Routes: Air France, China Airlines, Aer Lingus, Scoot, Finnair, Seattle seaplanes

October 6, 2017

Air France will start 777 flights to Seattle next year. (Image: Air France)

In international route developments, Air France adds a new West Coast gateway; China Airlines will fly to an unlikely California airport; Aer Lingus adds a new transatlantic route in 2018; Singapore’s Scoot plans its first U.S. route; Finnair returns to Miami; and Seattle-Vancouver travelers could get downtown-to-downtown service.

Air France has scheduled a March 25 start for new U.S. service between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Seattle – a route where its joint venture partner Delta already offers daily year-round service. Air France said it will initially fly the route three days a week, increasing to five days a week from June 19 through September 2, using a 777-200ER with business class, premium economy and regular economy seating. The new flight will depart SEA at 4:30 p.m.

Taiwan-based China Airlines already flies from Taipei to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and now it plans to add a third California gateway starting in the spring of next year. Could it be San Diego? San Jose? Nope. It’s Ontario International Airport, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles – an airport that currently has just 62 flights a day to 15 cities. China Airlines reportedly expects to carry more than 80,000 passengers a year in each direction on the new route, which it will initially serve four days a week with a two-class, 358-seat 777-300ER.

Aer Lingus is adding a Philadelphia route next year. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus, now a sister company of British Airways as part of International Airlines Group, has announced plans to add new U.S. service on March 25 when it will start flying between Dublin and Philadelphia. The Irish carrier will use a 757 to fly the new route four days a week – a route already operated by BA’s joint venture partner American. Aer Lingus’ summer U.S. schedule for 2018 also includes two flights a day from New York JFK, Boston and Chicago; daily service from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Hartford; four flights a week from Orlando; and three a week from Miami.

Scoot, the low-cost affiliate of Singapore Airlines, has opened the books for reservations on its first U.S. route. The carrier plans a December 19 launch of flights from Singapore to Honolulu via a stop in Osaka, Japan. Scoot will use a 787-8 on the route, which it will fly four days a week. The Scoot 787-8 has 335 seats in a two-class configuration, although some economy seats are offered with extra legroom for an additional fee.

Finnair this week resumed seasonal service to Miami International, operating three flights a week to Helsinki with an Airbus A330. The flights will continue through March.

Vancouver’s Harbour Flight Center is right downtown. (Image: Harbour Air)

Business commuters who travel between Seattle and Vancouver could soon have a new flight option that avoids the two cities’ big airports. The Seattle Times reports that a pair of small regional carriers – Kenmore Air and British Columbia’s Harbour Air – are planning to introduce new seaplane service, possibly by the end of this year. The Seattle departures would be from Lake Union, convenient to Amazon headquarters. Harbour Air operates out of downtown Vancouver’s Harbour Flight Center.

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Two rare birds land by the Bay- with ultra cheap fares

June 3, 2017

Finnair’s inaugural Airbus A330 arrives at San Francisco International on Thursday (Photo: Peter Biaggi / SFO)

This week two rare birds touched down in the Bay Area. Both are offering super cheap transatlantic fares for summer trips.

On Thursday, Finnair landed at SFO, flying in from Helsinki, Finland. Over at Oakland, a brand new airline called Level arrived from Barcelona.

Finnair is flying into SFO with seasonal service– three times a week during summer months only. Currently the lowest roundtrip economy fares between SFO and HEL are running about $1,200 to $1,500 for peak summer flights– not a bad deal for the 11-hour flight. Business class fares are about $2,900 roundtrip.

Here’s what Finnair business class looks like:

Finnair business class on an Airbus A330 (Photo: Finnair)

Next up, we have Level, which breezed into Oakland from Barcelona on Friday with some of the cheapest fares we’ve seen this summer. Its A330 holds 314 passengers and economy and premium economy configuration (no business or first class).

A Level A330 arrives at Oakland International from Barcelona (Photo: Port of Oakland)

Level is a new low-fare subsidiary of IAG, which owns British Airways and Iberia, and is offering some remarkable fares on the first ever nonstops between the Bay Area and Spain.

For summer trips, it’s offering startlingly low fares of just $400 round trip (seriously!) all the way through August! Get ’em while they are hot! Note that you’ll pay extra for checked bags, seat selection and food- see this. The cheapest premium economy fares we could find this weekend for summer trips are in the $1,200 to $1,500 range– a very good deal for a bigger seat, better service, and fewer fees!

