Discover Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Coming 25 March, Japan Airlines, Japan’s national carrier will receive the the brand new, highly-efficient Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from the hands of Boeing at Paine Field, Everett, Washington. JAL will be the second carrier in the world after All Nippon Airways(ANA) to operate the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. We discover Japan Airlines brand new aircraft and see what JAL's plans for the new aircraft.

Despite being the second operator, Japan Airlines has created some number ones. It will be the first one to be delivered with GEnx engines, the first to be commercially fly a route to the US and the first to be used on a brand new route. The aircraft will debut on April 22 when Japan Airlines begins flying non-stop between Tokyo Narita and Boston 4 times weekly. The service will be a daily service starting 1 June. Of course, the flight is codeshare with JAL’s oneworld partner American Airlines. Japan Airlines will then deploy their new Boeing 787 Dreamliners on flights to Beijing, Dehli and Moscow from their Haneda hub. Another interesting part is that JAL will operate new flights to San Diego, US and Helsinki, Finland using their new Boeing 787 Dreamliner starting from December 2012 and March 2013 respectively. It seems that Japan Airlines have put more focus on international routes, linking up well with their partner airlines. This is because of 3 new low-cost carrier that are going to operate this year: Peach Aviation, Air Asia Japan and Jetstar Japan.

Tokyo (Narita) = Boston Flight Schedule from April 22, 2012

Flight Number	Route	Dep. Time	Arr. Time	Days of Operation	Aircraft	Remarks
JL008 AA5922	Narita - Boston	11:30	11:20	Daily	787-8	Operating 4 times a week on Mo, We, Fr, Su until May 31, 2012
JL007 AA5921	Boston - Narita	13:20	16:00 + 1	Daily	787-8

Source: Japan Airlines

The airlines first dreamliner is configured in a two class layout, with 42 seats in business class and 144 seats in economy. The new aircraft will carry the airlines new livery(pic) which sees the crane circle is back on the tail of the aircraft and the usual white colour as the background.

Source: Japan Airlines

JAL’s Boeing 787 has 44 “Executive Class” seats arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration. The seats are JAL's new 'Shell Flat Neo' seats, with a 60 inch pitch and 21 inches width. The seats will recline to about 171 degree recline. Every seat in the aircraft has a 15.4 inch touchscreen panel connects to an in-flight entertainment system running on Google's Android platform.

Source: Boeing

Source: Boeing

For economy class seats, the seats have a 31 inch pitch and are 18.5 inches wide. The new economy class seats is fitted with a 10.6 inch touchscreen video display. The seats is configured in a 2-4-2 layout. Every seats on the aircraft will have an AC power outlet and a USB socket. Japan Airlines will also debut their brand new in-flight entertainment system, called SKY MANGA. The new IFE will have digital editions of over 30 Japanese comic titles.

Source: Boeing

By,
The Editor
24/2/2012

sunnaero@gmail.com

Airberlin Joins Oneworld Airline Alliance

Airberlin, the 2nd largest carrier of Germany, 6th largest carrier in Europe has officially joined oneworld alliance on 20 March 2012. Austrian airline, NIKI, a subsidiary of airberlin will join the alliance as a member affiliates. While airberlin group’s Swiss airline, Belair will be part of the alliance as a non-member affiliates.


airberlin’s Airbus 330-223 with the oneworld livery lands at Berlin-Schonefeld Airport(SXF) on March 20, 2012.

