Etihad alliance stands to benefit from ban on Emirates flying Milan-New York

A potential ban stopping Emirates Airline flying between Milan and New York opens up a lucrative gap for Etihad’s new equity alliance partner Alitalia to fill with the launch of more long-haul flights to the US, analysts said.

Emirates awaits a final judgement on the operation of its Milan-JFK route before the end of this year, after the Rome-based Lazio Regional Administration Court moved to block the route in April.

The route is an example of usage of the “fifth freedom”, which dates back to the 1940s “Freedoms of the Air” agreed by the industry in Chicago. The fifth freedom is the ability for a carrier to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one’s own country.

Currently Emirates operates about 15 of these routes, mainly in Australia and Asia.

However, the flights are also subject to the agreement of the local authorities — in the case of the Milan-JFK route, both Italy and the US would need to approve it.

The court in Lazio ruled that a non-EU carrier cannot operate to a third destination from Milan — especially if the airline does not originate from the point of departure or the point of destination.

The Milan-New York route is important for both business and economy travellers. Around 70,000 passengers have booked to travel on this route between April and August, according to Emirates.

The carrier had identified it as a potentially lucrative route as many passengers are connecting via another European destination and Emirates is also able to offer the only true first class cabin.

However, analysts expect that Etihad could leverage this opportunity if Emirates can no longer operate the route thanks to the Abu Dhabi carrier’s €560 million (Dh2.75 billion) investment in debt-laden Alitalia this month.

“I think it would be naive to believe that Etihad wasn’t going to try and synchronise feeding traffic to the Milan hub,” said Peter Morris, the chief economist at Ascend Flightglobal Consultancy, an aviation firm.

“Various innovative operating or franchise arrangements on long haul might be developed between the two airlines to fulfil the important EU-US Open Skies regulatory criteria,” Mr Morris added.

Will Horton, a senior analyst at Sydney-based Centre for Aviation (Capa) said: “Etihad via its [49 per cent] Alitalia stake could potentially benefit.

“But the market Emirates is targeting is more Milan-New York local and not originating from the UAE.”

Etihad’s investment in the Italian carrier included a three-year plan to turn Alitalia’s operations around to focus on long-haul flights. Ten long-haul routes will be introduced as part of the Italian carrier’s five-year plan, which will seek to develop Rome’s Fiumicino Airport as an intercontinental hub, while Milan’s Malpensa Airport will get more long-haul flights.

But Mr Morris warned of potential hurdles that could face carriers flying to the US, referring to the case of Norwegian Airlines, which faced a ban flying to the US after operating on a licence from Ireland.

“It is notable that Norwegian [Airlines], seeking a flexible type of arrangement for Ireland based operations, have so far ended up frustrated by a law change by the House of Representatives, under pressure from US airline interests,” said Mr Morris.

The US airline industry is facing tough competition from foreign carriers including from Europe and the Middle East.

Any flights operated out of Italy including to the US via Etihad’s equity alliance with Alitalia would not be classified as fifth freedom routes. Currently, Etihad operates only a small number of such routes, including flights from Singapore to Brisbane and Beijing to Nagoya.

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Why awesomely cheap airline flights are actually terrible

Taking a round-trip flight from New York to San Francisco means you’regenerating the global warming equivalent of two to three tons of carbon dioxide. That’s a lot—as much as a third of the total CO2 emissions created by the average European each year, and about 15% of that created by the average American. But because most air travel is done by only a tiny percentage of people, air travel only generates around 2% to 5% of total global carbon emissions each year.

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That’s changing fast. By 2017, worldwide passenger numbers will surge by more than 30% over 2012’s number, an addition of 930 million additional passengers, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This is thanks to steady declines in ticket prices: Domestic US flights fell 1.3% each year between 1979 and 2012, and international airfare prices have shed 0.5% per year between 1990 and 2012.

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Can the global airline industry slash its CO2 emissions fast enough to offset this rise?

