Netflix goes airborne, war on waste, first stretched Dreamliner and more

Netflix goes airborne with screen alternative
Inflight entertainment will soon offer an alternative specially for Netflix subscribers. Netflix announced at the 2017 Airline Passenger Experience Expo (APEX) in Long Beach, California, that its streaming service is being adapted for use on aircraft, beginning in 2018.

Spencer Wang, Netflix vice-president, finance and investor relations, says airlines need only provide their IP ranges for upgraded fleets. “This will result in significant bandwidth savings for carriers,” he says. “Instead of worrying about bandwidth, you can now support and promote certain in-flight services as a core part of your offering rather than sticking it on some kind of premium tier.”

This will allow airlines to offer cheap, or at times free, wi-fi to passengers to stream Netflix on their personal devices. Passengers who subscribe to Netflix will have content that is available in their country. This means all parts of the world except China, North Korea, Crimea and Syria due to US government restrictions.

Air New Zealand declares war on waste
Air New Zealand is the latest airline to launch a war on waste. Last month, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific said it had collected 234 tonnes of unused inflight food and donated it to charitable agencies.

Now, Air New Zealand’s caterer, LSG Sky Chefs, and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) say they expect to divert 150 tonnes of waste from landfill annually by reusing food and drink items on future flights if removed from aircraft sealed and untouched.

Some 40 inflight products have been reclassified so they are not wasted due to biosecurity controls. These include sealed beverages and unopened snacks with further items. In the first month of Project Green, as the initiative is called, 13 tonnes of waste has been diverted, including 266,000 plastic cups, 480kg of sugar packets and 3.5 tonnes of bottled water.

Project Green, which has been developed over 18 months, is also enabling greater recycling of low biosecurity risk packaging, more accurate loading of catering items onto aircraft and reduced waste disposal costs with fewer items sent to landfill.

And to cement is “green” reputation, Air New Zealand has also decided to source its coffee from an organic and fair trade producer in Christchurch called Hummingbird.

Emirates seals flydubai codeshare
The two Dubai airlines, Emirates and budget-offshoot flydubai, say their new codeshare partnership is effective now for travel bookings from October 29. The codeshare will effectively expand the Emirates network by another 29 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

The airline says this will offer greater frequency and easier access to more global destinations for New Zealand travellers with the advantage of connecting baggage to the final destination. 

Qatar buys half of an Italian airline
Qatar Airways is buying a 49% stake in AQA Holding, the new parent company of Meridiana fly, the second largest airline in Italiy. The former sole shareholder, Alisarda, is keeping the other 51%.

Meridiana has an extensive network connecting the main Italian airports with Sardinia and as well as with hubs in Europe, the US and Africa. Meridiana’s fleet consists of Boeing 737s, 767s and MD-82s.

Qatar flies from Doha to Rome, Venice, Pisa and Milan a total of 42 times a week and says this partnership will further strengthen the airline’s ties to Italy.

First ‘stretched’ Dreamliner rolls off assembly line
Boeing has rolled out the first 787-10 Dreamliner built for Singapore Airlines at the final assembly facility in North Charleston, South Carolina (pictured). The plane will now undergo painting in the airline's livery and begin its system checks, fueling and engine runs. Singapore Airlines is due to take delivery in the first half of 2018 for use on medium-haul routes.

Singapore has 30 of these aircraft on firm order and has signed a letter of intent to purchase another 19. The 787-10 is 18ft (5.5m) longer than the 787-9, and claims 25% better fuel per seat and emissions than the aircraft it will replace. 

Route news of the week
Cathay Pacific is boosting capacity on two of its routes that are popular with New Zealanders. From March 26 to June 25, 2018, two extra flights will run on the Hong Kong-Tel Aviv route, boosting frequency from four to six times a week. The Hong Kong-Barcelona service will begin its seasonal operation from April 15, 2018, instead of July 1. This will increase from three to four times a week. Both routes use new Airbus A350-900 aircraft. Emirates is expanding its Dubai-Stockholm Arlanda service from seven to 10 times weekly from December 8. The new flights will be during weekends. El Al Israel Airlines and Thai Airways International have expanded their codeshare partnership. Thai’s Bangkok-Auckland routew included along with 
flights from Bangkok to Brisbane, Chiang, Krabi, Melbourne, Phuket. Sydney 
and Taipei.  

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