Oneworld alliance welcome it’s 13th member (including Malev Hungarian and Mexicana, which now officially classified as an inactive member) and 11th active member to the alliance. Airberlin’s addition will certainly make Germany a home market for the alliance, stepping up competition for some 200 million passengers a year flying to, from and within Europe’s biggest economy. Last year, airberlin served 162 destinations in 40 countries, carrying over 35 million passengers. Apart from airberlin, oneworld alliance will welcome Malaysia Airlines that is well poised to become a full member of the oneworld alliance by end of this year. (Kingfisher Airlines integration to the alliance has been stopped)

Airberlin certainly has makes a good choice in selecting oneworld over Star and Skyteam. It is impossible for airberlin to join Star which is headed by airberlin’s domestic rival-Lufthansa. While Skyteam has a very strong pressence in central Europe, with Air France, KLM and Alitalia. The joining of airberlin will give oneworld presence in every part of the Europe. Finnair in the northern part, British Airways in the western part, Iberia in the southern part and now airberlin in the central part. In the early stages, airberlin is likely not to bring much impact to the alliance. The airline’s largest hub at Berlin-Tegel (the airline will move to Berlin Brandenburg on 3 June 2012) is only currently served by 3 member airlines that is British Airways, Finnair and Iberia. Most oneworld carriers served Germany’s financial capital-Frankfurt. Airberlin will add 38 more new destinations to oneworld’s network and introduce the countries of Iraq and Iceland to the alliance. With the introduction of airberlin to oneworld, it gives oneworld passengers another option to connect in Central Europe, rather than connecting through British Airways’s London or Iberia’s Madrid. The airline has recently increased capacity in Eastern Europe, so it is able to cover the lost of Malev Hungarian Airlines that was forced to stop their operations this February. Overall, the entrance of airberlin into oneworld gives the alliance a chance to challenge the dominance of Star Alliance in Germany with Lufthansa.


airberlin’s aircraft with the oneworld livery taking off from Munich Airport(MUC) as flight AB111P to Berlin Schonefeld(SXF) for the presentation. Check out on updates for the new airberlin aircraft carrying the oneworld logo.

Currently, oneworld has 11th airline member operating, with Malaysia Airlines expected to join the alliance at the end of the year. Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance which has 26 members, has recently added Ethiopian Airlines into their alliance and will soon announce the joining of Taiwan’s EVA Airways. While Avianca of Columbia, Copa Airlines of Panama, TACA Airlines of El Salvador and Shenzhen Airlines of China are all expected to join Star this year. Skyteam, the 2nd largest airline alliance currently has 15 members. Aerolineas Argentina, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Middle East Airlines and Xiamen Airlines of China are all expected to join the alliance this year, while Indonesia’s Garuda Indonesia are expected to join next year.

But in the future, Star Alliance may lose three members, all to rivals oneworld. BMI is likely to be took over by British Airways/Iberia parent company International Airlines Group(IAG); TAP Portugal which is going to be privatized by the Portuguese government is likely to be acquired by IAG too. While TAM Airlines of Brazil is likely to switch from Star to oneworld in favor of the recent-formed LATAM Group.


By,
The Editor
22/3/2012

sunnaero@gmail.com

Malaysia Airlines, the Eight Operator of the "Superjumbo" A380

Malaysia Airlines, one of the World’s five-star airline is going to be the next operator of the “Superjumbo”- Airbus 380 aircraft. The aircraft will accommodate 494 passengers in a three class configuration, seating eight passengers in First Class, 66 in Business Class and 420 in Economy. All seats are fitted with the latest individual in-flight entertainment systems, USB ports and satellite telephone facilities. The aircraft will officially debut as a thrice-weekly KL-London service (MH002/MH003) on 1 July 2012 before going daily in August. The airline will then introduce its brand new Airbus A380 onto the Sydney-Kuala Lumpur route beginning September 25th which will run as the daily MH122/123 service, replacing the current Boeing 747-400. The other daily MAS flight (MH140/141) will continue on a Boeing 777.


Malaysia Airlines new livery of the brand new A380.

Malaysia Airlines A380s will carry a dashingly revamped livery, combining the airline's iconic 'wau' (kite) symbol with modern fonts. The airline drops the red and dark blue colour in the new aircraft’s livery, adopting a slightly lighter blue in the new airliner. The airline’s A380 seating plan is almost the same as rivals Singapore Airlines and oneworld member Qantas Airways- first class in the front section of the lower deck, business class in the front section of the upper deck and economy class seats spanning both decks.

