ICELAND:Icelandair Stops Flights To Kansas City And San Francisco

Icelandair will end service to Kansas City and San Francisco this fall as it aims to shore up its business.

Seasonal Kansas City (MCI) flights ended on Sept. 15 and will not resume next summer, while year-round San Francisco (SFO) flights end on Jan. 5, according to Diio by Cirium schedule data. Icelandair served both cities from Reykjavik (KEF).

Icelandair is ending the routes for commercial reasons, it said in an announcement Monday. The airline continues to review its network to both improve profitability and minimize the impact of the Boeing 737 MAX grounding, it added.

The carrier suspended flights to Tampa (TPA) in June as a result of the grounding.

Icelandair’s move comes just half-a-year after its Reykjavik-based low-cost competition WOW Air shut down. At its peak, WOW served 15 destinations in the U.S., including San Francisco, Diio by Cirium schedule data shows.

Kansas City director of aviation Pat Klein said in a statement that the city was disappointed in Icelandair’s decision to end service. The airline was the first to ever provide a nonstop to Europe from the airport.

Aviation staff will continue to meet with airlines with the intent to grow Kansas City’s international access.

Icelandair continues to serve 12 cities in the U.S., including Denver (DEN), New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) and Washington Dulles (IAD), from Reykjavik, according to Diio schedules.

Tourism Observer

USA: JetBlue Announces New Havana And Mexico Services

JetBlue announced the expansion of its presence in Havana and Mexico City by adding three new services and more routes departing from the carrier’s northeast and south Florida focus cities, subject to government approval.

From November 10, 2018, JetBlue will offer New England’s first-ever nonstop service to Cuba flying on Saturdays between Boston’s Logan International Airport (BOS) and Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport (HAV).

Furthermore, the carrier will expand service to Cuba with up to three daily flights from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and HAV on every day except for Saturdays, starting on November 11, 2018.

As the first airline to operate commercial service between the U.S. and Cuba in more than 50 years, we are proud to announce another JetBlue first by offering the only nonstop service between New England and Havana, said Marty St. George, JetBlue’s Executive Vice President Commercial and Planning.

St. George shared that the company is establishing its position as a top choice for travel to Cuba between the Boston service and the additional frequency between south Florida and Havana.

There has been a strong demand for this service and we look forward to the exciting new travel opportunities it will generate for the entire New England region, established Massport CEO, Thomas P. Glynn.

Additionally, JetBlue shared its intention to commence two new daily nonstop flights to Mexico City with service from Boston and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), which will start on October 25, 2018.

These new services follow the decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation to grant frequencies to the airline, which are pending to be approved by the government.

Also, JetBlue will now offer six daily flights between the U.S. and Mexico’s capital city.

Both operations to Cuba and Mexico will be managed by JetBlue’s Airbus A320 aircraft which features comfortable seating and the most legroom in coach; complimentary and unlimited name-brand snacks; over 100 channels of free SIRIUSXM® radio programming.

36 channels of free, live DIRECTV® programming on personal seatback televisions; and free Fly-Fi high-speed wireless Internet which is exclusively available within the U.S. territory.

As of today, JetBlue is New York’s Hometown Airline, and a leading carrier in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles (Long Beach), Orlando, and San Juan.

Furthermore, it carries over 40 million customers a year, with 1,000 daily flights, to 101 destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean, and Latin America.


Tourism Observer

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.

TANZANIA: Etihad To Commence Flights To Tanzania

When on the 01st of December Etihad makes its maiden flight from Abu Dhabi to Dar es Salaam, closing a destination gap their closest competitors in the Gulf already serve multiple times a day, will travelers from Tanzania be in for not just a new kid on the aviation block but also news that the national airline of Abu Dhabi and the UAE is now flying their Airbus A380 to New York.

This aircraft type is now daily on the route to the big apple, offering the splendor of a First Class apartment in the sky, at the cool cost of 32.000 US Dollars one way between Abu Dhabi and JFK.

Few East Africans will be able to afford spending this sort of money on an airticket but the airlines’ highly acclaimed business class offers travel at much more competitive prices similar to what Etihad’s competitors charge.

The airline, after Nairobi, which it serves in code share with Kenya Airways, also comes to Entebbe, albeit not daily as initially thought and will from next Wednesday commence services to Tanzania’s commercial capital.

USA: Delta Air Lines To Connect Heathrow To Salt Lake City, JFK To Edinburgh

The US airline Delta Air Lines, which signed a joint venture agreement with Virgin Atlantic on transatlantic flights, will open two new lines in May 2016: Salt Lake City to London Heathrow and New York JFK to Edinburgh.

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic will use their valuable lots on Heathrow airport to launch there a new route to Salt Lake City, Utah in the US capital. Flights operated by Delta Air Line's depart daily from 1 May 2016, with departure at 20:10 Salt Lake City for an arrival at London Heathrow at 13:10 the next day. The return is scheduled at 14:15 for a landing in Utah 6:07 p.m.. Both cities were never connected until then Europe with a single connection again operated by Delta Air Lines for 7 years, to Paris Charles de Gaulle. In 2009, Delta had also launched a connection to Tokyo-Narita, but that was later abandoned due to low demand from the travelers and by fear of the H1N1 virus that hit Japan hard.

Delta will launch the same May 26, 2016 daily flights between New York JFK and Edinburgh, a new route that follows the logic of expansion of Virgin Atlantic from Scotland with the launch last year of a Glasgow-Orlando. Takeoff from New York is scheduled at 20:15 for a scheduled arrival at 8:40 the next day. The return flight restarts Edinburgh 10:30 for a landing at JFK at 1:01 p.m.. Delta Air Lines will however compete with American Airlines from Heathrow (code-sharing with British Airways) as well as with United since Newark (codeshare with Lufthansa).

USA: JetBlue Airways To Begin Flying to Palm Springs January 14, 2016

JetBlue Airways (New York) today announced it will begin seasonal nonstop service between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) in Southern California this winter, subject to government approval. Palm Springs will be JetBlue’s ninth destination in the Golden State.

The new flights will operate five times per week, Thursday through Monday, between January 14, 2016 and May 1, 2016.

JetBlue will operate Airbus A320s on the route.