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Probably not—or at least not unless regulators force it to, as engineers from the University of Southampton argue in a recent article (paywall). To stop generating additional carbon by discouraging flying and keeping the number of passengers the same, the paper argues, ticket prices would have to rise 1.4% each year.

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That doesn’t sound like a lot. Given that the average international air ticket bought in the US costs $1,235, a change from a 0.5% price decline to a 1.4% increase amounts to less than $25. But it adds up. By 2017, the differential would be almost $120.

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​Trends in US airfare prices.Airlines for America

Still, ticket prices are unlikely to rise on their own, conclude the researchers. Not only will the airline industry and many national governments resist any move to suppress demand, but the budget airline boom—a result of deregulation—is forcing down prices and encouraging leisure travel. A recent study found that when US budget carriers such as JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, Alaska and Southwest launch new routes, they drive down prices charged by all carriers by as much as 67%.

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So, with prices plummeting and flights increasing, the major way to put the lid on CO2 emissions is by increasing efficiency. The fact that fuel costs account for at least a fifth of carriers’ operation costs means it’s also in their interests to use less fuel per passenger. The industry has done a bang-up job in recent decades, making aircrafts more fuel efficient and packing in more passengers per plane. But it’s getting harder to produce fuel-efficiency gains at the same pace.

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And beyond profit margins, there’s no real incentive for the commercial air travel industry to change anything. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the body overseeing the industry, has set targets, including fuel efficiency improvements of 2% a year and keeping net CO2 emissions at the same level from 2020 onward. However, ICAO doesn’t have any legal authority over this aspect of the industry—and neither does any other body.

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What’s needed, conclude the researchers, is a global regulator “with teeth.” And history would suggest that’s hard—if not impossible—to achieve.

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United launches nonstop summer Washington Dulles-Madrid flights

United Airlines (Chicago) last night (June 5) launched the Washington area’s only nonstop flights between the airline’s hub at Dulles International Airport and Madrid, with daily summer-season service through September 4, 2014.

Flight UA 163 departs Washington Dulles International Airport at 5:45 p.m. (1745), arriving at Madrid–Barajas Airport at 7:40 a.m. (0740) the following day (all times local). On the return, Flight UA 164 departs Madrid at 11:35 a.m. (1135), arriving in Washington at 2:30 p.m. (1430) the same day. Flight times are seven hours, 55 minutes eastbound and eight hours, 55 minutes westbound.

United will operate the service with Boeing 757-200 aircraft with a total of 169 seats – 16 flat-bed seats in United BusinessFirst and 153 seats in United Economy, including 45 Economy Plus extra-legroom seats.

United Airlines has been serving Spain for more than 20 years. In addition to the Washington–Madrid service, the airline operates Newark-Madrid and Newark-Barcelona service.

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Volcano grounds Asia-Pacific flights

Ash from an Indonesian volcano has led to the cancellation of a number of flights in the region since Friday, with travelers heading to and from the country now advised to check with airlines to confirm the status of their flights before traveling. Mount Sangeang is a small, uninhabited volcanic island in Indonesia's Lesser Sunda Islands. It's considered one of the most active in the area by scientists. Friday's volcanic activity shot thick plumes of ash and sulfur dioxide more than 20 kilometers into the sky, which then drifted as far as northern Australia. Some airlines decided to ground flights in and out of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport on Monday morning, due to worries that the ash cloud was approaching. However, the most recent reports say the ash is dispersing.

On Saturday, all flights to and from Australia's Darwin Airport were canceled because of the hazardous ash cloud, but flights have since resumed.

"Virgin Australia continues to monitor Volcano Sangeang in close consultation with the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center," said the airline in a statement on Monday.

"There may be some changes to scheduling of Denpasar services today.

"Virgin Australia will endeavor to contact all guests with affected affected bookings. We also recommend customers continue to check the flight status page on our website."

