April 2009 Archives

Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today announced it will resume daily, non-stop seasonal service between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Athens, Greece, effective May 2, 2009 (eastbound).

"Greece is an important market for Continental, for both business and leisure traffic," said Jim Compton, Continental's executive vice president marketing. "We look forward to again offering seasonal service to Athens for travelers from throughout the U.S., Canada and Latin America with convenient connections via our New York hub."

The service will operate through Sept. 7, 2009 (eastbound). The flights will depart New York Liberty daily at 5:30 p.m., arriving in Athens at 10:20 a.m. the following day. The return flights will depart Athens daily at 12:00 p.m., arriving at New York Liberty at 4:10 p.m. the same day.

The flights will be operated by Boeing 767-200ER aircraft, seating 25 passengers in the award-winning BusinessFirst cabin and 149 in economy.

Continental inaugurated its New York-Athens service in June 2007.

Airline will begin outfitting its fleet with in-flight Wi-Fi from Row 44 later this year.

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, Europe's fifth largest low-cost carrier, announced today that it is equipping its entire fleet with high-speed in-flight broadband. The airline will use a satellite-based broadband solution from Row 44.

Norwegian, winner of Air Transport World's 2009 Market Leadership Award, will be the first European airline to equip its fleet with high-speed in-flight broadband. Norwegian will be able to offer passengers uninterrupted broadband services--Internet browsing, live international television, movies, music, mobile phones, texting, and e-commerce--to all of the airline's 84 destinations across Europe. In addition to its current fleet, Norwegian has orders for nearly 50 new planes--all of which the airline will equip with Row 44's broadband service.

"Norwegian has become one of the most successful carriers by relentlessly adding value to our passengers' travel experience," said Bjorn Kjos, CEO of Norwegian. "Row 44's system will help us add exciting new productivity and entertainment services to our flights--creating more satisfied and loyal passengers and crew, giving Norwegian a strong competitive advantage, and adding significantly to our bottom line."

"Norwegian Air Shuttle is widely considered one of the most innovative, agile, and forward-thinking airlines in the world. They are an extremely strong organization led by disciplined, insightful professionals. Norwegian is known for creating and rapidly deploying new capabilities that delight their passengers," said John Guidon, Row 44's CEO. "Row 44 is honored that Norwegian has chosen our in-flight broadband to enhance their passenger and crew experience and create a powerful new profit center."

Row 44 will begin installing its broadband system on Norwegian planes in the fourth quarter of 2009.

SOURCE Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA

Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today announced a BusinessFirst fare sale on non-stop flights from its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport to four Asian destinations. Round-trip fares from the New York area to Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo are now available for as low as $3,076. Continental is the only carrier providing daily nonstop service from the New York area to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The travel period is from June 3 to August 16 with maximum stay of 30 days and minimum stay of 8 days.

          From New York/Newark to...       Round-trip fares
                Beijing                        $3,076
               Shanghai                        $3,168
               Hong Kong                       $3,266
            Tokyo (Narita)                     $3,268

Discounted BusinessFirst sale fares are also available from a number of connecting cities. Other taxes and fees may apply, including but not limited to, passenger facilities charges of up to $18, the September 11 security fee of $10 per round-trip and a U.S. excise tax of $16.10 for each international arrival and departure in the U.S. Each arrival in the U.S. is subject to U.S. inspection fees of up to $17.50. Non-U.S. government ticket taxes, fees and airport charges may add up to $160 per ticket. Tickets are non-refundable, however ticket changes are allowed for a $400 change fee plus applicable fare difference. Visit continental.com to make reservations.

Continental's award-winning BusinessFirst service was rated by Conde Nast Traveler magazine as the highest among all U.S. carriers for trans-Pacific flights for 10 years in a row.

Beginning in the fall of 2009, Continental will install new 180-degree lie-flat seats on its Asia flights. The lie-flat seats feature more individual storage space and laptop power, iPod connectivity and 15.4-inch video monitor for customers to enjoy on-demand movies, music and games.

Continental's BusinessFirst amenities include gourmet menu selections created by Continental's Congress of Chefs. A specially selected and trained corps of Concierges is available to provide individualized pre-flight and post-flight services for BusinessFirst customers at 42 international airports worldwide. Customers traveling in BusinessFirst are also able to access any of Continental's 26 Presidents Clubs and more than 60 airline affiliated lounges worldwide.

