It’s time to dive into the year in review, and pick out some highlights, lowlights and everywhere in between in the year, this time looking between September to the end of December.
Like the weekly updates, I’ve gone through some of the choicer articles, with some one line insight.
September
- Flybe goes through another rebrand… – although this won’t be the last of their issues
- Norwegian Air Argentina announces it first routes – Norwegian spreads it wings further
- To Leak, To Breach – British Airways suffers Customer data theft… – Oh dear.
- Two things you need to do post the British Airways Data Breach … and what to do next.
- Ryanair prepares to launch routes from Exeter Airport – And Flybe should be scared…. – and they rightly should.
- Aer Lingus adds Montreal and Minneapolis-St Paul … and the A321neo – more journeys into the Matrix next year
- Apple’s eSIM in the new iPhone. Helpful or limiting? – Is your glass half full? Or is it an eSIM?
- First Delta Airbus A220-100 /CSeries CS100 breaks cover – And the plane that annoyed Boeing gets ready to be delivered to Delta
- Brussels Airlines plans African and Short-Haul expansion, drops Mumbai – Adjustment is everything
- Cathay Pacific gets a plane with a little paint issue… – Filed under “Oops”.
- Qantas and Cathay Pacific agree Codeshares, Frequent Flyer Agreements – And thus a snowball began to melt in hell.
- Airbus A330-900neo – Certified by EASA – Another step foward for the A330neo project
- Lufthansa group goes shopping – comes out with more A320 family aircraft – more minor orders
From the APEX Expo (Brought to you in part with Recaro Aircraft Seating)
The floor of APEX Expo
- What turns a plane into a flying lab (aboard The Lufthansa Flying Lab)
- American Airlines to switch to Bang & Olufsen headphones, drops Bose! And I get the scoop from Doug Parker in terms of rollouts. Aren’t you lot lucky?
- Aer Lingus to refresh and rebrand – free* Wifi coming – Green will be there… but how much?
- AeroMexico signs ViaSat for connectivity aboard its Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft – ViaSat Capacity continues to be welcome
- Thales Avant IFE to fly on the net set of American Airlines Boeing 787 aircraft – making a swap from the Panasonic Aero Systems currently installed
- La Compagnie lines up its Airbus A321neos with Viasat Wi-Fi – the big APEX reveal from Airbus
- Examining the Airbus A220 supplied interior with Airbus – it’ll be down to configuration, but there are some serious passenger experiance improvements in this plane
- Stelia Aerospace and SkyLights team up for an immersive VR experience… but is it any good? Hint: It is.
- Two wins for Pansonic Avionics, with EgyptAir and Uzbekistan Airways
- Air France Launches it’s Wi-Fi service- Air France Connect with Gogo 2Ku – and we’d find out in October who got the Short Haul contract
October
- Qatar Airways scales up – swaps to larger A350-1000’s – with planes as large as Al Akbar’s ego…
- Air France Connect to use Global Eagle and Orange Business Services on Short/Medium Haul Routes – and thus the other half of the Air France connectivity puzzle is complete.
*foom*
- Primera Air collapses – crew and passengers stranded – Well, it took longer than I thought – but Primera collapsed with crew and passengers stranded. A case of a costly aircraft repair, late aircraft and poor operations. And high fuel costs
- Airbus gains certification for the A321LR – Another tick for the A320neo family.
- Singapore Airlines to introduce Bang & Olufsen *wireless* headphones – More Bose Fall-out as carriers switch headphones
- EVA Air takes delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner – Living the dream with tight economy seats
- Delta’s first Airbus A220 takes flight – And the smaller A220 flies as the march to delivery continues
Image, Airbus.
- Cathay Pacific goes for growth – frequency increases ahead – Europe and Asia still holds promise for Cathay
- SAS updates its Europe 2019 flying programme… with some interesting network additions … including Newqay for some reason
- Qantas and KLM to codeshare with each other – Who need alliances when you can have bi-lateral agreements ?
- WestJet turns Calgary into its 787 hub – three routes to launch – Long haul flying ahead. With some nice Recaro seats.
- Want the Emirates First Class Experience at home? Good news! Shop ’till you drop for the Emirates Experience at home. *Gold plated shower not included
- flydubai to move flights to Dubai World Central for a while – And expect more to move with the closure of one of the runways in March 2019.
- Plane flies long distance, does what it was designed to do (Singapore Airlines Airbus A350ULR débuts) – A bit of salt, but Singapore Airlines succesfully relaunches its 18 hour Singapore to New York service
A330-800neo for Kuwait Airways, Image Airbus.
- Kuwait Airways sign for Airbus A330-800neo… – Wait. Someone brought the A330-800neo?
- Cobolt Aero goes to the wall – suspends service – and another one.
- British Airways to launch Heathrow to Charleston SC route – A corporate shuttle anyone?
- KLM re-designs its meal service on CityHopper Service – Another bento box
- The Cathay Pacific Data Leak – what to do next – Another data leak.
- First Airbus A220 delivered to Delta – And thus Delta gets its small plane, and Boeing steams quietly in a corner.
- Radisson Hotels confirm Data Breach – and there’s another.
November
- The New Ryanair Hand Luggage Policy goes live *TODAY* (1st November) – Another day, another change
- Vietjet to add 50 more Airbus A321neo aircraft to its fleet – But no in-plane bikinis please
- Want to understand a little more about the blog. Listen as I explain on the NowBoarding Podcast!