Denpasar services to and from Darwin resumed on June 1, said Virgin. On Monday morning, low-cost carrier Jetstar canceled two flights out of Singapore and Perth that were due to stop in Denpasar, following nine other international and domestic cancellations over the weekend. Qantas was also forced to ground fights over the weekend due to the ash, but has since resumed operations as normal. According to the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program, intermittent historical eruptions have been recorded at Sangeang since 1512, most of them during in the 20th century. The last confirmed eruption of Mount Sangeang was in 1997.

Why airlines can't fly through ash

The International Civil Aviation Organization set up the International Airways Volcanic Watch Operations Group in response to a number of serious aviation encounters with volcanic ash in the 1980s. Composed of experts from nine global Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers, the organization alerts the aviation industry of the location and movement of clouds of volcanic ash. For instance, Indonesia's volcanic eruptions are monitored by the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.

"Volcanic ash in the air is composed of fine pulverized rock and accompanied by a number of gases, which are then converted into droplets of sulfuric acid and other substances," says the center.

"It is potentially deadly to aircraft and their passengers. The most critical effect is caused by ash melting in the hot section of the engine, and then fusing into a glass-like coating on components further back in the engine, causing loss of thrust and possible 'flame out' (engine failure).

"In addition there is an abrasion of engine parts, the airframe and parts protruding from the aircraft, and possible clogging of the fuel and cooling systems."

The Darwin center cites an incident in June 1982, when a British Airways 747 suffered severe damage and had all four engines flame out upon encountering ash from Mount Galunggung in Indonesia, descending to 12,000 feet before being able to restart some engines and make an emergency landing in Jakarta.

"Three weeks later the same thing happened to a Singapore Airlines 747, which this time lost two engines and also made an emergency landing," the center said.

"Quite apart from the safety consideration, volcanic ash has caused very expensive damage to aircraft; most estimates cite costs to aviation of over $250 million since 1982."

The world's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers use satellite information, ground reports from volcanology agencies, pilot reports, meteorological knowledge and numerical models to track and forecast ash movements.

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Ryanair planning to offer United States flights by 2019

Ryanair plans to offer US flights by 2019 and will lure passengers with very cheap prices, says chief executive Michael O'Leary.

However, new aircraft are currently too expensive and out of stock due to heavy orders by Gulf airlines such as Emirates.

Tickets could be sold for €10, excluding extra costs for luggage, food and entertainment, said Mr O'Leary, who insisted that the offer was not a marketing stunt to grab public attention.

Meanwhile, Mr O'Leary, in an interview with the ‘Mail on Sunday’, said that parts of Ryanair's service need to be addressed after 20 years of very fast growth.

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Turkish Airlines adds three additional flights from Abu Dhabi to Istanbul

Abu Dhabi, UAE: Turkish Airlines, Europe's best airline*, has announced the addition of three new flights to its regular weekly schedule, to and from Abu Dhabi, starting from May 3 until July 19, 2014.

By increasing the frequency of flights, the premier airline endeavours to enhance its services, as well as cater to a larger framework of travellers from Abu Dhabi. One of the fastest growing airlines, Turkish Airlines' new flights underlines the carrier's position in meeting the increasing demand of customer needs.

The new flights are all Boeing 737-800, which are known for their reliability, fuel efficiency, and economic performance, and have a capacity of 151 passengers.

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Airlines, regulators agree to track flights globally

After two days of meetings in Montreal, aviation regulators and airlines agreed to track all flights globally, to avoid a repeat of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. But the timing is uncertain for when all airlines will be expected to pinpoint their planes over oceans. The 36 countries that belong to the governing council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a branch of the United Nations that suggests policies, agreed to flight tracking along with airlines represented by the International Air Transport Association.

"We have met here these past two days to agree that global airline flight tracking is needed," Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, the ICAO council president, said at a news conference to close the meeting.

Now ICAO will provide leadership to the industry to develop standards for flight tracking intended to apply to all airlines in its 191 member countries, Aliu said. But because the formal standards must be developed by consensus among countries and the industry, Aliu could not estimate when they could be completed.