Eight 87 inch lie-flat beds with a generous 85 inch pitch (compared to 80 inches on MAS' Boeing 747) and massive 23 inch video screens will occupy first class at the front of the main deck in a 1-2-1 configuration. 66 business class seats on the upper deck will stretch out in a standard 2-2-2 layout. Each will have a 74 inch pitch (well beyond 58 inches on the Boeing 747), fold out into a 72 inch lie-flat bed and sport a 17 inch video screen.MAS' ‘Chef-on-Call’ facility, currently exclusive to first class passengers, will be extended to business class on the A380.

But recently, Malaysia Airlines does not enjoy a good time. In January, Malaysia Airlines cuts 12% of it’s international capacity with cancellation of flights to Dubai, Rome, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Damman, Johannesburg and Surabaya. While in March, the carrier announced a loss of RM2.5billion(US$820 million) in 2011. Malaysia Airline CEO Ahmad Jauhari said that the recent losses is caused by high fuel prices which contribute around 33% of the airline’s total cost, an increase of 15%. Recently, local media reported that the Malaysian government wants the share swap deal between Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia to be reversed. The airline’s union always strongly opposed the share swap deal between both airlines that was concluded in August 2011.


Malaysia Airlines has ordered six Airbus 380s.

5 of the 6 Airbus 380 will join the airline this year, while the remaining one will join in 2013. Apart from that, new Boeing 737-800 and Airbus 330-300 are expected to join the airline’s fleet, replacing older aircraft such as the Boeing 737-400 and Boeing 747-400. With the introduction of new aircraft into Malaysia Airline’s fleet, cost can be decreased, efficiency of the aircraft can be increased. This could certainly help Malaysia Airlines to transform the airline into a healthy state.


By,
The Editor
18/3/2012

sunnaero@gmail.com

Turkish Airlines Introduce New "Globally Yours" Livery

Turkish Airlines repainted one of its Boeing 737-800(TC-JHL) into a special livery which displays the company’s slogan “Globally Yours” across the fuselage. I have to say, it looks fantastic.


The special thing about the aircraft is that the paint scheme of the the entire aircraft is tiled pictures of airline staff.


The company took 4 months to assemble the 18,000 pictures of all Turkish Airlines employees.

The aircraft(TC-JHL) carrying the new livery making a final approach at Helsinki-Vantaa(HEL) on March 18, 2012.

By,
The Editor
18/3/2012

sunnaero@gmail.com

Emirates Airlines Expands in US

On March 15 2012, Emirates Airline announced America’s capital-Washington will soon be added to the carrier’s global network, becoming Emirates Airline’s seventh gateway in the US. Emirates will operate Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on its Washington DC route, providing 8 private suits in First Class, 42 lie-flat beds in Business Class and 304 seats in Economy Class. The airline has just started flying to both Seattle and Dallas in the beginning of the year. The other US gateways include New York, Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.


Emirates Airline is the largest A380 operator in the world. The carrier currently operates 21 A380s. 

Starting September 12th, EK 231 will leave Dubai daily at 2:20 am and arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) at 8:50 am. EK 232 will depart Dulles at 10:55 am arriving in Dubai at 8:00 am the following day. The greater Washington, DC region is highly diverse, with over 15 per cent of its population born outside the U.S. The region is home to more than 1,000 international institutions and over 1,000 foreign-owned companies from approximately 50 countries.

