Bigger Dreamliner at Farborough | Smartphone ban goes at Air New Zealand | Tigerair's plea at Sydney Airport | Higher air surcharges on Qantas-Emirates | Emirates boosts Mauritius capacity
Dreamliner 787-9 heads for Farnborough
Boeing has confirmed a new 787-9 Dreamliner – the same model that will join the Air New Zealand fleet in the coming week – will make flying displays at the Farnborough International Airshow from July 14-20. The flight test airplane ZB001 will be joined by a P-8A Poseidon, a military derivative of the company's Next-Generation 737-800. Both will be at Farnborough for the first time. Boeing's multi-role F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter will also have daily flying displays. Their appearance will mark the 40th anniversary of Boeing's participation at the major airshow.
Air New Zealand lifts smartphone ban
Air New Zealand has received Civil Aviation Authority approval for passengers to use their smartphones and other handheld electronic devices throughout flights on certain aircraft. From July 16, the ban will not apply during the taxi, take-off and landing phases. Initially this will apply only to domestic and international services operated by Airbus A320 and Boeing 787-9, 777-200 and 777-300 aircraft. The ban will be removed from Air New Zealand’s regional turbo prop and Boeing 767-300 fleets over time, subject to regulatory approval.
Tigerair pleas for better Sydney deal
Budget airline Tigerair Australia has called for “fair and equitable” access to Terminal 2 (T2) at Sydney Airport. The airline has asked the National Competition Council to urge ministerial action under Part IIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Issues include limited access to hard-stand gates (with aerobridge) in peak periods – requiring it to use a bus to transport passengers to remote aircraft bays – access to a restricted number of check-in counters and investment in improved check-in technologies to provide additional capacity. Tigerair says its customer experience, travel time and operating costs are being adversely affected.
Surcharges for some Qantas-Emirates flights
Qantas passengers face a fuel surcharge increases on some parts of the joint network with Emirates from Tuesday. The rise affects Qantas and Emirates services to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and will see the one-way surcharge in economy class rise $A15 while customers in premium economy face a $A30 increase and those in business and first will pay an additional $45. This will result in the new one-way economy surcharge sitting at $A285, premium economy at $A385 and business-first class at $A540. The airline says there will be no changes to the fuel surcharge for Qantas-Emirates transtasman or Asia services or for flights on other parts of the Qantas network.
Emirates doubles A380 Mauritius service
Emirates will introduce a double daily A380 service from Dubai to Mauritius from December 1. The second A380 replaces the existing Boeing 777 operation and increases Emirates’ capacity on the route by 19% or an additional 165 passengers each day to the popular island destination in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