"I can't give you the timing now," Aliu told reporters after the meeting.

In the meantime, a 20-member task force representing regulators, airlines, manufacturers, pilots and others will meet monthly in order to propose a framework of solutions about how to better track planes by September.

Kevin Hiatt, the airline group's senior vice president for safety and flight operations, said the task force will review proposals from at least 30 vendors to determine which ones offer the best plans to track a plane to within certain parameters, such as by satellite to within 6 miles.

But Hiatt said airlines have different equipment and different needs around the world, so there might be a variety of ways to reach the same goal.

"One size will not fit all," Hiatt said.

For example, satellite companies are offering to provide services to airlines, including Inmarsat, which detected signals from the Malaysia flight, which offered some services for free. But that option might not be the best fit for all airlines in all regions.

"We will examine that through the course of the task force," said Nancy Graham, director of ICAO's air navigation bureau. "That's one of a few different offers. We're grateful."

She said other estimates that equipment would cost $100,000 for each aircraft to communicate with satellites represent just one option among many.

"There are others that are less costly," she said. "That's one of many solutions, but there are many that cost less."

The task force also won't be able to force airlines to start using better tracking equipment. But Hiatt said voluntary participation is expected.

"We can't force our members to do anything," Hiatt said. "Based on what we've seen with public perception, I think we'll see some pretty good participation."

The meeting came as the search continues for the Malaysia flight missing since March 8 with 239 people aboard. But Aliu noted that air travel is relatively safe, with fewer fatalities worldwide last year, among 32 million flights carrying 3 billion passengers.

"Let us please be very clear today that a capability to globally track airline flights will not replace our sector's separate cooperative efforts, which are more directly focused on preventing future accidents or incidents," Aliu said.

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British Airways increases weekly flights to Chengdu

British Airways launched its latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner for direct service between Chengdu and London this week and increased frequency of the route from three to five flights per week.

"I am very pleased to be able to deliver on our promise to our customers in Chengdu with the arrival of our new Boeing 787 Dreamliner today," Keith Williams, British Airways' Executive Chairman, was cited as saying in a note filed to Xinhua on Sunday.

It is the first time for a 787 Dreamliner to be used for international direct flight service to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, one of China's fastest growing hub airports.

This state-of-the-art aircraft will become a mainstay of the British Airways fleet over the next few years, part of a 5-billion-pound (about 8.43 billion U.S. dollars) investment program to increase comfort in the air and on the ground, Williams said.

The company has also raised the frequency of the route between Chengdu and London from three to five flights per week.

Li Wei, chairman of Sichuan Province Airport Group, said the company's actions not only show the importance of the Chengdu airport as an aviation hub in China, but also aid the growing cooperation between Sichuan and the UK in business, trade and technology.

British Airways has used Boeing 777-200 aircraft on the thrice-weekly service since the route launched in September last year.

British Airways has a worldwide route network covering more than 170 destinations in 75 countries. The airline has been flying to China for over 30 years.

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New Lufthansa CEO Un-Retires A340s For Long-Haul Flights

Game on.

One day after officially taking over as Lufthansa Airlines’ new CEO, Carsten Spohr is putting his words into action. Spohr will retrofit nine Airbus 340-300s that were set to be retired and use them on select long-haul routes starting next summer, hoping to regain marketshare Lufthansa has lost to gulf airlines, according to the German magazine Spiegel.

While being introduced as the new CEO, Spohr said that while he believes Lufthansa can compete in Europe with low-cost airlines like Ryanair, “Those we can handle. They’re on a level playing ield. With the Gulf carriers, it’s different,” he said. The Germain carrier has had a feud with such airlines as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, and believes – as do British Airways and Air France – that Gulf airlines use unfair subsidies to finance their aircraft deals, according to Bloomberg News.

Thus, the move to retrofit the A340s makes sense.

Lufthansa will offer low-cost long-haul flights on these aircraft, which will be reconfigured with less business class seats, on routes to the Caribbean and the Far East, among other long-haul spots.

