United Airlines and American Airlines are at a neck-to-neck competition for Edinburgh-New York flight routes. United Airlines will start offering flights between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Edinburgh Airport (EDI) from summer 2015. The carrier will operate two daily flights on this route.

On the other hand, American Airlines will also commence its daily service between John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and EDI from May 7, 2015. This route will replace the airline’s six months old Edinburgh-Philadelphia route.

The customers traveling from the Scottish capital will be pleased with the three daily nonstop services connecting Edinburgh and New York. They will also have better access to the numerous onward destinations from New York. Currently, there is only one daily nonstop service offered by United. Travelers from the United States visiting Edinburgh during summers will have better accessibility to the city as they come to attend the Edinburgh International Festival.

American as well as United Airlines will deploy Boeing 757 narrow body twin jets on the routes. The aircraft will only have Business and Economy classes. American Airlines’ flights will depart from EDI at 9.15 am and arrive in JFK at 11.50 am local time. The return flight will leave from JFK at 7.25 pm and arrive in EDI at 7.15 am the following day.

United Airlines flights operate twice daily with departures from EDI at 9.25 am and 12.05 pm. The flights will arrive in EWR at 12.10 pm and 2.50 pm local time respectively. The return flights will leave Newark at 7.55 pm and 9.45 pm and arrive in Edinburgh at 7.55 am and 9.45 am the following day respectively.

The passengers are sure to witness some changes in fares as the time of launch approaches.

Air New Zealand is excited to get a new home at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The airline recently announced that it will be shifting its flight operations at the airport to the newly revamped Tom Bradley International Terminal. The airline will begin operating flights from the new terminal effective from December 3, 2014.

With the flight operations from the new LAX terminal, the airline is exuberant and hopes to open a new exciting chapter. The airline has been providing flights services from Auckland to Los Angeles for nearly 50 years now.

Carrie Hurihanganui, Air New Zealand’s General Manager Customer Experience, said that the new arrangement would prove to be beneficial for the customers. The present move is aimed at providing better connectivity to the customers to reach various destinations within the United States.

The customers while taking Air New Zealand flights from the new terminal can also look forward to other benefits as well such as vastly improved and hassle free transit experience, faster processing, a state-of-the-art lounge, and above 150,000 square feet of dining and retail space provided in the Great Hall.

Hurihanganui further said that the transiting customers will be provided greater access to the new expansive terminal while waiting to board their connecting flights. Earlier, such passengers had to remain confined in a dedicated transit facility before boarding their connecting flights.

Those customers who are eligible would also be provided admission to the Star Alliance-operated lounge at the Los Angeles airport. The lounge is being presently managed by Air New Zealand itself on behalf of Star Alliance.

The airline’s investment in the new LAX terminal is being seen as yet another move to expand operations in North America.

Currently, Air New Zealand is operating twice daily flights between Los Angeles and Auckland utilizing a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The airline has also increased frequencies on Los Angeles-Auckland route for the forthcoming 2015 Northern Summer schedule by 20 percent. The airline will be offering three extra weekly services on the route.

After vigorously shaking up the commercial aviation markets in Asia and Europe, it’s now the turn of the United States. Leading Middle East carriers such as Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways are making a determined push into the air travel market in the U.S. The high-quality services coming at lower prices gradually seem like a fantasy to the U.S. fliers.

The three Gulf-based carriers had increased the frequencies of flights to the United States by 47 percent in 2013. These airlines are presently serving 11 U.S. cities. This major push by these carriers has sent the U.S. legacy carriers into a tizzy to the extent that complaints have been filed over the unfair competition being posed by the Gulf carriers.

As a result, Emirates Airline is into a stiff competition with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Emirates boasts of transporting more passengers to Dubai International Airport from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport than is being presently done by either American Airlines or Delta Air Lines.

Doha-based Qatar Airways has launched flights to Dallas, Miami and Philadelphia in 2014. Even Etihad Airways is adding nonstop flights to Dallas from Abu Dhabi. With the gradual expansion, the three Gulf carriers will now be competing head-to-head in at least four U.S. cities.

The urge to make a major dent into the U.S. market can be gauged from the fact that these airlines are even spending a lot on branding. In 2014, Emirates Airline sponsored the U.S. Open Tennis championship. It was also San Francisco Symphony’s official airline.

Imagine watching a movie and savoring champagne while sitting on a couch. After the delectable meal, retire into the cozy bed. This is not a five star hotel or your home. This is 10,000 feet in the air on Etihad Airways A380 flight to London.