What’s it like to fly Level? Good Trip Report here.

More about this bird and all of Oakland’s cheap new flights to Europe here.

A Picasso-inspired inaugural cake served at the gate at Oakland Airport (Photo: Port of Oakland)

If you are interested in a cheap trip to Europe this summer, now’s the time to pounce on these new flights– to fill seats, airlines have lowered fares to levels rarely seen before for deep summer trips.

Take a ride on these new birds and report back to us at TravelSkills about your experiences!

NOTE: The fares mentioned here are available on Saturday, June 3 and subject to change. We use Google Flights to find low fares.

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Routes: Delta, Aeromexico, Finnair, Qatar, Alitalia, Norwegian, United + more

June 1, 2017

Flight from HEL: Finnair rolled out VWs and surfboards at HEL to launch its new Helsinki-San Francisco flights today (Image: Finnair / Twitter)

In international route developments, Delta starts up Europe routes and teams with Aeromexico to add transborder markets; Finnair comes to San Francisco; Qatar delays the addition of a new U.S. gateway; Alitalia extends its Los Angeles schedule; Norwegian alters some U.S. schedules and boosts London frequencies; Southwest expands Mexico service this winter; United adds an Asian code-share; and Air Canada starts a new U.S. route.

Delta has started service on several seasonal routes to Europe. One new seasonal route this summer is Portland, Oregon to London Heathrow, now operating four days a week with a 767-300. Other new Delta seasonal routes to Europe include daily service from Boston to Dublin and from New York JFK to Glasgow (in addition to its JFK-Edinburgh service). Delta has also resumed seasonal daily flights from JFK to Berlin and to Lisbon. In other Europe news, Delta plans to scale back its Salt Lake City-London Heathrow route to seasonal status, discontinuing the flights from October 29 to March 23.

Meanwhile, Delta also announced plans to start selling its Comfort+ extra-legroom economy seating as a separate fare category on more international routes. The seats are now on sale for travel beginning September 20 on routes from North America to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile; and to China and Hong Kong.

The Delta-Aeromexico joint venture will add transborder routes and frequencies. (Image: Delta)

That new joint venture between Delta and Aeromexico has announced plans to start service on five new transborder routes sometime this fall, after they get government approval. The five routes, all to be operated by Aeromexico, include Atlanta-Merida, Atlanta-Queretaro, Los Angeles-Leon, Seattle-Mexico City and Portland-Mexico City. The joint venture will also add a second daily flight between LAX and Los Cabos, and a third between New York JFK and Cancun, both operated by Delta; and a second daily flight from Atlanta to both Leon and Guadalajara, both operated by Aeromexico. With the two airlines now operating as one in terms of scheduling and pricing, these changes could mean higher fares for travelers to Mexico – but the extra flights could also mean fewer connecting hassles at Mexico City’s congested airport.

Finally, Delta is adding more service to Southeast Asia – not on its own, but through new code-shares with transatlantic joint venture partner Air France. According to Routesonline.com, Delta’s code has gone onto Air France’s Paris CDG-Bangkok service, and will do the same October 3 on Air France’s Paris-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam flight.

Finnair is using an A330 on its seasonal San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

San Francisco International’s newest transatlantic route is to Helsinki, Finland. Finnair this week introduced seasonal service from SFO to the Finnish capital, using an Airbus A330-300 to fly the route three times a week, departing SFO on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The Helsinki flights will continue through September.

We reported a while ago that Qatar Airways was planning to add another U.S. gateway in early January with the addition of service between Doha, Qatar and Las Vegas. But the carrier’s latest schedule filings now show that launch date has been pushed back to June 1, 2018. Qatar still expects to fly the route four days a week with a 777-200LR.

It looks like Alitalia will turn its seasonal Los Angeles-Rome service into a year-round operation — almost. Alitalia, a member of Delta’s Skyteam alliance, filed a new schedule showing its LAX-Rome service will not end October 29 as previously planned, but will continue after that three times a week – at least until January 15, when it goes on hiatus until March 6.

We’ve reported previously on the big plans by Norwegian Air International to begin new low-fare service in June from the northeastern U.S. to various points in Europe using its brand-new, longer-range 737MAX 8 aircraft. But Boeing has warned the carrier of delays in delivering the new planes, so Norwegian has been scrambling to adjust its fleet plans. Instead of the new 737MAX 8s, the company now plans to substitute Norwegian Air Shuttle 737-800s for much of the summer on new service from Providence to Bergen, Norway; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Shannon, Cork and Dublin, Ireland, as well as service from Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. to Shannon, Dublin, Edinburgh and Bergen.

