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.
British Airways To Retire ALL Boeing 747s With Immediate Effect
In an email sent out to employees a few hours ago, British Airways effectively announced the end of the road for its Boeing 747s. With the travel world still in turmoil and with recovery not expected for a number of years, the viability of BA's least efficient aircraft was always going to be called into question, so it's not altogether surprising to read that the 747 has flown its last commercial flight for British Airways.
Big News: American Airlines In Surprise Tie-up With JetBlue
American Airlines and JetBlue have today announced that they are entering into a strategic partnership that will see American Airlines launch new international services out of New York JFK, JetBlue expanding at all three New York airports, and members of both airlines' loyalty programs enjoying reciprocal elite benefits.
Air France USA Routes & Frequencies For Sept/Oct 2020
Most airlines have been operating skeleton schedules for most of the past few months but, over the past few weeks, we've slowly started to see a few airlines announcing plans to increase the number of flights they offer. The latest airline to announce increased routes and services to/from the US is Air France.
Which Delta Sky Clubs Are Open And Which Are Opening?
Delta managed to keep approximately 15 of its Sky Clubs open for most of the current crisis and, so far in July, the airline has reopened a further 4 Sky Clubs and is promising to reopen at least 3 more before the end of the month.
American’s Seattle – London Service Is Open For Bookings
American Airlines will be starting service between Seattle and London from the end of March 2021 and the plan was to have the service bookable from early May of this year. The crisis that unfolded since the original route announcement saw American Airlines delay the opening of reservations for its newest route but, following a recent schedule update, tickets are now on sale.
Delta Has Restarted Select Beverage Services On Domestic Flights
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Qatar Airways Now Requires Masks AND Face Shields For Economy Class Passengers
In a move that's almost certain to polarize opinion, Qatar Airways has modified the health and safety rules enforced onboard its aircraft to include a requirement for Economy Class passengers to wear both a mask and a visor for the duration of the flight. Business Class passengers will continue to be asked to wear a mask and/or shield at their own discretion.
Emirates Starts To Reopen Lounges & Restarts Services To 11 Destinations
Emirates has announced the reopening of one of its lounges in Dubai and has confirmed that its Chauffeur Drive service is once again being offered to customers with select premium bookings. In addition, the airline has continued to restart routes to countries around the world and will offer services to over 50 cities in July.
American Airlines Premium Economy Boeing 777-200ER review
American Airlines offers a Premium Economy cabin on most of its long-haul fleet and this is a review of the airline's product on its Boeing 777-200 aircraft flying between London Heathrow and Los Angeles. With a flying time scheduled at well over 10 hours, there was plenty of time to get a good sense of what the American Airlines Premium Economy cabin and service are all about.
Qantas’ Recovery Plan Could Mean That It Never Operates Its A380s Again
Qantas has unveiled the 3-year recovery plan it will be following as it navigates its way out of the current crisis, and the details shared by the airline show Qantas cutting a significant number of jobs, keeping a large proportion of its fleet grounded, retiring its 747s earlier than planned and admitting that the days may be numbered for in A380 aircraft.
Qatar Airways Suggests It Will Introduce A New First Class Cabin
Qatar Airways offers arguably the best all-around Business Class product in the world and it's a product that's better than a number of First Class cabins that I can mention. It also currently only offers its own First Class product on its Airbus A380 aircraft which the airline has already said it will be retiring...so will Qatar Airways really introduce a brand new First Class cabin?
Are People Actually Jealous Of Legacy British Airways Cabin Crew?
The dispute between British Airways crews and management has been well documented in the press and on various blogs and, aside from the actual plight that the British Airways crews find themselves in, the thing that has struck me most in all of this has been the nature of some of the comments directed at British Airways legacy cabin crews made by people seemingly unconnected to the airline - they make no sense.
Emirates Brings Back Its A380 To London & Paris
The Airbus A380 may be the world's largest commercial aircraft but in an era of economical aircraft like the A350s, the A330neo, and the Boeing Dreamliners, the A380 is an uneconomical dinosaur. None of the airlines that operate the A380 have been flying them during the current crisis and some airlines have gone as far as to say that they'll never fly their A380s again...but for Emirates that's not an option.
Qatar Airways Expands Services To Offer 270+ Flights To 45+ Destinations
Qatar Airways has grown to be the largest airline in the world during the current crisis, primarily due to the fact that it has continued to serve a variety of routes while most other large airlines have dramatically shrunk their capacities. Now, as airlines around the world begin to ramp up their services once more, Qatar Airways has confirmed that it now offers over 270 weekly flights to over 45 destinations...and the numbers keep growing.
Virgin Atlantic Plans To Be Flying To 23 Destinations By October
Virgin Airlines has been living on the edge ever since the current crisis first hit the headlines as, unlike a lot of its competitors, it found itself unable to access the aid on offer from its home government. In its fight for survival, we have seen the airline cut over 35% of its workforce and abandon one of its hub airports and we have seen multiple pleas for help from the UK government go unanswered...but the airline keeps soldiering on.
Malaysia Airlines Introduces Hand Baggage Only Economy Class Fares
Malaysia Airlines has announced that it has introduced "enhanced Economy fare options, putting customers’ needs as priority" which, in normal everyday language, means that it has introduced "hand baggage only" Economy fares which offer customers very little in return for no price decrease at all. Regardless of how Malaysia Airlines tries to spin this news, this isn't good for passengers.
Etihad Plans Increased Services To Chicago & New York
Etihad has joined the growing list of airlines that are scheduling increased services between their home hubs and various cites in the United States and, in some cases, restarting routes that have been mothballed since the start of the current crisis. Etihad's latest schedule changes seen the airline planning to significantly increase services to Chicago and New York in just a few weeks' time.
American Airlines Is Trying To Raise $3.5bn From Equity, Bonds & Loans
American Airlines chose to use Sunday afternoon to announce that it is looking to raise at least $3.5 billion through a combination of a public stock offering, the issuing of loan stock, and a new secured credit facility.
Qatar Airways Announces Its Return To Four Major US Cities
Qatar Airways has been the only big Middle Eastern carrier that has kept a number of services operating to the United States throughout the current crisis and now, as the airline enters an eight week period during which it hopes to get as many as 70% of its routes back online, it has announced plans to resume flights to four major US cities.
JetBlue Launches Mint At Newark & Announces 30 New Routes
JetBlue has offered a nice distraction from the current travel crisis to announce a series of new routes out of nine East Coast/Florida airports and the introduction of its acclaimed Mint Business Class cabin to two new transcontinental routes out of New York Newark airport. Additionally, the airline also announced that nine temporarily closed cities and several summer seasonal destinations will reopen in early July.
Emirates Returns To Washington DC And Nine Other Destinations
Emirates has announced plans to boost flights to 14 of the cities it currently serves and it has confirmed the dates on which it plants to recommence services to 10 destinations it dropped when the current crisis took hold. It won't be all plain sailing, however, as some of the planned destinations are currently closed to overseas visitors, but Emirates has a plan for this.
Qatar Airways Is Canceling Aircraft Orders & Pushing Back Deliveries By Up To 10...
The CEO of Qatar Airways gave a live interview to a British news channel yesterday afternoon and, as is always the case with Akbar Al Baker, he didn't mince his words and he wasn't short of a few opinions. The interview covered a broad spectrum of aviation issues and Al Baker revisited some old ground, but one of the more interesting revelations to come out of the interview is the fact that Qatar Airways wants to push back deliveries of new aircraft by up to a decade. That's incredible.
I Was Very Impressed With How American Airlines Handled My Refund
One very noticeable theme that has been running through the travel world since the current pandemic brought daily life to a grinding halt has been the theme of airlines doing everything in their power to withhold refunds from customers to whom refunds are owed. With that as a backdrop, I wasn't sure what to expect when I submitted a refund request to American Airlines but, as the title of this post suggests, I've been very pleasantly surprised.
If You Have To Fly, Wear A Face Mask (It’s Really Not A Lot...
While in recent weeks, it has been heartening to read reports that fewer and fewer people are choosing to ignore the "wear a mask" advice, it's clear that there are still a significant number of flyers who, for reasons best known to themselves, are refusing to wear a mask on board an aircraft...and that's a shame. At a time when we should be doing our best to act in the interests of everyone around us as well as ourselves, this kind of selfishness is, to put it mildly, disappointing.
Good News: California Will Get More A350 Service From Virgin Atlantic
In a recent schedule update, Virgin Atlantic has reversed a decision taken back in February which saw California lose the prospect of getting a new A350 route and it has added a further A350 flight to a city already served by the airline's flagship aircraft. If the schedules don't change again (admittedly that's a very big "if"), California will be getting a lot more A350 service from Virgin Atlantic starting from this fall.
What’s The Point Of United’s Health Self-Assessment?
United Airlines has announced that it is now asking all passengers to complete a health self-assessment during the check-in process as part of its "CleanPlus" approach to customer safety....but I'm struggling to see the point if it. Can anyone help?
The Japan Airlines July International Schedule Shows How Bad Things Still Are
It can be hard for a lot of travelers (like me) to get a feel for how things are really looking in the aviation world right now, but if you want to see how bad things still are (in the very near term) you only have to take a look at the latest international schedule Japan Airlines (JAL) has published for July
British Airways Is Now Issuing Some Refunds Within 24 Hours
A disappointing number of global airlines have spent most of the past few months doing their best to avoid offering customer refunds when their flights have been cancelled. British Airways has been particularly poor at letting passengers know when they're entitled to refunds (a lot of people have mistakenly accepted vouchers from BA because they didn't know a refund was due) and, even when a refund was processed, the airline has been taking weeks and weeks to return customer funds. Those days may be coming to an end.
Air France Retires All Its A380 Aircraft…And Does Me A Favor
Air France hasn't shown its A380s much love for quite some time but it was still a big surprise to most when the airline took time out yesterday to announce that it was retiring all of its A380 aircraft with immediate effect.
Delta Restarts Two Routes To Europe & Adds Cape Town To Its Network
As of today, Delta is operating two more routes between the United States and Europe than it operated last week (it plans to offer nine transatlantic routes in June) and the airline's president told yesterday's employee virtual town hall that Delta would be modifying its operations to/from South Africa to include Cape Town when those services resume.
Quick Look: British Airways Club World Boeing 777 Cabin
On overnight flights, I like to board, settle down and get some rest as quickly as possible (especially on flights as short as the New York - London route) so I generally don't eat any of the meals served and my interactions with the crew are pretty limited. That's why what follows isn't going to be anything like a standard flight review and, instead, is just a look inside the Club World (Business Class) cabin of a British Airways 777.
The Airline Cancelled My Flight So This Is What I’m Going To Do
Yesterday, I got an email from British Airways to let me know that my Finnair flight from Helsinki to Los Angeles (booked for a few months' time has been cancelled) so I thought I'd write a quick post setting out how I plan to tackle this minor set back in the hope that it may give less experienced travelers an idea of how to approach any similar situations they may encounter.
Qatar Airways Is Now Codesharing on American Airlines Flights
Back in February, American Airlines backtracked on two key positions it had taken in recent years. First, the airline did a u-turn on its relationship with Alaska Airlines and the two are now best friends and, just a few days later, American Airlines forgot that it had been calling for Qatar Airways to be banned from operating services to/from the US and announced a strategic partnership with the Middle Eastern carrier. The first stage of that partnership has now kicked into action.
British Airways vs Cabin Crew: A Lot Of People Are Missing Two Key Points
It's no secret that we're in the midst of the biggest crisis the airline industry has ever seen so it's no surprise that a large number of airlines are currently taking significant measures to protect their business. One such airline is British Airways and the measures that British Airways is taking have led the airline into direct conflict with a key part of its workforce - the cabin crew.
Delta Confirms It Is Retiring Its Boeing 777 Fleet This Year
Delta is the proud operator of 18 Boeing 777 aircraft and it has refitted each of these aircraft with its highly acclaimed "Delta One Suites" that have taken US airline premium cabins to a whole new level. With that in mind, it's more than a little surprising to see Delta announce that it will be retiring all 18 of these aircraft by the end of this year.
WOW: The New Qatar Airways Cancellation Policy IS As Good As Some Suspected
I'm delighted to be able to hold my hands up and say that I was wrong. Earlier, when I wrote about the latest changes to Qatar Airways' cancellation policies, I stated that I thought one of the options was far too good to be true and that I would be very surprised if the option worked as a number of people suggested it would. Well, not only am I very surprised, I'm stunned!
Emirates is Restarting Flights To Nine Destinations
Most of the world may be living under significant travel restrictions but Emirates has announced plans to restart flights to nine destinations from later this month as it looks to find a way out of the current crisis. The first flights the airline will offer since it grounded its fleet at the end of March are mostly to cities within Europe, but the United States and Australia will be seeing select services resume too.
Richard Branson Is Raising $400m To Help Rescue Virgin Atlantic
"Vieco 10" probably won't mean much to most people but it's the name of the investment company owned by Virgin Group (and therefore Richard Branson) which holds a controlling interest in Virgin Galactic. Last night, in a statement to the New York Stock Exchange, Vieco 10 confirmed that it is disposing of up to 25m shares in Virgin Galactic as Richard Branson seeks to raise funds to save a number of ailing travel enterprises.
The UK Will Impose Quarantine On Visitors…Sort Of…Sometime…
In last night's address to the nation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a series of announcements regarding the progress being made and the path his government will steer over the course of the coming weeks and months and, as far as travel goes, he made one very important announcement
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