again serving hot meals across all cabins on select long-haul flights and, according to one UK newspaper, the airline has decided to sever its relationship with Marks & Spencer and enter into an agreement with "another great British brand" who will supply the airline's buy-on-board Economy Class menus.
Qatar Airways Now Offers A Range Of Gourmet Vegan Dishes In Business Class
Qatar Airways has announced that it has introduced its first range of "gourmet" and "fully vegan" dishes to is Business Class à la carte menus. The new dishes are being offered across all Qatar Airways flights out of Doha and on select flights arriving into Doha.
Is This The End Of The Etihad A380?
The Etihad Airbus A380 is home to the most opulent way of traveling on a commercial airliner (The Residence), one of the world's best First Class seats (the Etihad First Class Suite) and it's only one of two commercial aircraft to offer an onboard shower. Sadly, if you were hoping to try out any of these indulgences you won't be doing so any time soon.
Emirates Plans To Ramp Up A380 Service For Summer 2021 (Tentative)
For the upcoming Northern Hemisphere winter, Emirates has only been able to justify scheduling its Airbus A380s on 7 of its routes, and for an airline with well over a hundred such aircraft in its fleet, that's an issue. Now, in the latest update to its Summer 2021 schedule, Emirates is looking a bit more optimistic as it prepares to increase the number of routes on which it plans to operate the world's largest passenger aircraft.
Alaska Airlines Will Join Oneworld On 31 March 2021
Originally it was meant to happen by the end of this year, but when Alaska Airlines realized just how complicated joining a global airline alliance can be, the date for it to join oneworld was pushed back to "not before the end of the first quarter" of 2021. Well, as vague deadlines go, that one turned out to be remarkably accurate because Alaska Airlines has now announced that it will join the oneworld alliance on 31 March 2020.
Big News: Alex Cruz Replaced As British Airways CEO
International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways, has announced that Alex Cruz is stepping down as CEO of the UK's flag carrier and, following a transition period, will be relinquishing his role as chairman too. All of this comes towards the end of a year which has seen the airline industry brought to its knees by Covid-19 and thousands of employees losing their jobs at British Airways.
American Airlines Announces Its Switch To Beijing Daxing Airport
Before the current travel crisis, all American Airlines services between the US and Beijing used Bejing Capital Airport (PEK). All of American's passenger services to China are currently suspended but the airline has just announced that when it resumes operations between Dallas Fort Worth and Beijing, it's aircraft will be landing and taking off from the Chinese Capital's newest airport - Daxing International Airport (PKX).
American Airlines Temporarily Reduces Frequencies & Removes First Class Between LAX & JFK
If you were hoping to fly American Airlines First Class between LA and New York in November you're out of luck. If you were hoping to have a good choice of flights to choose from on this route in November you're going to be disappointed. If, however, you're flying between LA and New York in Business or Economy Class in the month of November, you may actually like what comes next.
Qatar Airways Confirms That It Will Bring Its Qsuite To San Francisco
Qatar Airways currently operates eight routes between Doha and the United States and from the end of the year, the airline will add a ninth - San Francisco. The West coast gateway has been part of Qatar Airways' plans in the past (back in 2018) but the planned service never materialized. This time around, however, there's a lot more reason to expect the new route to go ahead.
The Last British Airways Heathrow 747s Will Depart Tomorrow (Flypast Arranged)
Well that was quick! In the middle of July, British Airways announced that it would be retiring all of its Boeing 747s, in the middle of August the retirements began, and now we're being told that the last two British Airways 747 based at London Heathrow will depart tomorrow morning.
United Airlines Brings Back Non-Stop Service To Shanghai
For most of this year, only a limited number of flights have been permitted between the United States and China with United Airlines and Delta being the only US carriers offering services to Shanghai. Up recently, both airlines have been serving Shanghai via Seoul but with Delta planning non-stop service to Shanghai during the upcoming winter season, United Airlines has now announced that it too will be resuming non-stop service to Shanghai from later this month.
United Airlines Announces Significant Route Resumptions & Expansions
United Airlines has just announced that it will be resuming service on "nearly 30 international routes" across Asia, Europe, and South America as well as offering customers expanded services to destinations in the Caribbean, Hawaii, Central America, and Mexico.
American Airlines Removes A Valuable Benefit For Oneworld Elites
American Airlines has made some good customer-friendly moves of late and it has been great at telling everyone about them via social media, press releases, and email blasts. What the airline has been less good at doing is letting flyers know when it makes a negative change and at some point in the last few days, the airline has eliminated a key benefit it has been offering to select oneworld elites.
Alaska Airlines Will Add Another Five New SoCal Routes This Winter
Alaska Airlines is continuing to build on its new friendship with American Airlines by adding a number of routes out of Los Angeles and Palm Springs as well as increasing the frequencies on a further three routes that it already operates out of LAX. Coming on top of the airline's previously announced expansion at LAX, this is another big bit of positive news for travelers based in Southern California.