Spiegel noted that Lufthansa will negotiate with airport operators and staff regarding concessions in order to keep costs down for the low-cost flights.

More immediately, Spohr will need to settle a labor dispute with his pilots’ union, which launched a three-day strike last month that cost the airline more than $70 million against what had been a 22 percent rise in stock price since September.

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World's busiest airport tries incentives to draw flghts

Not even the world's busiest airport is above offering incentives as a way to tempt airlines to add new service.

Incentives will now be part of the toolkit for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International as they work to secure even more routes for the airport, already the world's busiest. That comes after the Atlanta City Council on Tuesday OK'd the establishment of a five-year, $2 million incentive program aimed at helping the airport with both new passenger airline routes and cargo services.

"With this new incentive program, Hartsfield-Jackson will be better positioned to attract additional passenger and cargo carriers to Atlanta," the airport's Interim General Manager Miguel Southwell says in a statement.

Atlanta's airport incentive program will kick in this summer, targeting international routes to cities with rapidly developing economics or robust cargo markets. In the airport's words, "the purpose of the program is to stimulate air service, particularly along routes that link Atlanta to cities located in countries that have some of the world's fastest-growing economies and air cargo traffic."

"As the world's busiest airport, we are continually looking at ways to grow new routes and expand our cargo capacity, and this will certainly boost our global competitiveness," Southwell adds.

The airport will waive a year's worth of landing fees for airlines that launch international routes that aren't already served from Atlanta. The program also will match up to 50% of an airline's marketing budget to promote the new route, with a cap of $25,000 for new passenger services.

Atlanta says "additional waivers and incentives, such as a two-year waiver of landing fees," will be offered to airlines willing to add new routes to "the five major emerging economies" of Brazil, Russia, India, China or South Africa.

Atlanta adds "carriers starting service to Africa, Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia will also receive extra consideration. Total fee waivers and promotional funds will be capped at $2 million a year on a first-come, first-served basis."

Though the program is open to both passenger and cargo carriers, Atlanta says in its statement that "the incentive program is primarily designed to develop the Airport as a cargo and logistics hub."

New-service incentives are common at many airports, both in the USA and across the world. However, incentives are frequently used by smaller and mid-size airports that are looking to convince airlines to take a chance on a new route from their airports. The incentives minimize airlines' risk in trying a new market, letting them launch service to see if it can become profitable.

"It's an industry tool," Jason Terrei, Atlanta airport's interim director of business development, said to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in March, which is when the airport decided to seek approval for the incentive fund. "When we meet with airlines, this is the first question they ask: Does Atlanta have an air service incentive program?"

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Etihad increases presence in Mediterranean with holiday season flights

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has announced it will boost frequency and capacity to Athens and Larnaca, adding depth to its expanding network, while enhancing connectivity over its Abu Dhabi hub.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways chief commercial officer, said: “These increases in frequency and capacity demonstrate our commitment to build a global, connected network.

“In the case of Athens, our new flights will offer guests the choice of two different departure times to and from Abu Dhabi, and in the case of Larnaca, the additional flights will provide more choice and flexibility, as well as better connectivity over Abu Dhabi.

“The additional services will also support the growth of business and leisure traffic over Abu Dhabi, and offer travellers greater choice of destinations across the Gulf region, Indian Sub-continent, Asia and Australia.

“It also means that by July 2014, nearly 90 per cent of Etihad Airways’ global passenger network will be served by a daily flight.”

From July 2nd 2014, Etihad Airways will increase frequency on the Abu Dhabi-Athens route from seven to ten flights per week with the introduction of three new flights, which will provide passengers travelling to and from Athens with more choice and greater flexibility.

The new flights will also provide additional connecting opportunities with codeshare partner Aegean Airlines, which has separately announced that it will be commencing a direct service between Athens and Abu Dhabi from May 28th 2014. Beyond Athens, Etihad Airways places its EY flight code on Aegean-operated flights to 16 destinations in Greece including popular islands such as Crete, Rhodes and Santorini, and to Larnaca, Madrid and Sofia in Europe. 

