WOW Air Takes Delivery Of A320neo And Hawaiian Airlines Debuts its New Premium Cabins

WOW Air, the low-fare airline based in Iceland, has taken delivery of its first A320neo on lease from Air Lease Corporation. WOW Air is an all Airbus operator with 12 aircraft in its fleet to date.

WOW Air selected the A320neo for its low operating costs and fuel efficiency character. The aircraft will feature a single-class cabin layout with 180 seats. The airline has chosen CFM engines to power the aircraft that will be used to operate throughout Europe routes.

The A320neo Family has received over 5,000 orders from over 90 customers. The aircraft family includes new generation engines and Sharklet wing-tip devices, bringing 15 percent in fuel savings to carriers.

As the airline said, this new delivery “will strengthen the airline’s fleet and expand its network” that comprises today 30 international routes throughout Europe and North America.

Hawaiian Airlines’ new lie-flat seats and Premium Cabins debuted their service from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK), joining Tokyo (Narita), Brisbane and Sydney, Australia as the destinations in which the airline currently offers its new cabin products.

The business class cabin in Hawaiian Airlines’ Airbus A330s includes 18 lie-flat seats. The airline collaborated with California-based consultancy PaulWylde to incorporate the new seat, evocative of elements of the winds and ocean, while mating organic textures and a sand and sea color palette throughout the cabin.

Aligned in a 2-2-2 configuration, the Optimares-designed seats are ideally tailored to leisure guests (couples, families, honeymooners), while offering superior functionality to the business traveler.

Besides the new seat, the airline has introduced new designer amenity kits, new custom cocktails through an exclusive partnership with On The Rocks premium cocktails, featuring all-natural ingredients, and new first class menus from the airline’s Featured Chef Series, featuring menus from Hawaii’s top chefs on a six-month rotation.

The island state airline has also increased the number of premium economy seats from 40 to 68. Dubbed the Extra Comfort, the product features 36 inches of seat pitch, priority boarding at the gate, complimentary on-demand in-seat entertainment, and a personal power outlet.

With the new configuration, the seat number in Hawaiian’s A330-200s will decrease from 294 to 278 while the fleet is being retrofitted with the new cabin configuration through 2017.

Hawaii’s tourism industry established new records in visitor arrivals in 2016. According to data from Hawaii Tourism Authority, over 8.9 million visitors came to Hawaii in 2016, representing a 3 percent increase compared to 2015, including an increase in arrivals from all regions of the east coast. Particularly, the New York City – Hawaii non-stop traffic increased by 14% year over year.

Solar Plane Raises $20M To Resume Record Round-the-world trip

The Swiss solar-powered plane whose record-setting, round-the-world flight was put on hold in July by weather and battery trouble has raised the $20 million it needs to finish the trip, co-founder and pilot Andre Borschberg said on Monday.

Borschberg, at the United Nations’ Paris climate summit with co-pilot Bertrand Piccard, said backers that include chemical maker Solvay, Swiss lift maker Schindler, power grid maker ABB and Swatch’s Omega brand, made contributions.

Borschberg and Piccard had hoped to finish the 35,000 km (21,748 mile), multi-leg circum navigation in 2015, leaving from Abu Dhabi in March.

First, crosswinds in China caused weeks of delays. Then, when its batteries overheated during a record-breaking five-day, five-night Pacific crossing from Japan to Hawaii in July, the plane was forced to winter inside a hangar at Kalaeloa.

“The financial side is under control,” Borschberg, a former Swiss Air Force fighter pilot and co-founder of Solar Impulse said.

“We are all very focused and looking forward to continuing next year,” said the 62-year-old, who flies solo, alternating between pit-stops with Piccard at the controls of the single-seat plane.

Solar Impulse’s budget since 2004 is now some $170 million. The plane has 17,248 solar cells, a wider wing-span than a Boeing 747 and weighs as much as a five-seater family car.

Borschberg said he plans to start test flights around March and, barring obstacles, the 2,500-mile leg from Hawaii to North America starts in April, when daylight hours are sufficient to recharge the batteries.

West Coast stops have been left open to accommodate potentially fickle weather. Vancouver, as well as San Francisco, Los Angeles or Phoenix are all candidates, Borschberg said.

They also reckon on a U.S. Midwest pit-stop followed by New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, before crossing to either Europe or North Africa and, finally, Abu Dhabi.

“We know we can do it, but it remains a challenge,” Borschberg said.

He hopes a year’s delay will not undermine the message he aims to spread at the Paris climate talks: deploying renewable energy technology will help stop climate change.

“That’s what we used to make it feasible to fly day and night with the sun only,” he said. “That’s what we certainly could implement on a larger scale.”