Norwegian will increase 787 frequencies on U.S.-London Gatwick routes this winter. (Image: Norwegian)

Meanwhile, Norwegian is also planning to increase frequencies on several U.S. routes to London Gatwick when its winter schedule kicks in on October 29. All the affected routes use 787-9s. Norwegian will boost Oakland-London service from three flights a week to four, while Los Angeles-LGW increases from five flights a week to daily service; Orlando-LGW goes from one a week to two; Ft. Lauderdale-LGW increases from three a week to four; and Boston-Gatwick from four a week to five.

Although Delta and Aeromexico are tightening their grip on the transborder market, other competitors are stepping up their game as well. Southwest Airlines’ winter schedule, effective November 5, shows an increase of its Houston Hobby-Mexico City schedule from three flights a day to four, while its weekly flights from Denver to Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos both go to daily frequencies. On November 11, Southwest will kick off new weekly flights to Cancun from both Nashville and St. Louis. Interjet, the low-cost Mexican carrier, plans to boost its service between New York JFK and Mexico City from 18 flights a week to 25 starting June 15. And United on December 17 will introduce seasonal weekly flights (on Saturdays) between its Denver hub and Cozumel.

Speaking of United, here are a couple of new developments to Asia: United has put its code onto Star Alliance partner ANA’s daily 787 service between Tokyo Narita and Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and United’s aircraft switch on its San Francisco-Seoul flight effective October 29 from a 747-400 to a 777-200ER has changed; the carrier now plans to use a 787-9 instead of a 777. And today we shared the news about what’s missing on United’s new Los Angeles-Singapore nonstops in another post.

Air Canada has added a new destination from Denver. The carrier recently started Air Canada Express service twice a day from Denver to Vancouver, using a 75-passenger CRJ705.The schedule will drop back to once a day September 10.

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Routes: Seattle and SFO; Delta, WOW, AA, Emirates, United, BA + more

March 31, 2017

Sir Richard Branson frolics at Seattle-Tacoma as Virgin Atlantic starts service there. (Image: Virgin Atlantic)

In international route news, Virgin Atlantic starts a pair of west coast routes; Delta resumes a transatlantic route and adds a South American one; Iceland’s WOW brings its low-fare service to the Midwest; American puts a new cabin class on sale; Emirates scales back at LAX but British Airways grows there; United starts two seasonal routes to Rome; Finnair drops a U.S. gateway; and Copa doubles down at O’Hare.

Virgin Atlantic Airways this week kicked off its new service to Seattle, using a 787-9 for its daily flights to London Heathrow. Virgin’s operations in the U.S. are closely coordinated with joint venture partner Delta, and Virgin’s new Seattle service replaces Delta’s daily flight to London. Delta was using a 767, so Virgin’s 787-9 increases capacity on the route by 50 seats a day. Also this week, Virgin Atlantic introduced new seasonal service from San Francisco International to Manchester, using an A330-300. That route operates three days a week (Tuesday, Friday and Sunday). It’s the only SFO-Manchester non-stop service, but it won’t be for long: On May 14, U.K. leisure carrier Thomas Cook Airlines will begin two flights a week with an A330-200. All this is in addition to British Airways four daily nonstops from the Bay Area to London!

Delta will fly to the beaches of Rio from JFK starting in December (Image: VisitBrazil.com)

Delta will expand its South America reach later this year with new daily service between New York JFK and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, slated to launch December 21. Using a 210-passenger 767-300 with Delta One flatbed seats, Delta will offer onward connections at Rio to 23 Brazilian destinations thanks to its Brazilian partner GOL. Meanwhile, Delta this week resumed service on the Atlanta-Brussels route, flying five times a week (increasing to daily during summer) with a 767-400. Delta had suspended the route a year ago after the Brussels terror attacks, although it maintained daily flights to Brussels from JFK.

On July 13, Icelandic low-cost carrier WOW will add another U.S. gateway, starting service four days a week to Reykjavik from Chicago O’Hare. The carrier said it is offering one-way base fares starting as low as $99 (plus extras) from ORD to Iceland, or $149 for connections to major European capitals. The flights will operate Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using an A321-300 with 30-inch seat pitch (or 34 inches for an additional fee).

