Airplanes

Touring Zurich Airport w/SWISS

June 4, 2016Harriet BaskasAirplanesSWISS International Air Lines, Whiskey bar, zurich airpiort

Journalists invited to Zurich for events associated with the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting were treated to a tour of the Swiss International Airlines (SWISS) lounges and other facilities at Zurich Airport.

Here are some snaps from the day:

Spotted this exhausted future soccer star in the main hall of the airport.

Visiting world operations center for @FlySWISS at @zrh_airport pic.twitter.com/E81NX6guaM

— Harriet Baskas (@hbaskas) June 4, 2016

SWISS operations center manages movements of all the carrier’s planes around the world.

The SWISS Product Hub is where crew members familiarize themselves with both the cabin amenities and the duty free products.

Souvenirs for the new Bombardier CS 100 plane SWISS will put into service soon.

At Zurich Airport, the Senator Lounge at the E Terminal for long haul flights has a Whiskey Bar with 120 whiskeys and an outdoor observation desk.

Flying on the new Bombardier CS100

June 4, 2016Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airlines, AirplanesBombardier C Series, Bombardier CS 100, new aircraft, SWISS

Star Alliance CEOs posing for celebratory photo on arrival in Zurich

Photo by Harriet Baskas

CEOs from a good number of Star Alliance airlines – and a rag tag group of journalists – attending the Annual General Meeting of IATA (the International Air Transport Association) in Dublin took part in a special flight to Zurich on a new aircraft: the Bombardier C Series – CS100.

We're saying goodbye to the @Bombardier #CS100 today. Hope to see it @DublinAirport again soon. #avgeek pic.twitter.com/rSri0X4945

— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) June 3, 2016

Swiss International Airlines (SWISS) will be the first airline in the world to operate the new Bombardier C series. The carrier is putting its first CS100 into service on 15 July and will begin replacing its existing Avro RJ100 fleet of 20 aircraft with this new plane.

The flight from Dublin to Zurich was on a SWISS-branded test plane – #5 – but offered a preview of the new short- and medium-haul twinjet that promises improvements in inflight comfort and operations.

“Official” snaps are being prepped, but here are some tweets and reports from a variety folks on the flight and on the ground.

#CSeries ready for flight from Dublin to Zurich. Reuters is aboard! #CS100 #Bombardier pic.twitter.com/feG1dFWacx

— ReutersAerospaceNews (@ReutersAero) June 3, 2016

The @bombardier #CS100 demonstrator in @FlySWISS livery @DublinAirport The #PaxEx should be good pic.twitter.com/SgPQqoGm0Q

— Michael Kelly (@Michaelkelly707) June 2, 2016

Execs on #CSeries flight all agree it was quiet, lauded the big baggage bins, wide aisle, large windows pic.twitter.com/74g2MWxZS4

— ReutersAerospaceNews (@ReutersAero) June 3, 2016

Rainbow as we came in to land at Zurich on the #Cseries #flySwiss #bombardier pic.twitter.com/BxqmIygmXd

— Victoria Bryan (@vl_bryan) June 3, 2016

The @BBD_Aircraft #CSeries descending over Switzerland. Sheer #avgeek joy. ##thatjohnCSeries pic.twitter.com/jclGbzQycz

— John Walton (@thatjohn) June 3, 2016

Here’s a video from June 17th 2015, when SWISS welcomed one of the Bombardier C Series CS100 prototypes to Zurich Airport.

(Film produced by SkyProduction.ch for Swiss International Air Lines)

Dallas Love Field gets a re-boot

October 14, 2014Harriet BaskasAirplanes, AirportsDallas Love Field, Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, Wright Amendment

Here are some snaps from Dallas Love Field, where celebrations were underway and finishing touches to the terminal were on display in celebration of the lifting of the Wright Amendment on Monday, October 13. The ruling, created in 1979 to foster growth at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, had imposed flight restrictions on long-haul flights from Love Field.

[cincopa AMJAqBc8TppV]

A380s for DFW – first Qantas, now Emirates

October 2, 2014Harriet BaskasAirplanesA380, DFW Airport, Emirates, Qantas

It’s been a big A380 week for DFW International Airport:

On Monday, I was pleased to be on board when Qantas began flying the world’s largest airplane – the Airbus A380 – on the world’s longest nautical route – from Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth.

On Wednesday, DFW International Airport celebrated the arrival of another A380: this one belonging to Emirates and arriving from Dubai.

As part of the celebration on the ground, not cupcakes, but cake.

Hello Kitty plane saying bye-bye to LAX

September 3, 2014Harriet BaskasAirlines, Airplanes, liveriesAirlines, airplanes, Hello Kitty, Hello Kitty plane, Sanrio

Eva Air’s Hello Kitty “Hand-in-Hand” jet that has been flying between Taipei and Los Angeles since 2013 will change routes at the end of October and fly instead between Taipei and Paris.

Eva Airways said the charmingly liveried plane starts the new route October 29, 2014.

The airline operates a total of four weekly flights between Taipei and Paris and in late October will add the Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand Jet to the regular schedule as BR87 from Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle (CDG) on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. On the return, it will fly as BR88, CDG-TPE on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

The Hand-in-Hand Hello Kitty jet, which is painted in a livery that features Sanrio characters holding hands along the length of the airplane, and EVA Air’s five Airbus 330 Hello Kitty-themed jets. which fly within Asia, will also be getting some new themed service items , including new some new Hello Kitty-themed meals.