• 2009 sees airline celebrate its 25^th birthday
• £6m campaign includes TV advert recreating the airline’s 1984 launch

Virgin Atlantic, one of the world’s leading long-haul airlines, today unveiled a £6million campaign to beat off the credit crunch blues and highlight why it’s still red hot after 25 years of flying. The airline celebrates its 25^th birthday on 22 June 2009.

At the centre of the new, optimistic campaign is a television advert, set in 1984, featuring glamorous Virgin Atlantic flight attendants, and pilot, walking through the airport before boarding the airline’s inaugural flight to New York. The advert features iconic images of the 1980s, such as the Rubik’s Cube, brick-sized cellphones, Our Price Records and the Asteroids video game.

Over 65 million passengers have chosen to travel with Virgin Atlantic since its launch in 1984. The airline now flies to 30 destinations around the world, from its main bases at London Heathrow and London Gatwick, using a modern, young fleet of Airbus A340 and Boeing 747 aircraft.

Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic, said:

“We’re fighting back against the doom and gloom in the airline industry. While our competitors are feeling down in the dumps, our passengers want us to celebrate the transformation we’ve brought about in the industry since our launch in 1984. You can count on Virgin Atlantic to raise spirits with some of our lowest fares ever and look into the future with optimism, as we did 25 years ago.”

Virgin Atlantic will be celebrating its 25 years with a series of special fares, campaigns and events in the run-up to its birthday in June 2009, as well as promoting red hot fares to red hot destinations.

 For more information, visit www.virginatlantic.com/25

Singapore Airlines have announced thy will introduce new Airbus A330 aircraft on routes between Singapore to/from Australia and Japan, the full press release can be seen below:

Singapore Airlines will introduce its new Airbus A330-300 regional aircraft on routes to Australian and Japanese cities, progressively from the end of March 2009.

The first of 19 new A330-300s will be delivered to Singapore Airlines by Airbus in mid-January. The aircraft will initially be used to complete pilot conversion, and thereafter, operate some short sectors between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and Jakarta, during late February and March.

Its full entry into commercial service will occur on 30 March 2009. To coincide with the 25^th anniversary of the commencement of Singapore Airlines flights between the two cities, the craft’s first route will be between Singapore and Brisbane.

From April, services between Singapore and Perth will be progressively converted from the existing B777 operations to A330, with conversion completed in May. The daily flight between Adelaide and Singapore will be converted by June.

Also in June, following delivery of the eighth aircraft, the A330 will debut on Japan routes, with the daily service to Nagoya to be converted from B777 operations.  By March 2010, the daily B777 service to Osaka will be replaced with the A330.

The A330-300 twin-engine wide-body aircraft will be configured with 285 seats in two classes – Business and Economy.  A new Business Class seat, designed especially for regional and medium-haul flights, as well as other cabin product features, will be unveiled when the aircraft is delivered in January.

The Business Class cabin will consist of 30 seats, in a 2-2-2 configuration (distinct from the existing B777 on these routes, which is in a 2-3-2 layout).  Economy will feature 255 seats, in a 2-4-2 configuration.  All seats will feature the new KrisWorld – Singapore Airlines’ award-winning in-flight entertainment system.

* Actual inaugural service will take place from Singapore to Brisbane (SQ255) on 30 March 2009 – the date of the 25th anniversary of the commencement of Singapore Airlines services betweenthe two cities. The first flight from Brisbane is SQ236 on 30 March 2009.

The coming year will be a special one for KLM. On 7 October 2009, it will have been 90 years since KLM was first founded. This makes KLM the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. On 1 January, KLM will ring in the New Year with a festive flight — its Celebration Flight.

The flight will be operated over the Netherlands' twelve provinces, weather permitting*. 'KLM is proud of its Dutch heritage,' KLM CEO Peter Hartman said. ‘This is why we're starting off our anniversary year with a Celebration Flight involving people from all the provinces of the Netherlands’.