American’s new premium economy seating is on 787-9s in select markets. (Image: American Airlines).

American Airlines’ new international premium economy seats, currently available on a few routes out of Dallas/Ft. Worth, have been used for upgrades during their rollout. But now the airline is putting the new cabin category on sale for travel beginning May 4. AA’s premium economy class is on its new 787-9s from DFW to Paris, Madrid, Sao Paulo and Seoul. Seats are 19 inches wide with 38 inches of pitch (vs. 33-34 inches in Main Cabin Extra) in a 2-3-2 layout.

Is that U.S. laptop ban starting to hurt business for the big Middle Eastern carriers? Routesonline.com reports that Emirates is “temporarily adjusting” its schedule between Los Angeles and Dubai, cutting service from two flights a day to one from May 1 through June 30.

But Routesonline.com says that British Airways is planning an increased schedule from LAX to London Heathrow, bringing on a third daily flight effective October 29. The additional frequency will use a 787-9. On the same date, BA will boost its New Orleans-LHR schedule from four flights a week to five. Meanwhile, BA this week introduced its biggest bird – the 469-passenger A380-800 – into the aircraft mix on its Boston-London route, where the giant jet operates Mondays and Fridays.

United’s seasonal international schedule adjustments start to kick in next week. On April 4, the carrier will begin seasonal service from Newark to Rome and from Washington Dulles to Rome, both using 767s. The Newark flights continue through November 8, while the Dulles schedule is in place through October 27. Also on April 4, United will lay on extra frequencies from Newark to Paris, Dublin and London.

Trying to get from Miami to Helsinki this summer? Forget Finnair, which is suspending service on that route from May 1 through September 30, according to Routesonline.com. The Finnish carrier is also cutting back Chicago-Helsinki frequencies from five flights a week to three.

Panama’s Copa Airlines is doubling its service from Chicago O’Hare to Panama City effective June 1, when it will supplement its existing daily morning departure with a midafternoon flight out of ORD. Copa has onward service from its Panama City hub to 50 destinations in Latin America.

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Popular: Dogs on planes | SkyClubs | Marriott’s big move | 100,000 points | Mis-pronounced foods

September 25, 2016

My dog Suzie wonders why everyone’s so upset about dogs on planes! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 Don’t miss comments from both sides of this hot issue: Kicking “support animals” off the plane

2 It’s a bad news-good news story: Marriott Starwood: Higher prices, better rewards

3 Routes: Finnair to SFO, Delta, Virgin Australia, Austrian, AA, SAS + more

4 It’s go time for huge Marriott-Starwood merger

5 Private passageway for the posh: British Airways’ new “millionaire’s door” at Heathrow

6 Airport news: Inside newest Delta SkyClub + Phoenix, Seattle, Boston, LAX

7 What the future holds: An amazing upgrade for LAX- in pictures

8 Bedazzling, story-telling maps: Eye-catching maps explain the state of the world

9 Got THE card yet? The 100,000 points question

10 How does yours rank? 5 airports with best/worst cell phone reception

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

Crystal Cruises plans to have a B777 like this to whisk its top customers to the ship (Photo: Crystal Cruises)

Crystal Cruises plans to have a B777 with interiors like this to whisk its top customers to the ship (Photo: Crystal Cruises)

Crystal Cruises pimps out a B777 like you’ve never seen before

Alaska-Virgin deal hits snag, delays ensue

Virgin America’s new app has landed!

Hawaiian Air nonstops to London? On an A380?

Basking in SFO’s $5.7 billion to-do list

Alaska Air not expected to decide on fate of Virgin brand until late this year

Earn Delta EQMs with new Hilton promo (registration required)

BRUSCHETTA (broo-SKEH-tah)

16 foods you are probably mispronouncing

JetBlue considering adding wide-bodies to its fleet?

Virgin America flight attendants angry as merger approaches

Virgin Atlantic’s A330s will all have speedy satellite Wi-Fi by year’s end

The Fairmont Claremont (Image: Fairmont)

Bay Area’s historic Claremont Hotel becomes a Fairmont after an overhaul

Carlson Rezidor Hotels offers its loyalty members direct booking discounts

Dubious honor for Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport

Southwest exec discusses carrier’s international growth plans

World’s airlines score $40 billion in fees for 2015; United leads the pack

New app handles same-day bookings at independent luxury hotels

Screenshot from Trump Washington website

Trump’s new D.C. hotel: Korans and $59 salads

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Dubious honor for Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport

Southwest exec discusses carrier’s international growth plans

World’s airlines score $40 billion in fees for 2015; United leads the pack

Delta’s new safety video debuts in October. Thoughts?