Emirates Will Offer Its A380 On Just Seven Routes This Winter
Emirates operates the largest fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft in the world and it's safe to say that without the investment Emirates put into the A380 program, the aircraft would have gone out of production a lot earlier than this year. Still, even a behemoth like Emirates isn't immune to the current travel crisis and few things highlight that fact better than the airline's plans for the Winter 2020/21 season which will see it operating its A380 on just seven international routes.
United Airlines New Hawaii Routes Now Open For Reservations
A little under three weeks ago, United announced a number of new international routes to Africa and India as well as two new domestic routes that the airline said would “make it easier than ever to travel nonstop to Maui and Kona for the 2021 summer season”. Following a weekend schedule update, the new Hawaii routes are now in the systems and United.com is taking reservations.
Delta Is Already Scaling Back Transatlantic Plans For Winter Season
It was less than four weeks ago that Delta first unveiled its transatlantic plans for the upcoming winter season (and for summer 2020) and, at the time, I pointed out that the proposed plans looked ambitious in the light of what was going on around us. Delta has now posted a long list of updates to its worldwide schedules for winter 2020/21 and it looks like the airline has come to the same conclusion that I did as it cuts routes and frequencies proposed just 4 weeks ago.
Emirates Cuts Capacity And Delays Restarts On Routes To The United States
As I seem to keep saying, if you think that we're anywhere the end of this current crisis you just have to look at the various plans the airlines are making to see that we're not even close. We're seeing a lot of airlines eliminating routes and cutting capacity on routes seemingly every time a new set of schedule changes is released, and the latest airline to post less than optimistic schedules is Emirates.
KLM Cuts Service To 3 US Cities & Reduces Capacity To Others
In the last 24 hours, KLM has updated its schedules for winter 2020/21 and when you compare the services the airline plans to offer to the services offered pre-Covid, it doesn't make for pretty reading. Three US cities are set to lose service altogether, while even major partner hubs like Atlanta will be seeing reduced capacity.
The “New” British Airways First Class Seat Is Nothing To Get Excited About
It all started yesterday when an over-eager British Airways employee put out a tweet (now deleted) that let the world know that British Airways would be offering a new First Class option in the not too distant future. Earlier today, British Airways emailed staff to let them know that a "modified First seat experience" is on the way (this has been widely leaked already) but the reality behind the news is far less exciting than most had probably hoped.
EL AL Set To Resume New York Service In October
As with all of the world's airlines, EL AL has effectively been on hiatus for most of the year so far but unlike a lot of its competitors, EL AL is yet to resume passenger services on its international routes. From October, however, that's set to change with the airline scheduling a return to New York JFK as well as to three other international destinations.
British Airways Responds To Virgin Atlantic: Adds New Route To Pakistan & Accelerates Another
At the beginning of September, Virgin Atlantic announced that it would be launching three new routes to Pakistan from later this year as the airline looks to move away (at least temporarily) from its heavy reliance on transatlantic traffic. Now, less than two weeks after Virgin Atlantic's announcement, British Airways has responded and it's not good news for the smaller carrier.
Alaska Airlines’ Admission To Oneworld Delayed (Good News For Some?)
When the news that Alaska Airlines was planning to join the oneworld alliance broke last February, it was news that very few people had expected to hear. The airline followed up that surprise with another one when, earlier this summer, it suggested that its membership of the oneworld alliance may be complete before the end of this year. Sadly, that's a target that the airline no longer expects to meet.
JetBlue Announces 24 New Routes (Includes Latin America & The Caribbean)
JetBlue has announced that it plans to add 24 new routes to its network from later this year with a view to concentrating on leisure destinations served from the airline's focus cities around the United States. With multiple new flights to cities across the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean, this is the airline's attempt at shoring up its finances while, business travel continues to show little sign of recovery.
United Airlines Already Forced To Improve Its “No Change Fees” Policy
United Airlines was the first of the major US airlines to announce that it would be eliminating change fees for most fares booked for travel within the United States, to/from Puerto Rico and to/from the US Virgin Islands but Delta and American Airlines quickly followed with their own announcements and, in American's case, its announcement went further than United's and now United has been forced to play catch-up.
United Airlines Announces Seven New Non-Stop Routes (International & Domestic)
Yesterday, United Airlines used social media to run a teaser trying to get customers (and potential customers) to guess what new routes the airline was set to announce today. If you didn't see that teaser or if you failed to guess the new routes, this latest announcement will tell you all you need to know - United Airlines will be flying five new international routes to Africa and India, as well as offering two new routes to Hawaii.
What Are Your Rights If An Airline Cancels Your Flight (Covid-19 Edition)
This post aims to inform readers with bookings to/from/within the United States and/or the European Union (and select associated nations) what their rights are when an airline cancels their flight(s) in the era of Covid-19.