Emirates currently employs over 700 Americans at operations throughout the world, and anticipates hiring more than 4,000 cabin crew and 500 pilots globally this year. The airline had already recruited 570 pilots last year. In the first two months of 2012, the airline has recruited cabin crew in Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and Washington, DC. Emirates will also be holding pilot recruitment drives in the coming months. The carrier is a steadfast supporter of U.S. job creation and innovation, employing American suppliers for a wide range of goods and services, such as the design of the airline's First Class cabins, the manufacture of its window shades, aircraft wings and landing and runway technology. Emirates airline recently held open days in the UAE and will hold more open days in the UAE and other countries in the coming yeas to fill a wide range of vacancies including engineering, airport operations, cabin crew and IT. It certainly helps some Americans to get jobs considering the high unemployment rate currently recorded in the US.

Recently, Emirates Airline just received the 1000th Boeing 777(pic) at a special event at the manufacturer’s plant in Everett, Washington State. The airline is also the largest operator of the twin-jet engine aircraft, with 102 of them in service with the airline(including the new one). Emirates have another 94 more orders for the aircraft in the airline’s order books. The airline’s most recent order was on November 2011, when the airline orders 50 Boeing 777-300ER fitted with American-made GE90 engines, plus options for 20 more aircraft is worth a total of $26 billion at list prices. The move supports over 100,000 skilled American jobs.



Passengers travelling to and from United States on Emirates flight can enjoy a range of benefits with Emirates’ partnership with Jet Blue, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Virgin America. These benefits included one-stop check in and checked through baggage. Emirates Airline currently operates 2 Daily flights to New York, one of it is an Airbus 380 service, 2 daily Boeing 777s flights to Los Angeles. While daily flights to San Francisco, Houston, Dallas and Seattle. Comparing to other Middle-East carriers, Emirates provides the best coverage of the North America. With the addition of Washington, the carrier serve 8 destinations(including Toronto). The airline’s rival Qatar Airways operates to Houston, New York, Washington and Montreal. While Etihad Airways operates to Chicago, New York and Toronto(Operates to Washington starting from 31 March 2013) and Kuwait Airways operates to New York only.

By,
The Editor
17/3/2012

sunnaero@gmail.com

Robust Expansion by Qatar Airways

On March 7 2012, Qatar Airways announced an additional 5 routes in 2012. Iraq, Tanzania, Serbia and Myammar are the countries involved in these new series of new routes. With these additional 5 cities, the number of cities as part of its 2012 expansion plans has increased from 12 to 17. The newly announced destinations included Erbil(Iraq), Baghdad(Iraq), Kilimanjaro(Tanzania), Belgrade(Serbia) and Yangon(Myammar). Qatar Airways has recently launcedflights to the European capital cities of Tbilisi in Georgia and Baku in Azerbaijan, its first new routes of 2012. Later this month, starting March 21, Qatar Airways will launch daily scheduled services from Doha to the Rwandan capital Kigali, via Entebbe, Uganda. Start-ups to other international destinations around the world namely Zagreb, Croatia (May 9); Perth, Australia (July 3); Mombasa, Kenya (August 15); Zanzibar, Tanzania (August 5); Helsinki, Finland (July 16); Gassim, Saudi Arabia (August 2); St.Petersburg, Russia(June 4) and Kiev, Ukraine(June 2). Additional service to the cities of Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, London, Milan, Cairo, Algiers, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait have been announced.

Most of these new desination are operated by short-haul aircraft with has a lower capacity. All of the 5 new routes announced are operated by Airbus 320 family aircraft. Qatar Airways which currently operates 41 Airbus 320 family aircraft, with another 56 aircraft which includes 50 Airbus 320neo are yet to be delivered. Due to geographically advantage of Doha, Qatar Airways are able to operate to Europe and most parts of Africa with these smaller aircraft. Passengers from different regions can connect easily through the airline’s Doha hub. Although Europe are facing huge financial crisis, but with double-digit growth recorded in some parts of Africa, it is expected that growth in air travel in the region will be increased, with middle east carriers like Qatar Airways taking full advantage of the situation as a couple of African cities are part of the expansion plans of 2012.