Safety is not a game, but this new video is. Coming to Delta Studio Oct. 1. pic.twitter.com/MBcGTzlp8o
— Delta (@Delta) September 22, 2016

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Kicking support animals off planes | Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | Marriott-Starwood: Higher prices, better rewards | The 10,000 points question! | Eye-catching maps explain state of the world | Test your planespotting skills! )

DONT MISS! The 100,000 points question!

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You scrolled all the way down here? Then here’s your reward! A fun video 🙂

Routes: Finnair to SFO, Delta, Virgin Australia, Austrian, AA, SAS + more

September 22, 2016

Finnair will use an A330 on its San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

In international route news, Finnair will add San Francisco service next year; Delta expands sales of Comfort+ seats and Caribbean code-sharing, Virgin Australia will revive Melbourne service, Austrian Airlines is coming to Los Angeles, American suspends some Europe flights, SAS comes to Miami Aer Lingus adds a pair of gateways, United code-shares to India, and a Mexican carrier adds three U.S. routes.

Finland’s national carrier is coming to San Francisco next year. Finnair said it will operate seasonal SFO-Helsinki flights three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) from June 1 through September 30, using an A330. The new service will be a part of the transatlantic joint venture that includes Oneworld partners American, British Airways and Iberia as well as Finnair. “Thanks to Helsinki’s geographical location, Finnair’s new northern route to San Francisco will offer competitive travel times for customers from Scandinavia, the Baltics, Russia as well as from many European cities,” a spokesperson said. Finnair currently flies to New York, Chicago and Miami. At first glance, SFO-HEL roundtrip economy fares appear to be in the steep $1,900 range, but we’ll be on the lookout for lower introductory promo fares.

Delta said it has expanded the sale of its extra-legroom Comfort+ economy seating to a number of international routes, including: from the U.S. and Canada to Latin America and the Caribbean (except Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile); between North America and Asia-Pacific destinations (except China and Hong Kong); and on flights within the Asia-Pacific region (except China and Hong Kong). Last fall, Delta created a new fare category for Comfort+ and started selling it for travel within the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, Delta has expanded its agreement with Caribbean-based Seaborne Airlines to allow single-ticketing for connections through San Juan to St. Croix, Anguilla and Beef Island in the British Virgin Islands; and between St. Thomas and St. Croix.

The new business class on a Virgin Australia 777-300. (Image: Virgin Australia)

Virgin Australia has set a launch date of April 4, 2017 for a revival of service between Los Angeles and Melbourne. On the same date, it will trim LAX-Brisbane schedules from seven flights a week to six. The carrier also flies from LAX to Sydney. Its transpacific operations are part of a joint venture with Delta. Virgin said it will fly the LAX-Melbourne route five times a week (no westbound departures on Wednesdays or Mondays), using a 777-300ER.

Los Angeles will get another new international route beginning April 10, 2017, when Austrian Airlines plans to launch up to six flights a week between LAX and Vienna, using a 777. The 12 and a half hour seasonal flight will depart Los Angeles daily except Sundays at 3:05 p.m. Austrian, a part of the Lufthansa Group, also flies to New York JFK, Newark, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Miami.

American Airlines plans to cut back its international schedule out of Philadelphia. After ending its Philadelphia-Brussels service last month, American now says its seasonal PHL-Zurich service, which ends September 30, will not be revived next year; and its year-round PHL-Frankfurt flights will now operate seasonally, with no service from October 30 through April 5. AA also plans to drop its twice-weekly Philadelphia-Halifax flights in January. Elsewhere, American will suspend Chicago O’Hare-Paris CDG flights from December 5 through December 13, and from January 10 to March 25; and its New York JFK-Manchester flights from January 9 through March 29.

DONT MISS! The 100,000 points question!

On September 28, SAS is introducing new non-stop service from Miami International to Copenhagen and Oslo. The carrier will offer flights to Copenhagen on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; and to Oslo on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Aer Lingus is adding two U.S. routes this month. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus this month introduced new daily year-round service between Dublin and Newark Liberty International, using an Airbus A330. And on September 28, the Irish carrier is slated to inaugurate a new route linking Hartford, Connecticut with Dublin, operating four days a week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday) with a 757.

