So Avianca airlines has detected that my two trips booked with points are “non operational”. As all of Avianca’s flights are grounded and much of their Star Alliance partners, then the chances of me getting on a plane this month are very low. Can you imagine? I have had no plane flights for a month! Last year I flew seven times a month so it is a shock! The good news is that Lifemiles have offered to refund both the air taxes and the LifeMiles points. That is nice. Appreciated. BUT they will still charge…
Airline News (Friday)
Category Archives for Airline News (Friday).
Qatar Airways getting people home
Most of the airline networks are closed, plane after plane grounded and borders sealed. One airline is experiencing a mini boom. So much so that it has expanded capacity on some routes and even put its Airbus A380 mega jumbos back into service. Following the decision by the United Arab Emirates to close its borders to all travelers including transit passengers, Emirates and Etihad Airways, ceased all passenger operations for two weeks. Doha in neighbouring Qatar remains open as a transit point but passengers cannot enter the country. Qatar airways have launched a campaign #wewillgetyouhome…
Virgin Atlantic Sucks- COVID19 Fail
II try and avoid these type of posts but I have become so disillusioned with Virgin Atlantic. Imagine if in December, I had bought a non refundable airline ticket through Virgin Atlantic. Imagine if I changed my mind about the dates and wanted to change or refund it Would I deserve that option? A big fat “no”. I get that. I support that. Imagine, however, if since I bought the ticket that the world changed completely? Imagine that a new and scary virus emerged. A virus that results in thousands of deaths airports being shut…
Airline closures and suspensions- Status of Key Airlines
The travel industry is in a really tough place right now. I can’t see how airlines will survive without government financial aid. Every airline is making major changes. The tally is one airline shut down forever, six who have suspended all operations for a period of time and several who have made massive cuts to operations. What do you need to do? Whatever they are doing, if you are tickets, then you and/or the airline will probably be making some sort of changes to flight time, date or destination. If you have booked through a…
American ditches Fleet, Network and Frequency
Sunday evening March 15, I fly to Dublin, Ireland with American Airlines. Little did I know when I booked my trip that this would be the very last day for that flight until at least May. Flights from Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix to London Heathrow, Dublin and Manchester will be suspended on March 15 and the return trips back to the USA will be flown March 16. These are part of a 75% cut in American’s international capacity which will be accompanied by a 20% cut in its domestic capacity in April and…
Good Bye Hong Kong Airlines. Facing curtains, they shaft their passengers
This post is both a farewell to Hong Kong Airlines personally and an acknowledgment that they are most certainly finally finished as an air carrier. I have used Hong Kong Airlines a few times now to zip around Asia and have loved them. As my reviews have previously noted, their service has been top notch. They also give/gave good points earning options for my Virgin Australia Velocity frequent flyer program. My enthusiasm for them has been tempered by my concern over their precarious financial situation and concerns that every flight with them might be my last! …
TAP-ing for the first time
I have been making a concerted effort to fly more Star Alliance partners having now flown all of the One World carriers. This has meant flights with ANA, LOT, EVA Airways and Air China for the first time this year. Now it’s time to try TAP Portugal on their brand new Airbus 330neo, taking advantage of their generous free Lisbon stopover program. Have you tried TAP?
HK airlines exits US market- cuts more capacity
Hong Kong airlines initially operated a nice collection of routes around Asia. Then, the airline embarked on a massive expansion, ordering a very large number of new planes and using them to new long distance destinations in the Australian, New Zealand and North American. In June 2017, Skytrax announced that Hong Kong Airlines was the second-best airline in the Asia region and 24th best internationally. Having flown them a few times, they are definitely a great airline. The trouble is they have been losing money and things really came unstuck over the last year with resignations…
Is Adria Airways finished?
Overshadowed by the collapse of Thomas Cook, Slovenia’s Adria suspended flights for two days on Monday and Tuesday. They have now extended the shutdown: “Adria Airways announces that it will continue with temporarily ceased majority of its flight operations also on Thursday, 26 September and Friday, 27 September. During these two additional days, the company will maintain a connection to its most important hub in Frankfurt. The Airline plans to operate on both days evening flights on route Ljubljana – Frankfurt – Ljubljana.” Two flights a day is cold comfort for the people stranded across…
Jet Airways suspended- not coming back
On my list of airlines in trouble, Jet was near the top. People hoped that they would find a rescuer. I was more pessimistic. Jet suspended all operations this week after 25 years of operations after teetering on the brink of collapse for almost six months. After the State Bank of India, on behalf of the consortium of refused to offer a cash lifeline, the airline announced its flights were grounded. At the last count, only seven of their planes were still in the air, anyway. The rest were being held by creditors at ports…
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