With the arrival of flight ET504 into the new Tom Bradley International Terminal on June 20th, Ethiopian Airlines officially kicked off its service between Addis Ababa and Los Angeles, via Dublin.
The festivities, punctuated with live music as well as traditional Irish and Ethiopian dancing, celebrated the first time a carrier based in Africa has served Los Angeles.
These service additions are part of Ethiopian’s overall strategy to dominate the African market. By maximizing fleet utilization and picking up a route that Aer Lingus abandoned in 2008, Ethiopian Airlines has smartly connected the large Ethiopian and Irish communities in Southern California to their respective native homelands, proverbially killing two birds with one stone.
Stunning livery – airberlin Saab 2000 operated by Darwin Airline/Etihad Regional – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
Recently, airberlin commenced flights between Prague and Berlin-Tegel, and I was fortunate enough to be on-board the inaugural service.
The flights are operated by Darwin Airline/Etihad Regional using a 50-seat Saab 2000 aircraft. It was a new type for me having only previously flown on the Saab 340. The Saab 2000 is one of the fastest turboprop aircraft in commercial service, with a maximum cruising speed of 413mph.
airberlin has scheduled three daily return flights on the route. If we look at the route from a P2P (point-to-point) perspective, three flights is a lot, given the numerous train and bus connections linking Berlin and Prague, in about five hours. The justification from airberlin for the three flights per day is that Prague-Berlin will act primarily as a feeder service for their mainline European and long-haul international networks. All the flights are time strategically to connect, in particular with long-haul flights New York and Moscow.
United’s 787-9 parked at the gate as a 787-8 taxis in next door
This story was originally published on Airways News by Seth Miller.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner entered service with United Airlines Monday, making the Chicago-based carrier the third airline in the world to offer service on the type. The first flight operated from Houston to Los Angeles, a route the carrier has used for 787 training and proving runs since taking delivery of its first 787-8 two years ago. After a short period of domestic flights, the aircraft will enter international service this fall. The first route the 787-9 will serve is Los Angeles ’“ Melbourne, which will be the longest 787 route in the world when it launches in late October. Airways News was a guest of United’s on the inaugural flight.
The forward BusinessFirst cabin of the 787-9
For most passengers (and the airline) this was business as usual; just another flight from Houston to Los Angeles. There was no special reception at either end, no balloons and nary a cupcake to be seen. Yet there was still a bit of excitement in the air. For some passengers it was just about flying on a Dreamliner. For others being on the inaugural was a specific goal. Neil Gamrod was up at 4am Eastern to make his way down to Houston for the inaugural flight.
Like others he studied the airline schedules and adjusted his plans a few times, just to make it on board. And by the time we wrapped up the day with a celebratory dinner at the In-n-Out adjacent to LAX he was absolutely convinced it was a worthwhile trip, even if he was exhausted. Like many other 787 passengers Gamrod noted the more comfortable cabin comfort and the quieter ride as just a couple of the advantages the Dreamliner brings to the skies.
Spirit’s first flight out of Kansas City receives a dual water cannon salute – Photo: Aaron Wright, KC Aviation Dept.
It’s true, people vehemently despise Spirit Airlines. Just the mention of the company elicits emotion-filled horror stories. Indeed they have a solid 1 out of 5 star rating on TripAdvisor, and they are frequently found at, or near, the top of various “worst airline” rankings. In direct contrast to these ratings and frequent “I’ll never fly Spirit again” claims, the airline continues to grow and increase market share. This begs the question – is the experience really THAT bad? Or, is there something else at play here?
In their own defense, Spirit argues that the mass dissatisfaction with them is in large part due to consumers not understanding their progressive, totally unbundled Ultra Low Cost Carrier (ULCC) business model. That assertion seems to hold water. The vast majority of complaints I hear and see are indeed related to “unexpected fees” and being “nickel and dimed” to death. As the well-known cliche goes: “The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.” Thankfully, Spirit recognizes there is a problem. To that end they recently hired Barkley, a KC-based marketing firm to assist with better educating consumers and promoting what they refer to as a “bare fare.”
“Bare Fare” crop circle spotted in a soy field just north of the KC airport – Photo: Victor Lazo
A few months ago, Kansas City International airport announced that ours would be a new market served by Spirit. Shortly after an unexplained crop circle appeared prompting a lot of curiosity. It turned out the image seen above is the logo for Spirit’s Bare Fare.
I was excited to finally have the opportunity to give them a shot, contrary to the advice of everyone who I’d informed of my intentions. I booked a seat on the first flight out, and this is my honest, unbiased review…
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.
