Aviation

Saudia Airlines on April 6 launched regular direct flights from Jeddah to Port Sudan in Sudan. Port Sudan marks the carrier’s second new route for 2017. The first flight between two cities is carried on an A320 aircraft with a capacity of 132 seats. The plane landed Port Sudan International Airport at 16.20 local time and welcomed with a water cannon salute followed by a reception at the airport.

Emirates and AC Milan surprised travelers at Milan Malpensa International Airport with the unveiling of an A380 sporting a special AC Milan livery. Some of AC Milan’s top players welcomed the aircraft and took some selfie.

You may have noticed that airfares change all the time. A new airfare study crunched 921 million airfares from 2.9 million trips to find the best and worst times to buy an airline ticket. For the second consecutive year, the study found that 54 days out is, on average, when travelers can get the best deals on domestic flights. However, the best timing depends on when and where passengers fly.

Backed by Boeing through its Boeing HorizonX innovation cell and JetBlue Technology Ventures, Zunum Aero, a pioneer in electric aviation, is developing regional hybrid-electric aircraft for the early 2020s, offering unmatched door-to-door speeds and reduced costs for flights from 700 miles at launch, to over 1,000 miles by 2030.

In order to meet the growing demand for travel to and from Bali, Emirates will introduce a second daily service to the island of Bali in Indonesia, on 2 July 2017. Operated by Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a two-class configuration with 42 seats in Business Class and 386 seats in Economy Class, the service will connect seamlessly with a number of destinations across Europe, including Amsterdam, Moscow, Paris and London.

To meet increased demand over the spring break school holidays and the end of the school year, Air France plans to increase the frequency of its medium-haul flights to and from several European and North-African destinations. In total, between April and June, the Company will operate 138 additional flights.

Ryanair launched a new Glasgow Prestwick route to Rzeszow as part of its winter 2017 schedule, with a twice weekly service starting in October, which will help deliver over 675,000 customers p.a. at Glasgow Prestwick Airport.

JetBlue announced first Mint Seats sale for Las Vegas and San Diego. JetBlue is introducing competition in east and west coast markets where customers are faced with decreasing choices and where other carriers sell dated business class options at a high cost.

Iran’s Aseman Airlines had signed an agreement with the American aerospace company Boeing to purchase 60 B737-Max passenger jets worth more than $5 billion based on catalogue prices. The deal is now pending a license from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to the airline.

Wizz Air has a new route from Kosice to Cologne, in Germany. The new service will commence on 25 June, with a convenient schedule of two weekly frequencies, on Thursdays and Sundays, during the summer season, and on Mondays and Fridays, during the winter season.

The British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is expanding to Austria for the first time by opening his take-away concept “Jamie’s Deli” at Vienna Airport in Terminal 3. It will offer a large number of quickly prepared and healthy take-away Italian dishes, from honey toasted granola pot and filled sandwiches to numerous varieties of salads.

On 30 March, 2017, Vietjet launched its latest international route connecting Hanoi and Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Lufthansa's A350-900 fleet in Munich is growing once again – the third A350-900 landed yesterday at its new home base. With the addition of this third member to the fleet, Lufthansa will also be adding Mumbai to the A350-900 flight schedule.

The Latvian airline airBaltic on March 27 launched a new direct route linking Vilnius and Munich. The new route offers new travel options for travellers from Lithuania and Germany.