The First Apartments concept for the airline’s first class cabin has been recognized at the Society of British and International Design (SBID) awards held in London. The airline won the Overall Design Award 2014. Abu Dhabi based airline commented in a press release that SBID is one of the most acclaimed in world design and consists of 15 categories in design excellence. The airline was entered in the Best Entertainment Space, but grabbed the Overall Design Award.

Acumen Design Associates, CEO, Ian Dryburgh commented that the company designed the first class based on the Inspired Service concept which aims at bringing exclusivity and individuality of a boutique hotel to the first class traveler. The airline will configure its ten new A380s with nine First Apartments. The first aircraft will be deployed on Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) route starting December 27.

The First class cabin on the upper deck of the wide body aircraft will feature 80.5 inch separate bed, full length wardrobe, vanity unit, mini-bar, private walk-in living space with Poltrona Frau Armchair. The First Apartments are 74 percent larger than the current First Class suites occupying a 39 square feet area.

The airline started operating from Abu Dhabi in 2003. It carried 11.5 million travelers to 111 cargo and passenger destinations in Asia, Africa, the Americas, Australia, Europe and the Middle East last year.

Emirates Airline has finally launched its iPhone app on iOS. The airline’s customers possessing iPhones will now be able to check-in as well as download their boarding passes directly on their phones.

The Emirates App for iPhone can now be procured from the App Store. The app will be prominently featuring push notifications for check-in, baggage belt numbers, gate changes and flight boarding. The customers will receive their boarding passes on their Passbook.

The app has other features as well. This includes chauffeur drive alerts, managing Emirates Skywards accounts, selecting meals and seats, and ability to book flights. The app will store the customer’s credit card information, personal flight details, and service and product information. The app will also allow customers to view these details even when offline.

Boutros Boutros, Emirates Airline’s Divisional Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, Marketing and Branding, said that the mobile app has first been launched on the iOS platform because most of the mobile traffic to its website in through iPhone users.

He also stated that work on an Android version is also currently underway, while simultaneously exploring new features for the airline’s iPhone and iPad app.

The introduction of Emirates App for iPhone follows the earlier launch of a similar Emirates App for iPad early this year.

According to the airline, the new mobile app will be beneficial for frequent flyers as they would be able to manage all their bookings and keep track of all their future trips as well.

Lufthansa will fly nonstop from Tampa to Frankfurt in the fall 2015. This city in the west coast of Florida is the third destination on which it will use Airbus A340-300 since the airlines already flies to Orlando and Miami. The German carrier will deploy four wintertime flights in a week starting from September 25, 2015. In the summers, it will add more flight on the route.

The reconfigured A340 aircraft will have 298 seats with no first class, 18 new lie-flat business class seats, 280 economy seats out of which 19 are Premium Economy. Tampa will be the first destination to use this reconfigured aircraft.

Karl Ulrich Garnadt, CEO of Lufthansa expressed delight that the airline’s customers will be able to board nonstop comfortable flights from Tampa to Frankfurt. He also anticipates that this direct connection will be in huge demand among leisure and corporate travelers.

Carsten Spohr, the Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa Group holding company said in a statement that the number of premium seats will be reduced to 18 in business class whereas the economy and premium economy seats will be increased to 280. He also added that this will allow the airline to focus on leisure destinations which have less demand for premium class seats.

Tampa International also spoke highly of Lufthansa and its CEO Joe Lopano said that this new Tampa-Frankfurt route is a big win for Tampa Bay. Lufthansa is one the most lucrative airlines in the aviation industry; this new route is the testimony of the global impact of air travel industry in the city.

The airline also mentioned that the connection to Frankfurt will link it to one of the busiest hubs where Lufthansa flies to 145 destinations in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Now, a newly proposed design for airline seating would let an airline transform the economy seats into a plush and comfortable business class seat with a side couch. The seat and side couch can be later converted to form a private bed.

The design is created by James S.H. Lee who is the CEO of Paperclip, an industrial design firm. Fabled as The Butterfly Seating Solution, the design gives the airline to adjust the configuration of the cabin to efficiently use the cabin space. The Butterfly design has won the esteemed Crystal Cabin Award. It also attained the top position at the International Air Transport Association’s Passenger Innovation Awards championship.

The staggered seat design wherein inboard seat is positioned at a slight diagonal angle in front of the aisle seat provides for two seats in premium-economy. The armrest width is up to 21 inches allowing the passengers to use both the armrests comfortably. The reclined seat pitch in premium economy is 44 inches which usually ranges between 37 and 42 inches. The premium economy seat also features seat pockets on the side, large cocktail trays and an adjustable ottoman.