“This year alone will see Qatar Airways take delivery of one new aircraft every 15 days, so as we bring them in, they will quickly be inducted into service and we will continue to look at new opportunities.” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said. Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 15 years of operation, currently operating a modern fleet of 105 aircraft to 112 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

In the meantime, Qatar Airways has also announced its new Boeing 787 at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel show that took place in the German capital. The new Boeing 787 aircraft will feature a total of 254 passengers in a two-class configuration of 22 in Business Class and 232 in Economy. A striking feature of every seat throughout the aircraft will be the award-winning touch screen Android technology control units that will debut on Qatar Airways’ 787s. Passengers will be able to navigate through a truly interactive system, offering more than 1,000 movie, TV programmes, music and gaming entertainment options in a sophisticated and user friendly way, just like the latest smart phones. The touch-screen control unit has a unique dual screen interface allowing passengers to play games on their handheld device while enjoying a movie on their personal screen.

With a 1–2–1 configuration in Business Class, the layout features two less seats than competitors on conventional wide body aircraft, more typical of a First Class cabin where each passenger is assured of direct aisle access. In Economy Class, configured 3–3–3, the Recaro-produced seats embody the very latest in design technology and materials assuring all passengers have a high degree comfort and personal space. Featuring one less seat per row than competitors on other wide body aircraft, the Economy seats promise to offer a totally different travel experience. High quality of cabin product are expected in the airline’s aircraft as it is one of the seven world’s five-stars airline rated by UK’s Skytrax. Qatar Airways is the first Middle East customer of the Boeing 787, with 60 aircraft on order, including options. The Doha-based airline is preparing to take delivery of five 787s during 2012, with the first set to arrive in Qatar this summer. Expecting a further bigger expansion for Qatar Airways when more Boeing 787s and Airbus 350s are delivered to Qatar Airways. The future seems bright for Qatar Airways with more destinations and aircraft being added to the airline.

By,
The Editor
8/3/2012

sunnaero@gmail.com

Boeing targets year end 777X launch

Boeing is targeting a year-end board launch for its conceptual 777X, in time for a late decade service entry, said the company's commercial unit CEO, Jim Albaugh.

"We're working towards being in a position toward the end of this year to talk to our board. That's assuming the business case closes, that's assuming the technical trades are ones that close," says Albaugh, who was speaking at a press conference following the unveiling of Boeing's 1000th 777.

Boeing strategic goals for the decade including achieving parity between the re-engined 737 Max and Airbus A320neo along with making a signficant investment to further bolster its widebody family for the future.

Emirates leadership was briefed on the latest 777X studies earlier in the day, says Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Emirates.

"Our teams have been in dialogue with the Boeing team for some time now, it's really very interesting to see this new aircraft if it will come out. It would be an excellent aircraft to have in Emirates, he says.

The conceptual two-member family is seen as a 14,800km (8,000nm) 407-seat 777-9X and 353-seat 777-8X and potentially even a third model in an ultra long-range 777-8LX. The baseline -9X and -8X each grow the lengths of the existing 777-300ER and -200ER fuselages and add a 787-style composite wing, say those familiar with Boeing's studies.

The launch of the new 777 family would likely be done in conjunction with a 323-seat 787-10X, a stretch of the 787-9 due for service in 2014, and would more evenly spread Boeing's widebody product line from the 242-seat 787-8 to the 467-seat 747-8.

"Obviously you don't want to have airplanes on top of eachother. You want to have them spaced, and I think with the product line that we envision going forward over this next decade, we'll have about a 15% difference in seat count among the different models that we will probably go forward with," says Albaugh.

Albaugh declined to offer any details on the 777X's potential efficiency in comparison to the 777-300ER, but says it would be a "pretty significant improvement" and "I think that our customer base would be very interested in."

Source: Flightglobal

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Top 15 global routes by capacity (seats): 27-Feb-2012 to 04-Mar-2012

Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation and Innovata


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