Germania becomes new Airbus A321 operator

By BA Staff

S.A.T., the holding company of the Berlin-based German carrier Germania, has taken delivery of its first out of two A321s on order. Both aircraft are equipped with Airbus’ wing tip fuel saving devices, called Sharklets. The airline has already been operating eight A319 successfully since 2011.

The new Germania A321 will operate exclusively for Alltours, one of Germany’s biggest travel agencies. The airline has chosen a single class cabin layout for 208 passengers.

The cabin will be equipped with a state-of-the-art entertainment system, featuring video screens and in-seat audio channels. The aircraft will be powered by CFM engines.

Andreas Wobig, Germania Chief Executive Officer said:

“The delivery of our first brand-new A321 marks the beginning of a new era for Germania. With 208 seats, the aircraft capacity is one third higher than the jets we currently operate. This means that in the future, charter and scheduled flights on particularly popular routes can be operated even more economically. We are delighted with our A321s as they are especially fuel-efficient and make an important contribution to climate protection.”

John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers said:

“We are delighted that Germania has become the latest operator of the largest member of the hugely successful A320-Family. Thanks to Airbus’ unique commonality, the new A321s will fit seamlessly into Germania’s exiting fleet of Airbus A319s. The Sharklets will deliver Germania up to four percent in reduced fuel burn whilst passengers will benefit from the A320 family’s widest and most comfortable cabin.” 

Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. They offer operators up to four percent fuel burn reduction on longer range sectors and provide the flexibility of either adding an additional 100 nautical miles range or increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.

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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 23^rd 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.

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Ground crew strike cripples Lufthansa

by Devesh Agarwal

German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa underwent an almost total shut-down when its ground crew went on strike early Monday over working conditions, causing the cancellation of almost all of the airline’s flights.

In a statement on its website, the carrier said "nearly all Lufthansa flights within Germany and Europe will be cancelled" and "massive flight cancellations and delays are to be expected for long-haul flights". The airline indicates that only about 32 of a total planned 1,720 flights are expected to operate.

The 24 hour strike, which was announced in advance, started around 04:00 CET (02:00 UTC) in Stuttgart and an hour later in other airports around Germany. This is the second wave of strikes by the Ver.di union over wages and working conditions for about 33,000 employees. In the first strike action about a month back, over 700 flights were affected.

One has to feel sorry, at least in part, for the European carriers. They are just about coping with the ferocious competition from global carriers, and now they face industrial action.

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Air Cargo Germany suspends operations

by Devesh Agarwal

German air freight operator Air Cargo Germany announced a "temporary" but indefinite suspension of all of its operations as of Thursday, April 18.

ACG Boeing 747-400 freighter at Mumbai. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal

The carrier, with an IATA code of 6U and based out of Frankfurt Hahn airport, has a fleet of four Boeing 747-400 freighters that are operated from both Hahn and Frankfurt Main airports to destinations across Africa, Latin America and Asia, including Mumbai in India.

A statement by CEO Michael Schaecher posted on carrier's website, says

It is with regret that I have to inform you that we will have a temporary interruption of our services, effective today April 18th, 2013. The suddenness of this interruption is beyond our control and was neither expected nor foreseen in any way.

Our Shareholders are supporting in any way possible and you can be assured that we work around the clock to find sustainable solutions to recommence our services to you. Despite the surprise of this measure, we remain very confident that the operations can be resumed in the next few days.

One of ACG's large shareholders is Volga-Dnepr Airlines, the Russian freighter operator which specialises in over-sized cargo requiring the use of the famous Antonov An-124 mega freighter aircraft.

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Cockpit video: Condor Airbus A320 landing at La Palma

by Devesh Agarwal

Wikimedia user PlaneSpotter94.

Wishing all readers a very Good Friday holiday.

For your weekend relaxation, a cockpit video from the folks at Piloteye.tv showing a Condor Airbus A320 landing at La Palma airport. (ICAO: GCLA).

I think it is a very well produced video, showing multiple angles and actions, documenting well the work inside the A320 cockpit during the landing sequence.

Enjoy the video below. You can also see the video directly here.

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Photos: Four new airlines take delivery of A320s with Sharklets

The fleet of Airbus A320s equipped with the new wingtips called "Sharklets" is growing by the day.

During the last fortnight, four new airlines have taken delivery of Sharklet fitted A320s.

Spain's largest low cost carrier Vueling, the largest low cost airline in Spain, took delivery of its first A320 Sharklet aircraft, becoming the first Spanish carrier to do so. Vueling’s in-service fleet rises to 61 A320 Family aircraft

Monarch Airlines, became the first UK carrier to take delivery of a Sharklet A320.

Germany's airberlin group took delivery of its first Sharklet Airbus A320. This aircraft will join the fleet of group member, the Austrian based airline NIKI. Till 2015 the airberlin group, will receive 13 more Sharklet fitted A320-family aircraft.

Wizz Air Ukraine, took delivery of a Sharklet A320, becoming the first Ukrainian carrier to do so.

Photos courtesy Airbus S.A.S.

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Lufthansa to re-launch new Germanwings budget airline with a la carte service-fare concept

German major, Lufthansa will re-launch its budget airline Germanwings on July 1, 2013, with a new brand and product concept allowing all passengers to enjoy “à la carte flying”.

Passengers will then be able to create their own package and adapt it in detail to their individual needs, from low-cost flying without add-ons to a high-quality passenger experience with lots of amenities and extras.

