Airline briefs 02 May 12
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BA initiatives aim to boost in-flight service
British Airways is trialling two new initiatives designed to boost its in-flight service. The ‘onboard travel advisor’ and ‘golden ticket’ trials are both currently taking place in all cabins on BA flights.
Following the roll-out of more than 2,000 iPads for cabin crew, BA’s online travel advisor scheme will offer a range of travel apps to offer destination information and advice on a range of areas, including hotels, restaurants, entertainment and shopping.
The golden ticket initiative meanwhile, will enable BA’s most frequent travellers the chance to commend individual crew members who offer good service.
Continental connects Manchester with Washington
Continental Airlines has launched a new service connecting Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport with Manchester. The new services, which get underway on Tuesday, will be operated daily will be operated using a Boeing 757-200 aircraft with 159 economy seats and 15 in business class. Flights depart from Manchester at 1200.
Monarch launches new routes to Croatia and Crete
Monarch Airlines has launch new scheduled flights to the Croatian port city of Dubrovnik and Heraklion in Crete. Flights to Dubrovnik will operate three times a week from London Gatwick airport and twice a week from Birmingham. Services to Heraklion will fly twice a week from both Gatwick and Birmingham airports.
New flights to connect Isle of Man with Norwich
The first ever direct link between Norwich and the Isle of Man will take off this month.
Loganair plans to run summer flights every Saturday from 26 May to 22 September. This schedule marks a two week extension from the airline’s original plan, which would have seen the flights end on 8 September. The airline’s chief operating officer Jonathan Hinkles, said the extra dates were added due to unexpectedly high demand.
Turkish to add Edinburgh flights
Turkish Airlines will launch flights to Edinburgh this summer. From 16 July, the carrier will offer four weekly flights between the Scottish capital and Istanbul. Flights will depart Edinburgh at 9.10am every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Edinburgh is one of four new routes being launched by Turkish over the next few months. Serivces to the Ugandan city of Entebbe will commence on 16 May, with services to the Spanish city of Bilbao and Leipzig, Germany, following on 28 May.
Aer Lingus Regional launches with Bournemouth flights
Aer Lingus Regional’s first flight took to the skies earlier this week from Bournemouth Airport to Dublin. The airline, operated by Aer Arann, will now fly the route six times a week, every day except Saturday. Speaking at Bournemouth Airport, Aer Arann’s Interim CEO Sean Brogan said; “We are delighted to commence our new Aer Lingus Regional Bournemouth to Dublin service today and we are confident that it will bring increased business and leisure visitors to both Bournemouth and Dublin”.
