Big Fat Airline Wrap

QAN Utopia Livery reveal

There’s an air of mystery around today’s bizarre Airline Wrap photo, although that could just be the smell of our office dog after playing in the park.

Qatar Airways hosts press conference in Canberra to Celebrate its inaugural flight to the Australian Capital

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To celebrate the launch of Qatar Airways’ inaugural flight to Canberra, the capital city of Australia, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, hosted a press conference today at the Hyatt Hotel Canberra.

At the press conference, H.E. Mr. Al Baker highlighted the award-winning airline’s robust expansion plans, as well as its commitment to bringing more travellers to Australia, and to connecting Canberrans to its extensive global network via the award-winning Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha.

The launch of a daily service to Canberra increases the airline’s number of flights a week into the country to 35. Qatar Airways already operates a daily service to Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The Canberra service will also stop in Sydney, where passengers can disembark, creating a second daily flight into the popular destination.

Fiji Airways launches Fiji Holidays

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Fiji Airways, Fiji’s National Airline, today announced their latest offering for Australians and New Zealanders with the launch of their online holiday packages platform, Fiji Holidays.

Fiji Holidays allows holidaymakers to book a complete getaway to the tropical paradise through the Fiji Airways website including flights, accommodation, transfers and a full range of local excursions and activities.

Launch specials include great deals on package holidays with Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa, Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa, Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort and Uprising Beach Resort, with five nights starting from as little as AUD$1,060 with a number of added benefits.

Fiji Holidays has launch deals for Australia and New Zealand with 12 leading properties in Fiji with more properties and outstanding packages coming soon.

Qatar Airways congratulates Petra Kvitova on winning

Qatar Airways and Qatar Duty Free (QDF), the official airline and retail sponsor of the Qatar Total Open Women’s Tennis Tournament 2018, congratulate Petra Kvitova on her victory in the tournament’s final match last night.

The thrilling competition was held at state-of-the-art Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha from 12-18 February 2018, and proved to be a great success among international and local fans alike. The new champion earned her title after defeating Garbine Muguruza with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in the final match of the competition.

Third quarter operating profit up 13% to $330 Million

The SIA Group reported an operating profit of $330 million in the third quarter of the 2017-18 financial year, $37 million (+12.6 per cent) higher than last year.

Group revenue rose $230 million year-on-year to $4,077 million (+6.0 per cent), with revenue improvements in all business segments. Passenger flown revenue was $127 million (+4.2 per cent) higher, with traffic growth (+6.9 per cent) outpacing the reduction in passenger yield (-3.1 per cent). Cargo revenue was up $88 million on higher freight carriage (+4.4 per cent) and yield (+12.1 per cent). Engineering services registered revenue growth of $8 million (+7.9 per cent), largely attributable to line maintenance, and aircraft and component overhaul activities.

Group expenditure increased $193 million to $3,747 million (+5.4 per cent). Net fuel cost rose by $86 million (+9.2 per cent) as average jet fuel prices were up 20.1 per cent, partially offset by a hedging gain versus a loss last year (+$86 million). Ex-fuel costs were up $107 million (+4.1 per cent), partly attributable to the enlarged operations of SilkAir and Scoot.

Emirates to launch services to Santiago de Chile via Sao Paulo

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Emirates, the world’s best airline according to TripAdvisor 2017, today announced its plan to launch a new, five times a week, service from Dubai to Santiago International Airport (SCL), via the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, starting on July 5, 2018.

The new service will see Emirates fly an additional five times a week to Sao Paulo, complementing the airline’s existing daily A380 flight between Dubai and Sao Paulo. In total, Emirates will now fly 12 times a week to Sao Paulo. Emirates’ Santiago flight will be a linked service with Sao Paulo, meaning that customers in South America can now travel between the two cities in unprecedented style and comfort. Citizens from both Brazil and Chile only need ID cards to travel to either country.

The new route will be operated with a two-class configured Boeing 777-200LR which offers 38 Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and 264 seats in Economy Class. The new 777 flight will also offer up to 14 tonnes of capacity for cargo, opening up access to more global markets for Chilean exports such as fish, seafood, cherries, flowers and general perishable goods.

Nippon Cargo Airlines and Singapore Airlines Cargo to forge strategic partnership

Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) and Singapore Airlines Cargo (SIA Cargo) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a strategic partnership aimed at jointly pursuing opportunities to create greater convenience for their customers.

The proposed strategic partnership will build on existing block space arrangements between the two airlines that have been progressively expanded over the past five years.

As a first phase, NCA and SIA Cargo have agreed to introduce cargo codeshare services on routes between Tokyo and Singapore from 1 April 2018, subject to regulatory approval. When implemented, customers of both carriers will enjoy added flexibility to better meet their needs.

NCA currently operates six weekly scheduled cargo flights to Singapore Changi Airport from Tokyo Narita International Airport using Boeing 747F aircraft while SIA Cargo connects Singapore to Tokyo with two daily flights to Narita International Airport, and three daily flights to Haneda Airport.