Flights to Asian destinations feature Continental's new Audio/Video on Demand (AVOD) in both the BusinessFirst and Economy cabins of its Boeing 777 aircraft. The entertainment system allows customers to choose from more than 250 movies, 350 short-subject programs including popular television shows and 3,000 music tracks, with a jukebox feature to make individual playlists. In addition, this new entertainment system has 25 video games and the interactive Berlitz Word Traveler foreign language program. With the AVOD system, Continental has installed in-seat power that will not require an adapter. One outlet is available per seat in BusinessFirst and two outlets for every three seats for all rows in the main cabin.

SOURCE Continental Airlines

The UK is experiencing significant cutbacks in airline service, both domestically and internationally, according to the latest statistics from OAG, the world's leading aviation data business and part of UBM Aviation. Frequencies and capacity within the UK for April are down year on year by 13% and 14% respectively, representing a drop of 5,078 flights and 476,000 seats. Airlines have scheduled a total of 33,783 domestic UK flights this month; the last time the April figures for the UK were lower than this was in 2001.

International services to and from the UK are down by 10% (11,237 fewer flights) with a 9% fall in capacity, or 1.6 million fewer seats.

The UK low cost sector is not escaping the cutbacks, with a 16% drop in domestic services and seat capacity. Internationally, the low cost airlines have scheduled 4,887 fewer flights to/from the UK with 12% reduction in capacity of 853,000 fewer seats.

These figures are revealed in the April 2009 edition of OAG FACTS (Frequency & Capacity Trend Statistics), the dynamic monthly market intelligence tool providing the latest data on current passenger airline activity around the world.

On a global scale, the world's airlines have scheduled 6% fewer flights for April 2009 compared with the same month last year, with a 3% drop in seat capacity.

David Beckerman, VP Market Intelligence at OAG, said: "The sharp drop in UK flights compared to last year reflects the fact the UK has been particularly hit by recessionary effects."

SOURCE UBM Aviation

The Express Delivery & Logistics Association (XLA) announced the winners of the 2008 Airline of the Year Awards at the Annual Membership Meeting held during the industry's AirCargo 2009 Conference in Las Vegas on March 9, 2009. The awards are based on an annual survey of its members who use the services of carriers for their express packages around the world. Awards are made to the top three Domestic airline winners, and the top International airline winner. Southwest Airlines Cargo received the Domestic Airline of the Year Award for the fifth consecutive year and Northwest Airlines Cargo took home the 2008 International Airline of the Year Award. American Airlines Cargo and Continental Airlines Cargo tied for the second place Domestic Airline of the Year Award.

The annual survey used to determine the award winners rated airlines in the categories of Communication, Service, Technology and Value, combined with Department of Transportation on-time performance data. Only airlines that were members of XLA in 2008 were included in the survey, which included Alaska Airlines, American Airlines Cargo, Continental Airlines Cargo, Delta Cargo, Continental Airlines Cargo, Northwest Airlines Cargo, United Airlines Cargo and U.S. Airways. XLA has been giving the awards for ten consecutive years.

Matt Groppe, chairman of the XLA Airline Liaison Committee, presented the first place Domestic Airline of the Year Award to Matt Buckley, Senior Director of Cargo, Wally Devereaux, Director of Sales and Marketing, and Jay Hollingsworth, Director of Cargo Operations. "We appreciate the hard work and dedication of our Cargo and Ramp Employees who go above and beyond to meet the needs of our Customers. We owe this award to them," said Matt Buckley.

Accepting the International Airline of the Year Award on behalf of Northwest Airlines Cargo was John Kempe, General Manager, North American Sales for Delta Cargo. John Kempe was the General Manager, North American Sales for Northwest Airlines Cargo prior to the merger of the two airlines.

Traditionally, XLA gives second and third place Domestic Airline of the Year Award, but for the first time since the award inception, two airlines tied for second place: American Airlines Cargo and Continental Airlines Cargo.

American Airlines Cargo representatives Dave Brooks, President/Cargo, Roger Samways, Managing Director Global Accounts & Sales Strategy and Jennifer Pemberton, Manager Advertising/Public Relations accepted the award.

Accepting the award for Continental Airlines Cargo was Jim Bellinder, Director of Sales-The Americas, Lisa Schoppa, Manager-Quickpak Product Development, Tony Randgaard, Manager Cargo Marketing, Kaci Suarez, QUICKPAK Sales Manager, Jim McKeon, Managing Director Global Cargo Sales Marketing and Kevin Adderson, Regional Sales Manager Western USA & Canada Cargo.

