Airline News

Airguide Online, April 30, 2004

Emirates will launch thrice-weekly service from Dubai to Christchurch via Melbourne June 10 using an A340-500. The service will double to six times weekly Aug. 1 2004.

Emirates will offer in-flight e-mail service across its fleet using Tenzing software. The system will be installed initially on new A340- 500s beginning in the first quarter of 2004 and progressively across the entire fleet.

Hawaiian Airlines has received the last governmental approval it needed before its May 18 2004 expansion to Sydney. The airline has received its international airline license from Australia's Department of Transport and Regional Services, clearing the carrier for the launch of four nonstop roundtrips a week between Honolulu and Sydney. The route marks Hawaiian's return to this market after an absence of more than a decade. In related news, Hawaiian and Boeing Capital Corp. again have agreed to extend lease negotiations, this time through May 31. At issue are agreements for 11 Boeing 717-200 aircraft for its inter-island network and three Boeing 767-300ER planes for transpacific service that Hawaiian leases directly from BCC or through BCC-controlled trust arrangements. The latest extension is subject to approval by U.S. bankruptcy court.

Hawaiian Airlines is alerting consumers to a ticketing scam for a package of mainland tickets. An Asian man, about 50 years old who walks with a limp and calls himself either Wayne or Dwayne of Wayne Travel Discount is selling five roundtrip mainland tickets with a sixth for free for $250 apiece. Customers must pay up front, and the first ticket is actually sold through a bona fide travel agency at a higher fare than the one he is advertising. But they find that the other five tickets are invalid when they go to use them. Keoni Wagner, VP of public affairs, said "Unless you're booking directly with Hawaiian online or through our reservations department, we recommend that travelers purchase tickets through a licensed, professional travel agent." Anyone who thinks they may have been scammed should file a report with the police and call Hawaiian's customer advocate line at 808-838-3500.

Iberia will install Tenzing's new high-speed e-mail and instant messaging service in business class on its long-haul fleet of A340-600s and A340-300s beginning in Oct. 2004.

Iberia will adopt a two-class service product on A340 long-haul services, eliminating first class in favor of an enhanced business- class cabin with lie-flat seat beds, audio-video on demand, satellite phones and text messaging. It will invest eur100 million ($125 million) to equip 31 A340s with the new product, which will be rolled out on the airline's first three A340-600s in Oct. and installed across the fleet by the end of 2005.

Icelandair says it has a goal of distributing half of all of its tickets electronically by the end of this year.

Independence Air is telling potential new customers that it will begin selling tickets sometime in May 2004, and its iCLUB members, hose registered on its site at www.flyi.com, will be emailed the exact date ahead of the rest of the world. The airline says it is driven to offer a product that is less expensive and easier to fly than most airlines, while giving them a straightforward fare structure with limited restrictions. Independence Air, which is now Atlantic Coast Airlines, will launch June 16 from Washington-Dulles Airport. By the end of the summer, it expects to be flying to 35 cities. Customers who sign up to the airline's iCLUB will receive $25 off their first roundtrip flight if it is booked by Sept. 30 and flown by Dec. 31 2004.