United flyers will get a new option for travel from the West Coast to India next month. United is putting its code onto Star Alliance partner Air Canada’s new Vancouver-Delhi seasonal service, which will operate from October 20 through April 6.

Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet will expand its transborder network this fall with a trio of new U.S. routes. On October 20, it will inaugurate twice-daily service between Mexico City and Los Angeles, followed on November 10 by a daily Las Vegas-Mexico City roundtrip and on November 17 by two daily Mexico City-Chicago O’Hare flights. The airline will use Airbus A320s for all the flights.

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | More Delta SkyMiles for Asian trips | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | JetBlue-Delta slugfest means lower fares | Test your planespotting skills! )

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A spin around the new Airbus A350

August 19, 2014

The most noticeable feature of the new Airbus A350 is the unusual swoop of the winglet (Photo: Ramsey Qubein)

The world’s newest long-haul, wide body commercial jet, the Airbus A350-900, recently completed its route-proving mission in Helsinki and TravelSkills was invited along to take a look at the first of the “XWB” family of aircraft to debut.

Finnair will be the first European carrier to get its hands on the new bird when it takes delivery of its first of 11 in 2015. Initially, Finnair plans to deploy the A350 on routes between Helsinki and Bangkok, Beijing, and Shanghai. (Qatar Airways will be the first airline to operate the A350 later this year.) UPDATE: Delta has announced that it will purchase 25 A350s as part of a $6 billion deal with Airbus. The planes could be delivered to Delta as early as 2017.

In the US, both American and United are in line to add the A350 to their fleets with deliveries currently set for 2017 and 2018, respectively. At a recent event in San Francisco, Cathay Pacific said that it plans to replace its fleet of Boeing 747s in part with the A350.

High ceilings and a 3-3-3 configuration in economy make the A350 feel spacious (Photo: Ramsey Qubein)

Airbus designed the A350 XWB family to compete with Boeing’s popular and efficient Dreamliner (787) and 777. These smaller, lighter aircraft give airlines the flexibility to fly nonstop on “long, thin routes” where there’s not enough demand to fill a jumbo like the 747 or A380.

Disclosure: Ramsey was a guest of Finnair in Helsinki

The A350-900 has a range of 8,250 nautical miles (which means it can fly nonstop from the US East coast to cities in China or southern Africa) and will carry roughly 276 passengers in a standard two-class configuration. Since this plane can fly farther and holds a smaller number of passengers than larger aircraft, it gives airlines the chance to open new routes that may not have made sense before. The Wall Street Journal reports that 38 airlines have ordered over 700 A350s– its highest total ever for a new jet that has yet to enter service.

The “XWB” suffix stands for “Extra Wide Body,” referring to the interior of the cabin. The A350-900 is 18.3 feet wide “from armrest to armrest” which is six inches wider than the cabin of a Dreamliner, Airbus claims. Not a huge difference, but every inch counts when it comes to cabin space these days, right?

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An unusual curved winglet is the distinguishing feature of the new Airbus A350

In Helsinki, the first thing that drew my attention were the plane’s curved winglets, which reduce drag inflight. (See photo above.) They are not rigidly bent upward in the same way other aircraft winglets are; rather they curve upward and swoosh backward. This is supposed to improve the fuel economy that existing winglets already provide. Also, the shape of the aircraft nose is also unusually pointy, something not found on other Airbus aircraft, and a characteristic that will make it easy to identify.

Aside from the nose and the winglets, the aircraft looks very similar to the A330 family since it is a twin-engine aircraft. The cabin is wider and the windows are larger than its older sibling, however, which are two features that passengers will appreciate.

A sense of spaciousness is immediately notable on entering the plane. I attribute this to the high ceiling, which is in part due to the way the overhead bins fold away into the ceiling of the aircraft. The bins are very deep and tall allowing more space for baggage.

Another feature: a cabin that’s 220 inches wide… which can accommodate either 9 or 10 seats across in economy. Let’s hope airlines opt for the 9 abreast seen here.

Of course, each airline will decide how they want to configure the interior seating and cabins, which plays a role in the sense of space as well. The A350 is wide enough to have 10 seats across in the main cabin, if an airline chooses to do that. We hope airlines stick with a 9-abreast option to truly take advantage of the extra wide cabin and not pack us in like sardines. Thankfully, Finnair will have a 3-3-3 configuration in economy and a 1-2-1 design in business class. (Airbus feels that an 18 inch wide seat should be the standard and has launched a campaign to encourage airlines to adopt it.)