SOURCE Express Delivery & Logistics Association

Alaska Airlines today announced initial results of its Inflight Wi-Fi service trial, which was launched on Feb. 26, 2009. More than 2,100 passengers logged on and used Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi. Of those passengers who tried the service and completed a survey during or after their flight, more than 96 percent intend to use it again.

Additional key findings of the survey include:

• More than 78 percent of those who tried the Inflight Wi-Fi service are either "extremely likely" or "very likely" to recommend it.
• More than 75 percent felt the service was either "excellent" or "very good."
• About 35 percent of passengers accessed the service with portable devices such as smart phones. Other passengers surfed the Web on devices such as notebook computers.

Some of the most popular activities customers used the service for included checking e-mail, downloading and listening to music, watching streaming media and interacting on social networks.

"Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi was fast and consistent," said passenger C.J. Adams of Marysville, Wash. "As a frequent business traveler, I was thrilled to have Internet access while in flight and appreciated the opportunity to work in real-time - it even made my flight seem shorter. I will definitely use this service on future Alaska Airlines flights."

Alaska Airlines will begin evaluating pricing models for the service this week and will continue to gather feedback from customers. "Our most important consideration in determining the price of Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi is providing value to our passengers," said Steve Jarvis, Alaska's vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience. "The initial feedback we're getting is overwhelmingly positive. We will continue to optimize the service and listen closely to our customers to find the right price that is both competitive with other airlines and fits comfortably within our passengers' budgets."

The airline plans to set a final price for the service later this year. Passengers will be able to purchase the service using all major credit cards via the Inflight Wi-Fi secure payment process.

SOURCE Alaska Airlines

United Airlines, which began worldwide credit-card and debit-card acceptance for in-flight purchases in March, will become fully cash-free on flights within North America - with the exception of United Express flights - on April 20.

With EasyPurchase, customers may use major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Diners Club, and debit cards bearing the Visa or MasterCard logos for all onboard purchases.

On United Express flights, cash will continue to be the accepted form of payment.

"In the two weeks since we began accepting credit and debit cards for onboard purchases, flight attendant and customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive," said Alexandria Marren, United's senior vice president of onboard service. "Customers enjoy the convenience of paying with plastic and, by eliminating cash on our United-operated flights in North America, we are able to simplify procedures for our flight attendants as well."

Users of United Mileage Plus Visa cards from Chase earn 10 miles for every dollar spent on in-flight purchases. Travelers who apply using an onboard application and are approved for a Chase Mileage Plus Visa card will earn 30,000 Mileage Plus bonus miles* and receive $25 off their next United Airlines ticket, after their first purchase.

SOURCE United Airlines

Reflecting its commitment to safety and continuing education, Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets: FRNTQ) is proud to announce that it is among an elite group of maintenance facilities in America whose maintenance department has been awarded the Federal Aviation Administration's Diamond Award. This is the tenth consecutive year Frontier has received this recognition.

"No other major airline has ever received this prestigious award for 10 consecutive years with 100 percent participation," said Frontier Vice President of Maintenance and Engineering Ron McClellan. "It is a reflection of Frontier's total dedication to safety and to the continuing education of our outstanding maintenance employees."

The Diamond Award is the highest honor given by the FAA and recognizes airlines and other maintenance facilities where 100 percent of its aircraft maintenance technicians complete certified training requirements beyond their initial certification. In 2008, the FAA raised the level or participation for a Diamond Award from 25 percent to 100 percent.

Since 1999, Frontier has far exceeded the FAA's standard with 100 percent participation of its aircraft maintenance technicians, upholding Frontier's status as one of a very small number of air carriers to achieve this distinction. Each of the airline's 303 maintenance and engineering employees participated in the program this year.

SOURCE Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc.

Virgin America, the California-based airline today announced the "GO!" 2009 Fare Sale, featuring incredibly low fares on the carrier's award-winning service. Go ahead and make plans for spring and fall travel on the airline that is reinventing flying, with spectacularly low "GO!" fares available for travel between April 14 and June 10, 2009 or August 25 and October 14, 2009* to all of Virgin America's travel destinations.

Now is the perfect time to grab one of Virgin America's posh leather seats for less and let the fun begin with a new kind of flying experience. Virgin America has the most robust in-flight entertainment library in the domestic skies. In addition to a 25-film library at every seat including Oscar winners, foreign language films and Hollywood blockbusters, Red(TM) features live TV, videogames, seat-to-seat chat, 3,000 MP3s and music videos. For travelers who wish to stay connected at 35,000 feet, Virgin America also offers WiFi Internet service on more than half its fleet and continues to expand the service fleet-wide. By June 2009, Virgin America will be the only U.S. carrier to offer in-flight Internet fleet-wide.

