The Kazakh airline Air Astana has achieved a milestone in its fleet. The airline recently welcomed its 50th aircraft into the fleet. The Kazakh airline Air Astana has recently achieved a milestone in its fleet. The carrier has welcomed its 50th aircraft into the fleet, specifically an Airbus A321neo.
On Monday, January 22, 2024, Air India put its first Airbus A350 into commercial scheduled service. The long-haul aircraft initially operated a domestic flight. Under the flight number AI589, the Airbus A350 with the registration VT-JRA initially flew between Bengaluru and Mumbai. This is the first commercial A350 flight operated by Air India. The model will initially be flown domestically in order to be able to train as many pilots as possible. The aircraft will soon be sent on international long-haul routes.
In the 2024 summer flight schedule, Austrian Airlines will operate some long-haul routes less frequently, at least temporarily. According to the company, the reason for this is that crew training is being carried out due to the planned fleet expansion. On the route between Vienna and Chicago (O'Hare), flights will be reduced to six weekly flights as of July 3, 2024. Los Angeles will be served four times a week between May 1 and June 13, 2024, and six times a week between June 15 and October 13, 2024. Montreal will be reduced to six rotations per week from July 4, 2024. On the Newark route, the smaller Boeing 31-2024ER aircraft will be used between March 30, 2024, and June 767, 300, instead of the usual Boeing 777-200. The New York-JFK route will be flown with Boeing 2024s from the start of the 14 summer flight schedule period until June 2024, 777. As of June 15, 2024, the flight will switch back to B767-300ERs and reduced to six rotations per week. Flights to Shanghai will initially be flown twice a week between March 31 and May 1, 2024. Flights will then be four times a week until June 15, 2024. Six rotations per week are planned from June 14, 2024. Tokyo Narita will be reduced to three rotations per week between April 30 and May 30, 2024. Four rotations per week will be offered from June 1 to June 14, 2024. The Aeroroutes.com portal was the first to report on the flight schedule changes on Austrian Airlines long-haul routes. The airline confirmed the accuracy of the data to Aviation.Direct and added: "Due to training for our crew as part of this year's fleet expansion, there are occasional program adjustments."
The airline Saudia has confirmed a change to its flight schedule. The airline had originally planned to reduce flights between Jeddah and Los Angeles, but now the service is to be further restricted. The airline Saudia has confirmed the cancellation of flights between Jeddah and Los Angeles from February 9 to May 12, 2024, as reported by the Aero Routes portal. However, this reduction will not be the only cancellation of this flight connection. Flights to Los Angeles will also be canceled between September and December.
The low-cost airline Ryanair wants to grow strongly in Spain by 2023. According to CEO Eddie Wilson, five new bases are to be opened. Traffic growth of around 40 percent is planned compared to today's level. The company is already aiming for 77 million passengers to, from and within Spain this year. At the same time, the group is demanding "competitive fees" from local airport operators. Just recently, group boss Michael O'Leary announced after a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that Ryanair would invest around five billion euros in Spain over the next seven years.
Effective April 2, 2024, Lufthansa will connect Paderborn and Munich more frequently. The plan is to offer three daily rotations between the two cities again in the future. According to Paderborn Airport, the Kranich Group's decision is also due to the high capacity utilization that can be achieved on this route. "We are very pleased that our long-standing partner Lufthansa is further expanding its cooperation with our airport. The connection to Munich is one of the central offers at our airport, as it is of great importance, especially for the strong medium-sized economy in our region. Munich is now even more interesting as a point-to-point destination and also for transferring to more distant destinations in Europe, America and Asia," emphasizes airport managing director Roland Hüser. The three rotations offer a number of options for business travelers, but also for passengers with a private background. In addition to the morning connection (departure: 6.05 a.m.) and the afternoon connection (16.40 p.m.), there is now also a plane that takes off from Paderborn/Lippstadt to Munich in the late morning (9.25 a.m.).
The airlines Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines want to make their flight offerings more attractive; free internet during the flight should enable chatting on board. The airlines Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines are planning to further develop their flight offerings. In the future, the airlines want to offer free internet on board their aircraft to enable free chatting during the flight. The Swiss airline is planning this for its short-haul flights; on long-haul flights there is already functioning, free internet in most cases. This free service is now to be introduced on short-haul flights as well to enable passengers to chat during the flight. The Austrian airline Austrian Airlines also wants to expand its offering on short and medium-haul routes. Like the airline SWISS, Austrian Airlines also plans to offer free WiFi on board its aircraft in the future.
The airline Tuifly Belgium is looking for a total of 318 employees, most of whom will be based in Brussels. The vacancies mentioned are 246 positions for flight attendants. After around eight weeks of training, the prospective cabin crew will be deployed in flight operations. Contracts with a minimum term of seven months and a promise of employment for at least three years are offered.
The Russian airline Aeroflot will maintain its flight connection to Mauritius longer than planned. Specifically, the flight schedule will be extended until mid-May. The Russian airline is extending its flight connection between Moscow and Mauritius until May 12, 2024. The route will be served three times a week, as the Aero Routes portal confirms.
On the evening of January 21, 2024, the Swiss airline had to make a safety landing at Dresden Airport. This resulted in the fire brigade being called out as a precautionary measure. The crew of the Airbus A220 reported an emergency situation over the radio because they noticed a smell of fresh paint and steam in the cockpit. It was expressly stated that it was not smoke. For safety reasons, this was reported to air traffic control. The medium-haul jet was able to land successfully at the Saxon airport. The fire brigade was deployed as a precautionary measure, but its services were not required. Swiss now wants to investigate what caused the strange odor. The carrier is not willing or able to provide further details yet, as the findings of the technical inspection must be carefully evaluated.
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