Qantas unveils special indigenous aircraft livery

QAN Utopia Livery reveal

Qantas has today unveiled a special livery honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians on its latest Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

The new livery features the work of the late Northern Territory artist and senior Anmatyerre woman, Emily Kame Kngwarreye. It is based on her 1991 painting, Yam Dreaming and has been adapted for the aircraft by leading Indigenous owned design studio Balarinji (opens in new window).

The artwork depicts the culturally significant yam plant, an important symbol in Emily’s Dreaming stories and a staple food source in her home region of Utopia, 230km north-east of Alice Springs. The aircraft itself will be named Emily Kame Kngwarreye in tribute to the artist.

For only the second time in Qantas’ history the iconic flying kangaroo on the aircraft has been changed to form part of the design, with the airline’s trademark red tail colour altered to match the earthy red tones and white dots of Emily’s artwork.

Savour Festive flavours inflight and on the ground this Lunar New Year

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Emirates’ travellers are in for a treat this February with a specially curated selection of festive Lunar New Year goodies. Available for a limited time only, passengers travelling from Dubai to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Yinchuan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Hanoi can indulge in Emirates’ exclusive Lunar New Year offerings onboard and in airport lounges in Dubai and select destinations.

Lunar New Year is celebrated in countries and territories including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. In China, the celebration is also known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the beginning of Spring within the traditional solar calendar.

Lunar New Year is a celebration of family, fun and most notably, feasting. Traditionally, red packets containing money are handed out to family, friends and relatives as a way of sending good wishes and blessings during this auspicious holiday period, and mandarin oranges are exchanged to symbolise good luck.

Singapore Airlines January 2018 Operating results

In spite of the shift of Lunar New Year holidays from January in 2017 to February in 2018, SIA Group airlines’ passenger load factor (PLF) in January 2018 came in flat at 81.1 per cent. The 2.4 per cent increase in passenger carriage (measured in revenue passenger kilometres) matched the 2.4 per cent increase in capacity (measured in available seat kilometres).

Singapore Airlines’ passenger carriage was flat compared to last year, against a 0.1 per cent increase in capacity. Consequently, PLF declined marginally by 0.1 percentage points year-on-year to 81.1 per cent. The operating landscape remains challenging, with efforts focused on balancing yields against loads, amidst competitive pressures.

SilkAir’s systemwide passenger carriage increased by 0.7 per cent, trailing growth in capacity of 4.4 per cent. Consequently, PLF fell 2.6 percentage points to 70.6 per cent. Growth in traffic lagged capacity injection to Cairns, Male and Kathmandu, and demand for Denpasar and Lombok was affected by the eruption of Mount Agung.

Qantas Holidays – Weddings & Honeymoons 2018-19

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Qantas Holidays has released their brand new 2018-19 Weddings & Honeymoons brochure. This exciting new brochure features a great range of both weddings and honeymoon packages to choose from.

Select from a beach wedding in Fiji to a clifftop ceremony in Bali or a tropical garden setting in Thailand, the brochure showcases some of the most idyllic locations in the world. Choose from one of the amazing Special Getaway packages on offer for a truly romantic honeymoon escape.

Virgin Australia and Luke Mangan launch new Business Class menus

Virgin Australia and Resident Chef Luke Mangan has unveiled exciting new dishes from upcoming Business Class menus onboard domestic and international flights.

Each flight will have a dish that reflects the flavours unique to the destination, with flights to Hong Kong offering beef wonton soup with Sichuan pepper and bok choy, inspired by Luke’s travels to a local eatery in the city. Guests travelling in Business Class within Australia may enjoy a new take on the classic big breakfast, with dishes such as falafel with roasted mushrooms, bacon and labne, or the ham rosti topped with Tuscan cabbage and tomato relish.

Business Class guests flying to and from Los Angeles can take advantage of the bar area, complete with its own menu featuring new items including the baba ghanoush with marinated feta, pine nuts and toasted flatbread, or garlic toast with prosciutto, fennel and herb salad.

With a strong focus on sourcing the finest and freshest Australian ingredients, Luke Mangan and Virgin Australia have worked closely with artisanal suppliers such as Pana chocolate, Gundowring ice cream and Molives hand-stuffed olives, complementing Business Class dishes onboard and taking travellers on a unique culinary experience in the sky.

Etihad Airways executive breaks world record

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Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has honoured its high flying executive Andrew Fisher following his record-breaking feat of travelling around the globe in the fastest time and in the fewest number of flights.

Clocking a flying time of 52 hours and 34 minutes, Andrew managed to beat the previous record by 3 hours and 13 minutes, and using only four scheduled commercial flights instead of five to achieve his lifelong ambition.

The Guinness World Records has officially declared his successful attempt a world record.

Andrew’s journey covered 41,375 km on scheduled flights operated by Air New Zealand, KLM and China Eastern that took him from Shanghai to Auckland; Buenos Aires to Amsterdam; and back to Shanghai.

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