Showing posts with label Hamburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hamburg. Show all posts

easyJet to open new base in Hamburg, expand Berlin base

By BA Staff

easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, has announced it will open a base in Hamburg, Germany as well as increasing its fleet in Berlin in the spring of 2014.

Building on its success to date in both Hamburg and Berlin, easyJet’s new base will open with three A319 aircraft with the airline increasing its fleet in Berlin by an additional plane. easyJet will more than double its network from Hamburg with 15 additional new business and leisure routes on the top of its existing portfolio of six routes offering almost 170 flights a week during summer 2014. With more frequencies and early morning departures from Hamburg the schedule will make easyJet more attractive to business passengers.

Carolyn McCall, easyJet chief executive officer, commented:
"I am really pleased to be able to announce the launch of a new base in Hamburg which will enable us to double the size of our operation. Hamburg and its region is one of the most dynamic economies in Europe with a significant and growing tourist industry. In the last twelve months more than half a million passengers have enjoyed easyJet’s low fares combined with our friendly service. These expansion plans mean that we expect to carry twice as many passengers in the first year of operations which will take us to more than a million passengers annually for the first time."
Hamburg will be easyJet’s 23rd base in its European network. Germany’s second largest city is also one of Europe’s wealthiest economies with a strong local industry in banking, aviation, renewable energy media & publishing and the second largest European harbour. easyJet expects to bring 275,000 additional business and leisure visitors in Hamburg in the first year.

First Mayor of Hamburg Olaf Scholz said:
"easyJet's recent decisions strengthen both the Hamburg Airport and the aircraft manufacturing location Hamburg - the third largest after Seattle and Toulouse. The most recent decision of the airline to purchase new aircraft is good for Airbus. It is also good news for suppliers that are involved in aircraft manufacturing. easyJet's decisions underscore the positive development that Hamburg is experiencing in regards to aviation. This development shows that it was the right decision of the Hamburg Senate in 2000 to invest in aviation in Hamburg and to give the aviation industry the importance it deserves."
In Berlin, the additional aircraft will take the total based there to eight. It will mean 130,000 more passengers on the top of the four million passengers easyJet has carried on the last 12 months (a 9.5% increase on the previous year). The aircraft will allow easyJet to increase frequencies on popular business and leisure routes. At Summer 2014 passengers will have the choice of up to 635 flights per week.
Read more »

Photo: Finnair receives world's first Airbus A321 fitted with Sharklets

by BA Staff

Finnish national carrier, Finnair, became the launch customer for the new Sharklets equipped A321 by taking delivery of the first of five aircraft on order. The aircraft was officially handed over to Ville Iho, Finnair Chief Operating Officer, during a delivery ceremony at the Airbus facilities in Hamburg, Germany.

Image copyright and courtesy Airbus S.A.S. Used under fair use for editorial purpose only.

The A321 aircraft will eventually replace Finnair’s existing fleet of 757s, making it an all Airbus operator. The airline currently operates an Airbus fleet of 40 aircraft (25 A320 family aircraft and 15 A330s/A340s). Finnair was the first airline to commit to the A350 XWB with a total of 11 aircraft on order.

The A321 is an extended version of narrow body A320 Family. To date, more than 9,800 A320 family aircraft have been ordered and over 5,700 delivered to more than 390 operators worldwide.
Read more »

IndiGo will be first operator in India to receive A320 with Sharklets. Update 1 - First flight conducted

by Devesh Agarwal

A week ago, Airbus S.A.S. rolled out an A320 aircraft serial number MSN 5437 from its assembly line. This aircraft is destined to become Indian budget carrier IndiGo's first 'Sharklet' equipped A320 VT-IFH, and when delivered only the second airline aircraft in the world to be fitted with the new fuel saving large wing-tip device.
Photo copyright Gerd Bielfuss. Used with permission. Do not copy or reproduce.

Sharklets are Airbus' answer to the large wing-tip devices already found on the Boeing 737NG family i.e. 737-700, 737-800, and 737-900ER.


'Sharklets', so named, since they resemble the dorsal fin of a shark, are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 metres tall and are designed to reduce fuel burn and emissions by improving the aerodynamics of the aircraft significantly. Over a longer flight, they are expected to improve fuel burn by 3.5% - 4%. Sharklets offer airline-operators the option of enhancing the performance of their A320s, either by adding around 100 nautical miles more range or allowing increased payload capability of up to 450 kilogrammes.

The first 'Sharklet' equipped A320 was delivered to Malaysian low cost carrier, AirAsia, less than a week ago on December 21. (Click here to see a video).

Hopefully we shall see VT-IFH grace the Indian skies in January.

Update 1 - January 17, 2013.


MSN 5437 conducted its first flight successfully on January 15th.

Photo copyright Gerd Bielfuss. Used with permission. Do not copy or reproduce.

Read more »

Lufthansa to use biosynthetic fuel on long-haul transatlantic flight

German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa announced that it will operate the first scheduled transatlantic flight using biosynthetic fuel from 12 January 2012 under its PureSky program.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 D-ABVX Mumbai CSIA
Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 D-ABVX at Mumbai CSI airport.
A modified Boeing 747-400, carrying about 40 tonnes of a biosynthetic fuel mix, will fly from Frankfurt to Washington. With this flight alone, Lufthansa expects to reduce CO2 emissions by 38 metric tonnes, equivalent to the CO2 emissions of six scheduled flights between Frankfurt and Berlin.

The flight comes after Lufthansa announced positive results of a six-month practical trial involving biosynthetic fuel in which 1,187 biofuel flights were operated between Hamburg and Frankfurt which appear to have reduced CO2 emissions by 1,471 metric tonnes.

Lufthansa A321 D-AIDG fitted with a biofuel engine
From 15 July to 27 December 2011 a Lufthansa Airbus A321 was used to operate scheduled flights on the Hamburg-Frankfurt route. One of the aircraft’s engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of regular fuel and biosynthetic kerosene. Apart from gaining experience on the use of biofuels, the test allowed the carrier to collect long-term data and examine the effects of the biofuel on the engines and the environment.

Biosynthetic kerosene is just as reliable as conventional Jet A-1 fuel which in addition to reducing CO2 emissions by 50% also allows a 1% reduction in fuel consumption with its higher energy density. Furthermore, biosynthetic fuels are free of sulphur and aromatic compounds.

Lufthansa's biofuels project manager Joachim Buse stressed
“As a next step, we will focus on the suitability, availability, sustainability and certification of raw materials. But first we must tap into this market. However, Lufthansa will only continue the practical trial if we are able to secure the volume of sustainable, certified raw materials required in order to maintain routine operations,”
Read more »