Hot happenings in the skies this week include a new runway for Heathrow (and Schiphol eats cake).
This weekly post is my ‘round tuit’. Included are stories which caught my eye and others which I couldn’t cover in-depth during the week, but thought Flight Chic readers would want to know about.
1. Heathrow finally gets its 3rd runway!
NATS welcomes Government runway decision >> https://t.co/aubQUIwv33 #Heathrow pic.twitter.com/IQqaLepyJa
— NATS (@NATS) October 25, 2016
Very pleased the government has made the right decision to support a new runway at Heathrow https://t.co/wn6bso4FuN @virginatlantic pic.twitter.com/JxKRTQeHAq
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) October 25, 2016
Report: Why TheDesignAir Thinks Heathrow Was The Right Choice For London’s Next Runway https://t.co/RFrmiFutWh pic.twitter.com/6hCJM3IfSf
— TheDesignAir (@thedesignair) October 25, 2016
Congratulations @HeathrowAirport with your third runway! Our cake is on its way… AGAIN. 😉 pic.twitter.com/BZdpQtpNsX
— Schiphol (@Schiphol) October 25, 2016
Did someone say cake? pic.twitter.com/vLwp4tEcLi
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) October 25, 2016
@HeathrowAirport Worth every calorie! Thanks for the delicious cake. pic.twitter.com/tt7xj4gXxQ
— Schiphol (@Schiphol) October 26, 2016
Third runway at Heathrow will be divisive https://t.co/gVe3P7rmj7 pic.twitter.com/fT1Xz2DjZA
— Sally Gethin (@gethinsinflight) October 25, 2016
2. SAS takes delivery of A320neo
The #A320neo have 15-20% lower fuel consumption. Read more here: https://t.co/1G3XE3xZcL #SASNEWEXPERIENCE pic.twitter.com/HrTZ2svlBX
— SAS – Scandinavian Airlines (@SAS) October 26, 2016
It´s here. Sol Viking, the first out of 30 #A320neo. Read about the ultramodern plane here: https://t.co/1G3XE3xZcL pic.twitter.com/DaxnxESmLF
— SAS – Scandinavian Airlines (@SAS) October 26, 2016
3. Inside China Airlines’ new A350
China Airlines #A350 is configured as a 306-seater.
32 Business Class
31 Premium Economy
243 Economy.Seatmap pic.twitter.com/YEpOQPJpPS
— A350Blog (@A350Blog) October 25, 2016
4. Iceland: the next battleground for North Atlantic LCC growth?
BREAKING: Low fares giant Wow Air to launch transatlantic services from #Cork Airport to US Canada via Reykjavik May 17. Tickets on sale now pic.twitter.com/FaNrBkGXN1
— Eoin English (@EoinBearla) October 26, 2016
We're delighted to announce from next May you can fly to Iceland, the US & Canada with @wow_air from @CorkAirport https://t.co/dEQJdZftZU pic.twitter.com/c1rrsqykqa
— Cork Airport (@CorkAirport) October 26, 2016
Norwegian strikes back w/ Gatwick-Iceland flights. N.Atlantic Low-Fares battle is a win for PAX..and pretty amusing. https://t.co/RHCO3FIoFs
— FlightChic | ✈️💺 (@designerjet) October 26, 2016
Celebrating the new @Airbus Delivery, here in Stockholm! (& celebrating the #Heathrow decision too 😉✈️) pic.twitter.com/KYJlmkCg0U
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) October 25, 2016
5. KLM’s LCC Plans
Air France-KLM: long haul LCC could be part of new CEO's vision; XL Airways may be open to help AF https://t.co/a5RiVm2cDt h/t @winglets747 pic.twitter.com/xUXHjNkzdU
— AirlineTrends (@airlinetrends) October 22, 2016
6. A curious sort of strike action by KLM crew
Monday, from 05:00 until 23:00, for just 10 minutes at a time. They always have put safety first.
Cabin crew strike hits KLM flights https://t.co/oeMB2dte6M via @TTGNordic //Interesting tactic. At least they're doing their core duties.
— FlightChic | ✈️💺 (@designerjet) October 24, 2016
7. A different airline strike averted.
INFO: In the meantime announced UFO strike at Eurowings Germany is for the time being canceled. New collective bargaining talks on Monday.
