Air New Zealand will soon permit economy passengers to lie down and take a nap in communal, bunk bed-style sleeping pods on its planes, as it attempts to entice passengers onto its more than 17-hour ultra-long-haul flights.
Airlines news
AirAsia has one A330-300, registered 9M-VVA. The 7.5-year-old aircraft has 377 seats, with 365 in the economy (mainly in a 3-3-3 layout) and 12 in premium (not completely flat). As you’d expect, it was previously operated by AirAsia X (registered 9M-XXW). After serving with X until the summer of 2020, it entered AirAsia’s employment in December 2021.
As the Doha-based airline continues its unrelenting drive toward growth and development, the latest initiative to be declared is a codeshare deal with Airlink of South Africa. Let’s take a closer look at what this deal means for both carriers involved.
In a signal that Chinese President XI Jinping could be prepared to loosen the country’s vice-like grip on controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and maintaining its ‘dynamic zero’ policy, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is set to become the first international airline to resume direct flights with Beijing since the beginning of the pandemic.
Europe’s spate of industrial action continued this week with a three-day strike by crew and pilots at Brussels Airlines. The strike, which ran from Thursday, June 23 to Saturday, June 25, forced the revocation of around 315 flights, disrupting the travel plans of about 40,0000 passengers.
Aer Lingus has declared that it has signed a lease deal for two new Airbus A320neo aircraft. This new generation aircraft will support the airline’s sustainability program. Aer Lingus, as part of IAG, has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and has committed to powering 10 percent of its flights operating sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.
Australia’s once-beloved national carrier has been savaged in a fake ad aimed at the airline’s treatment of employees and travelers. Qantas has been savaged in a satirical advertisement for the once-beloved national carrier.
Akasa, India’s newest airline, will conduct a proving flight with the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation as early as next week as it looks to begin commercial services by around the end of July, Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube told Friday.
British Airways staff at Heathrow who are members of Unite and the GMB union have voted to go on strike this summer over failed pay negotiations. The dates of the walkout have yet to be approved but are to take place during the peak period of school summer holidays and will affect mostly customer-facing roles, such as check-in.
Turkish Airlines is considering non-stop services to Australia. Speaking at the IATA annual general meeting, the carrier’s CEO, Ahmet Bolat, outlined the carrier’s ambition to start operating flights from Istanbul to both Sydney and Melbourne in 2026 or 2027