Croatia Airlines orders A319s

Airbus recently announced that Croatia Airlines, the flag carrier of the Republic of Croatia, has signed a firm contract for the purchase of four A319s to add to its growing medium haul fleet aircraft. The new A319s will join its eight A320 Family aircraft already in operation.

Croatia Airlines’ A319s will feature the all-new cabin which provides more passenger comfort in a modern and brighter environment. The ordered aircraft will accommodate 132 passengers in a two-class configuration. Powered by CFM International CFM56-5 engines, the aircraft will be deployed on the airline’s extended European and domestic networks.
Source: AirbusPhoto: Airbus

Two new Colombian airlines proposed

Two new airlines could be running domestic flights in Colombia in less than a year, a move officials say would lower ticket prices and boost the country's fledgling tourism industry.Airline Aero-Oasis would offer routes between Colombia's principal cities, while Aeroislas would serve the islands of San Andrés and Providencia, which a government study shows have worse service currently than ten years ago.The two airlines, which await authorization, would add to the recent opening of airline EasyFly, which covers seven Colombian routes, reported RCN Radio.

Airline New Schemes

Southwest Airlines today honored the State of Illinois with the unveiling of Illinois One, a Boeing 737 emblazoned with an artist’s rendering of the state flag.
Courtesy Southwest

Filed under: boeing, 737, special livery, Southwest Airlines, Illinois One

New McPhat Airline Roll Out Program

Continued from news front page ... Mc Phat's apporoach to aircraft illustration and livery design is unique. In the initial release phase there are 9 packas all featuring a range of different and highly detailed Airline Expansions specially designed and aimed to set a new standard in Fine Art Livery for the Ariane Boeing 737 'X' Series.Click here to go to the new Boeing 737-Airlines new section

The carefully selcted airliner sets not only come illustrated by hand and laid out using multiple layer techniques to create some of the most illustrative and most realistic-looking texturing for the Boeing 737 Series Ranges, the packs also provide up to seven different airlines and types per expansion pack with engines fitted as they rolled out (and with so many extra features you will not find on many standard 'paints').

The first phase of the packs released all contain a range of airlines and liveries from those paying homage to the airlines past to the very modern (and very bright examples such as S7) airliners of today. There follows an overview of the airline packs in release one. Each pack is covered in more detail in their sections.

US1 PackBoeing 737-800 Delta N376DA Transitional SchemeBoeing 737-800 Delta N382DA Classic 80's StyleBoeing 737-800 Delta N3744FF New and Current SchemeBoeing 737-800 Sun Country N801SYYBoeing 737-800 Sun Country PH-HZCBoeing 737-800 Sun Wing C-FLSWBoeing 737-800 Westjet C-FAWJ

First to fly the A380

The most comfortable, spacious and quiet aircraft to ever take to the skies, the Singapore Airlines A380 brings you travel in a new light.

Cabin ExperienceExclusive to the Singapore Airlines A380 is the brand new Singapore Airline Suites, a class beyond first. Also featured are the award winning Business Class, the most spacious the world has ever seen; the Economy Class, promising more comfort than ever; and KrisWorld, the greatest show in the sky. Click here for more information.
MilestonesRead about all exciting events leading up to the launch of the Singapore Airlines A380 and beyond.
Engineering MarvelThe world’s largest passenger aircraft has been designed and assembled to meet the present and future challenges of air travel. Discover more about the technical specifications of the superjumbo in this facts and figures section.
DestinationsFrom 1 June 2009, Singapore Airlines will fly the world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, on its Singapore-Paris route. Paris is Singapore Airline's fourth A380 destination.Singapore Airlines also operates the A380 to London, Sydney and Tokyo.
Exclusive DownloadsDownload A380 screensavers and wallpapers to be part of your desktop.

Alaska Airlines Gets Rid of Older Jets

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is going to get rid of its MD-80 aircraft (pictured) to make way for Boeing 737s, a type of aircraft that the airline already has in service. 26 MD-80s are leaving, and 39 Boeing 737-800s are joining the fleet. Delivery is between now and 2008.Savings will apparently be about $115 million per year as fuel, operating, and maintenance costs plummet. Although the number of aircraft operated by Alaska will only increase by 4, compared to the beginning of the year, its capacity will increase by 18%.This is a smart move for Alaska. Sure, the company is going to have to go through two pre-tax charges of $130 million to $150 million, but the savings clearly win in the long run. Interesting to note that Alaska, which is a seudo-low cost carrier, is going to simply its fleet to just Boeing 737s - something that competitor Southwest Airlines has always done.

US Airways To Stick with Star -

US Airways has decided to keep its code-sharing deal with United Airlines - for the time being, anyway. A code-sharing deal is where each airline is allowed to sell seats on the other airline. This arrangement brings in over $200 million annually to United.The two airlines began code-sharing in 2002, after the government anti-trust unit said no to a merger between the two. In 2003 US Airways joined Star Alliance, which was co-founded by United in 1997. The relationship until now has been a pretty happy one. US Airways had a predominantly East Coast network from hubs in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Charlotte, and United had a strong West Coast network from its hubs in Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles.But all good things (might) come to an end. Last year US Airways merged with America West - and subsequently gained a large route network in the West with hubs at Phoenix and Las Vegas. Because of the increased competition, there was need for dialogue. US Airways said in an SEC filing that it was talking things over with United about a few points. If the talks fail, said the airline, its "codeshare relationship with United and membership in Star Alliance could be terminated".Which makes for good guessing. In the history of Star, there have only been two airlines to leave: Ansett Australia, which liquidated in 2001, and Mexicana, which quit code-sharing with United and subsequently pulled out of Star a few years back. If US Airways were to jump ship too, would it stay out of alliances? Or would it join another? oneworld already has American, and SkyTeam already has Delta. Then again, Star already had United.