Like the Dreamliner, the A350 is a game changer because it is 25% more fuel efficient than similarly sized aircraft, which makes airlines (and environmentalists) happy. Airbus’s main selling point is that, when compared to the Dreamliner, the A350 burns 9% less fuel, yet still carries more passengers.

A350 XWB - ROUTE PROVING - TRIP 2 - HONG KONG THROUGH THE WINDOW

Windows on the A350 are larger than on other Airbus planes, but not as big as those on the Boeing 787.

In addition to the plane’s pleasing girth, passengers will notice larger windows than other Airbus aircraft (Airbus windows are noticeably smaller than those on Boeing and Embraer planes). Still, the windows are not as large windows those on a Dreamliner, and they don’t have electronic dimming capability.

High ceilings and mood lighting add to cabin comfort on the new A350 (Photo: Ramsey Qubein)

LED lighting in the cabin can produce nearly 200 shades of color, which airlines can use for branding purposes or to create a more soothing atmosphere. Cabin lights will gradually become brighter as they are turned on. Lighting like this should offer flight attendants a gentle alternative to just blasting the lights on to wake everyone up for a meal.

The A350 airframe is crafted of composite materials that are corrosion and fatigue free. Like the Dreamliner, this makes it lighter. An advanced air filtration system will refresh cabin air completely every two to three minutes, which should help to combat dry skin and reduce the effects of jet lag. The cabin will be pressurized at 6,000 feet, which is similar to Boeing’s Dreamliner.

Finnair’s new aircraft will come equipped with wifi access, which will help to make those long flights feel shorter. Also, engineers integrated the inflight entertainment systems and wiring underneath the floor so there are none of those irritating boxes underneath economy class seats stealing your precious leg room! (There must have been a few frequent flyers at the drawing board, right!)

Overall, when the A350 takes to the skies with airlines in 2015, its passengers should be pleasantly surprised with the modern interior and sense of space…and airlines will be elated at the jet’s efficiency.

–Ramsey Qubein

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Delta shuttle changes + Virgin beefs up Dallas + 747 quickly disappearing + Posh NYC hotel perch + DFW gets rapid rail

August 17, 2014

The art deco Marine Air Terminal at New York LaGuardia (Photo: Matt Green / Flickr)

AIRLINES

Delta upgrades LGA-BOS Shuttle. On November 2, Delta will move its New York LaGuardia-Boston Logan Delta Shuttle from LGA’s remote (and cooly art-deco) Marine Air Terminal to Terminal C, and will upgrade its aircraft to 110-passenger Boeing 717s. (Those 717s used to belong to AirTran.) Delta Shuttle’s LGA-Washington and LGA-Chicago flights will remain at the Marine Air Terminal and continue using Delta Connection/Shuttle America E-175s. Besides the larger planes (with three classes of seating, configured 2-3 in the back + wi-fi + power outlets), LGA-BOS Shuttle passengers will enjoy easier connections and a wider array of terminal services. (Any comments on the improvements Delta has made at LGA lately?)

Virgin expands DAL schedule. Virgin America beefed up is flight skeds from Dallas Love Field (DAL) not long after Southwest said it, too plans to start DAL-SFO/OAK flights. These higher daily frequencies are designed to make Virgin more appealing to business travelers. Virgin’s initial schedule at DAL starts in October, with three flights a day to SFO, LAX and DCA, and four to LGA. Now Virgin says it will add a fourth daily roundtrip to SFO, LAX and DCA starting April 29. (Unconfirmed reports suggest Virgin might end its SFO-Ft. Lauderdale route to free up aircraft for DAL; Virgin is also suspending SFO-PHL and LAX-PHL October 6.) It will also continue its twice-daily SFO-Austin service.

Legacy carriers cut routes… Delta and United are both eliminating some key business routes from their networks. At Memphis — once a Northwest hub — Delta plans to end service next month to Denver and to Austin, although it will add two more daily flights to its ATL hub. Meanwhile, United is due to end its daily non-stop Pittsburgh-Los Angeles flight on August 18, and its two daily Chicago O’Hare-Topeka flights on September 2, leaving that Kansas airport without scheduled passenger service.

