New airline ‘for millennials’ opens for bookings 

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Air France’s new airline aimed at ‘millennial’ travellers is now open for bookings. 

Joon is based in Charles de Gaulle Airport, and will begin flying on December 1.

It is taking bookings for four cities in Europe: Barcelona, Berlin, Lisbon and Porto, costing from €39 each way. There will be long-haul flights to Fortaleza in Brazil and Mahe in the Seychelles next summer. 

Staff uniforms will be casual urban clothing such as polo shirts, skinny jeans and sneakers.

IAG’s LEVEL eyeing 30-aircraft fleet by 2022 

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LEVEL will expand its fleet to up to 30 aircraft within five years as it plots long-haul expansion beyond its initial Barcelona-based operation. 
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh also confirmed Level is to be spun off into a standalone business with its own air operator’s certificate. 
The airline launched operations in June from Barcelona using two Airbus A330-200s provided by IAG sister company Iberia.
Aviation Journalist Simon Calder reports that Paris and Rome are likely to be the next transatlantic bases for IAG brand, LEVEL.
The travel editor writes that the Italian capital only has one daily flight to Los Angeles and no link with the San Francisco area. The news came exactly forty years after Sir Freddie Laker started the very first low-cost airline offering flights to the US. 

easyJet and Lufthansa in talks to buy Air Berlin 

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Air Berlin’s creditors have picked German flagship carrier Lufthansa and easyJet as possible buyers for Air Berlin, and the creditors will negotiate with them for the next three weeks. 

Two sources independent sources have said that Lufthansa was set to pick up a large part of the carrier.

Lufthansa‘s chief executive has previously said that the carrier wanted to secure 39 crewed planes that it leases from Air Berlin, and wanted a further 20-40 short–haul aircraft.  

Insolvent Air Berlin warns on future as 200 pilots call in sick 

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Air Berlin has been forced to cancel around 100 flights after an ‘exceptionally high’ number of its pilots called in sick on 10 days ago.
 
The airline, which filed for insolvency last month and is only still operating because of a German government bridging loan, said the apparent strike threatened its existence and hurt its chances of saving jobs. 
 
The pilots’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit, said it had not called the action – adding it was surprised that 200 pilots had failed to report for duty. Air Berlin, which is Germany’s second-largest carrier, said most of those off work were captains.
 
Air Berlin CEO Thomas Winkelmann claimed the move by nearly 200 pilots to call in sick at short notice was the “equivalent to playing with fire” and would cost the troubled airline “several million euros”. 
 
The company had to cancel more than 100 flights out of a planned 750 10 days ago because of the walkout. This disrupted some 12,000 passengers the company said. This has the potential to unsettle any potential rescuers for Air Berlin, which filed for administration last month when it was given a €150m loan by the German government.  

United Airlines will fly non-stop from Houston to Australia 

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United Airlines will launch a new signature long-haul route from its hub at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The carrier says it plans to launch a service to Sydney on January 18, flying the 8,596-mile flight on Boeing 787-9 ‘Dreamliners.‘ 

The route would become the second-longest flown by any US airline, and would be the only one connecting Houston to Australia. 

Airlines demand action after summer flight delays rise 

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Flight delays for European airlines were up 12 per cent in July compared with the same month last year, and they were 35 per cent higher than two years ago. 

As a result, members of the airline pressure group A4E have written a joint letter expressing their concerns regarding the disruption to the European Air Navigation Service (ANS). 

According to A4E, of which easyJet and IAG are members, almost 70 per cent of all air traffic control (ATC) regulations in July were weather-related and caused by issues such as ATC staffing, capacity and other issues within ANS control. 

A4E said that excessive ATC regulations this summer have meant that airlines have had to fly longer routes or that the number of flights on certain routes have been restricted, which then caused knock-on effects throughout the network, including crews going out of hours, leading to delays.

Little-known budget airline announces plans for £150 fares from UK to India

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 The low-cost long-haul revolution is expected to touch down in India next year with no-frills carrier Scoot aiming to launch non-stop flights from Europe to cities including Mumbai and Delhi for around £150. 

The budget subsidiary of Singapore Airlines says it hopes to start flights between India and Europe using its so-called ‘fifth freedom’ privilege, which allows airlines to carry passengers between two foreign countries as a part of services that connect with their home country. 

A return trip to Europe would equate to just over £310. Scoot’s proposed prices look even better value when you consider that they will include a 20kg checked bag and a meal. 

Pilot strike forces Thomas Cook to change flight times

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Thomas Cook Airlines altered the timings of more than 40 flights this weekend as its pilots went on strike for a second time this month. Members of the British Airline Pilots Association walked out for 24 hours from 3am yesterday morning in a protest over pay. The carrier has confirmed that all flights will go ahead in September, but some departure times have been changed. 
 
It is expected TCX will still operate all of their flights and get all of their customers to their planned destinations albeit potentially later than planned. It is expected that the aircraft will be crewed by non-striking and management pilots. Thomas Cook have also leased in some Condor aircraft to help who are part of the same group. 

Balpa has announced two more strike dates for Thomas Cook pilots as ACAS talks failed this week. Pilots will strike again on September 29 and October 6. The dates were announced as the first day of strikes came to an end a couple of weeks ago and the strike that went ahead yesterday, the first UK pilots’ strike in over 40 years.

Virgin is first European Airline to have WiFi on all long haul aircraft

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Virgin Atlantic has become the first European carrier to offer wifi across its entire fleet, powered by a combination of Panasonic and Gogo technology.

All of the airline’s 39 B787, B747, A330 and A340 aircraft are now fitted with the service, and Virgin says that combined with its partner Delta, the two carriers now offer up to 39 wifi-connected transatlantic flights per day.

Virgin offers a £4.99 wifi light package, providing passengers with one hour’s internet access (or 40MB of data on the carrier’s B787 aircraft), or a wifi max option, offering access throughout the flight (or 150MB of data on Dreamliner services).

On flights operated by A330, A340 and B747 aircraft travellers can also opt for a £2.99 messaging pass, allowing messaging throughout the flight.

Virgin says that 42 per cent of its customers connecting inflight opt for the wifi max package, with the most popular routes being Heathrow to New York JFK, Sa Francisco and Atlanta.

Virgin says it is “at least a year ahead of other European long-haul carriers” in offering wifi on all of its planes, although its fleet of 39 aircraft is considerably smaller than the approximate 270 operated by British Airways, which has begun rolling out connectivity onto selected B747 aircraft.

The carrier is celebrating the milestone by holding a series of #LiveFromVirgin events, including a comedy set in the sky.

Commenting on the news Mark Anderson, executive vice president, customer at Virgin Atlantic, said:

“Innovation has always been in our blood and we’ve worked closely with wifi providers to develop the fastest, most reliable connection across the Atlantic, and are the first carrier to offer wifi between the UK and the Caribbean, China and Africa.

Airlines compete on Scottish Highlands and islands routes

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 Loganair has started operations as an independent airline for the first time in 25 years.

 The move has brought competition to a number of routes in the Highlands and Islands. 

Loganair has been operating as a franchise partner of Flybe, which will now compete with it through an alliance with Humberside-based Eastern Airways. 

The routes affected include Glasgow to Stornoway and flights to Shetland from Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow. The airlines will also be flying from Aberdeen to Orkney.