The public will be involved in the event in the form of a photography contest. KLM is inviting everyone to take pictures of the Celebration Flight from a recognizable point in the country. KLM will award the makers of the twelve best photographs with two tickets to an intercontinental destination.

The passengers on board will include KLM staff, business relations, and a group, 90 in all, of sick children and staff from the ‘High-flyer Foundation’ (Stichting Hoogvliegers). The foundation’s aim is to enable sick children to fly without making an issue of their illnesses.

Throughout the year, KLM will be announcing new and different anniversary activities. With the help of these events, the airline will look back on its 90-year history, and it will look ahead as well. More activities will follow throughout the year to be followed via www.klm.nl/dereis.

oneworld member airlines have taken four of the top awards in the latest Tested Awards from the US Global Traveler magazine and another four in the 2008 Business Traveler US Awards.

In Global Traveler's awards, LAN was named Best Latin American Airline and Qantas Best in Australasia.   British Airways was top in the Best Business Class category, and American won Best Airline for Domestic First Class for the third year running.

BA also took six runners-up places - for World's Best Airline overall, First Class, Premium Economy, Transatlantic, Lounges and Frequent Flyer Programme.

American was among the runners-up in three categories - North American, Lounges and Frequent Flyer Programme.

Also runners-up were Cathay Pacific for Business Class, Qantas for South Pacific, Malév for East European and Japan Airlines for North Asia.

In Business Traveler's awards, Qantas was judged as offering the world's best business class, with American providing the best First Class within North America.   BA was honoured as best airline in Western Europe, while LAN retained its trophy as Best Business Class to South America for the third year running.

British Airways is to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, with five services a week from its London Heathrow hub to both Jeddah and Riyadh from 29 March.  It will serve Riyadh with Boeing 777s, and Jeddah with 767s. 

BA suspended operations to Saudi Arabia in March 2005 because of the poor commercial performance of its flights, but the country has remained on the oneworld network through flights by other member airlines.  Royal Jordanian serves both Jeddah and Riyadh along with Dammam with Riyadh also receiving Cathay Pacific flights.

Qantas has launched its new service between its Sydney hub and the Buenos Aires base of oneworld affiliate LAN Argentina, making it the first airline to operate non-stops between Australia and South America.  It is offering three round trips a week by Boeing 747-400s on the route.  Qantas will continue to code-share on LAN's six flights a week between Sydney and Santiago via Auckland.  It becomes the fifth oneworld carrier to serve the Argentine capital, alongside American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia and LAN.

• Qantas and its regional affiliate QantasLink are opening two new Australian domestic routes. The mainline airline will link Adelaide with Western Australia's Kalgoorlie from 1 March with an initial two round trips a week. QantasLink meantime will open flights between Townsville and Mount Isa, also from March.

Dates for the next phase of oneworld relocations at London Heathrow have now been confirmed, following the completion of British Airways' move into its new Terminal 5 base.

Finnair, which operates four daily round-trips between Heathrow and its Helsinki hub, will transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 on 27 January. 

Iberia will transfer operations on 25 February from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3.  The Spanish airline links Heathrow with Madrid eight times a day and with Barcelona four times a day.

British Airways will complete its move out of Terminal 1 four weeks later, on 25 February, with its final flights operating there - serving Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Nice and Helsinki - switching to Terminal 3.  A few weeks later - on 29 March -  BA will move its routes serving Malaga and Vienna from to Terminal 3 from Terminal 5.

Four of the five other oneworld airlines serving Heathrow are already based in Terminal 3 - American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Royal Jordanian.

The only other oneworld on-line carrier, Qantas, will move there later in 2009, switching from Terminal 4.  British Airways' flights serving Bangkok, Singapore and Sydney will move from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3 at the same time, alongside Qantas.

This will complete what has been oneworld's biggest airport co-location to date, bringing the operations of its eight carriers serving its biggest European hub from across all four of its established terminals into just two.