…While low-cost airlines add them. Southwest Airlines last week kicked off six daily roundtrips between Chicago Midway and Washington Reagan National, plus three a day between DCA-Nashville and two from DCA to New Orleans. Southwest will add Cleveland-Phoenix service November 2, and just took over more Mexico routes from rapidly disappearing subsidiary AirTran … Spirit Airlines has started service from Kansas City to ORD, DFW, DTW, LAS and IAH, and announced new daily service linking Detroit-ATL and Detroit-New Orleans starting in November, as well as new once-daily service between ORD-ATL, ORD-MSY and ORD-BWI … Frontier said it will begin service on 10 new routes from northern cities to sun destinations this winter.

An alert sent to TravelSkills by Alaska Airlines this week

Reminder: At SFO, all Alaska Airlines flights will move to the International Terminal, Boarding Area A, effective Wednesday, August 20. Details regarding lounge access for Board Room members are still up in the air, however. Stay tuned.

INTERNATIONAL

A fond farewell to Cathay’s Queen of the Skies (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Cathay Pacific bids farewell to the B747. On August 31, the Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 will make its final departure from SFO, marking Cathay’s retirement of the graceful “Queen of the Skies” from long haul service. At a bittersweet farewell event at San Francisco International this week, Cathay’s Americas head Tom Owen said that Cathy is shedding itself of the B747 in “one of the fastest fleet replacements in history.” Why so fast? Owen said that while the company credits the 747 as the tool that made it a truly global carrier in the 1990s, “it was designed in an era when a barrel of oil cost $15-$20.” With oil currently hovering around the $100/bbl mark, Cathay is moving to the Boeing 777-300ER and the soon-to-be-released Airbus A350 (both of which are 25% more efficient than the 747) for its long haul flights. Cathay’s remaining 747s will be deployed on intra-Asia routes for the next two years, and will then disappear.

Mockup of Aer Lingus’ new true lie flat business class seat coming in 2015 (Aer Lingus)

New biz classes at Aer Lingus, Finnair. Aer Lingus has detailed its plans for a (much needed) revamped business class to debut in 2015, with fully-flat seats, free Wi-Fi, 16-inch hi-def touchscreens and Irish cuisine. Meanwhile, Finnair has unveiled the interior designs for its long-haul fleet of Airbus’ new A350 XWB (extra wide body) aircraft, which the Finnish carrier will start flying in 2015. The 297-seat A350s will have a 46-seat 1-2-1 business class with flat-bed seats, 16-inch touchscreens, Wi-Fi and more. (TravelSkills contributor Ramsey Qubein recently flew to Helsinki for a first hand look at the first A350– stay tuned for his review later this week!)

Did you see our post on How to Deal With Americans? This is one of those cases where reader feedback is even better than the post! 🙂 Check it out here.

AIRPORTS

New DART rapid rail connection at DFW (Photo: Dallas Area Rapid Transit)

DFW gets a rail link. August 18 marks the opening of the DFW Airport Station, the terminus for a five-mile extension of Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s light rail. The station, part of DFW’s Terminal A, is opening four months ahead of schedule. The new Orange Line extension runs from the airport to Belt Line Station, with continuing service to Irving-Las Colinas, Dallas Market Center and downtown Dallas. It will make DFW the third-largest U.S. airport with a direct rail link to the city center.

HOTELS

The striking new Park Hyatt: A posh new perch in NYC (Photo: Hyatt)

NYC Park Hyatt opens next week. An August 19 debut is slated for Hyatt’s new flagship property, the Park Hyatt New York, across from Carnegie Hall on West 57th Street. The posh property takes up the first 25 floors of a 90-story glass tower that reshapes the Midtown skyline; the floors above contain ultra-expensive condos. The Park Hyatt has 210 extra-large rooms (standard rooms average around 500 square feet), including lots of suite options; rates start at $700-$800 a night.

Rebranded Chicago-area hotels. There’s lots of hotel rebranding in and around Chicago this month. Downtown, the former Crowne Plaza at 160 E. Huron was remade into a dual-branded Hilton — the Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago Magnificent Mile … The former InterContinental Chicago O’Hare Hotel, a 556-room property across from the Donald Stephens Convention Center in suburban Rosemont, has been acquired by Loews Hotels and converted to the Loews brand … In the western suburb of Oak Brook, the former Renaissance has been converted by Starwood into Le Meridien Chicago-Oak Brook Center after a $25 million renovation; and the former Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center is now the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills.