How things have changed

SIXTY years ago, British Airways, then called BOAC – British Overseas Airways Corporation – became the first airline to fly a turbo jet engine aircraft between Europe and New York, reducing the journey time from 18 hours to around seven. First jet engine flight across the Atlantic On October 4, 1958 the airline flew two de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft, one from New York to London and the other from London to New York.

Back in 1958, Comet 4 could fly just 48 customers every day from London. Today British Airways operates up to 12 flights a day from the capital, offering around 3,500 seats. On the Comet there were two cabins, Deluxe and First Class. Today, British Airways flights feature four cabins, to suit all budgets – World Traveller, World Traveller Plus, Club World and First. In 1958 a ticket to travel on the Comet staggeringly cost the equivalent of £8,000.

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Flights of Fancy

AMAZING Peru is spreading its wings in Latin America, with more planes, more pilots and a new office in Brazil. They are the first Latin American company offering private jets. The Latin America-based charter jet company announced today it has increased its fleet for its private flights throughout Latin America and worldwide.The company has planes based in Lima, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Quito, Buenos Aires and Santiago.

Amazing Peru Private Jets has done business in Peru since 1975 and in the late 90's the luxury tour operator became the only Latin American private jet company. Amazing Peru pioneered the luxury adventure and private aviation in South America and today they are the world’s undisputed Latin America luxury-travel leader and the only Latin American private jet Company, offering award-winning "tours of a lifetime" by National Geographic.

Amazing Peru Private Jets primarily serves destinations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Europe.

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Up in the air . . .

JET2COM and Jet2holidays will base a further aircraft at Glasgow Airport and launch two new routes as part of the airline’s summer 2019 plans.

The announcement marks another hugely expanded summer programme from Jet2.com’s Glasgow base - the biggest in Scotland - and demonstrates the airline’s continued commitment to the airport.

As part of a busy summer 2019 schedule Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will introduce two weekly services to Kos and Naples, taking the airline’s total number of sun and city destinations from Glasgow to 33. The airline will also introduce an additional 90,000 seats across its Glasgow Airport-based destination network.

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Qantas, Australia’s best airline

TripAdvisor, the travel planning and booking site, has announced the winners of its Travellers’ Choice awards for airlines, identifying travellers’ favourite carriers around the globe. 

Qantas was recognised as the best airline in Australia whilst Air New Zealand emerged as the best airline in the South Pacific. Singapore Airlines was named the number one airline in the world.


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Permission to fly

THOMAS COOK Airlines Balearics (TCAB) has yesterday evening been granted an AOC. This means that the new Spanish airline can formally operate as an airline. The AOC comes following months of preparatory work. The new Spanish airline will commence operations with five Airbus A320 aircraft during summer 2018.

The new airline, Thomas Cook Airlines #Balearics, is part of Thomas Cook Group Airlines’ growth plans, giving it a new base in its most popular destination from which it can provide flights to support its other airlines, according to seasonal demand.

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Best connected airport

HELSINKI Airport has been voted the Best Airport in Northern Europe by passengers in the SKYTRAX World Airport Awards. The results were announced at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Stockholm, Sweden on 21 March 2018.

#Helsinki Airport is the best connected airport in Northern Europe with 145 non-stop destinations all around the world by over 50 airlines. It is an important air traffic hub between Europe and Asia. In 2017, Helsinki Airport served 18.9 million passengers, which was 9.9% more than the year before. In 2018, the airport expects to reach the 20 million passengers milestone.

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Up in the air . . .

CINNAMON Air (www.cinnamonair.com), the premier domestic airline in #SriLanka has been continuously focused on making the experience of traveling the Island convenient and memorable. As a result, Cinnamon Air has reintroduced seasonal daily scheduled flights between Colombo and Nuwara Eliya during the month of April. 


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Picture credit: pintrest

Tap Air Portugal, named Best Airline in Europe

TAP Air Portugal continues to expand its European network with the addition of daily service to one of Italy’s most romantic destinations, Florence, from June 10, 2018. TAP was named Best Airline in Europe, for the seventh consecutive year, on December 12 by the readers of Global Traveler Magazine. 

Florence will be TAP’s fifth Italian destination served from Lisbon, joining Rome, Bologna, Milan and Venice. Each Italian destination, along with TAP’s entire European and African route network, may be coupled with up to five days’ stopover in Portugal when flying from the United States, Canada or Brazil. 

More than half of TAP’s U.S. passenger traffic continues beyond Lisbon, on to Europe or Africa, and Italy is one of the most popular final destinations. 


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Up in the air . . .

VIETJET has announced the launch of a new international route connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. The Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)-Jakarta route, a three-hour journey, will operate daily from December 20, 2017. 

THAI AIRWAYS International will introduce four weekly direct flights to Vienna from Bangkok from 16 November, 2017 with connections to/from Australia.

FLYBE, Europe’s largest regional airline, has extended its 2017 summer flying schedules from Southampton on four of its popular routes with additional flights to accommodate half term travel on Sunday 29th and Monday 30th October 2017. The extra flights to Alicante , Faro, Malaga and Palma Mallorca are available for booking now at www.flybe.com

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Australian tourists rethink travel plans as terrorism fears worsen

FOUR in five (84%) Australians fear flying with at least half blaming terrorism, finder.com.au, the site that compares virtually everything, has revealed.

Terrorist attacks on planes including the aircraft being hijacked is the major reason why Australians fear taking-off – instilling fear in 45% of Aussie jetsetters, according to a finder.com.au survey of 2,005 Australians. And it’s not just attacks in the air they are worried about.

High profile terrorist incidents in cities such as London, Berlin, Paris, Nice and most recently Barcelona have made Australians wary about traveling in Europe.


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Firsts with British Airways

BRITISH Airways is transforming its customers' airport experience by becoming the first UK airline to introduce automated biometric technology throughout the airport – with the launch of self-service boarding gates. Following a successful trial last June, the first three boarding gates for UK domestic flights departing from Heathrow Terminal 5 are now open, and more than 4,000 customers have already benefited from the new technology. 

The gates create a smoother journey for customers as they travel through the airport, with travellers scanning their own boarding pass when they arrive at the gate and then simply walking through to the aircraft. A digital facial scan of the customer is recorded when they travel through security, and when they arrive at the gate, their face is matched with this representation when they present their boarding pass – allowing them to board the aircraft. Safety and security is at the core of the biometric facial recognition technology, and British Airways' equipment is more advanced than alternative systems currently used by other airlines and airports. 

Three more British Airways self-boarding gates will open at each domestic departure stand each week until mid-June, with a view to roll-out the scheme on international flights in the future. The introduction of the new gates is part of wider investment into new technology that will enhance the experience British Airways customers have during their time at the airport. 

British Airways has also opened self-service bag drop points at Gatwick and Heathrow, and later this year will introduce an improved, more streamlined connections area at T5. This week, The First Wing opened at T5 - an exclusive redesigned check-in area for premium customers, including a dedicated private security channel with direct lounge access for the first time.

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On the runway . . .

QATAR Airways has announced that commencing 7 May 2017, the airline will operate a third daily non-stop route from Doha’s Hamad International Airport to Bali Denpasar. 

#Bali has long been a popular destination for Qatar Airways' passengers, with the airline offering its first direct service in 2014, later enhancing this to a twice daily frequency. 

Prior to this Qatar Airways served the destination via a touchdown in Singapore, but the expanding global reach of the airline and significant growth in size of its fleet has enabled the airline increasing popularity to now offer three daily direct non-stop flights.

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Real time tracking for Malaysia Airlines

MALAYSIA Airlines will be the first SITAONAIR airline customer to benefit from a revolutionary flight tracking partnership. Under the agreement, all Malaysia Airlines aircraft will have access to minute-by-minute, 100% global, flight tracking data.

Malaysia Airlines’ aircraft operations center will receive real-time position updates of its airborne fleet globally. Aireon’s space-based ADS-B data will also resolve any existing data feed coverage gaps that remain, particularly over oceanic and remote airspace, where there is currently no surveillance.

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First Irish tail fin hero for Norwegian

AIRLINE Norwegian and the Crean Family have announced that Irish Antarctic explorer Tom Crean will become its first Irish tail fin hero – the explorer’s portrait will appear on the airline’s new 737MAX aircraft that will serve new transatlantic routes from Cork, Shannon and Dublin to the US East Coast this summer.

Born in County Kerry in 1877, Tom Crean joined the Royal Navy aged just 15, quickly becoming recognised as an accomplished sailor. In 1901, a chance encounter with Robert Falcon Scott saw Crean join Captain Scott’s ship ‘Discovery’ for an exploration into the unchartered Antarctica waters – it would become the first of several polar expeditions undertaken by Crean that led him to become known as one of Ireland's greatest Antarctic explorers.

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Etihad Airways to launch A380 flights to Paris

ETIHAD Airways is introducing its award-winning A380 on the #AbuDhabi – #Paris route this summer as part of seasonal adjustments to the airline’s fleet deployment plan. 

Featuring the carrier’s revolutionary The Residence – the world’s first three-room suite on a commercial airliner – the aircraft will operate on one of its twice-daily services to the French capital between July 1 and October 28.

Paris becomes the airline’s latest A380 long haul destination following London, Sydney, New York and Melbourne. With the aircraft upgrade from a 328-seat Boeing 777, Etihad Airways is able to offer an all-A380 daily service from Paris to both Melbourne and Sydney via the airline’s Abu Dhabi hub.

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Qatar Air unveils double-bed seats in business class

THE airline’s new and unique seat design, patented by Qatar Airways, is set to revolutionise the Business Class experience for business and leisure travellers alike. 

Supported by a host of other innovations across touchpoints – including dining, amenities, entertainment and service – the airline’s already award-winning Business Class cabin is set to challenge industry norms and expectations.

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Picture Credit: QATAR Air

Tail fin heroes . . .

NORWEGIAN has announced that pioneering pilot Amy Johnson will become its 2nd #British tail fin hero, with the renowned pilot’s portrait set to appear on two Norwegian aircraft later this year.

Norwegian has always honoured iconic figures on the tails of its aircraft, and already has more than 80 tail fin heroes featuring personalities who symbolise the spirit of Norwegian through innovation, challenging the norm, and inspiring others.

To reflect Norwegian’s rapid growth in the UK, where it now flies 4.5 million UK passengers each year to 50 destinations, the airline has now begun a series of British tail fin heroes with Roald Dahl as the first British tail fin hero last year.

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Picture Credit: By British Government employee - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=9732313&PIpi=8024493; see also File:Amyj.gif, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21427870