Owed A Qantas Refund? The Airline Is Now Offering Incentives To Passengers Accepting Credits
One of the bigger consumer stories that has emerged during this pandemic is the story of tens of thousands of travelers struggling to get their canceled trips refunded by airlines all over the world. Qantas is one of the airlines that has been less than stellar when it comes to returning customer funds and now the airline is offering customers incentives if they choose to accept a credit for future travel over the cash they're owed.
Virgin Atlantic Will Offer Its New Business Class To Barbados
For the Northern Hemisphere Winter Season, Virgin Atlantic has scheduled one of its new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft to operate its route between London and Barbados. This means that customers flying in the airlines Upper Class cabin will be treated to Virgin Atlantic's best Business Class seats.
American Airlines Plans To Restart Flights To Australia This Year
Qantas says it doesn't plan on restarting services to the United States before July 2021 and Australia is still a country that's off-limits to most of the world, but that's not enough to discourage American Airlines. Starting later this year American Airlines plans to resume service between Los Angeles and Sydney and it plans to offer four flights per week.
[Updated] Virgin Atlantic Plans Three Routes To Pakistan From December 2020
Virgin Atlantic has today announced that it plans to offer three new services between the United Kingdom and Pakistan from December 2020. To some, this may seem like an odd path for Virgin Atlantic to choose, but the fact is that what we're witnessing is an airline coming to terms with a very key weakness and looking for ways to mitigate the risks that weakness brings.
United Airlines Will Operate 40% Of Its October Schedule Next Month
United Airlines has just announced its planned schedules for September and October and the airline has confirmed that when its routes are taken as a whole (i.e. international + domestic routes together), it is expecting to operate 34% of its full schedule in September and 40% of its full schedule in October. These figures are in comparison to the routes operated in the same months last year.
Delta’s Misleading Cancellation Email Really, Really Annoyed Me
Just as I was arriving home last night, I heard the iPhone in my pocket "ping" in the way it always does when a new email drops into my inbox and, upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an email from Delta letting me know that my December trip home to Los Angeles had been cancelled. Considering the state of flux that the airline schedules are currently in, the cancellation of my flight wasn't a huge surprise so I wasn't overly disappointed, but the wording Delta used in its email really, really annoyed me.
Hawaiian Airlines Is The Latest US Carrier To Eliminate Change Fees
One of life's rules has always been that when an airline pushes through a change that's negative for customers all of its competitors rush to follow suit. Rarely have airlines rushed to copy a change that's positive for customers, and yet here we have the fifth US airline in a week announcing that it is eliminating most change fees for is customers. This has been a good week for flyers.
Now Alaska Airlines Eliminates Change Fees Permanently (Is There A Hidden Bonus?)
Well, this has certainly been a good start to the week for US flyers. First, we have United Airlines announcing that it would eliminate most domestic change fees, then Delta followed suit, and American Airlines rounded off the news from the "Big 3" by improving upon United's change fee announcement and improving its Basic Economy fares too. Now Alaska Airlines has joined in by confirming that has eliminated all change fees on most domestic and international bookings.
American Airlines Improves Basic Economy & Eliminates Select Change Fees
United Airlines may have started the ball rolling by being the first of the major US airlines to eliminate change fees on domestic itineraries, but American Airlines has now taken the ball further by eliminating change fees on more routes than United or Delta and by making some significant improvements to its Basic Economy fares.
Delta Follows United’s Lead & Eliminates Domestic Change Fees
United Airlines caught a lot of people off guard when it announced that it would be eliminating most change fees for domestic itineraries with immediate effect and, not all that surprisingly, Delta has followed suit and confirmed that it has also eliminated most domestic change fees with immediate effect.
United Airlines Is Eliminating Select Change Fees Permanently
With the travel industry in a state of crisis, airlines are being forced to try and find new ways to persuade travelers to choose them over their competitors. So far we've mainly seen airlines playing the "who's aircraft are cleanest" game with airlines sometimes appearing to claim that they've found a new and better way to sterilize an aircraft every week. Now, however, we've seen United Airlines fire the first new salvo for a while - the airline claims it's elimination change fees permanently.
American Airlines Schedules New Shanghai Service From Seattle
Back in July, American Airlines announced plans to move the service it operated between Los Angeles and Shanghai to Seattle and, subject to government approval, that's what American Airways has done. The route is now in the schedules and is open for reservations.
Delta’s Transpacific Plans For Winter 2020/21 and Summer 2021
Delta has announced that it plans to significantly increase the number of flights it offers across the Atlantic and across the Pacific in the coming winter and summer seasons. The airline says that the peak will come in the summer 2021 season when it will be operating over 50 more transoceanic flights than it had in the summer 2020 schedule.
Virgin Atlantic Will Only Be Flying To Five US Destinations By October
Virgin Atlantic has been fighting for survival for most of the summer and it's only recently that the airline has been back in the skies and flying back and forth across the Atlantic. A recent schedule update published by the airline confirmed that, for September/October 2020, it will offer customers flights to just five US destinations.
Delta & United Airlines Add More Flights To Shanghai
Delta and United currently operate two weekly flights each between the United States and Shanghai with both airlines routing their operations through Seoul Incheon Airport. An agreement announced yesterday between the United States and China to increase the number of flights between the two counties from four to eight will now see both carriers doubling the number of flights they offer to Shanghai.
British Airways Has Started To Retire Its 747 Fleet
In the middle of last month, British Airways announced that it planned to retire its 31 Boeing 747 aircraft with immediate effect and starting yesterday, the airline's 747s are now being shipped out to meet whatever fate awaits them.
Japan Airlines (JAL) Increases Services To The United States
Right now, Airlines are making alterations to their schedules on a daily basis as they attempt to adapt to the ever-changing entry rules that various counties have been introducing. Recent restrictions introduced by the likes of the UK, Vietnam, and Thailand have seen numerous flights to those countries cut from the schedules so it's nice to be able to report that JAL will be increasing services to the US from September.
Qatar Airways Boosts Services To JFK & LAX And Returns To Two More US...
Back in June, Qatar Airways announced its return to four major US cities and, as of today, the gulf carrier now operates on six transatlantic routes to the United States. Starting tomorrow, 12 August, Qatar Airways will begin boosting frequencies on its existing US routes and, from September, the carrier will restart services to two more US cities.
British Airways Schedules Club Suite Service To Los Angeles (Finally!)
After months of waiting, Los Angeles-based oneworld flyers will soon no longer have to choose between a great Business Class seat combined with poor service (American Airlines) or a poor Business Class seat with pretty good service (BA) as British Airways has finally scheduled a Club Suite equipped aircraft to serve LAX from later this year.
Cathay Pacific Will Only Serve Three US Cities In September
Before the travel world came to grinding halt, Cathay Pacific offered flights between Hong Kong and eight US airports across 7 US cities but, in a further sign of how slowly travel is currently recovering, the carrier is only set to operate to three of those cities in September 2020.
Air France Is Now Replacing The A380s In Its Schedules
It has been over two months since Air France announced that its A380s wouldn't be taking to the skies again (at least not as a part of Air France's commercial operations) but it's only now that Air France has updated its schedules to show what aircraft it will be using on the routes that the A380 once operated.
RIP BA1 – British Airways Retires Its All-Business-Class A318
IAG, the parent company of British Airways, has published its latest quarterly results and alongside the news that the airline group made a loss of €1.3bn ($1.55bn) between April and June of this year, IAG announced that it was "exiting" the A318 fleet as part of its response to the current crisis and, with that, signaled the end of the all-business-class service that British Airways operated between London and New York.
British Airways Won’t Fly From London Gatwick Before November
If anyone you know needs a reminder that the current crisis is far from over, point them in the direction of an airline schedule. While some airlines are clearly doing their best to ramp up operations and restart routes (e.g. Qatar Airways), a lot of major airlines are still running vastly reduced services and are pushing back the dates for planned service resumptions.
Be Careful When Using Select British Airways Vouchers (Itineraries Not Ticketing)
As I've been navigating the various processes involving British Airways vouchers I've been finding out quite a bit about how they work but, more importantly, I've also been finding out that the process of applying a voucher for future travel isn't always a smooth one and caution is required.
American Airlines Schedules Dreamliners On 4 Domestic Miami Routes
I've been known to get a bit over-excited when I've managed to book a Business Class seat on a widebody aircraft on a domestic route (after having expected to be booking a standard domestic First Class cabin), so I'm expecting the news that American Airlines is going to offer its premium cabin flyers yet more opportunities to fly to/from Miami in comfort, to go down very well.
Air France’s Tahiti Route Returning To LAX in September
A couple of days ago I published Air France's plans for its USA routes in the months of September and October but, while the new schedules look good for SkyTeam flyers based in the US, there was no news surrounding the return of Air France's flight between Los Angeles and Tahiti which was set to return in August. Well, we now have news.
Air France Is Reintroducing More “Normal” Meal Services Onboard
Now that airlines are trying to get their schedules back on track and tempt people back into the skies, we're seeing more and more carriers announcing the return of a little more "normality" onboard and Air France is the latest airline to confirm that passengers can expect to see improved service levels and offerings from this month onwards.
KLM Will Operate More Flights To Select US Cities in August/September
KLM has recently updated its worldwide schedules and in the months of August and September, the European carrier will be increasing the number of fights it offers to select cities in the United States with some destinations getting twice as many flights as they're currently seeing.
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