What better way to start a new flight to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) than with a video from SpeedbirdHD?
On March 31st, Saudi Arabian Airlines (aka Saudia) started service between Riyadh and LAX using a Boeing 777-300ER. The aircraft, which was only five months old, is configured with 24 seats in First Class, 36 in Business, and 245 in Guest Class (aka economy).
The flight will operate three times per week on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The flight will originate in Riyadh (RUH) with a stop over in Jeddah (JED) before continuing to LAX.
’œSaudia’s inaugural flight to Los Angeles is a manifestation of our continued efforts to expand our global reach to better service our valued customers,’ according to Chief Executive Officer and Director General Designate, Mr. Abdulaziz Alhazmi. ’œThe services to LAX, following our launch to Toronto, Canada in October last year and the resumption of our flights to Manchester, UK, are just some of the components of this initiative to claim our rightful place among the world`s leading carriers.’
LAX is already a melting pot of different airline liveries, but it is always great to add another.
Alright, we had quite a few people via the site and social media take a stab at the 7th Ultimate Livery Challenge and I have to admit that it wasn’t easy. I don’t think I would have been able to get all of these, if I wasn’t the person making up the contest. But here are the correct answers with links to the full photos:
G’Day! Welcome to the new ForeignAirlineReporter.ca, your new source of all the airline and airliner news you could want, as long as it is not based in the USA. Under the leadership of the ’œForeign Core’ of the site previously known as AirlineReporter.com, and in conjunction with the governments of some foreign nations (who will remain secret for the moment), a hostile takeover has occurred that has changed the management of this website.
After a very productive six years of Founder David Parker Brown’s leadership, the AirlineReporter.com brand was ripe for the pickings. With a great following around the world, respected not only amongst #AvGeeks but the airlines themselves, AirlineReporter.com was at a stage in its life where it could be expanded much further into a worldwide powerhouse. Today’s takeover, lead by former AirlineReporter.com staffers Mal Muir (Australian), Bernie Leighton, & Howard Slutsken (both Canadian), was done to ensure that AirlineReporter’s growth was bigger and more in-line with today’s more global aviation market.
All Nippon Airways Boeing 767-300ER lands at YVR on Sunday afternoon – Photo: Leighton Matthews | Pacific Air Photo
ANA – All Nippon Airways’ first scheduled flight to Canada landed at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on Sunday afternoon. The arrival of the Boeing 767-300ER from Tokyo International Airport – Haneda (HND) ushered in the option of a new airline and new destination airport for Tokyo-bound passengers who originate or connect in YVR.
Located on Tokyo Bay, Haneda airport is a short 15-minute train or monorail ride for passengers to connect to Tokyo’s extensive transit system. Haneda was relegated to domestic flights in the late 1970’s, when Narita International Airport (NRT) opened to serve international traffic. Although a new express train now serves distant Narita, many consider traveling between downtown Tokyo and NRT to be a time-consuming and expensive ordeal.
Looking to return HND to its previous status as Tokyo’s convenient gateway, a new International Terminal was opened in 2010. Initially, international flights were limited, and slot-restricted to middle-of-the-night arrivals, which wasn’t particularly appealing to passengers or airlines. Fortunately, HND opened up daytime slots in 2014, most beginning this week. ANA’s YVR-HND route is just one of many new international flights serving the airport.
AirlineReporter was invited to join in the inbound flight’s arrival festivities at YVR, and to fly to Haneda on the inaugural. As AR.com’s Vancouver-based correspondent, I was given this ’œplum’ assignment. But not without much jealousy coming from our staff in the Seattle area, including our illustrious Editor-in-Chief!
A Blue1 Boeing 717 in Manchester – Photo: Ken Fielding
Blue1 is based in Copenhagen and is owned by the SAS Group. Their fleet of nine Boeing 717s fly to destinations around Europe, but mostly within Finland.
They offer wet leases for other airlines, tour operators, and a variety of other long/short-term deals.
Blue1 also offers a pretty slick looking livery. It starts with a blue tail and swirls and gradients itself into lighter blue and purple hues before becoming white in the front. It goes against the boring European white liveries that have become more popular, and is quite a bit more exciting than its parent’s much more boring livery.