Launched in August 2007, Virgin America offers low-fare flights that appeal to today's tech-savvy business and leisure travelers. Virgin America captured a list of travel industry awards within its first year flying, including "Best Domestic Airline" in Conde Nast Traveler's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards and in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards.

Don't delay - tickets are on sale today on Virgin America's website (www.virginamerica.com) and at 1.877.FLY.VIRGIN (1.877.359.8474). Tickets must be purchased by April 20, 2009 and travel must occur between April 14 and June 10, 2009 or August 25 and October 14, 2009.*

                                         3-Day Advance         7-Day Advance
     Markets:                              Purchase               Purchase
     --------                              --------               --------
                                         One Way Fares         One Way Fares
                                         -------------         -------------
                                      Tuesday, Wednesday,    Monday, Thursday,
                                        Saturday Travel        Friday, Sunday
                                                                   Travel

    Boston             San Francisco          $109                  $119
    Boston             Los Angeles            $109                  $119

    New York           Las Vegas              $109                  $119
    New York           Los Angeles            $109                  $119
    New York           San Francisco          $109                  $119

    Washington, D.C.   Los Angeles            $109                  $119
    Washington, D.C.   San Francisco          $109                  $119

    San Francisco      San Diego               $49                   $59
    San Francisco      Seattle                 $49                   $59
    San Francisco      Los Angeles             $49                   $59
    San Francisco      Las Vegas               $49                   $59
    San Francisco      Orange County           $49                   $59

    Los Angeles        Seattle                 $69                   $79

    Boston             Seattle                $109                  $119
    Boston             Las Vegas              $109                  $119
    Boston             San Diego              $109                  $119
    Boston             Orange County          $109                  $119

    New York           San Diego              $109                  $119
    New York           Seattle                $109                  $119
    New York           Orange County          $109                  $119

    Washington, D.C.   San Diego              $109                  $119
    Washington, D.C.   Seattle                $109                  $119
    Washington, D.C.   Las Vegas              $109                  $119
    Washington, D.C.   Orange County          $109                  $119

    Seattle            Las Vegas               $59                   $69
    Seattle            San Diego               $59                   $69
    Seattle            Orange County           $59                   $69

Virgin America flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego and Boston. The airline is one of the fastest growing of all time, with a new 28-aircraft Airbus A320-family fleet and daily flights from: SFO to LAX, SFO to JFK, SFO to SAN, SFO to IAD, SFO to LAS, LAX to JFK, LAX to IAD, SFO to SEA, SEA to LAX, JFK to LAS, BOS to LAX, BOS to SFO, and starting on April 29 - SFO to SNA.

Houston gave Qatar Airways a big Texas welcome as the inaugural flight of the Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft touched down at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The special airport celebration began with a classic water cannon salute as the jet pulled up to the terminal.

A crowd of Houston business professionals, government officials, city employees and economic development leaders gathered in a lounge at Houston's hub airport as Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker addressed everyone who gathered for the festive celebration of the new international air service.

"Passenger demand prompted this new route and I am absolutely thrilled we are able to bring our award-winning Five Star service to this wonderful gateway," says Al Baker. "Houston is the first new route for Qatar Airways in a robust year of growth."

To celebrate the occasion, Houston City Controller Annise Parker presented Al Baker with an official proclamation declaring it as "Qatar Airways Day."

Air passengers who travel frequently between the United States and the Middle East will benefit from the new route. The catalyst for the new international air service is the connection of two important energy capitals. As Houston's sixth largest trading partner in the Middle East, Qatar was considered one of the top underserved international markets.

"Houston is honored to become the newest U.S. destination for Qatar Airways," says Rob Wigington, Houston Airport System deputy director of Marketing, Communications and Community Affairs. "This new route is not only great for business and leisure travel between Houston and Doha, but it is going to generate more traffic for our global gateway."

Qatar Airways serves more than 80 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, the Far East and North America. Besides Houston, Qatar Airways also serves New York (JFK) and Washington, D.C. (Dulles) in the U.S.

The flight schedule for the Houston to Doha route is below:

• Depart Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport -- QR078 daily at 20:30 hrs, arrive Doha at 19:40 hrs the following day
• Depart Doha International Airport -- QR077 daily at 09:50 hrs, arrive Houston at 18:10 hrs.

For more information on Qatar Airways, go to www.qatarairways.com. For more information on Houston Airports, go to www.fly2houston.com.

Source: Houston Airport System