- IcelandAir to take over WOW Air – That ended well, with Indigo Partners swooping in
- Etihad to offer “Economy Space” (extra space economy) – And another Middle Eastern carrier moves away from the standard cookie cutter cabin
- Airbus A330-800 completes first flight and starts to move into the test campaign
- Finnair to add Premium Economy Cabin and refurbish ATR cabins
- LEVEL Expands its Barcelona Long Haul Network – a new level? Maybe.
- Bombardier sells the Dash8 Programme to Viking Air (Longview Aviation) – Anohter part of Bombardier Aerospace division gets carved up
- So you got a window seat without a window. What do you do? – Well. Someone had to do this
- Swiss turns to Helvetic for more capacity – Embraer E190-E2’s on the way.
- Arkia Air becomes the first A321LR operator.. taking the place of another operator.
- It’s time to fly! United Airlines plans Boeing 787-10 routes for Europe
- China Southern Airlines to leave SkyTeam – And thus SkyTeam isn’t happy, with oneworld and Cathay Paicific looking on
- Delta adds more Airbus A330neo aircraft to their fleet
- Brightline to become Virgin Trains USA – The Virgin Empire continues to grow.
- Jeju Air signs for up to 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft – Another set of orders is good to see
- Qatar Airways up-gauges Frankfurt route to A380 operations – Because size matters at Fortress Lufthansa
- EasyJet converts 17 options into Airbus A320neo aircraft – More aircraft to join The Matrix
- CDG Express operator confirmed… as are the ticket costs… – Run the risk of the RER B Line, or Pay up for the CDG Express? It’s a tough choice…
- Media reports say Virgin Atlantic is after FlyBe… and The battle for FlyBe: IAG begins sniffing around… – Who will get little flyBe?
- Wizz Air lines up a new base at Krakow – 12 new routes announced – Wizz Air continues its non-stop growth…
- TAP Air Portugal takes delivery of its first A330neo – and the first wide-body neo heads off into service
- Norwegian re-focuses its long haul network – Rio de Janeiro ahead, San Francisco and Miami too – the signs of change at Norwegian? Maybe.
December
- WOW Air attracts a saviour in Indigo Partners…
- China Eastern take delivery of their first A350… and is the paintwork remotely exciting and different? – Nope.
- United Airlines puts Premium Plus on sale – Because life is better when it’s a little more premium
- LOT Polish Airlines to refit Boeing 737-800s with Recaro BL3710 Seats – another sale for these great seats
- American Express to open a Centurion Lounge… at Heathrow Terminal 3 – Well, it will keep some cardholders happy
- Royal Air Maroc to join oneworld – Adding African connectivity to oneworld.
- Avolon Leasing signs for 100 more A320neo family aircraft
- SAS Eurobonus to offer *LIFETIME* Gold Status – Remember, it’s Gold for Life… of the frequent flyer scheme
- Brexit means ETIAS fees are due from 2021 – Thanks…
- A simple #PaxEx Improvement – Travel Authorisation consoles – Can we have more of these please?
- British Airways plans a return to Islamabad … Welcome back to Pakistan BA.
- Embraer adds three additional orders for a busy end of year – filling in the order books
- US ESTA Changes: You MUST Register at least 72 hours *before* travel. – Thanks…
- flyadeal lands a deal with Boeing for 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft – And a bit of a blow to Airbus.
- WOW to trim its fleet further – four aircraft to go to Air Canada – The ever shrinking WOW
- Swiss to expand it’s Geneva A220 network for summer 2019 – Working the A220 family ever harder.
Real World
- Exploring the ViaSat WiFi system with American Airlines – An indepth look
- Summer Tier Points – To San Francisco with American Airlines, British Airways, Aer Lingus and Ryanair
- AirBnB – It’s all fine until the cancellations hit…. – and yes, I’ll probably be steering clear of AirBnB for a while
- Is it possible to have a bad currywurst in Germany? – YES IT IS.
- SNAPSHOT: Lufthansa 424 Munich to Boston in Premium Economy
- SNAPSHOT: Lufthansa 423 Boston to Frankfurt in Premium Economy
- SNAPSHOT: Lufthansa 924 Frankfurt to London Heathrow with an A320neo!
- Aboard Lufthansa’s Flying Lab – To Boston, with Lufthansa and Recaro
- SNAPSHOT: American Airlines 99 London Heathrow to Chicago
- SNAPSHOT: Finnair 10 Chicago to Helsinki operated by Air Italy (ECONOMY PRO).
- SNAPSHOT: Finnair 1335 Helsinki to London Heathrow
- Want to understand a little more about the blog. Listen as I explain on the NowBoarding Podcast! (Yes. I Join a podcast. Be afraid).
- What’s in the Intercontinental Ambassador Renewal Kit? (2018) – Expect dissapointment
- A closer look at Finnair’s Nordic Sky WiFi network in Europe by Viasat
- Long Way Home – To Chicago with American Airlines and Finnair
- SNAPSHOT: Eurostar 9116 London St Pancras to Brussels Midi in Standard Premier
- SNAPSHOT: British Airways 399 Brussels to London Heathrow
- Train vs Plane – The Brussels/Christmas Edition
In the final part of Review 2018, it’s my turn for my perspective for the travel year, and my thoughts on what’s happened, and what we can look forward to net year.
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