The Butterfly can be used as a single-passenger business class seat with a private bed. Double the space of premium economy and direct aisle access are the added advantages. The adjacent seat can be flipped down to form a flat surface. The passenger will have a private suite with a seat and side couch. When the business class passenger wants to take a siesta, the aisle seat can be folded over to form a 77 inches long and 44 inches wide bed which is the largest in the industry. The seat has a 44 inch pitch. The middle armrest which is also a storage compartment becomes locked when the seat transforms into a bed. It allows the passengers to store their valuable items while they rest.

Any airline or seat manufacturer has not acquired the seat design but considering its practical advantage, the Butterfly may as well revolutionize the aviation industry.

Denver International Airport (DIA) recently revealed a great piece of news for first class passengers that British Airways will add more seats on the daily nonstop service between Denver International Airport and London Heathrow Airport by March 2015. This will increase the flight’s capacity by 23 percent. At present, Boeing 777-200 aircraft serves this route. The deployment of Boeing 747-400 will add 62 more seats with a total of 337 seats. The airline will now fly first class to Denver along with Club World, World Traveler Plus and World Traveler.

According to an analysis done by Denver Airport, the airline’ service between Denver and Gatwick Airport was the first daily transatlantic flight which served the two airports year-round since the airport’s inauguration in 2005. This service has had a great impact of more than $2.2 billion on the state’s economy since September 1, 1998. In 2002, the flight route was switched to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). Between September 1998 and August 2014, more than 2.5 million passengers have traveled on this route and the airline expects a greater number in the future.
 
The Mayor of the city, Michael B. Hancock expressed delight and said that the airline has been a major contributor to Denver’s aviation industry for over 15 years. This capacity increase will strengthen the global reach of Denver to London as well as other destinations in the world.
 
CEO of DIA, Kim Day also commented on the increased capacity of the route and said that the airline has continued to invest in Denver for the last 15 years owing to the strong partnership of DIA and British Airways’ hub at LHR. She also added that London is the largest market in Europe for DIA and adding the first class service will only fortify the global connectivity.

LATAM has now got a new abode at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. TAM and LAN Airlines, both operating under LATAM Group, would henceforth be conducting their international operations from the new Terminal 3 at the airport.

TAM, which was conducting its domestic operations from Terminal 1, has now moved to Terminal 2 and will be operating domestic flights out of here. The airport authorities said that the move is aimed at providing more convenience and greater comfort to the passengers.
 
The move is also aimed at making Guarulhos International Airport as the LATAM Airlines Group’s biggest and prominent international hub.

A spokesperson of the LATAM Airlines Group said that both TAM and LAN Airlines carefully planned their transitions without bringing inconvenience to the passengers or disturbing their scheduled arrivals and departures.

During the first stage, the long-haul flights operations to/from North America and Europe were transferred from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. The second phase involved shifting of short-haul flights operations to/from South American destinations. The last leg saw TAM transferring its domestic flight operations from Terminal 1 to Wing D of Terminal 2.

The transition process included shifting of entire back-office structure, self-service totems, stores for rescheduling and purchasing tickets, and baggage and check-in operations. The recheck-in area has now been shifted to Terminal 2 and also in Terminal 3 (lower level).

Passengers of both the airlines will now find it easier to get access to the airport because the car park will be directly connecting to the new terminal.

British Airways customers possessing iPhones are now more ‘appy’(er) than before. The airline has recently introduced new features to its highly popular iPhone app. The customers making use of Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport have already started receiving ‘push notifications’ on their smartphones from the month of October itself.

The newly introduced feature is keeping the customers updated regarding the opening of their gate and the time of boarding. This has made the customers happier and allowing them to enjoy experience at the airport to its fullest.

The airline’s iPhone app has now become the first to benefit from the new feature in iOS 8, which is currently the latest version of Apple’s iPhone software. The feature is proving to be beneficial for the customers as they are now able to find their flight status in the iPhone notification centre. This helps them keep updated even without opening the app.

According to the airline, the iPhone customers with the new app would instantly get a personalized welcome pop up message and Wi-Fi password on their smartphones as soon as they enter the Terminal 5 lounge at Heathrow Airport. With the new feature, British Airways has now become the first airline in the UK to use iBeacon technology to show push notifications based on location in its lounges.

The British Airways iPhone app since its launch has been downloaded by more than 4 million times. It is also the highest rated airline app currently available. Apart from iPhone devices, the app is also available on Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Amazon Appstore and Android.