Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner ZK-NZF – Photo: Kris Hull
Air New Zealand on Thursday announced a North American expansion, adding Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport as their fourth U.S. destination. Air New Zealand currently serves Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu, in addition to Vancouver, Canada to the north.
BONUS: Flying Like a Boss in Air New Zealand’s Business Premier Seat
Service to Auckland was long-sought by Houston; Continental Airlines (prior to their merger with United) had announced service in 2010, only to cancel the service in 2012 prior to introduction. That said, the route likely makes good sense for Air New Zealand, given their status as a member of the Star Alliance. United’s giant presence at their Houston hub will allow for significant feed to the Air New Zealand flight, along with smooth connections for inbound travelers to the U.S. east coast and Latin America.
A Malaysian Airlines flight operating from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in Ukraine with 298 on board; 283 passengers and 15 crew. The tail number is reported to be 9M-MRD. The flight was operating as flight 17.
The plane, a Boeing 777-200ER, was delivered to Malaysia Airlines in 1997. The plane’s first flight was July 17, 1997, which is exactly 17 years before its crash. At this point, we know that the plane was taken down by a surface-to-air missile, but we are unsure who fired it.
9M-MRD, the plane in question with a different livery then at the time of the accident – Photo: marcusaffleck | Wikimedia Commons
An American Airlines 777-200ER in the new Livery. Photo – Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter.com
Just like Delta Air Lines earlier this year, American has revealed some upgrades to their fleet, while announcing (unpopular to some) changes to their frequent flyer program as well.
On Monday morning, American Airlines revealed the new Business Class product to be fitted to their Boeing 777-200ER aircraft as they go in for refurbishment. The new seat, which is a herringbone-style, looks pretty slick. They also have a unique feature being seen on more aircraft: rear-facing seats.
This could be the last Boeing 777-200 built. Reg #HL8284.
This Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER took off from Paine Field on Friday a little bit before 10:00am heading to South Korea. Typically a 777 being delivered is not a huge deal, but this could turn out to be the very last Boeing 777-200ER ever built.
“At the present time, there are no 777-200ERs in the production system,” Boeing spokesperson Elizabeth Fischtziur confirmed to AirlineReporter.com. However, Boeing is still offering the model to airlines and the 777-200LR still have deliveries set until 2014.
Asiana Airlines Flight 214 burns at SFO. Photo by Nick Rose.
Local San Fransisco photographer Nick Rose took these photos shortly after Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed at SFO. He as having lunch and heard about the crash and rushed to SFO. For the San Mateo Daily Journal, Nick photographed the airport’s last two crash drills [see read the first and second] and said it was “crazy,” seeing a real event.
He was kind enough to allow us at AirlineReporter.com to share his photos.
Parts of the 777 on the field while the United 747 waits. Photo by Nick Rose.