The oneworld carriers moving into Terminal 3 will use adjacent check-in desks in Zones F and G.  Airport owner BAA is currently spending millions of dollars bringing Terminal 3 up to similar standards as the new Terminal 5.

Other than the flights it is moving into Terminal 3, BA's entire operation at its home base are now housed in Terminal 5.

• BA's Executive Club lounge in Terminal 1 will close on 27 January, to enable airport operator BAA to proceed with the building's redevelopment. For the four weeks from then until it moves its final flights from the building to Terminal 3, its passengers will be able to use the Star lounge at Terminal 1.

American Airlines is to link its Dallas-Fort Worth base with the Madrid hub of its oneworld partner Iberia from May with daily non-stop two-class Boeing 767-300s.  Madrid will be the 34th international destination served by American and its American Eagle affiliate from their DFW hub.  The airline already serves the Spanish capital from Miami and flies to Barcelona from New York JFK.

oneworld® affiliate member LAN Ecuador has gained rights to launch domestic services within Ecuador - adding more new destinations to the alliance's network.

From the end of March, it will connect the capital Quito with Guayquil and link both cities with Cuenca and Galapagos, using Airbus A320 family aircraft on all routes.

Cuenca (which has the three-letter IATA code CUE) and Galapagos (SCY) will both join the oneworld map for the first time.

This new domestic network will complement LAN Ecuador's international services to and from Ecuador, which include flights from both Guayaquil and Quito to places such as Buenos Aires, Madrid, Miami, New York and Santiago.

oneworld is currently the only global airline alliance with any members based in South America, through LAN Ecuador, LAN Airlines, LAN Argentina and LAN Peru.

Westin have announced they will enter Vietnam with the signing of an agreement to develop a beach side resort in Cam Ranh Vietnam.

The town of Cam Ranh is a 40 minute drive from the major beach resort town of Nha Trang Vietnam. Personally every time I visit Vietnam I spend a least a few days in this area the scenery is absolutely stunning, I know the Westin resort and spa Cam Ranh will be a welcome addition to the area.

The full press release from Starwood can be read below:

Westin Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.® (NYSE: HOT) today announced that it has reached an agreement with Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corporation to develop a Westin resort on a beachfront site in Cam Ranh Bay, Khanh Hoa Province on the southeastern coast of Vietnam.  The 330-room Westin is targeted to open in 2012.

“We are delighted to strengthen our presence in Vietnam with the signing of The Westin Resort & Spa, Cam Ranh.  The signing of The Westin Resort & Spa, Cam Ranh marks the entry of the Westin brand into Vietnam and strengthens the position of Starwood as one of the largest international upscale hotel chains in the Thailand and Indochina region (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos),” commented Miguel Ko, President of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific.

“We are looking forward to offering travelers to Cam Ranh a retreat from the rigors of travel, with our signature Westin services, products and amenities that will allow them to relax, rejuvenate and recharge during their stay,” added Ko.

Starwood currently operates 15 hotels in the Thailand and Indochina region, with over 15 more under development in Bangkok, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Angkor, Hoi An, Nha Trang and now Cam Ranh, under the brands of Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, St. Regis, Four Points by Sheraton, W, The Luxury Collection and aloft.

Scheduled to open in 2012, The Westin Resort & Spa, Cam Ranh will feature 330 rooms and a range of Westin products and services including the famous Westin Heavenly Bed, Westin WORKOUT and Heavenly Spa.  Other hotel facilities will also include eight food and beverage outlets, a health club, swimming pools, Westin Heavenly Spa, Westin Kid’s Club, business center and a retail shop.

Cam Ranh Bay is a protected inlet off the South China Sea situated between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.  It is well-known for its white sandy beaches and pristine turquoise waters. The site features an extensive beach frontage of 550 meters.  Due to the beachfront location and undulating terrain of the site, all guest rooms and villas will feature breath-taking views of the ocean.  The Westin resort is approximately a 10-minute drive from Cam Ranh airport and a 40-minute drive to the Nha Trang city center, the capital of Khanh Hoa Province.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has been voted the ‘world’s leading first class airline’ at this year’s World Travel Awards.

