Airline and flights news
07/19/2017
Manchester International Airport suffers meltdown
In what would be the frequent flyers nightmare scenario, the check-in system went haywire at the UK’s Manchester Airport.
Airline and Flights News for June
American withdraws plan to reduce seat size.
Travelers are always complaining about seat sizes, being crammed into small seats where your legs are pressed up against the back of the next seat.American Airlines has wisely responded to customer feedback and will not now be reducing the pitch size on their new Boeing 737 MAX planes from 30 inches to 29 inches.The Boeing 737-800 planes due to come online soon are also being examined so that more leg space can be added.
World's largest airliner to grow
France’s flagship airplane, the Airbus 380, is about to get an upgrade in size. The wingspan is about to put on an extra 32 feet !.Increasing the wingspan will create an enormous 294ft spread. The reasoning behind this is to improve the performance of the airplane, improvements are expected in fuel efficiency and reduce drag.
The underlying reason for the changes could be the sluggish sales of the new aircraft. At $440 million the plane is a massive layout for any airline. If buyers can see fuel savings sales may pick up.The two biggest customers for the Airbus 380 are Emirates and Etihad.
LEVEL begins Spain-USA services
On 1st June new low-cost carrier LEVEL entered the US aviation market with its Barcelona-Oakland service. Flying on Thursday and Saturday the over 6,000-mile route is an ambitious risk for the new airline.Not to keep us waiting, on 2nd June, the Barcelona-Los Angeles flight was launched. Two Boeing A330-200 planes will operate the new services with flights to Oakland on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.Services will be under the Iberia flag as LEVEL is part of the IAG Group (which includes Iberia, BA and Aer Lingus).
The risk element is that the new routes are in direct competition with new services started by fellow Low-Cost carrier Norwegian Air. In spite of that LEVEL wants to expand its fleet to five aircraft and add further destinations.Additionally, in a first for European Low-Cost carriers, from 17th June, LEVEL will launch a Barcelona-Buenos Aires route. The flight will be the first Europe-South America service.
Air Canada Rouge adds new destinations
Two interesting routes have been added by Air Canada Rouge.
Firstly there is Toronto-Nagoya Japan:The Toronto-Nagoya flight will run three times a week and is the second Air Canada Rouge to Japan joining the existing route to Osaka. The new flight started on 1st June.
Secondly Toronto Pearson- Berlin Tegel:The Berlin Tegel flights begin on 3rd June operating four times a week.This is the first time that Air Canada Rouge has flown to Germany, but in fact, the airline operates eleven routes to Europe. The twelfth flight will be Vancouver to London Gatwick which commenced on 8th June. A service to the Icelandic capital Reykjavik will also launch in June.
Emirates Launches Dubai-Zagreb flights.
The flights operate from 1st June and represent a considerable innovation for the Gulf airline. The daily service is proving popular with passengers and demonstrates the strategic importance of South-Eastern Europe, particularly to the business sector.Emirates will have the route to itself as, currently, there is no competition.
Zagreb offers many onward flights and may well become a hub for Emirates.Zagreb is the capital of Croatia and is the gateway to a country that offers much to the vacationer. It has a beautiful coastline, plus rugged mountains and lush green forests, as well as soothing waterfalls and lakes.
Manchester International Airport suffers meltdown
In what would be the frequent flyers nightmare scenario, the check-in system went haywire at the UK’s Manchester Airport.
Annoyed passengers were forced to check in manually as the computer system crashed.Many experienced delays of more than two hours. The issue was apparently due to difficulties with overnight maintenance, but long lines full of angry passengers developed.
Summer, is the busiest time for all airports, but particularly in Manchester which is a hub for the whole North of England.Manchester is one of the most popular airports in the UK and offers many scheduled international air flights, as well as an enormous amount of holiday charter flights at this time of year.