Keeping to its motto “Reasonably priced but not cheap”, passengers will be able to choose from three basic Economy Class fare-service offerings – Best, Smart and Basic.

The Best fare, similar to GoBusiness offered by Indian low fare carrier GoAir, offers the highest product currently available on inter-European low-cost routes. Passengers will be seated in the first three rows of the cabin with a seat pitch of 32 inches (36 inches in GoAir), and with the middle seat empty. The fare includes access to Lufthansa lounges, priority check-in and the use of the fast lane at security checks, more miles in the Miles & More programme, HON Circle miles, double the baggage allowance (two items weighing 23 kilograms each), à la carte catering on board, flexible rebooking and ticket cancellation.

The Smart fare will correspond to a conventional Economy product, seating towards the front of the aircraft with the same 32-inch seat pitch as those on the Best fare. Smart includes catering in the form of a snack and non-alcoholic drinks as well as a 23-kilogram baggage allowance. Ticket changes will be allowed for a fee.

The Basic fare, is the lowest and will compete with conventional low-cost products. No food or drink, and no baggage allowance. Seating with 29 inch seat pitch, will be from row eleven back.

Basic fares start at €33 one-way, Smart fares from €53, and Best will be in the €199-€399 range.

Germanwings will also offer passengers the ability to add extras to the Smart and Basic fares to simply and flexibly build a product they desire. For example Smart fare passengers can add on lounge access for €25.

Along with the new product concept, the Germanwings logo will also change. The core element will be a stylised “W” in blackberry and yellow colours, a succinct symbol chosen to convey the wings from the Germanwings brand. All of the airline’s aircraft will gradually be painted in the new livery following the launch of the new brand concept on 1 July 2013.

The airline will increase direct interaction with customers by further developing mobile booking and information systems. All prices will be communicated fairly and without hidden costs, while a cheaper 0180 telephone number will replace the previous 0900 number.

AviationWeek reports Germanwings will operate 32 Airbus A319s and A320s that have formed the fleet of the current low-fare airline. Lufthansa is shifting over 29 A319/320s for a fleet of 61 narrowbodies. The unit also is wet-leasing 23 Bombardier CRJ-900s from Eurowings, one of the group’s regional subsidiaries. The new Germanwings is to reach €1.8 billion in annual sales and 16 million passengers with a combined fleet of 84 aircraft, slightly fewer than the 90 originally envisaged. Lufthansa has decided not to transfer all of the existing non-hub fleet to the new unit. Some aircraft are shifted to hub flying, and the company has decided to accelerate the retirement of its Boeing 737-300 and -500 fleet.

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Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian increase baggage allowance between USA/Canada and India

Member airlines of the "Lufthansa Group" -- Deutsche Lufthansa Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, have increased their baggage allowance on trips between USA/Canada and India to TWO checked bags each weighing up to 23 Kgs.

As per the website

Free Baggage Allowance UPDATE

For tickets issued on or after February 17th, 2012, the free baggage allowance for Lufthansa origins and destinations in USA, Canada and India for economy class has been increased to 2 checked pieces.

Allowance: Economy Class, 2 checked pieces (each weighing upto 23 Kgs) permitted free of charge.

Origin: Chennai/Bangalore/Mumbai/New Delhi/Pune (not valid on feeder flights within India)

Destination: only Lufthansa US/Canada gateways (no connecting flights within US/Canada)

Travel must be via Europe

Valid for flights operated and Marketed by: Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss Airlines.

Itineraries/tickets that include other carriers the free baggage allowance defaults to 1 free checked piece.

Quite clearly the competition from the three major Gulf carriers, Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad is forcing the European airline group to loosen its stringent policies.

It is important to note that this applies only to flights operated by group members. Lufthansa has significant code share flights operated by fellow Star Alliance members like United Airlines, and this liberal baggage allowance will not apply.

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airberlin and NIKI to join oneworld alliance from 20 March

German carrier, airberlin will become a full member of the oneworld® alliance with effect from Tuesday 20 March 2012. Austrian airline NIKI, also a member of the airberlin group, will join oneworld at the same time as an affiliate member.

airberlin received its green light to board oneworld after successfully completing a thorough review of its readiness conducted by British Airways, which is sponsoring its entry into the alliance, with the oneworld central team.

airberlin and NIKI will follow India's Kingfisher Airlines, who will join the alliance eight days from now on February 10th.

airberlin is expected expand the alliance’s network in Germany, South and Central Europe, adding almost 70 destinations and extending oneworld’s global coverage to some 840 destinations in 150 countries, served by more than 9,000 departures a day operated by a combined fleet of some 2,500 aircraft, carrying nearly 300 million passengers a year, with annual revenues of almost US$ 100 billion.

airberlin will move into the new Brandenburg airport at Berlin, when the airport opens on 3 June with an eventual capacity for 27 million passengers a year.

Upon joining the alliance, members of airberlin's topbonus frequent flyer programme will be able to earn and redeem mileage awards on all oneworld partners – American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and almost 20 affiliated airlines. Likewise 120 million members of the established oneworld airlines’ frequent flyer programmes will be able to earn and redeem awards and tier status points and receive all other oneworld benefits on airberlin and NIKI.

airberlin already has code-sharing agreements with seven oneworld airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Malév Hungarian Airlines, S7 and Royal Jordanian.

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