Votes for the WTA ceremony, which took place at Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort and Spa, were taken from nearly 170,000 travel industry professionals from around the world, including more than 110,000 travel agents.

The global accolade comes just months after the Abu Dhabi-based airline was awarded the regional title of ‘leading first class’ at the Middle East World Travel Awards in October 2008.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “To be voted the world’s best by nearly 170,000 travel professionals from around the globe is a great honour and testament to the investment we continue to place in our flagship first class product.

“WTA adjudged our first class to be the best in the Middle East in October, so to receive the top global award now rounds off a fantastic year for us.”

Etihad Airways offers its first class passengers an award-winning fully flat bed seat with 80 inch seat pitch, which is self-contained in an individual privacy cocoon with special mood lighting designed to relieve the symptoms of jet-lag. The seat can rotate 180 degrees to allow in-seat dining for up to four fellow passengers.

First class passengers can take advantage of an in-seat massager and more than 500 hours of on-demand entertainment provided via individual 17.3 inch screens, operated by touch-screen technology.

Passengers can eat ‘on demand’, anytime, from a la carte fine dining menus or opt for kitchen style snacks.

Etihad has also introduced a new cabin crew position called the onboard food and beverage manager. These new managers, most of whom joined the airline from the five-star hospitality sector, are responsible for championing the quality, presentation and delivery of food and beverages on board, ensuring it is consistently to the highest standards.

Etihad Airways opened a new first class lounge at its Abu Dhabi base in 2008. Key features include a ‘open kitchen’, dedicated ‘wi-fi’ area, library, relaxation zone, well-being spa, hi-tech electronic games room and an art gallery showcasing work by local Arab artists.

Etihad’s first class customers also have access to a complementary limousine service, taking them to and from Abu Dhabi airport. The luxury service is also available to first class customers in several of Etihad’s key global destinations, including London Heathrow, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Manchester, Munich, New York, Paris, Sydney and Toronto.

The WTA ‘world’s leading first class airline’ accolade is the latest in a series of top awards that Etihad has received in 2008, including ‘airline of the year’ at both the Aviation Business Awards and  British Travel Awards; ‘leading airline’, ‘leading first class’ and ‘leading travel website’ at the Middle East World Travel Awards; ‘best cabin staff’ and ‘best economy class’ at the Business Traveller (Middle East) Awards; and ‘best website’ at the Pan Arab Web Awards.

Etihad Airways was awarded ‘world’s leading flatbed seat’ and ‘world’s leading travel television commercial’ at the 2007 World Travel Awards.

United Airlines have just recent renovated their First and Business class cabins on their United States and Australia services, to provide full flat beds, along with an upgraded in-flight entertainment system.

The United Airlines Media release can be read below:

United Airlines’ Premier classes combine style with ultimate comfort

Travel to the US is now a premium experience with United’s multi-million dollar upgrade to First and Business Class now flying on the trans-Pacific route.  

The First and Business Class new lie-flat seats are almost two metres in length and recline to 180º. An ottoman has been included to provide additional storage for a laptop or other personal items and First Class has the added extra of four-way lumbar support and a six-way adjustable headrest.

Additionally, premium customers can now enjoy more than 150 hours of TV and movie programs on a massive 15.4 inch personal television, as well as 20 channels of stored audio through their noise-cancelling headphones. A USB port can be used to charge personal electronic devices, and iPod/iPhone connectivity enables customers to play their own music and videos on the in-flight entertainment.

Chicago-based, award-wining restaurant owner and master chef, Charlie Trotter, has successfully collaborated with United to create the new premium class menu and customers can also enjoy a choice of wine recommended by master sommelier and Master of Wine, Doug Frost.