Aegean Airlines places its A3 flight code on Etihad Airways beyond Abu Dhabi to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Bahrain, Kuwait and Johannesburg. The new flights will enable Etihad Airways to place its flight code on Aegean-operated flights beyond Athens to Barcelona, subject to regulatory approval. In addition, between June 1st and September 30th, Etihad Airways’ daily EY090/EY091 flights will be upgraded from the current 174-seat Airbus A321 operation to a 254-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Flying 18 guests in the award-winning Pearl Business Class and 236 guests in Coral Economy Class, the larger aircraft is being deployed on the route to meet the expected increase in summer traffic. Etihad Airways will also increase its base frequency on the Abu Dhabi-Larnaca route from three to five flights per week. Etihad will also operate Larnaca as a daily service during the peak summer period from July 1st to September 30th 2014. All services to and from Larnaca will be operated by a two-class Airbus A320 aircraft configured to carry 16 guests in Pearl Business Class and 120 in Coral Economy Class.

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Faster Wi-Fi On Flights Leads To Battle In The Sky

The number of commercial planes worldwide with Wi-Fi, cell service or both is expected to more than triple over the next 10 years, to 14,000 from about 4,000 currently. Wi-Fi in the sky is taking off, promising much better connections for travelers and a bonanza for the companies that sell the systems.

With satellite-based Wi-Fi, internet speeds on jetliners are getting lightning fast. And airlines are finding that travellers expect connections in the air to rival those on the ground – and at lower cost. But the fast evolution of rival systems and standards, such as Ku band and Ka band, pose a big question for airlines: which one to choose?

Equipping fleets can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and airlines don’t want to see their investment quickly become outdated due to newer technology. That’s made some cautious about signing up.

“We don’t want to end up with a Betamax,” said Peter Ingram, chief financial officer of Hawaiian Airlines, referring to the Sony video format that eventually lost out to the VHS standard, leaving many consumers with obsolete systems.

Hawaiian is still considering which system to use. The drive for in-flight connectivity also has intensified after the disappearance on March 8 of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people aboard. Search teams are scouring parts of the Indian Ocean for the missing aircraft, and it might have been better tracked if a satellite system capable of streaming cockpit data had been on board.

GLOBAL MARKET

The U.S. market for airborne internet got a big boost last November after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration allowed passengers to use smartphones, tablets and e-readers throughout a flight, ending a long-standing ban on their use during takeoff and landing.

While the change hasn’t been adopted worldwide, the FAA’s move is expected to lead to greater use of devices, and bandwidth, on planes. About 40 per cent of U.S. jetliners already have some Wi-Fi, but the race is on to wire the rest of a growing global fleet, and to make the existing connections better.

The number of commercial planes worldwide with Wi-Fi, cell service or both is expected to more than triple over the next 10 years, to 14,000 from about 4,000 currently, with much of that growth in Asia, according to research firm IHS.

Even with a tripling, only half of the worldwide fleet will be wired in 2022, suggesting demand for new systems will last longer. Much of the U.S. fleet will need upgrades to access satellites, since many planes currently are equipped for ground-based transmission, which is typically slower than satellite.

“Passengers of the future want to be connected when they want,” Chris Emerson, senior vice president of marketing at Airbus, told Reuters during the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.

“Everyone wants internet the way they have it on the ground, so it has to be cheap or free.”

GREATER SPEED

Satellite technology will speed up onboard connections sevenfold, to about 70 megabits per second next year, fast enough to download a two-hour high-definition movie in about four minutes. Of course, that bandwidth will be shared among all of the users on the flight, which could number 200 or more.

Satellites also will allow service to reach developing markets in Asia and Latin America, and to offer expanded service in the U.S. and European markets. Investors expect the global expansion and faster speeds will fuel greater use of services, with revenue split between the providers and the airlines.