— Eurowings (@eurowings) October 23, 2016
8. KLM’s chat-based customer service strategy
Chat is where it’s at for KLM as it finds customers on new platforms https://t.co/ShM0LpeTlZ via @tnooz
— FlightChic | ✈️💺 (@designerjet) October 29, 2016
9. JetBlue replaces Birchbox with Hayward and Hopper for Mint Amenities
.@JetBlue drops @Birchbox in favor of niche brand, reports @TanyaGazdik https://t.co/4piVXWHkMm pic.twitter.com/TaNV01Skrz
— MediaPost (@MediaPost) October 28, 2016
“We loved the Hayward and Hopper sense of New York sophistication and old Hollywood style — a nod to our launch cities that fell in love with Mint from the start,” said Jamie Perry, vice president of marketing at JetBlue.
While perhaps being a bit hard on JetBlue, Harteveldt makes some interesting points in this article. If it ain’t broke…
10. Delta completes international Wi-Fi installation
- Gogo high-speed Ku-Band satellite
- World’s largest Wi-Fi equipped fleet
- 1100 aircraft serving 3,500 connected flights daily
- ~700 domestic mainline aircraft
- +180 international wide-body aircraft (Boeing 747, 777, 767, 757-200 and Airbus A330)
- ~all Delta Connection two-class regional jets
- More than 400,000 Delta customers get access to In-Flight Wi-Fi
- Began installation in 2008 for domestic and 2012 for international aircraft.
- Free access to delta.com for flight search/bookings, check SkyMiles account, flight status, book hotel and car services
“We’ve invested billions of dollars in making our customers feel more at home in the sky through comfort, connectivity and entertainment,” said Joe Kiely, Delta’s Managing Director – Product and Customer Experience. “Completion of international Wi-Fi installation means our customers are more connected than ever when flying to the more than 50 countries we serve around the world.”
11. ZAL Technical Centre, Hamburg Reaches 25 Residents
Just 10 months after the research centre was completed, more than 90 percent of the available space has already been let.
List of companies now innovating in Hamburg:
1. ZAL GmbH (as the institution in charge of the building)
2. Airbus
3. Airbus Group Innovations
4. Universities (currently involved in the university space at ZAL: TU Hamburg-Harburg, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Helmut-Schmidt-University)
5. Lufthansa Technik
6. Diehl
7. THK
8. ProTechnicale
9. Züblin
10. Parker
11. SFS Intec
12. Fraunhofer IAP (Pyco)
13. Spitzner Engineers
14. ZAL Förderverein (the association of minor stakeholders of ZAL)
15. Fraunhofer IFAM
16. FIT AG
17. Zodiac Aerospace
18. Siemens
19. DLR (German Aerospace Center)
20. Altran
21. Innos Sperlich
22. iDS Industrial Design Studio
23. B/E Aerospace
24. 3D Contech
25. Solvay
The latest tenant is Belgian company, Solvay, which specialises in polymers for aviation. At the ZAL TechCenter, it will primarily be involved in the TD4 “Aerospace Production & Fuselage Engineering” (Industry 4.0) research area.
12. Iberia wins CAPA “Airline Turnaround of the Year” award for 2016
The award recognises Iberia’s transformation process as “the most impressive and innovative amongst airlines”.
In 2014 Iberia reported its first operating profits since the outbreak of the economic crisis.
In 2015, the airline increased those profits five-fold while expanding the operating margin to 5.2%—its highest level since 2005.
CAPA noted that these results coincided with double-digit capacity growth, and that the airline headed by Luis Gallego was the biggest contributor to ASK growth at the IAG group in 2015.
CAPA’s Executive Chairman Peter Harbison said: “Iberia’s turnaround in the challenging Spanish market has been remarkable. Iberia has achieved major labour productivity improvements, quite an accomplishment in Europe, and unit cost reductions. Strategically the establishment and expansion of Iberia Express has demonstrated that it is possible for legacy European airlines to combine an LCC cost base with a full-service brand.”
“This award is a recognition of the commitment and efforts of all Iberia employees, the real protagonists of our transformation process. It certainly encourages us to continue on the path we have marked out to consolidate the achievements made so far.”—Luis Gallego, Iberia Chairman.
13. Icelandair joins A4E
A4E now represents 13 airline groups and more than EUR 100 billion in revenues.
“We are looking forward to jointly work with A4E on a number of common matters affecting our industry´s operating environment. We should align our efforts, on behalf of our customers, to minimise various operational cost in the airline industry, e.g. lowering the cost of the EU´s airports. A4Es key policy issues are also affecting our daily operation and therefore we need to form a strong voice in Europe”, said Birkir Holm Gudnason, CEO of Icelandair.
14. Remembering a legend: Bob Hoover dies at 94
https://twitter.com/txav8r/status/790964169977704448
WWII fighter pilot, Air Force test pilot, airshow pilot…the legendary Robert “Bob” Hoover has passed at 94. #RIPBobHoover pic.twitter.com/p3xUvm5VIe
— Plane&Pilot Magazine (@planeandpilot) October 25, 2016
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