 “Travel to the US on the new United aircraft will become a much more enjoyable and comfortable experience,” said Alison Espley, General Manager, United Airlines Australia & New Zealand. “No more losing sleep over long flights, as passengers can arrive relaxed, refreshed and ready to take on the world.”

Those passengers travelling Economy class will also experience new ergonomic seating, the latest digitally-fed video and restroom improvements, among other cabin enhancements.

More information about these seats -and the International Premium Travel Experience - is available at www.suitedreams.united.com

Following on from Delta and Northwest's merger the new merged Company has announced an aligned Frequent Flyer Award structure, the full media release is below:

ATLANTA, Dec. 4, 2008 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) has announced elite and reward changes to both the Delta SkyMiles® and Northwest WorldPerks® programs to better align member benefits.

Beginning in 2009, the programs will offer segment qualification, currently a WorldPerks benefit, to allow members to reach elite status by flying a designated number of flight segments on either Delta or Northwest operated flights. 

Additionally, SkyMiles and WorldPerks members will continue to earn a minimum of 500 Elite Qualifying Miles and base miles per flight, making Delta the only major airline to maintain this minimum for all customers.  

“Delta’s merger with Northwest creates a unique opportunity to build the world’s premier loyalty program for our customers, including providing access to more frequent flyer destinations around the world and adding new benefits,” said Jeff Robertson, Delta’s vice president of Loyalty Programs. “Delta’s 2009 loyalty programs will distinguish themselves from the industry with the return of segment qualification for Delta SkyMiles members, the availability of complimentary upgrades on both airlines for SkyMiles and WorldPerks members, and valuable Elite Threshold Rewards.”   

Qualification requirements for Elite status in 2009 will be as follows:

Elite status enables members to receive additional program benefits, including complimentary upgrades, mileage bonuses, priority boarding and preferred seating. 

SkyMiles and WorldPerks elite members now have the ability to receive complimentary upgrades on both airlines. Complimentary upgrades are subject to availability and offered on most Delta and Northwest flights within or between the 48 contiguous United States, Alaska, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and northern South America.

SkyMiles members will qualify for Medallion® Threshold Rewards when they surpass Platinum Medallion status. As members reach designated thresholds (to be published in early 2009), they will earn additional bonus miles and/or other exclusive benefits or gifts. Northwest WorldPerks members will continue to enjoy similar Elite Extra Perks program benefits when they surpass the Platinum qualification requirements.
 

In an effort to closely align the two loyalty programs’ benefits, Northwest WorldPerks will introduce three-tiered award availability and SkyMiles and WorldPerks members will have the ability to transfer miles between their respective accounts in early 2009. 

Delta plans to merge both programs to create the world’s premier loyalty program in late 2009.

Qantas have announced that they will be resuming regular flight to/from Bangkok starting Saturday 6 December, below is the full media release from Qantas

SYDNEY, 4 December 2008: Qantas said today that it planned to resume services to Bangkok from

this Saturday 6 December.

The Executive General Manager of Qantas, Mr John Borghetti, said Qantas had received approval

from Thai authorities to resume flights and was also undertaking its own operational assessments of

Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

“Following the closure of Suvarnabhumi on 25 November, Qantas has been operating its scheduled

Sydney-Bangkok-London return services via Singapore,” Mr Borghetti said.

“In consultation with the Australian Government, our priority this week has been to provide

opportunities for Qantas and British Airways customers and Australian nationals to leave Thailand.

“We have operated three relief flights between Phuket and Singapore since Tuesday, and a fourth

and final flight will operate tonight. In total Qantas would have carried around 1,200 people out of

Thailand.

“As soon as it was announced that Suvarnabhumi would be re-opened, and following our own

operational assessment of the airport we began the necessary planning to resume services.”

The first Qantas flight, QF2 London-Bangkok-Sydney, is scheduled to return to Bangkok early

evening on Saturday. It will be followed soon after by QF1 operating northbound from Sydney.