It also will drive hardware sales, as airlines outfit aircraft with antennas, radios and routers. Honeywell, for example, makes fuselage-top antennas that link to the Global Xpress network provided by Inmarsat PLC, which operates on the Ka band.

In demonstrating the GX system at the Hamburg show, Honeywell said the system can deliver up to 50 megabits per second consistently around most of the globe, and it plans to test it on its own plane this summer, while Air China is expected to start trials with it in late 2014 or early 2015.

“GX is going to be a real game changer for airlines and their passengers from 2015 when the service comes online,” John Broughton, director of product marketing for GX at Honeywell, said in an interview.

A rival standard, Ku band, operates in a lower frequency band. While it may be able to achieve higher bandwidth than Ka band in certain areas, its overall connectivity is not as consistent, especially on long-haul flights over oceans, experts said.

Gogo used the Hamburg show to announce its 2Ku system, that will use a special dual antenna made by ThinKom Solutions Inc to raise the capacity of the Ku band system to 70 mbps, a leap from its current systems that operated at 3 to 10 mbps. Gogo also offers Ka band satellite connectivity and built its business on ground-based cell-tower technology in the United States.

“BETAMAX” RISK

The improving systems mean customers will demand better connections. Some frequent fliers with status on several airlines say they choose flights based on Wi-Fi availability.

“It becomes an ante at the table,” said Jonathan Schildkraut, an analyst at Evercore Partners, which co-managed Gogo’s IPO last June.

But the variety of systems poses tough decisions for airlines, which risk choosing a technology that could become outdated.

Ingram, the CFO of Hawaiian Airlines, said the choice and cost of a system is especially important for his fleet since it mostly carries people on vacation – people who don’t want to be tethered to the office.

“The technology in the Wi-Fi space for trans-Pacific flying is still evolving,” he said, “so we haven’t made any final decisions yet.”

German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG knows the perils. It originally worked with Connexion, a Boeing unit developing in-flight Wi-Fi that operated a decade ago but failed to attract enough customers.

“We were a little bit unfortunate,” CEO Christoph Franz said in an interview. “We had spent millions to equip our aircraft.”

Lufthansa has since outfitted more than 90 per cent of its long-haul planes with satellite connectivity.

But it is taking a step-by-step approach for other planes, outfitting about 30 Airbus A321 aircraft with a system that can stream content from an onboard server to handheld devices, but doesn’t connect to the internet.

“We need a decent provider for that, but we didn’t want our customers to wait,” Franz said. He expects a “triple-digit-million” euro investment to outfit the full fleet.

“We are ready to do this,” he said. “But we have to look at the bill. We will see which system at the end of the day turns out to be the most affordable and the fastest.”

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easyJet increases flights to Tenerife this winter

BUDGET airline easyJet its winter schedule from Southend Airport, including an increase in flights to Tenerife.

The airline will have 28,000 seats on sale for travel between October 26 2014 and February 28 2015 and services to Tenerife will be extended.

There will be just under 2000 flights in and out of Southend to 12 destinations across the UK and Europe.

The most popular easyJet destinations for next winter from London Southend are expected to be Tenerife, Amsterdam, Alicante, Barcelona, Venice and Geneva with holidaymakers well catered for with just under two thousand seats to choose from on flights to winter sun, city breaks or beach destinations.

Following the success of easyJet’s flights to Tenerife, its newest destination from Southend which launched in December last year, the services will be extended this Winter.

The first flight of the season takes off on September 16 allowing an additional 23,000 passengers to escape the shorter days and chillier months and jet off to the guaranteed sunshine of the island each year.

Sophie Dekkers, easyJet’s UK Director, said: “easyJet has launched its winter schedule from London Southend offering flights on 12 different routes between October 2014 and February 2015.

“When developing our flying schedule we consider many factors including customer feedback and holiday trends to ensure we’re offering the right combination of flights at a great price.”

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